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Good read from Andy Cohen

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bluehaze

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Now we know, when everything is just right, what these Dolphins are capable of doing. We saw it Sunday in a 21-0 victory over the New England Patriots, a game that featured a dominating defense and a mistake-free offense.

The question now begs to be asked: How can we bottle that? How can we get this type of performance from the Miami Dolphins on a somewhat consistent basis? That’s the question Nick Saban and his staff must try to answer over the final three weeks of the season and into the off season.

http://www.miamidolphins.com/newsite/news/andycohen.asp?contentID=4945
 
It won't happen. You can't just bottle up that kind of thing. A lot of things came together in the game. Offensive line, special teams, defensive line, our "call advantage" on Brady, etc.

Every game won't be like that. Every game doesn't have to be like that.

We always get geeked up for the Patriots at home. Every year it's our game where our players are looking to prove their worth.
 
jbond said:
the eternal optimist...
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Better than making a similar mistake as last year of assuming that a 6 game win streak against 4 bad teams, 1 mediocre team, and 1 team of backups means that we're ready to compete for a title.

People refused to look at anything beyond "6 game win streak" last year...and it cost us some mental capital when nobody was prepared for what happened this year.

Even worse, it probably cost the team some victories because the players themselves were unprepared for adversity.

I always say, never stop evaluating, never stop analyzing.
 
If we can repeat a similar performance against the Bills and Jets I think we can feel feel good about our team and optimistic about our possibilities for next year.

Even if we cant we can savor this victory for the ages.
 
bluehaze said:
Now we know, when everything is just right, what these Dolphins are capable of doing. We saw it Sunday in a 21-0 victory over the New England Patriots, a game that featured a dominating defense and a mistake-free offense.

The question now begs to be asked: How can we bottle that? How can we get this type of performance from the Miami Dolphins on a somewhat consistent basis? That’s the question Nick Saban and his staff must try to answer over the final three weeks of the season and into the off season.

http://www.miamidolphins.com/newsite/news/andycohen.asp?contentID=4945
Click to expand...

No mention of Culpeper, though. Make no mistake, this will be the biggest decision for Saben in the offseason. They cannot afford to make the same mistake twice. I'm very worried about Cpep regaining form. Saben will have to make a hard decision.
 
Jersey54 said:
No mention of Culpeper, though. Make no mistake, this will be the biggest decision for Saben in the offseason. They cannot afford to make the same mistake twice. I'm very worried about Cpep regaining form. Saben will have to make a hard decision.
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Depends on the next two games really, If Harrington continues to improve and we continue to dominate the only difficulty would be justification in keeping Culpepper next year. OTOH if Harrington bombs these last two games then Culpepper should obviously have no problem taking the job from him in training camp.

I am pretty confident though after all the research I've done Harrington will put all the doubts to rest in the next two games and the decision will be made for Saban as opposed to Saban having to make the decision!
 
ckparrothead said:
Better than making a similar mistake as last year of assuming that a 6 game win streak against 4 bad teams, 1 mediocre team, and 1 team of backups means that we're ready to compete for a title.

People refused to look at anything beyond "6 game win streak" last year...and it cost us some mental capital when nobody was prepared for what happened this year.

Even worse, it probably cost the team some victories because the players themselves were unprepared for adversity.

I always say, never stop evaluating, never stop analyzing.
Click to expand...

my only point was to look on the bright side...not to NOT be realistic. We still have many areas of need, yes. Can we play perfectly every game? No. But, the point of the article and the writer's opinion is that we're not as bad as some believe and it's starting to show...now we just have to do it consistently. Positive.

Our win streak last season did fool some...but considering we completely revamped our secondary and brought in 2 new QBs...some learning pains were expected this season. Our secondary appears much improved from last year's which is also allowing our upfront dline to make more plays. Considering they're (secondary) almost all new to the team & system...it's not surprising it took them 1/2 a season to come together.

Our offensive line is finally starting to produce after having a season+ under most of their belts together (and going through, what, 4 RGs?). Our QB position sure isn't settled and a top-notch LT would be nice while we will need to address our Dline (hopefully the younger guys we drafted can move up). Barring a complete revamp of our secondary again....they should be vastly improved at the start of next season compared to this one, maintaining our core Dline...should still be a top unit. With Ricky back as a backup RB we need (imho) a LT, to get more out of the QB position, a burner WR that can catch and to get younger on the DLine and possible LB. If we keep the core players...and upgrade a few of those positions (or maintain same level with younger cheaper players) we'll be 10 steps ahead at the beginnig of next season compared to where we were at the start of this season.

Edit: as we've started to come together...we've completely drilled the Bears and Pats and also beat KC....those teams rank 5/4/7 respectively in the latest power rankings. We're not playing the Pat's 3rd stringers like in our last win of last season. These teams are much different then the ones we won against in our "win streak" last year. If we can beat the Jets and Indy (who will be playing their starters shooting for homefield advantage at the rate they're going) and after beating the Bears & Pats like we did as well as KC...I'd say we should have a pretty optimistic outlook for next season. Yet again...we'll be the hottest team NOT to make the playoffs. At least we'll have our core Defense and Offense return. I don't expect as much turnover this offseason as the prior two offseasons.
 
There are those who had suggested that the line needs to be totally re-built during the off season. I don’t believe that’s the case any longer. What I see here is a group of players growing together. Vernon Carey, for instance, has now clearly justified his status as a former No. 1 pick. Rex Hadnot has brought stability to the center position. Could they use some upgrades? Certainly. But the enormity of the challenge isn’t as great as we may have thought earlier this season.
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Good points.
 
bluehaze said:
Depends on the next two games really, If Harrington continues to improve and we continue to dominate the only difficulty would be justification in keeping Culpepper next year. OTOH if Harrington bombs these last two games then Culpepper should obviously have no problem taking the job from him in training camp.

I am pretty confident though after all the research I've done Harrington will put all the doubts to rest in the next two games and the decision will be made for Saban as opposed to Saban having to make the decision!
Click to expand...

agreed
 
bluehaze said:
Depends on the next two games really, If Harrington continues to improve and we continue to dominate the only difficulty would be justification in keeping Culpepper next year. OTOH if Harrington bombs these last two games then Culpepper should obviously have no problem taking the job from him in training camp.

I am pretty confident though after all the research I've done Harrington will put all the doubts to rest in the next two games and the decision will be made for Saban as opposed to Saban having to make the decision!
Click to expand...
How much do you think Harrington needs to improve? When Saban made the switch to Harrington I took a wait and see approach. The first 3 games didn't look so good and I thought "Oh crap, we don't have a QB on the roster that can lead us to the playoffs let alone SB." But after watching his play the past couple of weeks I'm sold that we have a QB Saban can build a championship caliber team around. If we don't have one already. The 5-1 record has included beating 3 quality teams (KC at the time was...) with winning records. After Jacksonville dismantled Indy yesterday that loss doesn't look so bad.

Back to Harrington...I think if he just "maintains" the job should be his to lose. As evidence by his performance against NE. Going in to Sunday's game NE pass defense had given up:

228 comp 401 att 2518 yards 8 TD pass 16 INT

Considering Harrington's performance was without the services of Ronnie that is a pretty good game.
 
bluehaze said:
Depends on the next two games really, If Harrington continues to improve and we continue to dominate the only difficulty would be justification in keeping Culpepper next year. OTOH if Harrington bombs these last two games then Culpepper should obviously have no problem taking the job from him in training camp.

I am pretty confident though after all the research I've done Harrington will put all the doubts to rest in the next two games and the decision will be made for Saban as opposed to Saban having to make the decision!
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I'm curious, as to what the research has turned up? If Joey improves I still don't see Saban having to justify keeping Culpepper that is preposterous. The justification is there, 3-time probowler and gave up a 2nd round draft pick. Now if Joey kicks Culpepper's butt in training camp next year, and Saba still starts Cpep, then the justification needs to begin!
 
Jersey54 said:
No mention of Culpeper, though. Make no mistake, this will be the biggest decision for Saben in the offseason. They cannot afford to make the same mistake twice. I'm very worried about Cpep regaining form. Saben will have to make a hard decision.
Click to expand...
SABAN...Keep Joey, diss c-pepp
 
it can be done, it's called consistency.........winners have it. Champions.
 
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