Logical Overall Evaluation / Prediction

[ReppinThe941]

Fellow Fins Fans,

It's obvious this season has started in about the worst possible way. I know there were some detractors heading into the year thinking .500, but not certain anybody expected a 1-3 record heading into the Bye. With this being said...

I really wanted to start a logical thread about how people honestly feel the remainder of the season will play out. What personnel / scheme changes need to be made? Its obvious that, for the time being, Philbin & Coyle are going to remain employed. Also, i'm very worn out on the Tannehill bashing, everyone should be fired, sky is falling talk. Not stating I feel one way or the other, but the realistic aspect of things is that Tanney, Philbin, etc are likely here to stay for the foreseeable future.

I'm not one to be blindly optimistic, nor has the team shown anything to permit said optimism, but with the season being so young we still have a heart beat (15% chance of making the playoffs). This does seem to be the worst stretch performance wise (Philbin era) we have seen, but its not like a Philbin lead team hasn't been in similar situations in the past (record wise) and were still alive late in the year for a postseason berth. Not to mention, as terrible as we have played, the Fins have been about as unlucky as possible. Tough bounces, calls, etc. The only real exception to this was the Jets trying their damnedest to keep us in the game today.

With all of that being said, here is my take for the rest of the season...

A few things need to be done first, check on the Grimes injury, get Albert as healthy as possible, need Sims back for pass pro, some sort of devotion to the running game, and stop getting behind by 10+ points every damn game. These factored in with some personnel changes; Bowman looked physical, more DeVante, Billy Turner increased role, Walt Aikens rear end on the bench (Michael Thomas), Misi potentially back to Mike (though I thought Sheppard played more physical today), and maybe even some Sam Brenner.

If the team can put an immediate stop to the slow starts, completely pull their head out of their rear on 3rd down (both sides of the ball), and actually play some COMPLIMENTARY football for once...

At best I see us finishing 7-9, obviously not post season worthy, but "maybe" something to cheer for during the middle stretch of the season? I mean, we have to eventually find something to cheer about this season right?

I just don't know boys, anything to cheer about would be great, I think the loudest I got today was when we didn't jump on 4th down.

Anyways, hit me with your take, but please can we not turn this into the sky is falling thread? I don't think my delicate Aqua and Orange psyche can take it.

As always, thanks for letting my post / vent my thoughts...

Crossing my fingers for some brighter Sundays to come..

EP

Edit: As I posted, Saw Florio with the little nugget about Ross' decision coming tomorrow. Kind of throws a chink in my post, but hell, I worked hard on it. Just another reason I dislike Florio.

 

[Phin-O-mania]

We may win one more game..maybe.

 

[Sherif]

Thanks for taking the time to write all that. Just like the 4 wasted year's Faibin has given us. I hate him more than any coach that has coached in Miami.

 

[ChrisEAS]

I see it like this:
---Tannehill, Miller, Landry, Cameron, Stills, Matthews, Parker, Stoneburner, Juwan James, J. Douglas, Pouncey are all fine players.
---Jennings, Fox, Thomas need to be replaced. Fox and Thomas are fine as backups.

---Vernon, Wake, Philips, Suh, Misi, Vigil, Jenkins, Grimes, R. Jones are all fine players.
---Mitchell, Taylor, Aikens need to be replaced.

 

[ForksPhin]

Realistically, if Philbin is retained for the rest of the season, nothing will change. We will go 0-6 in the AFC East. I doubt we'd win more than 3 games.

If Philbin is fired, we may see a minor turnaround, just because the players will have a weight lifted off their shoulders. Potentially, they will put in positions to produce and not in a position to have their weaknesses exposed repeatedly.

I am not sure which is better for the future of the franchise.

 

[Sherif]

I just want to know whose decision it is to not run the ball the past 4 years. I'd prefer to win 3 games than 7 games as long as I can get that question answered this year.

 

[ReppinThe941]

Thanks for taking the time to write all that. Just like the 4 wasted year's Faibin has given us. I hate him more than any coach that has coached in Miami.

I feel you man, really I do. I just honestly don't see what firing him accomplishes at this point. If he's fired, then we definitely have completely given up on the entire season. Lets at least wait to see if we can get things going in the right direction. If we still have one win in three weeks, then I would pay it more mind. I wold start with Coyle tbh.

 

[Sherif]

I feel you man, really I do. I just honestly don't see what firing him accomplishes at this point. If he's fired, then we definitely have completely given up on the entire season. Lets at least wait to see if we can get things going in the right direction. If we still have one win in three weeks, then I would pay it more mind. I wold start with Coyle tbh.

Consider the fact that Philbin has given up on the Dolphins. I believe he wants out, he's lost confidence in himself and he has no answers. In that case, we have a better chance with a new coach than with the lame duck coach that players will not play for.

 

[ReppinThe941]

Consider the fact that Philbin has given up on the Dolphins. I believe he wants out, he's lost confidence in himself and he has no answers. In that case, we have a better chance with a new coach than with the lame duck coach that players will not play for.

It certainly looks bad right now, but think it might be a touch unfair to questions Philbin's devotion. Attack the guys rational, but the commitment / devotion is definitely there.

 

[GreenMts]

thanks for writing a really long post - nothing matters until ross is gone and we have a new owner.

 

[Sherif]

It certainly looks bad right now, but think it might be a touch unfair to questions Philbin's devotion. Attack the guys rational, but the commitment / devotion is definitely there.

When you are the head coach and you fail in your reponsibility to lead your player's you have given up. Paysinger was flagged for holding and he came off the field and I saw him discuss the call with team mates while Philbin leaned in from 2-3 feet away to listen. He did not feel he had the power to confront his players. His failure to do the basic job of any director, manager or supervisor confronting an employee when he makes a mistake leads me to believe he's given up. He's not dedicated to this team or more accurately, he's not dedicated to winning at any cost.

 

[PCmor]

It certainly looks bad right now, but think it might be a touch unfair to questions Philbin's devotion. Attack the guys rational, but the commitment / devotion is definitely there.

How do you arrive at that conclusion? Not saying you are wrong, but I haven't seen anything to me that says it is "definitely" there. In fact, in these recent press conferences, he's looked to me like a guy who's run out of ideas.

 

[malek2972]

I wish the outlook was better but I've got to be brutally honest. I just don't see a silver lining for the team this year. This team should improve (we can't possibly get any worse) but unfortunately our opponents will continue to get better too.

Evaluation:

1) Through the first 4 games it's pretty obvious that this coaching staff is a complete and total failure. Everyone needs to go but it's nearly impossible to fix at this point. The changes needed to be made at the end of last season but they weren't.

2) Our LBs are just plain awful. We didn't upgrade the position and teams are running wild once they get beyond our front four. Again this should have been addressed in the offseason and we failed to do so. Relying on undrafted FAs to become starters was poor judgement.

3) The depth of our OL is paper thin. Some players could still become contributors but others have already reached their max potential. We've spent a lot of time developing below average players and seen very little in return.

4) Veteran players that used to be reliable have seemingly have lost a step. It happens to the best of them but I think we're starting to see the decline of players (Wake, Albert, Jennings) and we've got very little depth behind them.


Predictions:

1) The metric will remain the same - Ross tells Philibin this week he either makes the playoffs or he's gone. There will be no firings until the end of the season because we simply have no other options. We made a fatal mistake by retaining this coaching staff and now we're stuck with them for better or worse.

2) The players are paid to perform. If they're too vocal and don't buy into the system then they'll be benched. Winning is the cure all for everything and if the team doesn't start winning things will continue to spiral.

3) Tannehill is going to take a beating this season and may not be able to physically make it to the end this time. I just hope the running game emerges at some point and lightens the load a little bit.

4) Going into this season I thought we'd end the season 9-7. Now I'm thinking we'll be 6-10 at best. "Less than Average" Joe will continue to frustrate and our only solace will be his firing at the end of the year.