RealDriscoll
Still Perfect.. and You're Not.
I think it is pretty safe to assume that the Dolphins winning the AFC East with an 11-5 record last season came as a major to us all and was one of the best Dolphins' seasons we have experienced; coming off of a 1-15 season with a new coach and new Quarterback our expectations were very low. Based of the success of last season human nature takes over and we all think the Dolphins are the cream of the crop in the NFL. We stand at 2-3 right now and are only one game out of the division lead after an 0-3 start but dare I say that I think this years' team is much better and complete than the team that Chad Pennington led to a division title. I dare. I also dare to say that this team will be around for the division race and I care say that next season I think this team is Super-Bowl worthy if they have a solid free agency period and a solid draft. Yep...
5 THINGS I LIKE
*The Offensive Line: The Dolphins invested $160 million dollars and a #1 overall pick in this offensive line so it was reasonable to expect a top 5 offensive line in the league. We all know how important building the offensive and defensive lines is in Bill Parcells plan to rebuild a team. Vernon Carey is playing at a higher level in comparison to last season. Carey has really man'd the right side of the line. Donald Thomas has shown to recover from an injury that cost him last season. Thomas is big and is really opening some big holes on the right side of the line. I have watched all 5 games and watched Donald Thomas closely and he puts a lot of defenders on their back side. Justin Smiley also returns from an injury that costed him half the season and this guy is playing at a very high level. He has been my favorite free agent signing of the Parcells regime besides Chad Pennington. Than there is Jake Long who struggled mightily in Week 1 against John Abaraham and the Atlanta Falcons. "Dolphin Nation" panicked and even started to question whether take Jake was reasonable; people were calling for Matt Ryan but wow were they wrong as Jake Long has really turned it around and is playing at an elite level in terms of Left Tackle. I have watched every play Jake has made in his career and I would say that he is the 3rd best Left Tackle in football besides Ryan Clady and Michael Roos. Jake Long has been dominant since week 1 shutting out the likes of Aaron Schobal, Dwight Freeny, and the whole Jets team this Monday night. This line is the best run blocking line in football which makes the Wild-Cat successful and they are improving in pass protection. Let's not forget about Jake Grove; Grove was signed a replaced Samson Satele who was a player well received by "Dolphin Nation". Many people including myself questioned giving a contract of that magnitude to Grove but Grove has proven to be a much better run blocker than Satele and has handled the bigger Nose Tackles much superior than Satele. Monday Night Jake Grove handled Kris Jenkins and there are few men who can say they have done that.
2) Ronnie Brown: Ronnie Brown was having a Pro-Bowl and even MVP type season before he tore his ACL two years ago. We all questioned how Ronnie would return and if he had lived up to the hype of being the #2 selection in the 2005 NFL Draft. I would say that Ronnie Brown is the best back not named Adrian Peterson or Chris Johnson in the league. He has certainly become one of the most exciting players in this league to watch. He had a pro-bowl season last year and is the trigger-man of the Dolphins Wild-Cat offense that has proven to be successful. He is off to a better start and is certainly on pace to another Pro-Bowl. Ronnie vision has really improved and he is running behind a better Offensive Line than he has ever seen. The NFL is starting to really take notice of Ronnie and he needs to be locked up ASAP
3) Ricky Williams: It's hard to trust this guy as he is the only person to have broken my heart twice but he hasn't hit strike 2. Actually I don't know of many players in league history that have made a better overall comeback than Ricky. Last season Ricky Williams was a brilliant complement to Ronnie Brown. Ricky is another very important component of the Wild-Cat offense, He is running stronger, faster, and meaner than I have ever seen him run. Let's not forget than in 2002 and 2003 Ricky Williams was a top 10 player in the NFL. Both Ricky and Ronnie are on pace for 1,000 yard rushing seasons and Ricky has really become a weapon in the passing game. The backfield of Ricky and Ronnie is becoming that two headed monster that we all wanted and the other 31 teams feared.
4) Chad Henne: Chad Henne is two starts into his promising NFL career but he holds a record of 2-0 and those wins were big against division rivals the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets. We have been hearing that our front office was high on Henne for quite some time but he was far from a shore thing. Dolphin fansand the world got to see what we have in Chad Henne on a the biggest stage Monday Night football against the division leading New York Jets led by rookie Mark Sanchez. Well one young Quarterback shocked the world and it wasn't Sanchez.. It was Chad Henne. Henne showed an absolute cannon of an arm, amazing poise, great pocket presence and that "it" factor that you don't see in many young players.It's only two starts into his career but he makes us a much more dangerous team we were with Chad Pennington leading the way. Teams will be forced to respect our passing game and now Ted Ginn Jr. goes from major disappointment to a major threat. We have a Superstar in the making...
5) Tony Sparano: This guy is what we have needed here for a long long time and I am sure the Cowboys are kicking themselves for letting him go. The Dolphins were 0-2 last season and he turned the ship around quickly; this year he faced a similar fate as we started 0-3 but let's not kid ourselves we played the Colts to the end and we dominated them in every aspect of the game except the scoreboard. The Colts are the class of the league and we can beat them. The Chargers game was a game we could have won but losing Pennington changed that game and forced an un-prepared Henne into a game. Sparano coaches with intensity and demands greatness from his players. The players respect him and how could you not. This guy will be here for a very long time and for us that is a VERY GOOD thing..
5 Things I Dislike
*The Chad Pennington Injury: Chad Henne was great Monday Night and he got his chance due to the injury of Pennington but how could you say the guy who worked his *** off to play at a very high level and turn this franchise around is a good thing. I don't know where Pennington goes from here but that guy has my respect and is one of the ten guys in the game today that I would call a warrior. Chad Thank You and Good Luck in the future. I wouldn't mind signing him to a backup role b/c one thing is clear and that is that Chad Pennington has helped get Chad Henne ready to run this team
*The Safteies: I am in disbelief on how bad our safeties are playing. I thought we would have a very good tandem back there but Wilson and Bell have been consistenly beat on coverage. Gibril Wilson is looking like the Ernest Wilford signing all over again but he has time to turn it around and adapt to our system. I heard he has been staying after practice trying to improve so I'll give the guy a chance before I write him off. Bell is a good player and I cannot believe his lack of good play this season.
*The Lack of Pat White Use: Drafting this guy at #44 overall made me think that the evolution of the Wild-Cat was coming in full force but White has played 5 plays in which he has handed the ball off 3 times, threw one incomplete pass, and rans for an 8 yard play. Maybe we aresaving, maybe Pat White needs time to develope but I am just shocked that we haven't used him. We did put him in for two crucial plays down down the stretch on Monday night. I am hoping they start to unleash this play-maker
*The Dolphins Pass-Rush: Joey Porter coming off of a career high 17.5 sacks and the return of Jaosn Taylor to Miami had me thinking that our pass rush would be elite and it hasn't. I am not saying that it's been terrible because Porter and JT have gotten to the Quarterback a couple of times each but these guys are kep to our success. Cameron Wake got his shot against the Bills and recorded 3 sacks and I tihink more playing time should be coming his way.
*Matt Roth situation: I was going to have the lack of big plays by Ted Ginn Jr. but I think that is going to change in a big way so what really ahppened with Matt Roth? He is eligible to come back when we play the Jets and Roth is a good player especially against the run. Missing him for 6 games certainly hurt us big-time. I think his dishonesty with our coaching staff during the pre-season will unfortantly led him out of Miami. I don't think we can trade him b/c he is on the PUP list but I think he won't get a big contract from us especially at the contract he is looking for.
I don't know what the immediate future holds for this team but I am sure excited to watch the team and I think they will beat the Saints after the bye.
5 THINGS I LIKE
*The Offensive Line: The Dolphins invested $160 million dollars and a #1 overall pick in this offensive line so it was reasonable to expect a top 5 offensive line in the league. We all know how important building the offensive and defensive lines is in Bill Parcells plan to rebuild a team. Vernon Carey is playing at a higher level in comparison to last season. Carey has really man'd the right side of the line. Donald Thomas has shown to recover from an injury that cost him last season. Thomas is big and is really opening some big holes on the right side of the line. I have watched all 5 games and watched Donald Thomas closely and he puts a lot of defenders on their back side. Justin Smiley also returns from an injury that costed him half the season and this guy is playing at a very high level. He has been my favorite free agent signing of the Parcells regime besides Chad Pennington. Than there is Jake Long who struggled mightily in Week 1 against John Abaraham and the Atlanta Falcons. "Dolphin Nation" panicked and even started to question whether take Jake was reasonable; people were calling for Matt Ryan but wow were they wrong as Jake Long has really turned it around and is playing at an elite level in terms of Left Tackle. I have watched every play Jake has made in his career and I would say that he is the 3rd best Left Tackle in football besides Ryan Clady and Michael Roos. Jake Long has been dominant since week 1 shutting out the likes of Aaron Schobal, Dwight Freeny, and the whole Jets team this Monday night. This line is the best run blocking line in football which makes the Wild-Cat successful and they are improving in pass protection. Let's not forget about Jake Grove; Grove was signed a replaced Samson Satele who was a player well received by "Dolphin Nation". Many people including myself questioned giving a contract of that magnitude to Grove but Grove has proven to be a much better run blocker than Satele and has handled the bigger Nose Tackles much superior than Satele. Monday Night Jake Grove handled Kris Jenkins and there are few men who can say they have done that.
2) Ronnie Brown: Ronnie Brown was having a Pro-Bowl and even MVP type season before he tore his ACL two years ago. We all questioned how Ronnie would return and if he had lived up to the hype of being the #2 selection in the 2005 NFL Draft. I would say that Ronnie Brown is the best back not named Adrian Peterson or Chris Johnson in the league. He has certainly become one of the most exciting players in this league to watch. He had a pro-bowl season last year and is the trigger-man of the Dolphins Wild-Cat offense that has proven to be successful. He is off to a better start and is certainly on pace to another Pro-Bowl. Ronnie vision has really improved and he is running behind a better Offensive Line than he has ever seen. The NFL is starting to really take notice of Ronnie and he needs to be locked up ASAP
3) Ricky Williams: It's hard to trust this guy as he is the only person to have broken my heart twice but he hasn't hit strike 2. Actually I don't know of many players in league history that have made a better overall comeback than Ricky. Last season Ricky Williams was a brilliant complement to Ronnie Brown. Ricky is another very important component of the Wild-Cat offense, He is running stronger, faster, and meaner than I have ever seen him run. Let's not forget than in 2002 and 2003 Ricky Williams was a top 10 player in the NFL. Both Ricky and Ronnie are on pace for 1,000 yard rushing seasons and Ricky has really become a weapon in the passing game. The backfield of Ricky and Ronnie is becoming that two headed monster that we all wanted and the other 31 teams feared.
4) Chad Henne: Chad Henne is two starts into his promising NFL career but he holds a record of 2-0 and those wins were big against division rivals the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets. We have been hearing that our front office was high on Henne for quite some time but he was far from a shore thing. Dolphin fansand the world got to see what we have in Chad Henne on a the biggest stage Monday Night football against the division leading New York Jets led by rookie Mark Sanchez. Well one young Quarterback shocked the world and it wasn't Sanchez.. It was Chad Henne. Henne showed an absolute cannon of an arm, amazing poise, great pocket presence and that "it" factor that you don't see in many young players.It's only two starts into his career but he makes us a much more dangerous team we were with Chad Pennington leading the way. Teams will be forced to respect our passing game and now Ted Ginn Jr. goes from major disappointment to a major threat. We have a Superstar in the making...
5) Tony Sparano: This guy is what we have needed here for a long long time and I am sure the Cowboys are kicking themselves for letting him go. The Dolphins were 0-2 last season and he turned the ship around quickly; this year he faced a similar fate as we started 0-3 but let's not kid ourselves we played the Colts to the end and we dominated them in every aspect of the game except the scoreboard. The Colts are the class of the league and we can beat them. The Chargers game was a game we could have won but losing Pennington changed that game and forced an un-prepared Henne into a game. Sparano coaches with intensity and demands greatness from his players. The players respect him and how could you not. This guy will be here for a very long time and for us that is a VERY GOOD thing..
5 Things I Dislike
*The Chad Pennington Injury: Chad Henne was great Monday Night and he got his chance due to the injury of Pennington but how could you say the guy who worked his *** off to play at a very high level and turn this franchise around is a good thing. I don't know where Pennington goes from here but that guy has my respect and is one of the ten guys in the game today that I would call a warrior. Chad Thank You and Good Luck in the future. I wouldn't mind signing him to a backup role b/c one thing is clear and that is that Chad Pennington has helped get Chad Henne ready to run this team
*The Safteies: I am in disbelief on how bad our safeties are playing. I thought we would have a very good tandem back there but Wilson and Bell have been consistenly beat on coverage. Gibril Wilson is looking like the Ernest Wilford signing all over again but he has time to turn it around and adapt to our system. I heard he has been staying after practice trying to improve so I'll give the guy a chance before I write him off. Bell is a good player and I cannot believe his lack of good play this season.
*The Lack of Pat White Use: Drafting this guy at #44 overall made me think that the evolution of the Wild-Cat was coming in full force but White has played 5 plays in which he has handed the ball off 3 times, threw one incomplete pass, and rans for an 8 yard play. Maybe we aresaving, maybe Pat White needs time to develope but I am just shocked that we haven't used him. We did put him in for two crucial plays down down the stretch on Monday night. I am hoping they start to unleash this play-maker
*The Dolphins Pass-Rush: Joey Porter coming off of a career high 17.5 sacks and the return of Jaosn Taylor to Miami had me thinking that our pass rush would be elite and it hasn't. I am not saying that it's been terrible because Porter and JT have gotten to the Quarterback a couple of times each but these guys are kep to our success. Cameron Wake got his shot against the Bills and recorded 3 sacks and I tihink more playing time should be coming his way.
*Matt Roth situation: I was going to have the lack of big plays by Ted Ginn Jr. but I think that is going to change in a big way so what really ahppened with Matt Roth? He is eligible to come back when we play the Jets and Roth is a good player especially against the run. Missing him for 6 games certainly hurt us big-time. I think his dishonesty with our coaching staff during the pre-season will unfortantly led him out of Miami. I don't think we can trade him b/c he is on the PUP list but I think he won't get a big contract from us especially at the contract he is looking for.
I don't know what the immediate future holds for this team but I am sure excited to watch the team and I think they will beat the Saints after the bye.
