Philbin's showing to me that he and his staff cant win without enough talent and luck. The "schemes" and "systems" just aren't there. The players on O and D often times look confused, miscommunication, misreads, missed tackles, missed ball placement, missed pocket movement. I think what we're seeing is a team that is 4-5 simply because of their innate talent, but cant get over the hump against mediocre/poor teams because it Always comes down to playing scrappy and grinding out a win. Grinding it out, week after week, is not a sign of a good football team. It shows that there's too much up to risk, penalty calls, whoever makes the least mistakes in a mistake-filled game. I don't think Philbin would say that's his goal for this team -- he wants attention to detail, finesse, smart play, professionalism. Like many elite clubs we can think of. But that is Not the team we're getting week after week, and that's his job and his staff's to provide a basis for that. The talent might not be there at every needed position with a GM like Ireland, but no NFL team is perfect.
I was an avid Philbin supporter up until tonight; I placed full blame on Ireland (and mostly Sherman) for the Dolphin's mess. Hell, I thought the team looked modestly prepared in the past 8 games, but now I'm starting to see the real cracks. This team, as Gruden put it, is simply Not prepared, and Philbin still hasn't set forth a strong enough foundation for the players.