Four Sharply Changed Narratives About The Dolphins Season

[phinsforlife]

Fangio and McD are very different: McD tries to emphasize the talent and strengths in his players. He creates his system (sometimes stubbornly) around his strongest pieces (Hill). Fangio wants the players to conform to his system. That's why he had Ramsey and X playing zone and not man/press as is their strength.

It was a mismatch of philosophies. The separation is a win/win.

howard and ramsey were constantly left 1x1. they were just not flip flopped to where they had ramsey playing the other teams best WR all the time. ohh, and howard is not even that good anymore, it is time to let him go given the cap hit he now is, not even close to worth it. fangio aint perfect, but he is pretty darn good, and odds are we do worse with our new hire, whoever it is.

 

[phinsforlife]

So you didn’t address a damn thing I said. Typical.

Just spout hyperbole while you criticize people who disagree with your “perspective.”

nice try, you specifically mentioned cam smith. and kohou sucked too. was getting smoked left and right all year. so i guess it is fangio's fault the UFA couldnt cover anyone? kohou was a nice story, but he was a UFA for a reason.

 

[Jamesw]

howard and ramsey were constantly left 1x1. they were just not flip flopped to where they had ramsey playing the other teams best WR all the time. ohh, and howard is not even that good anymore, it is time to let him go given the cap hit he now is, not even close to worth it. fangio aint perfect, but he is pretty darn good, and odds are we do worse with our new hire, whoever it is.

I agree with Letting Hoard go. I disagree that we do worse.

 

[phinsforlife]

one more thing that bugs me. when we hired fangio, everyone was psyched about the fangio scheme, and his experience. now that he quit, all of the sudden his scheme sucks, and he had no idea what he was doing. it is just interminable with some of you people with excuse after excuse, denial after denial, change of story after change of story, and on and on, for 23 years straight!

 

[MARINO1384]

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.

All pretty valid to an extent.

1. Yeah had a reputation for coming in and creating a top 5 defense just about everywhere he went. So expectations were high however the reality was they still finished 22nd overall. Epic meltdown in Tennessee, players getting hurt in garbage time (we can add this to the McDaniel sucks as well but I’d like to believe both have some say about who’s in the game at certain times on defense), the constant refusal to switch it up especially with guys like Kader and Apple getting burnt like a drum and the overall refusal to blitz sometimes (see titans game). Suck is extreme however to say he was anything other than a disappointment is just wrong.

2. Which oline are we talking about here? We had 13 different combinations to choose from. They played one time together and the results were pretty good ( give you a hint which game all 5 scored, the first number in the two digit amount of what they scored is 7). Other than that it was a constant patchwork job that wasn’t very good. They finished 31st in pass block win rate. Probably qualifies for the term sucking if there is any team that qualifies for it. With that said once you’re down to olinemen 8-10 on your depth chart this are expected to get rough. What the oline coach did with them was fantastic as at many times they were serviceable for who they were able to field. Here’s a table of what games what starter played and you can come up with your own theory however what sticks out to me is Connor Williams was the most important part of that line and when he wasn’t there, they line suffered the most.



3. McDaniel doesn’t suck however you are absolutely nuts if you are not looking at him as one of the most at fault people for the collapse. Whether weak minded team, , not being prepared for certain games,offensive playcalling issues or constant bad decisions all things that fall on the head coach. I will say I’d like him to give up playcalling. He’s great at scheming even pre planning drives. Even the toughest games we came out and offense looked solid first 2-3 drives then defenses start to adapt and he doesn’t. Maybe he’s not experienced enough or maybe it’s that he doesn’t have the time to adapt as he can’t really sit down inbetween series and say okay this didn’t work because of this let’s try this and I’m going to run these certain plays in these certain situations on this upcoming drive. Instead it’s the same originally planned stuff either spammed until it works or it’s a disaster. This also leads to him winging it with play calls which leads to the worst delay of games. This doesn’t help the offense and the constant motion combined with the late play calls doesn’t let Tua read the defense and adjust protection. The abandoning the run is an issue along with the constant decision making the 2nd and inches and the called backwards pass 4 yards or hind the LoS then an illegal formation on 3rd leading to 3rd and 5 which lead to a int vs the chiefs is maybe the most frustrating. To top it off if you saw warners review, the int play itself is incredibly dumb as Tua does have waddle wide open however smythe is running a route that stops in the direct path of where the ball was supposed to go leading Tua needing to throw it just over the defender on smythe 7 yards down field but just in between the safety 20 yards down field. This is a throw Tua has made all year however in -25 degree weather and swirling winds it’s just not a position we should of been in. The constant short yardage issues and trying to pass is super annoying as well. Think I read Mostert was 7/8 on 3rd and 4th and 1’s yet we had so many more chances that we tried to pass unsuccessfully with stupid **** like fades. Again fantastic job of scheming up a system however as a playcaller I’m just not seeing it. I didn’t see much improvement heel might of even been a step back from year 1 to year 2 in playcalling and not sure I want to see a year 3. With that said as a coach overall back to back playoff appearances for the first time in 22 years is great and while the season ended the way it did, Rome wasn’t built in a day and he deserves a few more years.

4. Suck? No. Overhyped. Yes. Mostert/waddle/achane/Hill without a doubt some of the best weapons in the league the issue is again same as the oline. When did this group actually play together? Waddle banged up beginning of the season then he got healthy but achane went out for 8 games then Hill got hurt followed by waddle getting hurt followed by Mostert getting hurt. They all played in the playoffs but we are talking about high ankle sprains for speedsters. Vs the chiefs I’m not sure we had enough healthy parts between the 4 of them to make one weapon. When you have an offense built on speed and that speed either isn’t lined up on the field or is playing at 60% combined with a patchwork oline and you can see how it’s an issue. We probably don’t have the luxury with not having a lot of picks but I’d love an athletic tight end for Tua to fall back on. Another issue with McDaniel playcalling was nothing in the 4-10 yard range and I think a good tight end can fix this. Smythe was serviceable but seeing all these young athletic tight ends like buffalo has, could really help the offense when the medium to long game just isn’t there.

 

[ForksPhin]

nice try, you specifically mentioned cam smith. and kohou sucked too. was getting smoked left and right all year. so i guess it is fangio's fault the UFA couldnt cover anyone? kohou was a nice story, but he was a UFA for a reason.

Ummm. Yeah. That was my point. Kohou wasnt getting smoked left and right last season. He wasn’t great on the boundary, but he was pretty solid otherwise. This season, the way he was employed was a disaster.

And we’ll see on Cam Smith. Talk to me next season. Also, let’s see if we’re relying on Eli Apple in 2024.

 

[phinsforlife]

All pretty valid to an extent.

1. Yeah had a reputation for coming in and creating a top 5 defense just about everywhere he went. So expectations were high however the reality was they still finished 22nd overall. Epic meltdown in Tennessee, players getting hurt in garbage time (we can add this to the McDaniel sucks as well but I’d like to believe both have some say about who’s in the game at certain times on defense), the constant refusal to switch it up especially with guys like Kader and Apple getting burnt like a drum and the overall refusal to blitz sometimes (see titans game). Suck is extreme however to say he was anything other than a disappointment is just wrong.

2. Which oline are we talking about here? We had 13 different combinations to choose from. They played one time together and the results were pretty good ( give you a hint which game all 5 scored, the first number in the two digit amount of what they scored is 7). Other than that it was a constant patchwork job that wasn’t very good. They finished 31st in pass block win rate. Probably qualifies for the term sucking if there is any team that qualifies for it. With that said once you’re down to olinemen 8-10 on your depth chart this are expected to get rough. What the oline coach did with them was fantastic as at many times they were serviceable for who they were able to field. Here’s a table of what games what starter played and you can come up with your own theory however what sticks out to me is Connor Williams was the most important part of that line and when he wasn’t there, they line suffered the most.
View attachment 159390


3. McDaniel doesn’t suck however you are absolutely nuts if you are not looking at him as one of the most at fault people for the collapse. Whether weak minded team, , not being prepared for certain games,offensive playcalling issues or constant bad decisions all things that fall on the head coach. I will say I’d like him to give up playcalling. He’s great at scheming even pre planning drives. Even the toughest games we came out and offense looked solid first 2-3 drives then defenses start to adapt and he doesn’t. Maybe he’s not experienced enough or maybe it’s that he doesn’t have the time to adapt as he can’t really sit down inbetween series and say okay this didn’t work because of this let’s try this and I’m going to run these certain plays in these certain situations on this upcoming drive. Instead it’s the same originally planned stuff either spammed until it works or it’s a disaster. This also leads to him winging it with play calls which leads to the worst delay of games. This doesn’t help the offense and the constant motion combined with the late play calls doesn’t let Tua read the defense and adjust protection. The abandoning the run is an issue along with the constant decision making the 2nd and inches and the called backwards pass 4 yards or hind the LoS then an illegal formation on 3rd leading to 3rd and 5 which lead to a int vs the chiefs is maybe the most frustrating. To top it off if you saw warners review, the int play itself is incredibly dumb as Tua does have waddle wide open however smythe is running a route that stops in the direct path of where the ball was supposed to go leading Tua needing to throw it just over the defender on smythe 7 yards down field but just in between the safety 20 yards down field. This is a throw Tua has made all year however in -25 degree weather and swirling winds it’s just not a position we should of been in. The constant short yardage issues and trying to pass is super annoying as well. Think I read Mostert was 7/8 on 3rd and 4th and 1’s yet we had so many more chances that we tried to pass unsuccessfully with stupid **** like fades. Again fantastic job of scheming up a system however as a playcaller I’m just not seeing it. I didn’t see much improvement heel might of even been a step back from year 1 to year 2 in playcalling and not sure I want to see a year 3. With that said as a coach overall back to back playoff appearances for the first time in 22 years is great and while the season ended the way it did, Rome wasn’t built in a day and he deserves a few more years.

4. Suck? No. Overhyped. Yes. Mostert/waddle/achane/Hill without a doubt some of the best weapons in the league the issue is again same as the oline. When did this group actually play together? Waddle banged up beginning of the season then he got healthy but achane went out for 8 games then Hill got hurt followed by waddle getting hurt followed by Mostert getting hurt. They all played in the playoffs but we are talking about high ankle sprains for speedsters. Vs the chiefs I’m not sure we had enough healthy parts between the 4 of them to make one weapon. When you have an offense built on speed and that speed either isn’t lined up on the field or is playing at 60% combined with a patchwork oline and you can see how it’s an issue. We probably don’t have the luxury with not having a lot of picks but I’d love an athletic tight end for Tua to fall back on. Another issue with McDaniel playcalling was nothing in the 4-10 yard range and I think a good tight end can fix this. Smythe was serviceable but seeing all these young athletic tight ends like buffalo has, could really help the offense when the medium to long game just isn’t there.

alot of stuff there, but l i guess i missed the part where you also said was tua was disappointing and didn't hold up his side of the bargain at the end. apparently it was everybody's fault but his. of course, when things were good he got all the credit!

 

[MARINO1384]

alot of stuff there, but l i guess i missed the part where you also said was tua was disappointing and didn't hold up his side of the bargain at the end. apparently it was everybody's fault but his. of course, when things were good he got all the credit!

Ahh I see typical Tua hater despite the post not having anything to do with Tua and only focusing on your specific points, your upset that I didn’t crucify Tua lmao shits pathetic dude.

As for what’s wrong with what you said. First of all when did Tua get any credit? Find me 3 clips all year with give Tua credit without mentioning how much of a genius McDaniel is or tyreek hill carrying Tua. Good luck you’ll be looking for a while probably won’t find it but good luck.

Secondly I realize it’s a team game. Blaming one player when the other 52 and coach didn’t is absolutely absurd. I watched the Bills come back and win the division on a 21 point victory with Allen throwing for less than 100 yards vs the cowboys. He then beat us for the division with a 3 turnover game and a 95 yard punt return. I watched the Steelers get 10 wins with subpar qb play all year. Miami can’t win one game without Tua playing good. Until I see the rest of the team fighting and getting victories I refuse to blame one person. Any qb who is asked to play great to flawless just about every game will fail, it’s especially dumb when you do have a qb like Tua who is admittedly limited. He can make the plays when it’s there but expecting extra when they aren’t and COUNTING on it is just a completely idiotic gameplan.

On top of all that despite Tua not playing elite vs better teams for the most part he made plays that’s would widely change the outcome of your narrative and most likely got us 1-2 more wins. You had the fumble by tyreek vs the chiefs which was a 10 point swing and the difference. A dropped td by tyreek on perfect passes vs the ravens and eagles, along with a called back td vs the eagles, a dropped bomb vs the cowboys which probably make it less of a sweaty win and a drop by tyreek vs the hills on the final drive which was a pi but hit tyreek right in both hands and he had the angle on the safety, two plays or so later was game sealing int. Now I mention tyreek a lot and in now way am I blaming him after such a great season and the other wins he got us but to completely ignore the 5/6 plays I mention widely either change games or completely alter the narrative that he just didn’t step up. Would be awesome to see Tua throw for 400 yards in a big game but I’m not going to sit here and crucify the guy because he didn’t especially when the rest of the team didn’t step up either. I’m also not going to ignore the times I mentioned when he did make a play which would of been the difference between an alright and great performance as well as a few more wins.

I’m sure you won’t comprehend any of this though as you seem to watch too much of the talking heads who have seemed to create this narrative that football is a one man team and that true elite qbs constantly carry their team to victory and if you don’t have a guy like that then your qb sucks and will never win anything. Maybe it’s true and I’m wrong idk just seems kind of ironic coming from Miami fans who watched the most talented pure passer ever never win anything his entire career almost as if football is actually a team game and above one single player.

 

[fishfanmiami]

Interesting view point

Thanks for posting brother Marino

 

[phinsforlife]

Ahh I see typical Tua hater despite the post not having anything to do with Tua and only focusing on your specific points, your upset that I didn’t crucify Tua lmao shits pathetic dude.

As for what’s wrong with what you said. First of all when did Tua get any credit? Find me 3 clips all year with give Tua credit without mentioning how much of a genius McDaniel is or tyreek hill carrying Tua. Good luck you’ll be looking for a while probably won’t find it but good luck.

Secondly I realize it’s a team game. Blaming one player when the other 52 and coach didn’t is absolutely absurd. I watched the Bills come back and win the division on a 21 point victory with Allen throwing for less than 100 yards vs the cowboys. He then beat us for the division with a 3 turnover game and a 95 yard punt return. I watched the Steelers get 10 wins with subpar qb play all year. Miami can’t win one game without Tua playing good. Until I see the rest of the team fighting and getting victories I refuse to blame one person. Any qb who is asked to play great to flawless just about every game will fail, it’s especially dumb when you do have a qb like Tua who is admittedly limited. He can make the plays when it’s there but expecting extra when they aren’t and COUNTING on it is just a completely idiotic gameplan.

On top of all that despite Tua not playing elite vs better teams for the most part he made plays that’s would widely change the outcome of your narrative and most likely got us 1-2 more wins. You had the fumble by tyreek vs the chiefs which was a 10 point swing and the difference. A dropped td by tyreek on perfect passes vs the ravens and eagles, along with a called back td vs the eagles, a dropped bomb vs the cowboys which probably make it less of a sweaty win and a drop by tyreek vs the hills on the final drive which was a pi but hit tyreek right in both hands and he had the angle on the safety, two plays or so later was game sealing int. Now I mention tyreek a lot and in now way am I blaming him after such a great season and the other wins he got us but to completely ignore the 5/6 plays I mention widely either change games or completely alter the narrative that he just didn’t step up. Would be awesome to see Tua throw for 400 yards in a big game but I’m not going to sit here and crucify the guy because he didn’t especially when the rest of the team didn’t step up either. I’m also not going to ignore the times I mentioned when he did make a play which would of been the difference between an alright and great performance as well as a few more wins.

I’m sure you won’t comprehend any of this though as you seem to watch too much of the talking heads who have seemed to create this narrative that football is a one man team and that true elite qbs constantly carry their team to victory and if you don’t have a guy like that then your qb sucks and will never win anything. Maybe it’s true and I’m wrong idk just seems kind of ironic coming from Miami fans who watched the most talented pure passer ever never win anything his entire career almost as if football is actually a team game and above one single player.

your point "when you do have a qb like Tua who is admittedly limited. He can make the plays when it’s there but expecting extra when they aren’t and COUNTING on it is just a completely idiotic gameplan" - so why would you pay up for a QB that can make the play when it is there but is limited otherwise? sounds like how one would describe a backup QB. these were your words, not mine. also nowhere did i say tua sucks (and then you had to go with the tua hater rhetoric too), you were the one who ripped the entire organization, and left tua off the list completely

 

[fishfanmiami]

If you are just going to piss on our team maybe this isn't the Fins site for you bro

We wlll not put up with 8 months of that

We support our team

Do that or go somewhere else guy

 

[Kyndig]

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.

-Fangio. He definitely doesn’t suck. I think it would have been better to have him back for more stability, but it clearly didn’t’ work out for him, and might not have been the best fit for us for a variety of reasons. I wouldn’t call any of our defensive players soft. I do think some of them might have wanted a more collaborative approach which may have yielded better results, or not, but I don’t think being soft had anything to do with it. Cameron Smith. Never saw the field. He looked good by all reports in camp and preseason, why not give him some snaps? Eli Apple and others were getting torched, why not throw him in there? Now the FO has no idea what we have with him, a second round draft pick. Do we need to draft another corner? That’s frustrating, and couldn’t have pleased the Front Office. It doesn’t mean he was a bad coach, it just means he may not have been as collaborative in certain areas as would have been appreciated? Is a very good D coordinator though, and I hope they pick a good one to replace him. there is still a fair amount of talent on the Defense when everyone is healthy. Secondary needs to be retooled a bit, but front 7 is strong. Wilkins may have to be replaced depending upon what they do there, but there’s a lot to work with.

-Offensive line. Performed better than many of us thought. Doesn’t mean it was good enough. We need more power in between the tackles to run the football in December and January with power. That’s the bottom line, when teams give us that two and sometimes even 3 high look a lovely counter to that would be power running game to compliment the zone read misdirection scheme we also have. Of course the other half of that equation is McDaniel having confidence in that part of the game and calling plays accordingly situationally, but yeah, the Oline is the highest priority to address in the off season, otherwise we will never get anywhere against good teams/defenses in the playoffs.

-McDaniel. Has a lot of good qualities as a coach, and even has flashes of brilliance. However, the following are things he needs to work on that have cost us games:

1. Short yardage play calling. There were a number of games when running plays were working well, and in critical situations such as 3rd down, 4th down when going for it, and short yardage red zone he called passing plays when in 80% of those situations he should’ve called running plays. He needs to figure this out.

2. Play operation. When on the road, with crowd noise he needs to have a simplified version of his offense, a different package that is easier to get plays in on time. If he doesn’t work this out the following will continue when on the road:

-Illegal motion penalties
-Delay of game penalties
-Timeouts being burned
-communication issues that cause the offense to be out of synch

He needs to re-architect his offense to account for environment and situations, and I think he needs to develop a quick attack no huddle package for Tua and the running game/passing game to take back initiative when things are stalling.

3. 2nd half adjustments. He’s proven to be horrible at this. Making adjustments to account for what the defense has been doing to counter it. See point number 2 as these two things are probably related. Sometimes we keep trying to force the ball to Reek and Waddle when they are taken away, especially Reek. Some of this is on Tua, but if you watch the all 22 you will see that in the Chiefs game for example, the play design was such that there were no quick dump off or check down releases for Tua that were easily available based on what the Chiefs were doing defensively. That’ is on McDaniel.

4. Not taking the field goal in the first quarter. Way too cute by half here. This actually cost us one game and almost cost us another.

5. Abandoning the running game when it is working well. This is unexplainable.

These are all things he needs to improve upon and are fair criticisms.

Offensive weapons. Definitely we have more than we have in years. We could use a big bodied receiver 6’3 or taller who can block but who can also run good routes and threaten the seams and be a big target in the red zone, but we definitely have some really good offensive weapons which is why I think the FO needs to reprioritzie the Offensive line this off-season. But if they can find a good and more complete tight end,. Or A receiver who is what Claypool was supposed to be, then that would be a big addition. Maybe Ezukama can come back, stay healthy, and be that guy? Would it be possible to sign Derick Henry to a reasonable deal so that he doesn’t end up running all over us playing for the Ravens next year?

 

[MARINO1384]

your point "when you do have a qb like Tua who is admittedly limited. He can make the plays when it’s there but expecting extra when they aren’t and COUNTING on it is just a completely idiotic gameplan" - so why would you pay up for a QB that can make the play when it is there but is limited otherwise? sounds like how one would describe a backup QB. these were your words, not mine. also nowhere did i say tua sucks (and then you had to go with the tua hater rhetoric too), you were the one who ripped the entire organization, and left tua off the list completely

You never mentioned Tua in your original post which is why I stuck to only the points you made rather than adding to the 7000 Tua post we have.

Don’t see how calling him limited is describing a backup? Tua can make all the plays and make them at an extremely high level when they are there. If McDaniel can scheme players open like he did the first 12 or so games Tua can play at an elite level. Can he do more depends on two things, can we build an oline that can stay healthy and is good as well as how he develops. Tua was the top rated dual threat qb coming into college. He may have lost some of that ability with the hip injury but I don’t believe it’s all gone. He showed even when not fully healed that he was mobile his rookie year. 2nd year apparently Flores wanted him to add additional weight. 3rd year he had the concussions and 4th year he once again added weight with the goal of making it through the season without another concussion. Now that his brain has had over a years rest, we could see a slimmed down more mobile Tua. A concussion this year would have set Tua back and potentially made him hang it up. You’re crazy if you expected him to try to scramble and take unnecessary hits this year. Now that there’s been some time it’s possible that part is added to his game.

Either way all I know is there’s no world in which I’m moving on from a guy that’s lead us to back to back playoff appearances for the first time in 22 years, lead the league in yards and passer rating in back to back years, pretty much top 5 in every other passing stat and has continued to improve year after year.

 

[Bob512]

Ahh I see typical Tua hater despite the post not having anything to do with Tua and only focusing on your specific points, your upset that I didn’t crucify Tua lmao shits pathetic dude.

As for what’s wrong with what you said. First of all when did Tua get any credit? Find me 3 clips all year with give Tua credit without mentioning how much of a genius McDaniel is or tyreek hill carrying Tua. Good luck you’ll be looking for a while probably won’t find it but good luck.

Secondly I realize it’s a team game. Blaming one player when the other 52 and coach didn’t is absolutely absurd. I watched the Bills come back and win the division on a 21 point victory with Allen throwing for less than 100 yards vs the cowboys. He then beat us for the division with a 3 turnover game and a 95 yard punt return. I watched the Steelers get 10 wins with subpar qb play all year. Miami can’t win one game without Tua playing good. Until I see the rest of the team fighting and getting victories I refuse to blame one person. Any qb who is asked to play great to flawless just about every game will fail, it’s especially dumb when you do have a qb like Tua who is admittedly limited. He can make the plays when it’s there but expecting extra when they aren’t and COUNTING on it is just a completely idiotic gameplan.

On top of all that despite Tua not playing elite vs better teams for the most part he made plays that’s would widely change the outcome of your narrative and most likely got us 1-2 more wins. You had the fumble by tyreek vs the chiefs which was a 10 point swing and the difference. A dropped td by tyreek on perfect passes vs the ravens and eagles, along with a called back td vs the eagles, a dropped bomb vs the cowboys which probably make it less of a sweaty win and a drop by tyreek vs the hills on the final drive which was a pi but hit tyreek right in both hands and he had the angle on the safety, two plays or so later was game sealing int. Now I mention tyreek a lot and in now way am I blaming him after such a great season and the other wins he got us but to completely ignore the 5/6 plays I mention widely either change games or completely alter the narrative that he just didn’t step up. Would be awesome to see Tua throw for 400 yards in a big game but I’m not going to sit here and crucify the guy because he didn’t especially when the rest of the team didn’t step up either. I’m also not going to ignore the times I mentioned when he did make a play which would of been the difference between an alright and great performance as well as a few more wins.

I’m sure you won’t comprehend any of this though as you seem to watch too much of the talking heads who have seemed to create this narrative that football is a one man team and that true elite qbs constantly carry their team to victory and if you don’t have a guy like that then your qb sucks and will never win anything. Maybe it’s true and I’m wrong idk just seems kind of ironic coming from Miami fans who watched the most talented pure passer ever never win anything his entire career almost as if football is actually a team game and above one single player.

Well thought out post sir......

 

[Bob512]

-Fangio. He definitely doesn’t suck. I think it would have been better to have him back for more stability, but it clearly didn’t’ work out for him, and might not have been the best fit for us for a variety of reasons. I wouldn’t call any of our defensive players soft. I do think some of them might have wanted a more collaborative approach which may have yielded better results, or not, but I don’t think being soft had anything to do with it. Cameron Smith. Never saw the field. He looked good by all reports in camp and preseason, why not give him some snaps? Eli Apple and others were getting torched, why not throw him in there? Now the FO has no idea what we have with him, a second round draft pick. Do we need to draft another corner? That’s frustrating, and couldn’t have pleased the Front Office. It doesn’t mean he was a bad coach, it just means he may not have been as collaborative in certain areas as would have been appreciated? Is a very good D coordinator though, and I hope they pick a good one to replace him. there is still a fair amount of talent on the Defense when everyone is healthy. Secondary needs to be retooled a bit, but front 7 is strong. Wilkins may have to be replaced depending upon what they do there, but there’s a lot to work with.

-Offensive line. Performed better than many of us thought. Doesn’t mean it was good enough. We need more power in between the tackles to run the football in December and January with power. That’s the bottom line, when teams give us that two and sometimes even 3 high look a lovely counter to that would be power running game to compliment the zone read misdirection scheme we also have. Of course the other half of that equation is McDaniel having confidence in that part of the game and calling plays accordingly situationally, but yeah, the Oline is the highest priority to address in the off season, otherwise we will never get anywhere against good teams/defenses in the playoffs.

-McDaniel. Has a lot of good qualities as a coach, and even has flashes of brilliance. However, the following are things he needs to work on that have cost us games:

1. Short yardage play calling. There were a number of games when running plays were working well, and in critical situations such as 3rd down, 4th down when going for it, and short yardage red zone he called passing plays when in 80% of those situations he should’ve called running plays. He needs to figure this out.

2. Play operation. When on the road, with crowd noise he needs to have a simplified version of his offense, a different package that is easier to get plays in on time. If he doesn’t work this out the following will continue when on the road:

-Illegal motion penalties
-Delay of game penalties
-Timeouts being burned
-communication issues that cause the offense to be out of synch

He needs to re-architect his offense to account for environment and situations, and I think he needs to develop a quick attack no huddle package for Tua and the running game/passing game to take back initiative when things are stalling.

3. 2nd half adjustments. He’s proven to be horrible at this. Making adjustments to account for what the defense has been doing to counter it. See point number 2 as these two things are probably related. Sometimes we keep trying to force the ball to Reek and Waddle when they are taken away, especially Reek. Some of this is on Tua, but if you watch the all 22 you will see that in the Chiefs game for example, the play design was such that there were no quick dump off or check down releases for Tua that were easily available based on what the Chiefs were doing defensively. That’ is on McDaniel.

4. Not taking the field goal in the first quarter. Way too cute by half here. This actually cost us one game and almost cost us another.

5. Abandoning the running game when it is working well. This is unexplainable.

These are all things he needs to improve upon and are fair criticisms.

Offensive weapons. Definitely we have more than we have in years. We could use a big bodied receiver 6’3 or taller who can block but who can also run good routes and threaten the seams and be a big target in the red zone, but we definitely have some really good offensive weapons which is why I think the FO needs to reprioritzie the Offensive line this off-season. But if they can find a good and more complete tight end,. Or A receiver who is what Claypool was supposed to be, then that would be a big addition. Maybe Ezukama can come back, stay healthy, and be that guy? Would it be possible to sign Derick Henry to a reasonable deal so that he doesn’t end up running all over us playing for the Ravens next year?

Agree with you on these....

Not taking the FG's is infuriating at times. I like aggressive play, but we turned the ball over on downs in the red zone, early in games a handful of times in 2023 and it was infuriating. There is a difference between confidence and arrogance.....take the points and live to fight again.

Also, your point on the big bodied receiver or TE is an option for us that is there for the taking and we can desperately use one. The short to intermediate passing game is almost always available to us if we want it....but look way too often to the big play when a couple of little ones will do the same job. This would also help us in the middle of the field with the intermediate passes while Waddle and Hill occupy the deeper routes. We saw Smythe do this a bit later in the season, but way too little for my liking.

It was stunning to watch the Chiefs / Bills game and see the time that Mahomes and Allen have in the pocket compared to Tua. We need to get to a similar point with the O-Line. I was pleased with how they played this year (compared to my expectations), but you could also see the difference when Williams was lost for the season. We need continuity on that O-Line and we need to expect them to provide a cleaner pocket and maintain it a reasonable amount of time. At this point, our entire passing philosophy is based on the shortcomings of pass protection. We get the ball out in 2 seconds, because we have to. Need to fix that once and for all.