Reflections after a good night's sleep

[dolphone]

Up until yesterday I was convinced the team was going to blow out the Browns. We had the matchups, we had the needed tools, and they simply woulnd't keep up with our offense. Our defense was going to rise out of their lousiness, and we would cruise to an easy win.

Then, of course, the game happened.

The game played out pretty much as I thought, and we *were* dominating the game. Red zone inefficiency and soft defense at the end was, as always, a huge problem, and failure to score a TD in the penultimate drive led to a game-winning FG by Cleveland. But that's not what bugs me the most.

Henne played very well for the third consecutive week, in spite of lacking of blocking by the right side of the line. With the way Jerry blocked yesterday, I cannot fathom a different outcome than sitting Colombo and moving Carey back to the RT position. And the defense, for all it's woes, came out firing and did enough to win the game. But that doesn't give me hope.

No, you see, at the end, even though the game didn't develop as well as anyone wanted, the Dolphins had an honest chance to win. They had the ball, one TO, and about 20 yards to go to give an honest chance to Carpenter. 15 would've done it, too. They had been killing the Browns with underneath routes all game long, and a couple of them would've set the stage for OUR game winning figgie. But instead of going with what worked, we decided to get cute.

It's the last drive that kills me most of all. Fine, you sucked, you didn't do enough before - but you have a chance now. You *have* to capitalize on it. It wasn't even a longshot.

I'll continue to root for the team to win, I'll continue to watch the games, I'll continue being a fan. I still won't accept irrational criticism.

But I agree now.

Changes MUST be made.

 

[Predaphin]

I remember sitting there with a buddy of mine and thinking...we should be dominating this game, instead we keep finding ways to let them hang around. We were in full control of the entire game, but instead of seperating, we kept it close.

Sure enough it came back and bit us in the *** on the final drive.

 

[SkapePhin]

Henne, while playing better, STILL can't take over a game. He still can't do ANYTHING when we actually NEED him to. He chokes in the redzone and chokes on potential game-winning drives. Sure, the other pieces of the offense contributes to it sometimes, but as the driver of the O, he is in charge, so all failures fall on him.

The fact is, Henne does not have the "IT" factor needed to win games in this league. He is an excellent backup QB who can help a team win some games until the starter returns, but he isn't the solution. We need to move on from Henne, Sparano and everyone responsible for this mess.

 

[SkapePhin]

I remember sitting there with a buddy of mine and thinking...we should be dominating this game, instead we keep finding ways to let them hang around. We were in full control of the entire game, but instead of seperating, we kept it close.

Sure enough it came back and bit us in the *** on the final drive.

This was a prototypical Sparano loss... All the little things that failed came back to bite us in the *** in the end. He also reverted back to the FG play not to lose mentality which ultimately was our undoing.

 

[Vaark]

I envy you amigo. My problem is that after a dispiriting loss like this was, I rarely get a good night sleep. Case in point, was up at 4:30 tossing, turning and agonizing. Agree though, that we have too much talent (although some of it may be mis-matched) to perform as badly as we have. Tony really does have to go at the break.

 

[dolphone]

Henne, while playing better, STILL can't take over a game. He still can't do ANYTHING when we actually NEED him to. He chokes in the redzone and chokes on potential game-winning drives. Sure, the other pieces of the offense contributes to it sometimes, but as the driver of the O, he is in charge, so all failures fall on him.

The fact is, Henne does not have the "IT" factor needed to win games in this league. He is an excellent backup QB who can help a team win some games until the starter returns, but he isn't the solution. We need to move on from Henne, Sparano and everyone responsible for this mess.

This is the irrational criticism I mentioned.

Henne played a fantastic game. His INT, lest you forget, was at the end in a desperation play.

Look at the routes ran by the receivers in the last 4 plays. Look at what other playcalls would've been better - where was Bush for an outlet? The flat to Fasano? Hell, a freaking draw with Thomas would've been fantastic, we were KILLING them with it.

Henne gets blame, sure. But he wasn't the cause for the loss. And I'll be damn glad to have him QBing the way he has this season.

People complained of a thousand different things, and now that he has corrected most of them, you expect Marino. Nonsense.

 

[dolphone]

I envy you amigo. My problem is that after a dispiriting loss like this was, I rarely get a good night sleep. Case in point, was up at 4:30 tossing, turning and agonizing. Agree though, that we have too much talent (although some of it may be mis-matched) to perform as badly as we have. Tony really does have to go at the break.

I couldn't go to sleep at first either, but I did at about 2. Blame it on the timezones

I was bitching mad after the game. A good meal and the company of family soothed a lot.

 

[Miamifinz]

Our roster isn't filled with all-stars, but there is enough talent there to play with any team in the NFL. To succeed under Sparano's philosophy, you have to be PERFECT. I mean aboslutely perfect. Other teams can still afford to make some mistakes because they have the cajones to shove the ball right down your throat. I feel this philosophy is good for a roster of mediocre players, but we have too much talent to be bound to this play-it-safe mentality. This offense hasn't been a well oiled machine in a while, always sputtering lately. They can't get into a groove, even with the elimination of the wildcat. The defense is solid, but it's not aggressive enough to force big plays like turnovers/defensive TDs. As much as I love Nolan, I think he also falls under the play-it-safe category. That last drive was ridiculous! If it isn't broke, don't try to fix it, send some pressure!

And Henne - haven't we seen this before? A great start followed by a bad finish? 1TD, 1 game ending INT, when all we needed was just a couple of yards to give us a chance? I see improvement but he's still Chad Henne. He has to be perfect under this philosophy and he just can't play 60 minutes without messing up.

Kudos man, I find it really hard to sleep when I see a team with so much talent, being misused so badly, and held back by these morons.

 

[Zounds]

Henne played very well for the third consecutive week...

This is where I stopped reading.

 

[SkapePhin]

This is the irrational criticism I mentioned.

Henne played a fantastic game. His INT, lest you forget, was at the end in a desperation play.

Look at the routes ran by the receivers in the last 4 plays. Look at what other playcalls would've been better - where was Bush for an outlet? The flat to Fasano? Hell, a freaking draw with Thomas would've been fantastic, we were KILLING them with it.

Henne gets blame, sure. But he wasn't the cause for the loss. And I'll be damn glad to have him QBing the way he has this season.

People complained of a thousand different things, and now that he has corrected most of them, you expect Marino. Nonsense.

Since when does a FANTASTIC GAME mean scoring 16 points?

Listen, I was willing to give Henne a chance this season, and he has improved, but not enough to warrant him getting a new contract at the end of the season. He simply doesn't win games. He folds at critical moments. He is GREAT between the 20s, then shuts down like a penis in the proximity of Rosie O'Donnell...

 

[Penthos]

Since when does a FANTASTIC GAME mean scoring 16 points?

Listen, I was willing to give Henne a chance this season, and he has improved, but not enough to warrant him getting a new contract at the end of the season. He simply doesn't win games. He folds at critical moments. He is GREAT between the 20s, then shuts down like a penis in the proximity of Rosie O'Donnell...

Henne hit Marshall in the hands IN the endzone from inside the 20. Marshall didn't catch it. Is that Henne's fault? I think our play calling + lack of protection in the red zone has more to do with our scoring struggles than Henne himself.

 

[Finsfalife]

Since when does a FANTASTIC GAME mean scoring 16 points?

Listen, I was willing to give Henne a chance this season, and he has improved, but not enough to warrant him getting a new contract at the end of the season. He simply doesn't win games. He folds at critical moments. He is GREAT between the 20s, then shuts down like a penis in the proximity of Rosie O'Donnell...

Agree to a certain extent...esp on fade routes.....however his primary target makes up routes and then drops 3 sure td passes, another 1 Sunday....he is also running for his life 50% of the time.

 

[Zounds]

Henne hit Marshall in the hands IN the endzone from inside the 20. Marshall didn't catch it. Is that Henne's fault? I think our play calling + lack of protection in the red zone has more to do with our scoring struggles than Henne himself.

If Marshall make that catch, then we score 20 points instead of 16. 20 points on offense still sucks against the Browns. How does anyoe think 20 pts is a good performance?

 

[SkapePhin]

Agree to a certain extent...esp on fade routes.....however his primary target makes up routes and then drops 3 sure td passes, another 1 Sunday....he is also running for his life 50% of the time.

I agree this is not all Henne's fault, but he also does nothing to elevate the overall play of the team. He simply isn't a guy who will will his team to victory like the legends. This is his final year of the contract. Has he shown you enough to resign him and forgo other solutions at QB?

 

[dolphone]

Since when does a FANTASTIC GAME mean scoring 16 points?

Listen, I was willing to give Henne a chance this season, and he has improved, but not enough to warrant him getting a new contract at the end of the season. He simply doesn't win games. He folds at critical moments. He is GREAT between the 20s, then shuts down like a penis in the proximity of Rosie O'Donnell...

I layed out my arguments. You want to focus on the ultimate result (the losses) without looking at his play: 65% completion percentage, 13+ YPC. And you talk about some mythical *it* factor.

Please tell me more about this IT factor. Did Fitzpatrick suddenly acquired it in the offseason? Brady, Sanchez and Ryan must've lost it last week; must be those damn airlines. Always losing things.

Marino must've had a defective version, since he croaked in the playoffs every time. Perhaps a piece got lost in the way.

You want to blame the 16 on him, fine. I won't absolve him, but there's plenty to go around: Marshall dropping balls, Bush fumbling, Colombo being his usual turnstile, etc etc. He played a damn fine game yesterday, fantastic considering everything else. The fact that he has consistently played like that for three weeks is enough to have me sold.

I'm not advocating a new contract for him at the end of the season. But he's far from being *a* problem on this team (let alone *the* problem).