I apologize if someone else has created a similar thread earlier. I'll try not to talk too much about what you guys likely saw on TV already.
First off, I gotta give props to Raymond James Stadium. That right there is a nice place to watch a game. I really like they way it's set up. I honestly must say that I enjoyed that stadium more than I do ours. I really wish my commute to Dolphins Stadium could be this short. I can't image being able to just shoot up the road and see my Phins every week.
Aside from some light ribbing from a few people, Bucs fans were surprisingly tame. Good natured fans who really left us alone. Much different than what I'm used to in public here. But they too leave early. Stadium was 3/5 empty come the start of the 4th quarter. It was almost completely empty after halftime. And they boo'd loudly when Alstott wasn't put into the game during garbage time.
Our section was filled with Dolphin fans. My entire row was almost all Dolfans. And they helped when the game got out of hand. They had us cracking up.
These fans came from Gainesville, Palm Beach, Orlando, Miami (season ticket holders). I don't want to hear anything about Dolphins fans not caring. These people came from all over. And even though tickets were very tough to get your hands on if you weren't a Bucs fan (by design), there were a lot of Dolphin fans at that stadium.
Now to the game itself....
Offensive Line
I noticed Vernon Carey getting into the game at RT for only one series (second series of the game). Pass protection is supposed to be his strength. But Carey got killed on two consecutive plays by reserve Dwayne White. And that was the last time I remember seeing Carey in the game. And it's a good thing, because Stockar McDougle chipped in with two false start penalties.
Still, McDougle is the better player right now. Carey is falling like a rock.
On the other side, Damion McIntosh gave up sacks in crunch time. He seemed to be doing a pretty good job in pass protection. But when we absolutely needed it, he was beaten by Greg Spires and Simeon Rice. And both plays resulted in fumbles lost by Frerotte. McDougle also gave up a sack in the 4th.
The false start trend continues for 1st plays from scrimmage. This time it was McDougle. But Hadnot and James had one as well. Hadnot's holding call in the 4th......I'm still looking for where a hold occured. But it didn't matter because McDougle gave up the sack.
In short, the offensive line needs an infusion of talent. We need quicker, more explosive players up front who are disciplined enough to go on the snap count. You don't see Tampa's young line committing stupid penalties. And they have little trouble getting movement and creating holes for their RBs.
Quarterback- Gus Frerotte had his worst game as a Dolphin. His inaccuracy just KILLED us today. He consistently threw over and behind his receivers. On the long Ronnie Brown play that was challenged, if Gus hits him in stride, Ronnie strides in for a 75-yard TD. There was nothing but green grass in front of him. Gus also missed Gilmore, who was alone in his own zip code for a 1st down. In the 4th quarter, Gus rolled out and instead of throwing the ball away, he runs out of bounds for a 3-yard loss. The really sad part was he had a man wide open on the sidelines for a 1st down.
Everybody who was targeted for a pass today felt the effects.
If Gus plays like this next week vs. KC, we could very well see Sage Rosenfels in Baton Rouge. If it's Gus and he plays lackluster in Baton Rouge, I'll GUARANTEE we'll see Sage. Seriously, we can't leave all these yards and points on the field. And I assure you that Nick Saban won't put up with it for much longer.
On the flip side, Brian Griese's injury looked really bad. I couldn't believe he walked off the field.
Receivers - the inconsistency continues. When Frerotte was putting them on the money, guys kept dropping them. I was livid when Chris Chambers dropped the bomb downfield. Chambers had a LB covering him. And the ball hits him in the hands. You've got a $30 million contract. I want to see you catch that pass for once. He alligator-armed another pass on the sidelines. And his holding penalty on the Welker pass was just ridiculous. Completely unnecessary.
Booker drops more wide open passes. Lorenzo Diamond is wide open for a 50-yard gain and makes a poor adjustment to the ball. Randy McMichael converts that play folks. Gilmore ran a wrong route that almost resulted in an INT. Welker was the only guy worth a damn today.
Defense
They just could not get off the field on 3rd down. Every time I saw Travis Daniels back 10 yards off Michael Clayton or Joey Galloway pre-snap, I wanted to eat my hat. I'll never understand it. Compounding matters was the Bucs running the slot man as interference to the outside, giving Clayton or Galloway all kinds of space over the middle to catch and run. Backing up like that is just conceding a minimum 7 yard gain. It's asinine.
The CB position is a nightmare. Sam Madison still can't tackle. Daniels is a youngin' who apparently lacks confidence vs. good receivers. Howard is Howard. And the other guys are injured.
Lance Schulters had a rough first half. Michael Pittman embarrassed him with a stiffarm. Then he and Madison got run over by Alstott. Yeremiah Bell replaced him for a little while in the 1st quarter. But he recovered and nearly got a pick six in our endzone.
Gruden did a good job of getting mismatches for his WRs, which is a pretty common occurance when facing his offenses. We saw a lot of plays where Clayton and Galloway were covered by the safeties.
In short, Tampa played a very good game. They didn't make mistakes and they didn't leave yards/points on the field. We did. We left a lot on the field. That's the frustrating part. We hand these teams so much. Then when opportunities for redemption present themselves, we don't capitalize on them. And for that, we don't deserve to win. If we'd have converted on five or six of these opportunities, we'd be undefeated....flaws and all.
On the plus side, we saw a little bit more discipline today. But nowhere near what's required. Too often we looked like the Bad News Bears out there today. It was just pitiful.
The Dolphins have a long way to go. This group still needs a lot of help. RB and TE are the only position that's set IMO. Everywhere else needs help. We need guys who are mentally strong and can execute ON THE ROAD. Because lets face it, we've pee'd the bed every time we've had to stay in a hotel.
Sorry I rambled about the same old crap. Won't make a habit of it.
First off, I gotta give props to Raymond James Stadium. That right there is a nice place to watch a game. I really like they way it's set up. I honestly must say that I enjoyed that stadium more than I do ours. I really wish my commute to Dolphins Stadium could be this short. I can't image being able to just shoot up the road and see my Phins every week.
Aside from some light ribbing from a few people, Bucs fans were surprisingly tame. Good natured fans who really left us alone. Much different than what I'm used to in public here. But they too leave early. Stadium was 3/5 empty come the start of the 4th quarter. It was almost completely empty after halftime. And they boo'd loudly when Alstott wasn't put into the game during garbage time.
Our section was filled with Dolphin fans. My entire row was almost all Dolfans. And they helped when the game got out of hand. They had us cracking up.
These fans came from Gainesville, Palm Beach, Orlando, Miami (season ticket holders). I don't want to hear anything about Dolphins fans not caring. These people came from all over. And even though tickets were very tough to get your hands on if you weren't a Bucs fan (by design), there were a lot of Dolphin fans at that stadium.
Now to the game itself....
Offensive Line
I noticed Vernon Carey getting into the game at RT for only one series (second series of the game). Pass protection is supposed to be his strength. But Carey got killed on two consecutive plays by reserve Dwayne White. And that was the last time I remember seeing Carey in the game. And it's a good thing, because Stockar McDougle chipped in with two false start penalties.
Still, McDougle is the better player right now. Carey is falling like a rock.On the other side, Damion McIntosh gave up sacks in crunch time. He seemed to be doing a pretty good job in pass protection. But when we absolutely needed it, he was beaten by Greg Spires and Simeon Rice. And both plays resulted in fumbles lost by Frerotte. McDougle also gave up a sack in the 4th.
The false start trend continues for 1st plays from scrimmage. This time it was McDougle. But Hadnot and James had one as well. Hadnot's holding call in the 4th......I'm still looking for where a hold occured. But it didn't matter because McDougle gave up the sack.
In short, the offensive line needs an infusion of talent. We need quicker, more explosive players up front who are disciplined enough to go on the snap count. You don't see Tampa's young line committing stupid penalties. And they have little trouble getting movement and creating holes for their RBs.
Quarterback- Gus Frerotte had his worst game as a Dolphin. His inaccuracy just KILLED us today. He consistently threw over and behind his receivers. On the long Ronnie Brown play that was challenged, if Gus hits him in stride, Ronnie strides in for a 75-yard TD. There was nothing but green grass in front of him. Gus also missed Gilmore, who was alone in his own zip code for a 1st down. In the 4th quarter, Gus rolled out and instead of throwing the ball away, he runs out of bounds for a 3-yard loss. The really sad part was he had a man wide open on the sidelines for a 1st down.
Everybody who was targeted for a pass today felt the effects.
If Gus plays like this next week vs. KC, we could very well see Sage Rosenfels in Baton Rouge. If it's Gus and he plays lackluster in Baton Rouge, I'll GUARANTEE we'll see Sage. Seriously, we can't leave all these yards and points on the field. And I assure you that Nick Saban won't put up with it for much longer.
On the flip side, Brian Griese's injury looked really bad. I couldn't believe he walked off the field.
Receivers - the inconsistency continues. When Frerotte was putting them on the money, guys kept dropping them. I was livid when Chris Chambers dropped the bomb downfield. Chambers had a LB covering him. And the ball hits him in the hands. You've got a $30 million contract. I want to see you catch that pass for once. He alligator-armed another pass on the sidelines. And his holding penalty on the Welker pass was just ridiculous. Completely unnecessary.
Booker drops more wide open passes. Lorenzo Diamond is wide open for a 50-yard gain and makes a poor adjustment to the ball. Randy McMichael converts that play folks. Gilmore ran a wrong route that almost resulted in an INT. Welker was the only guy worth a damn today.
Defense
They just could not get off the field on 3rd down. Every time I saw Travis Daniels back 10 yards off Michael Clayton or Joey Galloway pre-snap, I wanted to eat my hat. I'll never understand it. Compounding matters was the Bucs running the slot man as interference to the outside, giving Clayton or Galloway all kinds of space over the middle to catch and run. Backing up like that is just conceding a minimum 7 yard gain. It's asinine.
The CB position is a nightmare. Sam Madison still can't tackle. Daniels is a youngin' who apparently lacks confidence vs. good receivers. Howard is Howard. And the other guys are injured.
Lance Schulters had a rough first half. Michael Pittman embarrassed him with a stiffarm. Then he and Madison got run over by Alstott. Yeremiah Bell replaced him for a little while in the 1st quarter. But he recovered and nearly got a pick six in our endzone.
Gruden did a good job of getting mismatches for his WRs, which is a pretty common occurance when facing his offenses. We saw a lot of plays where Clayton and Galloway were covered by the safeties.
In short, Tampa played a very good game. They didn't make mistakes and they didn't leave yards/points on the field. We did. We left a lot on the field. That's the frustrating part. We hand these teams so much. Then when opportunities for redemption present themselves, we don't capitalize on them. And for that, we don't deserve to win. If we'd have converted on five or six of these opportunities, we'd be undefeated....flaws and all.
On the plus side, we saw a little bit more discipline today. But nowhere near what's required. Too often we looked like the Bad News Bears out there today. It was just pitiful.
The Dolphins have a long way to go. This group still needs a lot of help. RB and TE are the only position that's set IMO. Everywhere else needs help. We need guys who are mentally strong and can execute ON THE ROAD. Because lets face it, we've pee'd the bed every time we've had to stay in a hotel.
Sorry I rambled about the same old crap. Won't make a habit of it.
