Team Depressed

[Shouright]

"We practiced horrible all week," Thomas, the Dolphins' veteran linebacker, said after the team's third loss in three road games this season. "We had it coming. . . . I think it was some of the worst practices this year."

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/dolphi...gamer_1017.html

Here's the problem folks: we're using players who were obtained to run Wannstedt and Turner's systems and plugging them into Saban and Linehan's systems, and both the coaches and players started to figure out that it isn't working very well after the Buffalo game. The result? -- feelings of futility and helplessness, which equals depression and lack of energy, hence Zack's quote above.

Heck, Saban had to go out and get Traylor, Carter, Holliday, Schulters, and Jones just to RUN his defense. That's HALF A DEFENSE worth of new players -- just to run the system!

Saban and Linehan's systems are also a LOT more demanding of the players than Wannstedt and Turner's, especially in three critical areas -- QB, the offensive line, and the defensive secondary. Notice those are the places where we're struggling most.

Linehan had a top-3 QB and line in Minnesota. He has a bottom-5 QB and inherited a bottom-1 (yes, the worst in the league) line here. They had to go out and get Houck and pay him nearly a million dollars a year just to salvage the mess so we could even RUN an NFL offense.

So I think the team overall is starting to realize that it doesn't have the horses to run its systems. And that doesn't feel good.

 

[SkapePhin]

Zach Thomas, while a great player, is Eeyore.

He always says stuff like that.. It might be true, but after a loss he never sounds confident about anything..

 

[msg]

thats an interesting possibility

 

[fishypete]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/dolphi...gamer_1017.html

Here's the problem folks: we're using players who were obtained to run Wannstedt and Turner's systems and plugging them into Saban and Linehan's systems, and both the coaches and players started to figure out that it isn't working very well after the Buffalo game. The result? -- feelings of futility and helplessness, which equals depression and lack of energy, hence Zack's quote above.

Heck, Saban had to go out and get Traylor, Carter, Holliday, Schulters, and Jones just to RUN his defense. That's HALF A DEFENSE worth of new players -- just to run the system!

Saban and Linehan's systems are also a LOT more demanding of the players than Wannstedt and Turner's, especially in three critical areas -- QB, the offensive line, and the defensive secondary. Notice those are the places where we're struggling most.

Linehan had a top-3 QB and line in Minnesota. He has a bottom-5 QB and inherited a bottom-1 (yes, the worst in the league) line here. They had to go out and get Houck and pay him nearly a million dollars a year just to salvage the mess so we could even RUN an NFL offense.

So I think the team overall is starting to realize that it doesn't have the horses to run its systems. And that doesn't feel good.

Lets face facts.....those players were picked up because they came cheap! You get what you pay for....

 

[Shouright]

Lets face facts.....those players were picked up because they came cheap! You get what you pay for....

And that's another layer of the problem. We not only had to go get half a defense worth of new players just to run the system, we had to take what we could get too. You can't plug in half a defense worth of stellar players in one offseason. And the team knows this too.

 

[Canadianfishfan]

All the players Saban brought in have been playing well. I've been listening to 790 on the internet this moring and JT, and Zach have been very vocal about their displeasure. I am actually very happy to hear these guys speak out. I agree with the original post that some of these players aren't cut out for these schemes we run.

But the great point they bring up (through their downbeat post game comments) is that there seems to be a call out to make players accountable.. by players. Which being a leader is all about.

How you prepare.. your work ethic... everything all come to the forefront come gameday. I hope Zach (as he says) starts getting on guys and call them out in practise. We need players to CARE, and have PRIDE.. and try to help players elevate to play better.

 

[Finland]

It seemed like there was no plan for the opening drive or QTR. We were clearly out played and coached. Good for Grudden.

 

[Canadianfishfan]

It seemed like there was no plan for the opening drive or QTR. We were clearly out played and coached. Good for Grudden.

Yes we were beaten by a better TEAM. It's not going to be the first time this season.

 

[occamz_razr]

I think you all are taking this way too far.

How about this as a reason for losing this game...

We're not a very good road team! We're not that tough yet mentally to go into someone else's backyard and get a win.

The penalties are getting out of hand. I saw the stat where we're the only team in the league this year to have over 10 penalties a game. Incredible.

And who would have thought that our rush defense and tackling would be out-of-hand bad yesterday. Pittman is not that good.

Just a poor performance on the players part. Very poor. You cant fault Saban for presnap penalties, or holding calls in the spur of the moment, or block in the backs. The players dont have their heads on right.

And dont get me started on Chambers. That guy is the most overrated player in the NFL. He just sucks big time as a #1 WR.

Mod Edit: Your avatar did not comply with the TOS.

 

[Shouright]

I think you all are taking this way too far.

How about this as a reason for losing this game...

We're not a very good road team! We're not that tough yet mentally to go into someone else's backyard and get a win.

The penalties are getting out of hand. I saw the stat where we're the only team in the league this year to have over 10 penalties a game. Incredible.

And who would have thought that our rush defense and tackling would be out-of-hand bad yesterday. Pittman is not that good.

Just a poor performance on the players part. Very poor. You cant fault Saban for presnap penalties, or holding calls in the spur of the moment, or block in the backs. The players dont have their heads on right.

And dont get me started on Chambers. That guy is the most overrated player in the NFL. He just sucks big time as a #1 WR.

But this is part of the issue. Saban's system requires SMART players, not guys who lose their focus and concentration before the snap because they're too busy thinking about or trying to remember their assignments. If we raised the collective IQ of the team I think we'd see the penalties drop considerably, and it'd fit Saban's system better too.

 

[Shouright]

All the players Saban brought in have been playing well. I've been listening to 790 on the internet this moring and JT, and Zach have been very vocal about their displeasure. I am actually very happy to hear these guys speak out. I agree with the original post that some of these players aren't cut out for these schemes we run.

But the great point they bring up (through their downbeat post game comments) is that there seems to be a call out to make players accountable.. by players. Which being a leader is all about.

How you prepare.. your work ethic... everything all come to the forefront come gameday. I hope Zach (as he says) starts getting on guys and call them out in practise. We need players to CARE, and have PRIDE.. and try to help players elevate to play better.

Well that's a good sign. I think what they may be upset about too is that there are guys who don't spend much time in the film room preparing for games, which is another hallmark of a "Saban player." He needs smart players who work hard and go the extra mile to make his system work.

 

[Waldop]

Yes we were beaten by a better TEAM. It's not going to be the first time this season.

That's not all it is. You don't think Carolina was a better team!!! It's obvious this team is not on the same page as the coach. The only question now is how to rectify that....???

 

[Shouright]

That's not all it is. You don't think Carolina was a better team!!! It's obvious this team is not on the same page as the coach. The only question now is how to rectify that....???

Time. That's about all I can think of. We just have to be patient. Belichick was 5-11 in his first year in New England -- doubt he had the horses to run his system either.

 

[finfan75]

So am I for the past 25 years

Been threatening to quit watching the woeful Dolphins, but can never bring myself to stop. So I will just hope in this lifetime we win a Super Bowl.

 

[fishypete]

All the players Saban brought in have been playing well. I've been listening to 790 on the internet this moring and JT, and Zach have been very vocal about their displeasure. I am actually very happy to hear these guys speak out. I agree with the original post that some of these players aren't cut out for these schemes we run.

But the great point they bring up (through their downbeat post game comments) is that there seems to be a call out to make players accountable.. by players. Which being a leader is all about.

How you prepare.. your work ethic... everything all come to the forefront come gameday. I hope Zach (as he says) starts getting on guys and call them out in practise. We need players to CARE, and have PRIDE.. and try to help players elevate to play better.

Zach and JT have a right to be unhappy....there both at the end of their career's....and it's been years now since they had a offense worth a hoot!