How do you define your 2009 Miami Dolphins? | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

How do you define your 2009 Miami Dolphins?

How do you define the 2009 Dolphins?

  • Tough/resilient

    Votes: 22 40.0%

  • Inconsistent

    Votes: 11 20.0%

  • Both

    Votes: 21 38.2%

  • Something else (explain)

    Votes: 1 1.8%
  • Total voters
    55
O

oasis

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I just read a piece over on a Dolphins blog I read regularly (Phinsider) which was in response to Dave George's piece in the PBP.

In a nutshell, George argues that he doesn't see clarity in how to define the Dolphins this year due to their inconsistency.

On the other hand, Matt of the Phinsider argues that toughness and resiliency define this team.

I thought about this quite a bit, and I can't help but agree with George. While I can point to numerous examples of toughness and resiliency throughout the year, and certainly agree it's the Dolphins biggest strength this year, I can't help but choose inconsistent when I'm forced to define the 2009 Phins by a single word or concept. They've been tough and resilient at times, but at times also lacked toughness and resiliency, folding in several tough games they should have won.
This may change as the rest of the season unfolds, but that's how I see at this point. And maybe it's simply a case of defining a team by their greatest strength vs. their greatest weakness. You can certainly use both.

It's an interesting (possibly pointless) debate but what else do we have but mostly mindless conversation about our Phins? Where do you stand?
 
I see a team that though inconsistent, is also tough and more importantly, headed in the right direction. Chad Henne is a leader. He's still learning but for a "rookie" he has done a great job. When you look at the injuries this team has had, the lack of a true #1 receiver, an average defense with two rookies in the secondary, and yet we're still above .500, it's gonna be hard to convince anyone that we're not headed in the right direction.
 
It's easy to say they're inconsistent since they're starting two rookies at corner and what is essentially a rookie QB.

That said, due to their grit/resilience, our young players rarely make the same mistake twice, and never let themselves get down for too long.

To a man, everyone on that team that I've seen interviewed is only focused on one thing: How can I improve my play to make this team better?
 
JCane said:
I see a team that though inconsistent, is also tough and more importantly, headed in the right direction. Chad Henne is a leader. He's still learning but for a "rookie" he has done a great job. When you look at the injuries this team has had, the lack of a true #1 receiver, an average defense with two rookies in the secondary, and yet we're still above .500, it's gonna be hard to convince anyone that we're not headed in the right direction.
Click to expand...

Alright, so if you were to humor me and use one word or concept to define the 2009 team, would it be "improving"? "Moving up?" I totally agree with you on the state of the franchise as heading in the right direction, but how to define this group of players and coaches, i.e. the product on the field this season?
 
Bagga-Viagra said:
It's easy to say they're inconsistent since they're starting two rookies at corner and what is essentially a rookie QB.

That said, due to their grit/resilience, our young players rarely make the same mistake twice, and never let themselves get down for too long.

To a man, everyone on that team that I've seen interviewed is only focused on one thing: How can I improve my play to make this team better?
Click to expand...

Good points. I like what you pointed out about the dedication to improvement.

For me, the inconsistency thing sort of spans the whole team, from individual players to particular units to particular coaches. Sometimes the pass rush is there, sometimes it's not. Sometimes the secondary is atrocious, sometimes it's decent. Sometimes Porter plays well, other times he disappears. Sometimes the team closes out games, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes Henning calls plays like a loon and sometimes he has a lucid interval.
 
Inconsistent coaching, incredibly resilient playing.
 
The product on the field has been mediocre I guess for lack of a better term. We've shown several flashes of brilliance and several moments where we're all thinking "WTF." But that's the growing and maturing of this young team. I mean we're young at some pretty important positions. Chad Henne, all of the receivers, Sean Smith, Vontae Davis...these are big time skill positions where experience pays off.

I guess one term to describe this team is "inexperienced." But that sounds negative and there's a lot of positives to take away from this season. We may be 7 - 6 and may lose the next three to finish at 7 - 9 but I guarantee either way that this team is better than the team last year.
 
The future's pretty bright for this team.

It looks like we've finally got the franchise QB that's been eluding us since 1999, we've got two rookie corners that have gotten a good amount of practice this season, and we've got quality contributors on both lines as well as at the RB position. The WR position leaves a bit to be desired, but with one impact guy, it'll be looking pretty good.

I like what I'm seeing.
 
I'd say it's something else because it's very true that we've seen both a tough/resilient team we've also seen an inconsistent one as well.


The best way I can put it to describe the 2009 season in a nutshell is that we're a team that's faced some hard luck. We lose our starting QB in Week 3. Then Will Allen goes down with a season-ending injury weeks later, and the icing on the cake is when we lose our old yet reliable NT.


We've faced some hard luck this season IMHO and after receiving probably the toughest schedule in the NFL to compete against after Week 14 we're 7-6 and only 1 game out of winning the division.
 
My vote was for inconsistency. On defense when we should have been making stops earlier in the season, but yet they just completed passes all day on our secondary. Just makes you wanna go punch something. The dropped balls by our receivers this year could be another issue, but it's starting to get better. Gonna have to buy a punching bag to put in my living room. Just part of being a Dolphins fan I guess, wouldn't have it any other way though.
 
I have a feeling that tough/resilient will run away with this because most people don't want to believe that this team is inconsistent at best.
 
JCane said:
I have a feeling that tough/resilient will run away with this because most people don't want to believe that this team is inconsistent at best.
Click to expand...

so far looks pretty even...would be nice if there were some more votes...
 
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