How about the players' effort? | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

How about the players' effort?

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DolphinVJ

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Hello all,
We have read many reviews of the loss in Week 1 on this Board and the Media. I did not watch the game as I was out of town for the weekend. Anyway, to me if players are not playing with consistent effort/energy, talent or lack thereof or coaching staff just does not matter. A good example of this is last year's Boston Celtics - probably top 3 Head Coach and arguably the best talent across the board and they underachieved because of lack of consistent effort and coasting by their top player about to become a Free Agent. To me lack of effort is reflected in mental mistakes - missed tackles on defense, out of position, penalties by the Team and just looking a step slow. I know coach Flores mentioned missed tackles and we did have high number of penalties. If lack of effort was evident in the game, why aren't the players getting at least some of the blame? I don't see fans or media blaming players for lack of effort. Coaches coach but players have to put in the effort in practice and games. Going back to NBA, Kenny Smith of TNT thinks any team can win around 35-45 games (out of 82 games) on playing hard alone! Was week 1 play the player's "revolt" after the Tunsil trade? Did the majority of the players play hard last Sunday?
 
DolphinVJ said:
To me lack of effort is reflected in mental mistakes - missed tackles on defense, out of position, penalties by the Team and just looking a step slow.
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This is correct.

The Dolphins have been a mentally soft team for the better part of the last two decades.

Lack of passion and energy in the stands doesn’t help either.
 
Bobby ‘blown coverage’ McCain appears to agree with the OP but I believe we field low IQ players who just don’t get it. For instance the bold part of the quote contradicts the underlined portion...

“One of the toughest [film sessions] I’ve had,” McCain said. “As hard as that meeting is to sit in there and look at that [butt] whooping, you got to get those corrections and take that criticism, because it’s going to make you a better player. We didn’t have too many mental errors [Sunday]. It was more physical, understanding the technique, the game, where we’re supposed to be, alignments.”

Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/...y-jackson/article234934572.html#storylink=cpy

It’s gonna be a long season...
 
canman1971 said:
Is this really necessary? It's a message board, not a classroom. Wonderful contribution.
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Well thought out points and formatting are equally important if you want to properly communicate your stance on something :)
 
I dont think it was lack of effort.

The turnover on this roster is unparalleled that I can recall including the week before the first game. So we have a new, complicated system with young, inexperienced players that may not be all that talented trying to make plays.

Confusion, lack of talent, inexperience all lead to mental mistakes, missed tackles, miscommunication, etc... of course when frustration and loss of confidence kick in it only amplifies the errors.
 
AdamD13 said:
I dont think it was lack of effort.

The turnover on this roster is unparalleled that I can recall including the week before the first game. So we have a new, complicated system with young, inexperienced players that may not be all that talented trying to make plays.

Confusion, lack of talent, inexperience all lead to mental mistakes, missed tackles, miscommunication, etc... of course when frustration and loss of confidence kick in it only amplifies the errors.
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NE runs an offense and defense that are demanding on a players football IQ. We brought a lot of their system here and I would agree that it might just be too much too soon for some of the younger players.
 
While effort matters, you need to have the talent too. If it was all about effort then Harris would be an all pro. He works hard and plays hard. He just doesn't have the talent to be a top player. He had ONE tackle on Sunday. OG Isadora had one tackle too while playing guard.
 
The game was out of reach so fast that it was absurd. This was not a game I've chosen to rewatch. It was just a total butt kicking from stem to stern and I'm not interested in reliving what was the most awful Dolphin game since the Jacksonville playoff loss 62-7 or something like that. When you bring in so many free agents right before opening day it's expected that the game wouldn't go very well. Harbaugh didn't need to do the fake punt, I hope we remember that one. Things should normalize this week. We'll get hammered but it should be less ugly.
 
BSQ said:
The game was out of reach so fast that it was absurd. This was not a game I've chosen to rewatch. It was just a total butt kicking from stem to stern and I'm not interested in reliving what was the most awful Dolphin game since the Jacksonville playoff loss 62-7 or something like that. When you bring in so many free agents right before opening day it's expected that the game wouldn't go very well. Harbaugh didn't need to do the fake punt, I hope we remember that one. Things should normalize this week. We'll get hammered but it should be less ugly.
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Tennessee 40-3 in 2012 may be up there.
 
I've said it before and I'll say it again, aside from 3 or 4 guys on defense and maybe 2 on offense, most of these guys simply aren't going to be in Miami in 3 years. These players are like scab teams, we're rooting for them, but long-term, they're not going to be Dolphins. These guys are playing for their lives. They need to generate good film for other teams around the league … otherwise they'll be out of the NFL soon enough.

If that's not motivation enough for them, then their careers hang in the balance. Every GM in the NFL watches our game tape eventually, and lots of scouts. People know when the players aren't performing well, and they don't give them a free pass because our team is bad.
 
I'm sure morale going into the game wasn't sky high.

Then it all snowballed from there and once the game quickly became out of hand well you see guys not giving it their all.

First and foremost there is a talent issue in Miami. You don't need 22 Probowl players, but you at least need football smart players, and I'm not sure Dolphins have enough of those players to compensate for the rest.
It is what it is.
Years of poor drafts, direction changes from coaches and bad FA signings all led to this.

I think we saw guys who are simply not quality NFL players, or at least starters get overwhelmed and forget their assigned coverages or gaps on defense.
On offense, the line isn't good enough to open gaps or provide blocking for 5-7 step dropbacks.
Talent on the skill positions aren't at a level to compensate for that either.
 
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