While I applaud Gase's "stubbornness", I can appreciate your well thought out and focused response. I may be a bit more of a homer than many here, but what I learned about Gase before he came to Miami was that he and Manning were on the same page in terms of preferring and using different plays based on circumstances. According to the folks that were in a position to know, Gase and Manning saw things the same way and worked together hand in fist. There was a lot of mutual respect between the two. Gase got the Bears offense to play some aggressive ball, but it took about 5 games for the players to catch up to his system.
This may be indicative of why he holds some newer acquisitions off the field for a longer time then many of our posters think is necessary. The real question you address is where does wisdom and patience end and blind stubbornness begin. I think we see different "inflection " points for when that is happening. I feel it may take two more years of good drafting and trades before he has the general performance level of this team uniform and to the point he can fully open up his play book.
If you consider the level of injuries he has adjusted for and the limited availability of the skill sets needed to be a solid NFL player, then you might give him a little more leeway in staying with a more limited types of plays.
I won't be surprised to see this team gradually increase their winning points margins as the they become more "Gasefied" (Ha Ha). The teams current performance is based on staying close and driving hard at the end of the game. His success in doing that should not be ignored. As the team gets better across the board I anticipate the winning margins will increase because Gase always wants to score.
I truly believe we are watching the transformation of the Dolphins into a Dynasty. It may not be happening fast enough for some posters but the results keep pointing up.
I wish we could find a way to limit the number of injuries we are seeing. I am beginning to suspect that this isn't due to poor training, but to strength increases with minimum regard to stretching and twisting while exerting that force. A training regimen that actually does increase straight line strength (weights) would likely result in more injuries if not coupling that strength to the physical twisting and turning when playing on the field.