Four Sharply Changed Narratives About The Dolphins Season

[AgentXof12]

There have been at least four distinct changes to the narrative about the Dolphins. They are coming from people on one side of the coin, that have all flipped, in a way that I find to be logically inconsistent and excuse making. Not everything is perfect all of the time. Sometimes things are not good, and it is OK to call the team or organization out. To be fair, narratives can and should change based on objective data, if the starting narrative is even realistic to begin with (oftentimes it is not). Here are four of the big narrative changes that seem to be more about excuse making and denial than they are about objective data:

-Vic Fangio now sucks as a DC. When he was hired, the same people were doing backflips. Must have been 100K comments on the Fangio thread about the hire. He is obviously an accomplished coordinator. The defense was pretty good this year and improved from last year. They carried the team the 2nd half of the year after the offense started to roll over. They held up better than the offense in the key games at the end of the year, despite an unreal amount of injuries. Fangio did not suck. Period. In addition to now trying to change the story and claim Fangio sucks, people are making all sorts of excuses for him leaving, like he never wanted to be here in the first place, or he wants to be closer to his family in Pennsylvania. BS. If that stuff was the case, he would not have taken the job here to begin with. Obviously, Fangio did not like it here, and he wanted out. If he was happy, he would not have wanted to leave. To be fair, in this case, it does not mean it is the Dolphins or McDaniels fault. It could simply be oil and water. Old school vs new school. If it doesnt work, it doesnt work. But to claim Fangio sucks is ridiculous. Same can be said for the players on the Dolphins defense that obviously didn't like Fangio. Could it be that the players are too soft and too coddled by McDaniel, and cannot take hard coaching? I am still a fan of McDaniel, but have to be open to that possibility. The way this team looked against better opposition does make you wonder if they are soft. This is not an unfair question to ask. Anyway with regard to Fangio, would it be that hard to just say "he is a good coach and it sucks that it didn't work out with him here, hopefully they find a good replacement."

Here is a good article on the issue from Dave Hyde on the Fangio issue: https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nf...e-depends-on-mcdaniel-s-next-move/ar-BB1hdt6K

-The offensive line now sucks. During the year I was hearing how great it was, what a pleasant upside surprise, how McDaniel turned out smart for hiring Butch Barry, and how Grier may have actually understood how to build a good offensive line after all. Now that the offense fell apart in the back half of the year, and all the big games, I am back to hearing about how bad the OL is and that they cannot pass block. Perhaps this is just an excuse for those that don't want to admit that something else might have been part of the problem?

-Mike McDaniel now sucks. Can't coach, can't call plays, should give up playcalling, the whole deal. Same people that were telling me how great he is (and for the record I like him). See above about the OL. Perhaps this too is just an excuse for those that don't want to admit that something else might have been part of the problem?

-The offensive weapons now suck. Third wide receiver stinks, Waddle drops too many passes and is hurt all of the time, TEs not threats in the passing game, no running back that is physical, bla bla. Fact, not opinion, in aggregate the Dolphins had one of the more talented groups of skill position players in the NFL. You cannot have everything. You certainly won't have everthing if Tua gets paid $50mm per year. But anyway, now these guys all suck too. Perhaps this too is just an excuse for those that don't want to admit that something else might have been part of the problem?

Can we please quit it with all the flip flopping and excuse making. Not everything is perfect all of the time. Clearly, after not winning a single playoff game once again, the team and organization still have a long way to go. It is ok to call a spade a spade. Fangio is a loss, the OL did not go from great to suck, McDaniel did not go from great to suck, and the skill position players did not go from great to suck.

Narratives change with the times just like facts and opinions change with new information available. We learned that our world class offense wasn't the best. They excel in some situations and fold at the first signs of difficulty. A team that destroys weaker opponents and gets slaughtered by better is the definition of average. The question is how they go beyond being average, and the road to do that looks tough. If the offensive line is limiting your passing offense to under 2 seconds most of the time, then your offensive playcalling will also need to be limited. So how do they improve that? The defense lost its effectiveness due to too many injuries, and this has become a known problem for the organization, so what can they do to improve that?

You can say these things are all good enough, and the conclusion becomes that no changes are needed. They can stay right where they are, and they won't win a Superbowl or even get close enough to smell it. That's not what any of us should want though. They can get better. They must get better if they are to go deeper into the playoffs. Unless they get lucky and luck into an AFC championship game. But we've waited for luck for more than 20 years and it ain't happened... not for us.

 

[Trade Viper]

There have been at least four distinct changes to the narrative about the Dolphins. They are coming from people on one side of the coin, that have all flipped, in a way that I find to be logically inconsistent and excuse making. Not everything is perfect all of the time. Sometimes things are not good, and it is OK to call the team or organization out. To be fair, narratives can and should change based on objective data, if the starting narrative is even realistic to begin with (oftentimes it is not). Here are four of the big narrative changes that seem to be more about excuse making and denial than they are about objective data:

-Vic Fangio now sucks as a DC. When he was hired, the same people were doing backflips. Must have been 100K comments on the Fangio thread about the hire. He is obviously an accomplished coordinator. The defense was pretty good this year and improved from last year. They carried the team the 2nd half of the year after the offense started to roll over. They held up better than the offense in the key games at the end of the year, despite an unreal amount of injuries. Fangio did not suck. Period. In addition to now trying to change the story and claim Fangio sucks, people are making all sorts of excuses for him leaving, like he never wanted to be here in the first place, or he wants to be closer to his family in Pennsylvania. BS. If that stuff was the case, he would not have taken the job here to begin with. Obviously, Fangio did not like it here, and he wanted out. If he was happy, he would not have wanted to leave. To be fair, in this case, it does not mean it is the Dolphins or McDaniels fault. It could simply be oil and water. Old school vs new school. If it doesnt work, it doesnt work. But to claim Fangio sucks is ridiculous. Same can be said for the players on the Dolphins defense that obviously didn't like Fangio. Could it be that the players are too soft and too coddled by McDaniel, and cannot take hard coaching? I am still a fan of McDaniel, but have to be open to that possibility. The way this team looked against better opposition does make you wonder if they are soft. This is not an unfair question to ask. Anyway with regard to Fangio, would it be that hard to just say "he is a good coach and it sucks that it didn't work out with him here, hopefully they find a good replacement."

Here is a good article on the issue from Dave Hyde on the Fangio issue: https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nf...e-depends-on-mcdaniel-s-next-move/ar-BB1hdt6K

-The offensive line now sucks. During the year I was hearing how great it was, what a pleasant upside surprise, how McDaniel turned out smart for hiring Butch Barry, and how Grier may have actually understood how to build a good offensive line after all. Now that the offense fell apart in the back half of the year, and all the big games, I am back to hearing about how bad the OL is and that they cannot pass block. Perhaps this is just an excuse for those that don't want to admit that something else might have been part of the problem?

-Mike McDaniel now sucks. Can't coach, can't call plays, should give up playcalling, the whole deal. Same people that were telling me how great he is (and for the record I like him). See above about the OL. Perhaps this too is just an excuse for those that don't want to admit that something else might have been part of the problem?

-The offensive weapons now suck. Third wide receiver stinks, Waddle drops too many passes and is hurt all of the time, TEs not threats in the passing game, no running back that is physical, bla bla. Fact, not opinion, in aggregate the Dolphins had one of the more talented groups of skill position players in the NFL. You cannot have everything. You certainly won't have everthing if Tua gets paid $50mm per year. But anyway, now these guys all suck too. Perhaps this too is just an excuse for those that don't want to admit that something else might have been part of the problem?

Can we please quit it with all the flip flopping and excuse making. Not everything is perfect all of the time. Clearly, after not winning a single playoff game once again, the team and organization still have a long way to go. It is ok to call a spade a spade. Fangio is a loss, the OL did not go from great to suck, McDaniel did not go from great to suck, and the skill position players did not go from great to suck.

Hey P, I think you have a good read on this. It's funny, from the comments here, I have learned the following. Tua stinks and all the losses were caused by injuries.

So for the sake of continuity, until Tua can do the following, the Fins will never win a playoff game, please watch the whole thing and think about the concept of "Light Body"



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