Dolphins vs. Patriots - Is It Poor Drafting, Bad Coaching, QB or ?

[Waddle]

The Patriots also consistently make adjustments throughout the game, one thing I feel like the Dolphins SUCK at doing. How many games this season were the Pats getting stomped on, only to come out of halftime and turn it completely around?

If you're static in this league, you'll get figured out pretty quickly.

 

[stephins87]

The Patriots also consistently make adjustments throughout the game, one thing I feel like the Dolphins SUCK at doing. How many games this season were the Pats getting stomped on, only to come out of halftime and turn it completely around?

We should know, we were up 17-3 on them and lost. Philbin and his staff are pop warner when it comes to adjustments. With him sticking around, we're doomed. People think firing Jeff Ireland takes care of the team coming out flat against Thad Lewis twice, or losing to an 0-8 team. That's all on the head coach and his staff.

 

[Pelorus Jack]

I'm with you on dumping the 'Binster'. He shows nothing to deserve a head coaching position.

Oh wait, the locker room is much neater now..

 

[Dolfan4life!]

We should know, we were up 17-3 on them and lost. Philbin and his staff are pop warner when it comes to adjustments. With him sticking around, we're doomed. People think firing Jeff Ireland takes care of the team coming out flat against Thad Lewis twice, or losing to an 0-8 team. That's all on the head coach and his staff.

Didn't you say earlier (in this very thread) that it was Tannehill that lost to Thad? Now it's all on the head coach and his staff? Which one is it?

 

[dolpns13]

Hmmm, so according to this post it took the PAtriots 10 years to draft 11 good players. Youre actually proving the Patriots DO NOT draft well, with your post.

The Patriots DO draft well. In fact, virtually all of their top players today came through the draft, and none came through Free Agency. Here is my list of their top performers, including the injured:

Tom Brady, QB - drafted
Logan Mankins, G - drafted
Sebastian Vollmer, T - drafted
Julian Edelman, WR + PR - drafted
Rob Gronkowski, TE - drafted
Shane Vereen, RB - drafted
LaGarette Blount, RB - trade

Vince Wilfork, DT - drafted
Chandler Jones, DE - drafted
Jerod Mayo, LB - drafted
Brandon Spikes, LB - drafted
Aqib Talib, CB - trade
Devin McCourty, S - drafted

 

[Mr. Day]

It has more to do with quarterback and coaching. The Patriots are on top, because they have far and above the best quarterback in the division. When Dan Marino and Jim Kelly reigned, Miami and Buffalo dominated the AFC East. No one was talking about the Patriots and Jets until the Patriots got Bledsoe and Brady. No quarterback equals piss poor play. That is why the Dolphins and everyone else in the division have sucked so badly in the past few years in comparison to the Patriots. If Tannehill doesn't pan out next year, the Dolphins are screwed unless they get a better quarterback. Hopefully the game will slow down to him a bit more and he will be better. There were definitely signs of improvement this year. Last year, every pass he threw was batted in the air and intercepted. This year he took too many sacks until the end of the year when he started to get rid of the ball quicker or run away. With all of his weapons healthy, and some added skill, maybe the team can do a bit better, but the dominant team is most likely going to be the team with the dominant quarterback. All of the teams that are still in the playoffs have a dominant defense or a great quarterback.

 

[Alex Trevelyan]

Hmmm, so according to this post it took the PAtriots 10 years to draft 11 good players. Youre actually proving the Patriots DO NOT draft well, with your post.

The Patriots draft extremely well, don't fool yourself. Every organization that has the reputation of drafting well--Steelers, Ravens, Chargers (pre-AJ Smith meltdown), Packers, etc miss on far more of their picks then they hit on. Belichick plays the probabilities. He knows that no matter how intuitive you may be at drafting a player, no matter how scientific in your methodology, you are still going to fail a disproportionate amount of time, so you need as many picks as you can get your hands on. He says he learned this from Jimmy Johnson. In fact he has spent time with Johnson picking his brain on draft strategies.

In their last Super Bowl 16 of their starters were drafted by the Pats, and another was a guy who played one season with another team before spending his career with the Pats. The last time they won the Super Bowl 16 of their starters were home grown.

For comparison, that Packers team that won the Super Bowl had 17-starters that were home grown. The Steelers who lost to them also had 17 home grown players. The Patriots are up there with the very best in terms of their draft execution. When you list a bunch of draft busts or draft successes, it only makes sense in perspective. What are the Patriots doing relative to the rest of the league? I think you can say they're doing more than most. The tangents about whether their success is Brady or Belichick or the surrounding cast is outright absurd. Since all three are symbiotic. Shula had 3 Hall of Fame quarterbacks, no other coach in history has had that luxury and he managed to get arguably the greatest passer in NFL history to one Super Bowl, in a very weak conference at the time, in 13-years! Why? Because he lacked a supporting cast for said quarterback. The Patriots are doing it as well as it can be done in all facets, only the Steelers and Ravens have anything approaching their consistency since 2000.

 

[Finland]

A couple of things come to mind at this point:

1. It seems to me there is a lacking in how to build a team. Example: Why mess around with some of the defence we did when there were glaring holes on the Oline.
2. The draft seems to be more about "best player" than "drafting need" and drafting "potential" vs "proven talent". Do you end up with sub talent and/or you have the wrong guys for the schemes.
3. Adjusting for talent on the roster

I'm a little nervous about Philbin at this point, but since we don't know who made what decision it is tough to be sure.

 

[stephins87]

Didn't you say earlier (in this very thread) that it was Tannehill that lost to Thad? Now it's all on the head coach and his staff? Which one is it?

The team came out flat against Buffalo twice, and lost to an 0-8 team. Tannehill included.

 

[Dolfan4life!]

The team came out flat against Buffalo twice, and lost to an 0-8 team. Tannehill included.

I don't disagree on these points. But it can't be ALL on Tannehill's performance and ALL on the head coach and his staff. Seems like the rest of the team was flat as well, but you didn't mention any other players, just Tannehill. As always, the QB gets too much credit for wins and too much blame for losses...