Reflections after a good night's sleep

[dolpns13]

How can you root for us to win, but then say changes must be made? The more we win, the less changes could be made, and more we lose, the more chance changes will be made. Sorry to say, but for the first time in my life, yesterday I was rooting for Miami to screw it up and lose, and they didnt let me down. d**kheads - Pisses me off they forced me to this point!

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.

 

[dolphone]

How can you root for us to win, but then say changes must be made? The more we win, the less changes could be made, and more we lose, the more chance changes will be made. Sorry to say, but for the first time in my life, yesterday I was rooting for Miami to screw it up and lose, and they didnt let me down. d**kheads - Pisses me off they forced me to this point!

They're still my team. If they go, say, 11-5, obviously *some* changes were made. And I wouldn't be mad if that happened.

If they go 7-9 again? I'd hope the owner made some tough decisions. It's not like it would be the first team to reel some meaningless wins together at the end of a lost season. After what I saw yesterday, I saw a flat team resigned to lose. Can't have that.

Anyone is free to root the way they feel best. I simply cannot root them to lose for some pipe dream of a perfect draft pick or coach.

For the record, I don't want Cowher. Fisher would be my absolute best choice, Gruden 2nd, Schottenheimer 3rd.

 

[SirDrums]

you got a good nights sleep?

and your call yourself a fan!?

meh...

 

[dolpns13]

This is what I am afraid of.. I dont see it happening at all but if we get anymore than 5 wins, bye bye Luck.

They're still my team. If they go, say, 11-5, obviously *some* changes were made. And I wouldn't be mad if that happened.

Their still my team too. When I was rooting for them to lose, it is rooting for a better future. Ive never taken this mentality before, it is new to me.

If they go 7-9 again? I'd hope the owner made some tough decisions. It's not like it would be the first team to reel some meaningless wins together at the end of a lost season. After what I saw yesterday, I saw a flat team resigned to lose. Can't have that.

This would be the absolute worst thing that could happen, if only because we would likely lose out on a QB unless the new regime had the balls to trade up. And going from middle of the pack to top 5 may cost this years and next years draft

Anyone is free to root the way they feel best. I simply cannot root them to lose for some pipe dream of a perfect draft pick or coach.

For the record, I don't want Cowher. Fisher would be my absolute best choice, Gruden 2nd, Schottenheimer 3rd.

What makes you think it is a pipe dream? There is a much higher probability of us getting into a position to draft a franchise QB than there is of us going 11-5.

Schotenhiemer I would like. He has done a good job with that offense.

 

[tay0365]

This is where I stopped reading.

Shame, because he had a lot of good things to say, but your hatred of Henne continues to cloud (like a few others) your judgement to see Henne has been playing very well this season so far.....even the Texan game he played better then the stats would indicate.

 

[hoops]

if it takes you this long to realize changes need to be made...go back to sleep

 

[Ed Norton]

They have got to improve the red zone offense before the playoffs!

 

[Swantoon]

Would anybody really have been that thrilled if Cleveland didn't score that last TD? Don't get me wrong I wanted the team to win and I would have been happy, but I couldn't be thrilled about such an underwhelming performance. This team on paper should beat Cleveland by 10. The way the team played at times on Sunday they should have won by 20. It's the same old story though. We can blame Henne, the coaches, the receivers, or the defense, but the bottom line is this team does not play up to it's potential.

The only way to change this IMO is changing coaches and hopefully finding a QB who can make all the throws and read the entire field. Henne can be good, but with his limitations he will never be great. Sparano is just not a HC and needs to go. I had no problem sleeping last night because this game did not surprise me at all.

 

[Swantoon]

They have got to improve the red zone offense before the playoffs!

I got a good laugh out of that, thank you.

 

[dolphone]

This is what I am afraid of.. I dont see it happening at all but if we get anymore than 5 wins, bye bye Luck.

Their still my team too. When I was rooting for them to lose, it is rooting for a better future. Ive never taken this mentality before, it is new to me.



This would be the absolute worst thing that could happen, if only because we would likely lose out on a QB unless the new regime had the balls to trade up. And going from middle of the pack to top 5 may cost this years and next years draft

What makes you think it is a pipe dream? There is a much higher probability of us getting into a position to draft a franchise QB than there is of us going 11-5.

Schotenhiemer I would like. He has done a good job with that offense.

I mentioned everyone is free to root how they see fit. Me, personally, I can't root against them, and I don't see how I could. But that's just me.

The "pipe dream" isn't about the w/l record, but about a supposedly perfect player or coach. Nobody's perfect, there aren't any guarantees. Luck could turn out a bust, he could get injured in his first snap or practice. <Fill coach name here> can turn out a worse record for a longer time.

About Schotty, I meant Marty. Brian does nothing for me, his offense is predictable and not that good IMO.

 

[dolphone]

Would anybody really have been that thrilled if Cleveland didn't score that last TD? Don't get me wrong I wanted the team to win and I would have been happy, but I couldn't be thrilled about such an underwhelming performance. This team on paper should beat Cleveland by 10. The way the team played at times on Sunday they should have won by 20. It's the same old story though. We can blame Henne, the coaches, the receivers, or the defense, but the bottom line is this team does not play up to it's potential.

The only way to change this IMO is changing coaches and hopefully finding a QB who can make all the throws and read the entire field. Henne can be good, but with his limitations he will never be great. Sparano is just not a HC and needs to go. I had no problem sleeping last night because this game did not surprise me at all.

Quite a disonnance.

Indeed, they played like they should've beat the Browns by 20. Except they didn't score enough. But they consistently drove up the field, and that speaks of a great QB.

Blaming Henne for not pushing it in is nonsense. They wouldn't even have had a chance to punch it in if it wasn't for his play.

 

[flynryan15]

Couple questions:

What was Careys injury? I haven't checked so is it even possible to move him back to RT?

Not you Dolphone, but are people really referring to the excellent defensive play Hayden made on that ball in the endzone a drop on Marshall? Catching a tipped pass like that has nothing todo with skill it would be blind *** luck! I don't want to hear poor route running either! Marshall had a step, it was a good throw, it was just a good football play made by one of the best up an coming CBs in the league!

There is a glaring difference in our offense inside the twenty! It is a hangover from years past and that finger points at Sparano. Henne's play changes inside the redzone. Don't know if it is him or coaching, but it is different. Our redzone play calling sucks, new OC same product leads me to believe our ultra conservative HC has his hands in the cookie jar!

The final INT stunk! It was thrown to high, to hard, behind and forced into coverage! Very similar to the int he threw in OT 2 years ago against the coverage. At that point we had about 30 seconds and at least 1 timeout. That is the frustrating thing with Henne he needs to make that play! Not force it into triple coverage. But I will agree the play call to that point blew! Matter of fact our 2 minute offense has stunk since the Volts MNF in 09. New OC same problem!

 

[Swantoon]

Quite a disonnance.

Indeed, they played like they should've beat the Browns by 20. Except they didn't score enough. But they consistently drove up the field, and that speaks of a great QB.

Blaming Henne for not pushing it in is nonsense. They wouldn't even have had a chance to punch it in if it wasn't for his play.

I agree and disagree. Henne is absolutely responsible for putting them in position to score. However he is limited in the redzone because he can't make the throws he needs too. It's not all on Henne, but he has his share of the blame. The guy can't throw a fade or a touch pass to save his life. They finally played to his strength and ran the slant/post with Marshall and Henne made a nice throw, but Haden made a better play and prevented the TD. The coaches are at fault, the receivers are at fault, the o line is at fault, and Henne is at fault. It's a complete team failure.

 

[hoops]

i can answer the carey question...don't even think about moving him back to right tackle if the shoulders an issue...a tackle who can't use his arms is in big trouble...especially one proving as stiff and slow laterally as vernon carey has been thus far this season...if he can't get his arms on you he'll have no chance...

i know colombo must go but give garner the first dibs...and see how he fares

 

[finfan77]

Sporano is horrible at player development, period end of story. The plan this offseason was to get faster at the skill positions. They bring in Gates, keep M Moore, Wallace and add Bush. Wallace is dinged up and Moore is playing on special teams but where are the rest of them. If Marshal isn't cutting it how about giving him a little competition, throw Moore in there and see what he can do. Play Gates for more than one fly pattern per game, hell let's start with a series and see what happens, you might actually see defenses starting to at least try and account for him, of course we would have to look in his direction but I'll be happy to see him on the field.

Yes, Bush is a horrible runner, but how about creating a mis match or two, by splitting him wide. How about using him on special teams, can't be worried about him getting worn out with less than 15 touches on offense.

On defense, I why are we playing matchups. Against Houston the topic of conversation was about about AJ and his size and speed, Smith has the size although he is admittedly at a disadvantage speed wise. I understand having Davis cover him before he got hurt but once he was out why not make an adjustment and have smith cover him instead of Carroll.

The players are out of shape, undisciplined and underperforming. At the end of day it is up to them to execute but where the coaching staff is falling short is on developing and preparing them. The front office has to get it together as well and start hanging onto pieces who can help us instead trying to sneak them through waivers to hide them on the Practice Squad.