Reality Sets In | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Reality Sets In

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SF Dolphin Fan

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First the good news. Miami is 3-1 and still in first place in the AFC East. That's still saying something at the quarter point in the season.

The bad news? Well, the Patriots absolutely dominated and in such a way that leaves a lot of question marks. Gashed the Dolphins in the running game, completely stopped Miami's running game, won convincingly in every aspect. Miami had no pass rush, no answers for anything, looked absolutely lethargic, got off to another slow start.

So, it's questionable where this team really is. Can the Dolphins rebound and be a playoff contender? I do think the AFC is totally up for grabs. Teams have up and down performances throughout the year. Look at the top teams. KC has no defense, but a great offense. Same can be said for Pittsburgh. Jacksonville has a great defense, good running game but an up and down quarterback. Until today, NE had a terrible defense and not much had gone right.

I think Miami's season may hinge on Cincinnati. The team really needs to forget this game and move on, but the Bengal game is pretty huge IMO.

I still think Miami's talent level is at least NFL average. There are weaknesses on this team, but I think we can say that about the entire AFC.
 
hopefully this serves as a major wakeup call, gase is at fault as much as anyone else in my opinion...hes got to adapt to whats going on around him...he NEEDS to realize the short crap isnt a viable gameplan. The screens and dumpoffs to the flats are good once in awhile, it keeps the defense honest...if, if youre moving the ball down the field....

the problem is, gase wants to run the short stuff as the main game plan, he wants to dump it off and hope a guy like drake, wilson or grant will break a tackle and get a nice gain....we need to pass the ball and try to pickup 7 yards or so on just the catch...not throw it 2 yards behind the line and make the guy have to break a tackle and run 9yds to get the 7yds...we NEED TO pass the ball for positive yards in the air
 
The glaring thing is the Dolphins can’t run on the worst teams against the run. That is just being out manned. Not nasty enough. This line should be good enough so something is wrong with the unit, and that would seem to point to the scheme and coaching. The penalties would also seem to point to coaching. The lackluster play calling on offense would seem to point to coaching. The poor tackling would seem to point to coaching. Any time you play against Bellichick, your going to look like you have a deficiency in coaching. I said before the game it would come down to basic fundamentals and that alone would expose the weakness. I was talking about the Patriots, but they did that to us. Nothing fancy, just guys doing what they were coached to do. Not saying Gase is the problem, but the culture here seems to be a lack of a strong leader that won’t tolerate what we saw out there. It’s one thing to get rid of the dummies freelancing, but the guys you keep have to be coachable and it’s hard to say fifteen guys on your team aren’t. It might not be the guys.
 
gofins60 said:
Solution? Replace Gase and Burke.
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Here's the thing. I get the frustration. It was a horrendous game, hard to watch and kind of grateful the network pulled it. But, every team is going to have a dud or two. We all knew that New England absolutely needed this game. Honestly, I thought Miami would play much better. I expected a close, well contested game.

So, it's just a question of how the team responds from here.
 
Their lack of talent was exposed today. I really hoped they’d keep it close but always knew they’re just not a playoff caliber team. A blowout loss, c’mon, playoff teams don’t play like that against other playoff teams.
 
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The depth Miami has is paper thin. So bad that a backup center cant' come in for one play to snap the ball correctly. Injuries are taking their toll already.
 
FINOMINAL said:
The glaring thing is the Dolphins can’t run on the worst teams against the run. That is just being out manned. Not nasty enough. This line should be good enough so something is wrong with the unit, and that would seem to point to the scheme and coaching. The penalties would also seem to point to coaching. The lackluster play calling on offense would seem to point to coaching. The poor tackling would seem to point to coaching. Any time you play against Bellichick, your going to look like you have a deficiency in coaching. I said before the game it would come down to basic fundamentals and that alone would expose the weakness. I was talking about the Patriots, but they did that to us. Nothing fancy, just guys doing what they were coached to do. Not saying Gase is the problem, but the culture here seems to be a lack of a strong leader that won’t tolerate what we saw out there. It’s one thing to get rid of the dummies freelancing, but the guys you keep have to be coachable and it’s hard to say fifteen guys on your team aren’t. It might not be the guys.
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Unfortunately, I agree with you on the running game. That's the biggest problem, too finesse and not physical enough. When you get two yards on a first down run and the opponent is getting seven that's just not a good sign. I think NE could have won this game without Brady throwing a single pass. Maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but that's how effective the Patriots running game was.
 
I doubt that Gase and Burke cause opposing coaches to loose sleep. Neither is very creative or innovative. Gase wants to be finesse all the time and simply runs too much bubble screens, etc. Burke and his wide nine? Every team Miami has played, gashes his wide nine defense.
 
Honestly I really thought are line sucked. We threw short because the interior can’t block. Larsen is garbage. Kilgore sucks too. But we need him back. No running lanes either.

I am not saying anything about tannehill but he had a muddy pocket every play. Every one. No wonder we throw two yard outs.

I can’t say enough how Sitton and Hayes injuries hurt us. Next man up only works when you have one unit that is elite.
 
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