Hayden Fox's Assessment Week Three Assessment

[claytonduper]

Hayden, good write up as the truth hurts. One question/observation:

All three of our games have emphasized our passing attack around Wallace. If this is truly the case, I believe this is a horrible strategy. I realize Wallace needs to get involved early, but what about our other receivers? What made our offense so promising in the preseason was the "spreading out" our passes to Clay, Hartline, Gibson, Mathews, Sims and Landry. Not to mention our running backs. I think our focus on Wallace has made Tannehill even more one-dimensional.

 

[Austin Tatious]

Good job, Hayden. Nice assessment.

Tannehill is lacking "feel" for the position right now. He has some skills and toughness but he is not showing the savvy. As for Philbin, this performance reminds me of the way the team lost to the hapless Titans 37-3 at home or to Tampa last year, and other examples. They flatline like their school principal of a coach. Or as Wallace pointed out "he's boring." Philbin is really demoralizing as a fan so surely some of the players think that too.

Jimmy Wilson's tackling is a joke and thus has gone on too long. He's not getting it. No picks in 3 games by the secondary is troubling.

I thought Dallas Thomas was mostly fine which was a pleasant surprise but I will wait to see how he graded. He had some good kick out blocks in the run game and was decent in pass pro (although I missed a section of the game in case I missed anything).

Jelani Jenkins was everywhere. It took injuries for the coaches to play him. If Wheeler, Misi, and Ellerbe were healthy, would the coaches know what we have? Jenkins had a hiccup or two against the run but he was really active. Trusnik is awful. I wish Jordie could have been getting experience.

Sturgis isn't reliable. He scares me everything he trots out.

Our receiving corps may be deep but they have redundancy in the unit. Landry, Hartline, Mathews, Gibby blah blah blah. Drops today were sick. We need more diversity in the unit, meaning different styles of receivers.

Travis Kelce looks good. I liked him coming out of college. What's so hard about drafting a guy like that instead of Guys like Egnew.

 

[J. David Wannyheimer]

I do think Miami wins next week.

They should, because the Raiders are garbage, but it really won't accomplish much.

I can't envision any result next week that suddenly changes people's opinions of this team. Miami would have to win something like 77-0, and even then it would just be a slight reprieve.

And the honest truth is, I don't think even a 77-0 victory this week would change my mind.

 

[PCmor]

* The NFL gets a gem to show Europe next week. The hits keep on coming for the commish.

Well, at least it should be a competitive game.

 

[Sirspud]

This write-up was much more restrained than I was expecting. Usually I agree with your criticisms because even if victory they point out the things that you and I know are just as likely to cause a loss the next game. Some aspects of today's game were just a flat out disaster and far too obviously a symptom of a dying and inept regime. Besides just people here a lot of sports writers are putting the Philbin regime in the coffin.

 

[MD]

I do think Miami wins next week.

They should but I'm not expecting them to. I'll have to clear my head a little before I can put any logical thoughts on paper. It's as if I am waiting for "this week" to be the week it comes together but that thinking is becoming somewhat irrational as each week passes.

 

[Hayden Fox]

Hayden, good write up as the truth hurts. One question/observation:

All three of our games have emphasized our passing attack around Wallace. If this is truly the case, I believe this is a horrible strategy. I realize Wallace needs to get involved early, but what about our other receivers? What made our offense so promising in the preseason was the "spreading out" our passes to Clay, Hartline, Gibson, Mathews, Sims and Landry. Not to mention our running backs. I think our focus on Wallace has made Tannehill even more one-dimensional.

Maybe, I thought the offense was better when it ran through Hartline. However, between RT's inaccurate tosses and drops by receivers, nothing looks sharp.

 

[joeharley666]

Hayden, good write up as the truth hurts. One question/observation:

All three of our games have emphasized our passing attack around Wallace. If this is truly the case, I believe this is a horrible strategy. I realize Wallace needs to get involved early, but what about our other receivers? What made our offense so promising in the preseason was the "spreading out" our passes to Clay, Hartline, Gibson, Mathews, Sims and Landry. Not to mention our running backs. I think our focus on Wallace has made Tannehill even more one-dimensional.

They tried to get other WRs involved Gibson etc, but they dropped their chances. They are just as bad

 

[Hayden Fox]

They should, because the Raiders are garbage, but it really won't accomplish much.

I can't envision any result next week that suddenly changes people's opinions of this team. Miami would have to win something like 77-0, and even then it would just be a slight reprieve.

And the honest truth is, I don't think even a 77-0 victory this week would change my mind.

Survive at 2-2 and re-set during the bye.

 

[claytonduper]

Hayden, that is being optimistic after today's let-down. Not sure I want a heart-break of a season to end up 7-9 or 8-8 only to have no chance at a immediate impact QB next Spring. It seems painfully clear that Tannehill is not the answer.

 

[J. David Wannyheimer]

Survive at 2-2 and re-set during the bye.

I don't think this coaching staff can figure out how to fix things. I really don't.

I've defended Philbin in the past on some things, but right now I can't see any aspect of our coaching staff as a net positive.

 

[AL R]

The different phases of the Dolphins do such a poor job playing off of each other. When the defense comes up big, the offense goes out with a whimper. When the offense comes to life, the defense gives points back. When the defense is rolling and the opposition looks like they will have poor field position, the coverage units cough up a long return. When the special teams come through for a chunk play, the offense goes quiet. There is simply no meshing of this team.

That's an interesting one that I have noticed as well, and it's been going on with this team in general for a long time, even before Philbin IMO.

 

[Sirspud]

Survive at 2-2 and re-set during the bye.

We played that crap all last season too. Lose a game we should have won, beat a team we shouldn't, lost to a team we shouldn't. In the end, our HC and our QB aren't good enough to have sustained success, and I'd rather see us lose in a such a way next week that makes changing of this pattern necessary than to see us have another 6-8 win season with Tannehill playing a brand of football that has mind-numbingly repetitive mediocrity and where the same series of losses and wins play out every 3 weeks so that even the wins don't feel like wins.

 

[Sirspud]

Maybe, I thought the offense was better when it ran through Hartline. However, between RT's inaccurate tosses and drops by receivers, nothing looks sharp.

In this offense Hartline looks like the guy who failed to distinguish himself in his first two years of starting and who had the highest drop rate of any starting receiver. He did great when tasked almost entirely with working the sideline and when asked to work over the middle, which is the bread and butter of this offense, he looks lost. With his weakness over the middle, I just don't think he is a scheme fit.

 

[dolpns13]

Piss poor coaching is where it starts. Philbin is coaching not to lose, Lazor has been a major disappointment and Coyle got schooled by Andy Reid. Poor tackling, lack of execution by players, lack of discipline and then the issues with the QB. And once again this team plays with little or no emotion. This team has regressed significantly and quite honestly, I'm not expecting to beat the Raiders.

I actually like Lazor and most of his playcalling. What I see the majority of the time is players not executing AT ALL. Tannehills piss poor accuracy and taking sacks when he should be throwing the ball away, players dropping passes.. Even the OL is vastly improved from last season and doesnt look like a weakness on this offense.

Coyle, as I have stated for 2 years, I feel has always been garbage.

Philbin, I had his back for the past two years. Now, I want him gone. Even to the point I dont care of the team continues to lose if it means he gets canned.

Hickey, I really like him. He did add alot of talent to this team. Its not his fault the coaching staff doesnt know what to do with it.