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jim1

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The Dolphins called the agent for Pete Kendall -- who started 16 games for Washington in 2008 -- to see if he wants to keep playing at 36 (he does), and will consider him if help is needed at guard before or during the season.

• One NFL friend of Bill Parcells said because of Miami's brutal schedule, Parcells privately has cautioned against too high expectations. Miami's opponents had the NFL's highest winning percentage last season. ``Have you seen their schedule?'' another friend, St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, said after speaking with Parcells. ``They can be better than last year and fighting hard for wins.''

• The state attorney's office on Tuesday reduced charges against Dolphins defensive lineman Randy Starks from aggravated battery (a felony) to culpable negligence (a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by no more than 60 days in jail), attorney Ed O'Donnell said. No trial date was set. Starks has denied veering his slow-moving truck into an officer on Ocean Drive during Memorial Day weekend.

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/colleges/um/story/1161744.html
 
jim1 said:
• One NFL friend of Bill Parcells said because of Miami's brutal schedule, Parcells privately has cautioned against too high expectations. Miami's opponents had the NFL's highest winning percentage last season. ``Have you seen their schedule?'' another friend, St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, said after speaking with Parcells. ``They can be better than last year and fighting hard for wins.''
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This is EXACTLY what I've been saying and I've been getting crushed for feeling this way. We will be a better team this season but I don't think we win as many games as we did last season.
 
JCane305 said:
This is EXACTLY what I've been saying and I've been getting crushed for feeling this way. We will be a better team this season but I don't think we win as many games as we did last season.
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Now wait just a doggone minute before you abduct Bill into your camp. He may have meant not to have 'high expectations' as in going 19-0. The homer faction of the board, including myself, still believe 18-1 is a reasonable expection and I'm sure Bill would agree.
 
chad pennington's coming back down to earth this year under that schedule...

top offenses and defenses all over it... no cupcakes to prop him up with
 
JCane305 said:
This is EXACTLY what I've been saying and I've been getting crushed for feeling this way. We will be a better team this season but I don't think we win as many games as we did last season.
Click to expand...

the problem with that thinking is this... you know who else had an easy schedule last year? the entire NFC South, thats why they all had great records, just like you can say the same for the AFC East...

we had an easy schedule last year because we played the NFC West and the AFC West... well the NFC South played the AFC West also and the NFC North which also sucked, so their schedule was cake too helping their records look good just like our divisions looked good...

so both our division and the NFC South you can say were inflated by an easy schedule... and now we play each other, so for BOTH sides the schedule looks tougher because those 2 divisions had it easy last season... so who cracks? is it harder for us playing the NFC South, or is it harder for the NFC South having to play us? who knows, but it doesn't necessarily mean we're screwed
because you can work that logic both ways...
 
I wouldn't bet against Chad. Word is that he is at the Miami facility watching film and working out more than any other player. He hasbeen putting a lot of work with Ted Ginn Jr. Some people play for the money, some play for the fame, some don't like to wear ties, and some just love the game. Chad loves the game.
 
Schedule Strength.. I am baffled...

I see the Jaguars, Buccaneers, Bills, Jets, and Saints as very poor teams. That accounts for 7 games there.

The Falcons are very beatable. Have you seen their defense? The Titans defense doesn't scare me without Fat Albert. The Colts, Chargers, Patriots, and Steelers are very tough. We did beat the Chargers last year though. It won't be easy but 10-6 is fair.
 
the falcons are gonna give us all we can handle and then some. i'll be elated if we win that game. guess you don't see the panthers as a threat...and we're gonna have to score points to beat orleans and indy...and a lot of points to beat the pats.

i agree the jets and bills should be 4-0 but div games are never easy.
 
Honestly the only scary defenses I see on the schedule are those of the Steelers and Titans.

The Patriots' are all about their offense...their defense just doesn't have a very good edge anymore. The Dolphins scored 66 points and gained 853 yards against them last year. You may say that was all Wildcat but they still scored 28 points and gained 392 yards against them in the second game when the Dolphins didn't go Wildcat that much. Pennington himself was 41 of 61 for 567 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT, plus a very nice-looking rushing TD and zero fumbles. So tell me, is the clock going to strike midnight for Pennington because they face the Patriots defense twice in 2009?

No.

What about the Bills? They were hardly an "excellent" defense a year ago, and according to Tim Graham, so far in camp Trent Edwards keeps easily floating rainbows over the top of the secondary to Lee Evans and Terrell Owens. Hurray for the offense, boo for the defense. Aaron Maybin is a rookie and we'll see if he can manage to give Jake Long any trouble whatsoever, my money is still on Aaron Schobel being the best there. I've not been impressed with Leodis McKelvin yet, Ashton Youboty hasn't panned out that well, Drayton Florence is their version of Eric Green, Jairus Byrd is slower than my grandmother, Ko Simpson is terrible, and Terrence McGee has Ted Ginn's cleat print etched on his back.

The Chargers defense wasn't good a year ago and I'm not sure they've gotten better. They get Merriman back and they added Larry English, but it still looks soft up the middle. Losing Olshansky probably hurts up front, and now their ILBs are Cooper and Burnett, which isn't much better (if at all) compared with Cooper and Wilhelm a year ago...and the safeties Clint Hart and Eric Weddle still suck.

Will the Colts' defense be the same without Tony Dungy there?

Will the Tampa defense be even close to the same without Monte Kiffin? Or will they be the team that allowed 123 points and 756 yards rushing over the final four losses after Kiffin announced he was going to Tennessee?

The Atlanta Falcons' defense wasn't stellar in 2008, ranked only #11 in points allowed, but can they even repeat that feat after losing Grady Jackson, Michael Boley, Keith Brooking, Lawyer Milloy and Dominique Foxworth? That's 333 tackles, 2.0 sacks, 30 passes defensed and 3 interceptions you're losing in one off season...and replacing them with a rookie Peria Jerry, Stephen Nicholas, an aged Mike Peterson that hasn't been good since 2005, either Thomas DeCoud or a rookie William Moore, and Von Hutchins. Forgive me if I'm underwhelmed.

The Jets ranked #18 in points allowed. The Jaguars ranked #21. The Texans ranked #26. The Saints ranked #27.

So where are these scary defenses that are going to bring Chad Pennington back down to earth? I see two, maybe three (I have some respect for the Panthers' defense). And one of those defenses, the Steelers, might have their playoff standing cinched up by Week 17 and will probably be playing all of their backups on the road in Miami.

Listen, I'm not saying that Miami doesn't play a better schedule. They absolutely do. And, on the whole, they play better defenses. What I'm saying is that Chad Pennington had GOOD games against teams like New England (twice), Buffalo (twice), San Diego, and the Jets (twice)...and that's a very similar sampling to many of the defenses they will face in 2009. It isn't like Pennington didn't play any elite defenses a year ago. He played the Ravens during the regular season and had a 92.0 QB rating against them. He made a costly error in that pick-6 to Suggs but otherwise the Dolphins lost that day because the run defense fell apart in the fourth quarter and the offense couldn't get any running game going.

If Pennington takes a step backward (which is VERY possible) it won't be because of the defenses. It will be because he just isn't playing like he was a year ago.
 
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jim1 said:
The Dolphins called the agent for Pete Kendall -- who started 16 games for Washington in 2008 -- to see if he wants to keep playing at 36 (he does), and will consider him if help is needed at guard before or during the season.

• One NFL friend of Bill Parcells said because of Miami's brutal schedule, Parcells privately has cautioned against too high expectations. Miami's opponents had the NFL's highest winning percentage last season. ``Have you seen their schedule?'' another friend, St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, said after speaking with Parcells. ``They can be better than last year and fighting hard for wins.''

• The state attorney's office on Tuesday reduced charges against Dolphins defensive lineman Randy Starks from aggravated battery (a felony) to culpable negligence (a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by no more than 60 days in jail), attorney Ed O'Donnell said. No trial date was set. Starks has denied veering his slow-moving truck into an officer on Ocean Drive during Memorial Day weekend.

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/colleges/um/story/1161744.html
Click to expand...


Who knows, personally I really give no credit to "sources" without names.. The toughest schedule thing is also a moot point IMO regardless of who says what due to the fact that we all play the same exact teams except for 2..

one of those 2 different teams we play this year, we beat last year, and we are playing Pitt the last game of the season and they very well may rest starters.. So the whole "toughest schedule" things gets little to no credence from me.
 
ckparrothead said:
Honestly the only scary defenses I see on the schedule are those of the Steelers and Titans.

The Patriots' are all about their offense...their defense just doesn't have a very good edge anymore. The Dolphins scored 66 points and gained 853 yards against them last year. You may say that was all Wildcat but they still scored 28 points and gained 392 yards against them in the second game when the Dolphins didn't go Wildcat that much. Pennington himself was 41 of 61 for 567 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT, plus a very nice-looking rushing TD and zero fumbles. So tell me, is the clock going to strike midnight for Pennington because they face the Patriots defense twice in 2009?

No.

What about the Bills? They were hardly an "excellent" defense a year ago, and according to Tim Graham, so far in camp Trent Edwards keeps easily floating rainbows over the top of the secondary to Lee Evans and Terrell Owens. Hurray for the offense, boo for the defense. Aaron Maybin is a rookie and we'll see if he can manage to give Jake Long any trouble whatsoever, my money is still on Aaron Schobel being the best there. I've not been impressed with Leodis McKelvin yet, Ashton Youboty hasn't panned out that well, Drayton Florence is their version of Eric Green, Jairus Byrd is slower than my grandmother, Ko Simpson is terrible, and Terrence McGee has Ted Ginn's cleat print etched on his back.

The Chargers defense wasn't good a year ago and I'm not sure they've gotten better. They get Merriman back and they added Larry English, but it still looks soft up the middle. Losing Olshansky probably hurts up front, and now their ILBs are Cooper and Burnett, which isn't much better (if at all) compared with Cooper and Wilhelm a year ago...and the safeties Clint Hart and Eric Weddle still suck.

Will the Colts' defense be the same without Tony Dungy there?

Will the Tampa defense be even close to the same without Monte Kiffin? Or will they be the team that allowed 123 points and 756 yards rushing over the final four losses after Kiffin announced he was going to Tennessee?

The Atlanta Falcons' defense wasn't stellar in 2008, ranked only #11 in points allowed, but can they even repeat that feat after losing Grady Jackson, Michael Boley, Keith Brooking, Lawyer Milloy and Dominique Foxworth? That's 333 tackles, 2.0 sacks, 30 passes defensed and 3 interceptions you're losing in one off season...and replacing them with a rookie Peria Jerry, Stephen Nicholas, an aged Mike Peterson that hasn't been good since 2005, either Thomas DeCoud or a rookie William Moore, and Von Hutchins. Forgive me if I'm underwhelmed.

The Jets ranked #18 in points allowed. The Jaguars ranked #21. The Texans ranked #26. The Saints ranked #27.

So where are these scary defenses that are going to bring Chad Pennington back down to earth? I see two, maybe three (I have some respect for the Panthers' defense). And one of those defenses, the Steelers, might have their playoff standing cinched up by Week 17 and will probably be playing all of their backups on the road in Miami.

Listen, I'm not saying that Miami doesn't play a better schedule. They absolutely do. And, on the whole, they play better defenses. What I'm saying is that Chad Pennington had GOOD games against teams like New England (twice), Buffalo (twice), San Diego, and the Jets (twice)...and that's a very similar sampling to many of the defenses they will face in 2009. It isn't like Pennington didn't play any elite defenses a year ago. He played the Ravens during the regular season and had a 92.0 QB rating against them. He made a costly error in that pick-6 to Suggs but otherwise the Dolphins lost that day because the run defense fell apart in the fourth quarter and the offense couldn't get any running game going.

If Pennington takes a step backward (which is VERY possible) it won't be because of the defenses. It will be because he just isn't playing like he was a year ago.
Click to expand...


I agree in a sense that if Pennington doesn't play as well, it may not necessarily be because he'll be facing that many more ELITE defenses than he did last year...

But he had 2 TD's and 5 picks against the only one he did face....twice...

What you have to consider is that Miami won 11 games last year.....and in those 11 wins.....the average ranked defense Pennington faced was ranked around 20th or so in the league....

One of two things is going to happen in 2009.....

Either Pennington is going to perform against better defenses than he faced last year as whole with what's an improved offensive line on paper....

Or...

....you're not going to have to wait until the post season to see him get exposed again...
 
I think we can go anywhere from 8-8 to 12-4. You just dont know untillyou play. Yea we have a hard schedual but so what. Most places are already crowning the Pats superbowl champs again. I think this should be fule for the fire for this dolphins team.
 
ck, you make some good points...no doubt. it's fair to say some of those top scoring d's from last year we face this season may take steps back...just like it's fair to say some on the sched outside the top 10 may make their way in.

i'll just say that penny was a combined 1-3 last year including the postseason against top 10 scoring defenses and out of his season and postseason long total 20 tds and 11 ints (tops of his career also) he was a very average 5 tds and 6 ints against those same top 10 defenses.

that and there are 6 games
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on the schedule this year against top 10 scoring defenses last year including heavyweights pittsburgh and tennessee.

is it fair to say that trend of average or less play against the better defenses will continue with penny???...i think so...it's debatable at least

it's also fair to say that for his career penny has very low odds at starting 32 consecutive games.

a further look into this seasons sched also reveals 8 games
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against top 10 scoring offenses in 2008 and that doesn't include a monday night matchup with peyton manning.

translation this offense better put many more points on the board than our season long 21.6 ppg ranking 21st in the league last year and penny is gonna have to perform at a much higher level against legit defenses if we wanna compete for a playoff spot again.

either that or pat white better be a monster when we line up in the spread/wildcat.
 
In terms of contacting Pete Kendall- I kind of like it. It also makes me wonder if Shawn Murphy can take a big step forward this year- i hop eso, but it would be nice to see signs of life in TC and the pre season.
 
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