Here are five reasons why the Miami Dolphins will be better than the New York Jets in 2012:1. Better Quarterback SituationMatt Moore and Ryan Tannehill are better than Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow. Mark Sanchez is arguably the worst quarterback in the league. Mike Tannenbaum‘s decision to give him an extension is absurd. As limited as Tebow is, he’s better than Sanchez, who is the second-coming of Matt Leinart. The only problem is that Tebow is no Kurt Warner. Yes, I left out David Garrard.2. Better Running Back SituationReggie Bush, Daniel Thomas, and Lamar Miller, are each better than any Jet running back. The group of Shonn Greene, Joe McKnight, Bilal Powell, and Terrance Ganaway is atrocious. They’ll miss LaDanian Tomlinson. The Phins have two gamebreakers in Bush and Miller.3. Better Offensive Scheme/LeadershipLast year, the Dolphins were 22nd in total offense and the Jets were 25th. The Dolphins added Joe Philbinand Mike Sherman while the Jets added Tony Sparano. The Phins are transitioning to a West Coast offense that does not cherish field goals while the Jets plan to run more. While less pass attempts for Sanchez is good, we already discussed the impotent Jet running talent.4. Comparable DefenseWhile the Dolphins’ offense was better than the Jets’ offense last year and will be better again in 2012, the gap between the defenses is negligible. Last year, the Dolphins ranked 3rd against the run and 6th in points allowed, while the Jets ranked 13th and 20th. In total yards allowed, the Jets ranked 5th and the Dolphins were 15th. The achilles heel for the Phins was the pass defense, which will be improved by new defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle. Expect the Dolphin defense to be top 10 in every category this year.5. Superior Team CharacterThe Phins are chock full of players that were team captains in college. The one character blemish on the roster, Brandon Marshall, was shipped away and the 2012 Dolphins are poised to have a harmonious locker room. On the other hand, the Jets imploded last year and many of the problem children remain. The addition of Tebow may help but when a player like Antonio Cromartie is not among your biggest problems, your roster is volatile to say the least. Rex Ryan does not help.
I'm 100% Dolfan, but have a healthy brain and a good pair of eyes, so I can't agree with some points of this article.
1. Quarterback Situation
More than just focusing in passers, we have to evaluate on how well each guy could guide his team. During 2011 Matt Moore proved he can move the chains once his running backs started to win some yardage. On NY, Mark Sanchez was pushed to have a bigger role on the offense, and proved inefficient.
This season both Dolphins and Jets will move into different approaches. Matt will lead a WCO and nobody in the world can be sure about his production. On the other hand, Tony Sparano will install a run-first offense that will ease Mark's job.
That means Matt Moore will have greater responsibilities and will be strongly pushed to make or break it. Ryan Tannehill's knowledge of the offense could translate as a reason to name him starter but a huge risk as it's unlikely he could be ready before bye week. That said, David Garrard could become worthless as he could be dropped last on the depth chart, his only real chance is to shine outplaying Moore during preseason games.
Knowing Jets' fan base, it's easy to see they'll be claiming for Tim Tebow to start before allowing Mark Sanchez to prove his worth. That might sound unfair, but I see Tebow as a better fit for a run-first attack and Mark could be wearing a different jersey in November, just as Kyle Orton did in 2011. Tim Tebow is a great leader and his skill-set could serve well.
So I think Jets' QB have better chances of fitting on the designed offense. Thus because Miami will be adjusting within a more complicated offensive idea, so it's easy to assume they will be scoring more points, but also will suffer of several pick six off whoever passer Philbin selects.
Advantage JETS
2. Running Back Situation
Shonn Greene is one of the most valuable players at fantasy leagues as Sparano's offense could make him broke the 1000 yards mark just after mid-season. [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]But that doesn't mean Jets is in better RB situation than Dolphins.
Jets could find problems to afford an injury on Greene and such risk is bigger with poor support, while Miami seems projected to get discrete numbers on the running game, but speedy RB like Reggie Bush and Lamar Miller will be very productive on mixed yardage, and also Dolphins could find the resurgence of Daniel Thomas as a very welcomed surprise, copying some of 90's Broncos playbook.
I'll mark a smaller risk with higher rewards [/FONT]on Miami.[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Advantage DOLPHINS
[/FONT]
3. Offensive Scheme/Leadership
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Dolphins hired Joe Philbin as a desperate solution for years of nonproductive offenses. Philbin knows he won't have the impressive arsenal of Green Bay so he plans to install a WCO philosophy within OC Mike Sherman concepts.
Jets' OC Tony Sparano is 100% old school and loves scoring 3 points his offensive idea is to get 3 points on each offense and leave the rest to the defense. Rex Ryan sees no problem about it but many teams made him pay last season for overconfidence.
[/FONT]
Both[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] approaches are risky and could lead to disaster. Once Dolphins throw there's going to be a chance to make six or receive six from opponents, while Jets are placing all responsibility on defenders' shoulders.
I see no obvious winner here.
Advantage NONE
[/FONT]
4. Defense[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Joe Philbin break a key rule: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Dolphins' defense was fine and all he needed was to find replacements for some players, including retired JT. Instead he opts to follow his heart and turns into 3-4 base defense, reusing most of previous roster, leading to huge doubts at SS and LB. That sounds as a rebuilding action and could explode on Joe's face.
Rex Ryan just added some pieces and fortifies his main unit.
Advantage JETS
[/FONT]
5. Team Character[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Dolphins have one of the youngest rosters on the league, and Philbin and his staff lack of experience on the position, so there's no way to assume Miami could be close to Ryan's team in terms of team character. Dolphins will be forging character as the weeks go by.
Advantage JETS
I see other areas where Dolphins have a lead over Jets.
[/FONT]
a. [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Strength[/FONT] of calendar[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Aside of first and last week of 2012 schedule, Dolphins have a fine chance to recover home advantage as Philbin will use no-huddle and that could reflex on opponents suffering with heat. Jets have no advantage compared to 2011.
[/FONT]
b. [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Depth at key positions[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Jets are going to use run-first offense with question marks aside their starting RB. Dolphins have the same quality at all pass-related positions.
[/FONT]
c. [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Philosophy to win[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]What a clash of way-to-win philosophies: the nasty style of Rex Ryan where defense tries to create turnovers versus Philbin's style where offense must score as many points as possible.
[/FONT]
