Team Morale: Concerning Article

[Shouright]

Of course these are just one man's impressions, but James Walker has been covering the team closely and had his finger on its pulse since the beginning of camp:

The Dolphins haven't had a winning locker room since Sept. 22, and it's officially time to question their confidence. What Miami is doing for the past month isn't working. The Dolphins tried to make some changes against the Buffalo Bills, but it wasn't enough and they suffered their most disheartening loss of the season. I'm not getting a confident feel from Miami's players and coaches heading into Sunday's game against New England. All the swagger the Dolphins had a month ago is gone from the locker room.

http://espn.go.com/blog/miami-dolphins/post/_/id/2150/seven-step-drop-miami-dolphins

The above, if it translates to flatness come game time, combined with New England's coming off a close road loss to a division rival it should've beaten, while coming home to play another division rival, could be a recipe for a blowout.

The Vegas line looks like it's 6.5 right now. I think I'd take that bet, unfortunately.

 

[Kdawg954]

The team could be 5-1 . . . so when you look at the standings and see 3-3, it is bound to be disheartening.

I've had the feeling that Philbin is the type of coach that the team could quit on if things get rough. This Sunday's game is certainly a character check for the Dolphins and this thing could snowball real quick with us having 2 games in less than 5 days. These guys better get their **** together quickly.

 

[Nublar7]

Win a game and the confidence will return. I would be more concerned about the team morale if they were going through something like the Buccaneers are.

 

[Archaeopteryx]

I think this quote by Wake probably reflects what Walker is talking about. If so then it's not really that bad, just more of an atmosphere of a team that knows they have no reason to have swagger after losing three in a row.

Wake always has a lot on his mind and he’s never reluctant to give us a sampling of his thoughts. This day was no different. Sitting at his locker, slowly getting dressed after another long, hot afternoon, I asked Wake to put in all in perspective.

“The bandwagon door always seems to be wide open,” he said. “People get on. People get off. That’s the way it works. You can’t pay attention to it. You just have to focus on what you can control.

“I’d love to tell you we are a great football team, that we are the best in the league in this and the best in the league at that. But I guess I’m a realist. You are what your record says you are. So let’s be real. I can’t sugarcoat it. Up until now, we’ve been average. No more. No less. We’ve been decent here, decent there. But we haven’t done anything to stick out, haven’t done anything to separate ourselves.

“I feel like we can be a great team. Offense. Defense. Special teams. But there are plays you have to make to be able to say you are the best and we just haven’t made them. Third and long you have to produce on offense. Third and long you have to stop them on defense. To this point, some of those plays have slipped by us. It that greatness? No, it’s not.

“Are we close? We are as close as we are far away. Sure, we’re close. But we’ve won as many games as we’ve lost. There are probably five or six plays that we made to be 3-3 and probably five or six plays that we’ve missed to be 3-3. I don’t think it’s a situation where we can’t make it happen. But it is still to be seen. The story needs to play out and right now it is only partially written.

“We have a chance to get it right, beginning Sunday in New England, and that’s what these next 10 games are all about.”

http://www.thefinsiders.com/blog/20...e-it-is?_ga=1.261693262.2117049053.1364433155

 

[Hayden Fox]

When times like these hit it is incumbent that the head coach lead the team out of the haze and the team leaders make big plays at big moments.

Joe has a huge week in front of him.

 

[Shouright]

I think this quote by Wake probably reflects what Walker is talking about. If so, then it's not really that bad, just more of an atmosphere of a team that knows they have no reason to have swagger after losing three in a row.

http://www.thefinsiders.com/blog/2013/andy-cohen-cameron-wake-tells-it-like-it-is?_ga=1.261693262.2117049053.1364433155

I could sure see that being the case, but I could also see pretty poor morale across the board associated with realizing themselves to be no better than average, as Wake is pointing out.

Average in the NFL means you're pretty unlikely to make any noise on the season, and realizing you're no better than that, after starting 3-0 and having early hope to be a good team, can be really flattening emotionally.

 

[Archaeopteryx]

When times like these hit it is incumbent that the head coach lead the team out of the haze and the team leaders make big plays at big moments.

Joe has a huge week in front of him.

Do you think he risks losing the team if they get hammered?

 

[Shouright]

When times like these hit it is incumbent that the head coach lead the team out of the haze and the team leaders make big plays at big moments.

Joe has a huge week in front of him.

And I think that's right on target, but then the question becomes, who are they?

 

[MiamiMuss]

This means that the whole coaching staff has zero control of the players and this is a very big concern to me.

---------- Post added at 08:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:37 PM ----------

And I think that's right on target, but then the question becomes, who are they?

In a fight it would be Cogs but as a team there is not 1 single leader and that includes the coaching staff.

 

[Hayden Fox]

Do you think he risks losing the team if they get hammered?

No. I believe he needs to split the week to keep hope alive. 4-4 going into November is fine.

However, a coach worth something finds a way to keep the team together even through adversity and blowouts. If Joe loses the team after a Sunday throttling, it just means he is not long term coaching material.

 

[AZStryker]

Another thread about a garbage article? Apparently you didn't learn a thing from the last time.

 

[Kdawg954]

This means that the whole coaching staff has zero control of the players and this is a very big concern to me.

I mean everybody is just speculating at this point. But you have to admit, Philbin/Ireland got rid of every bit of leadership from last year's team in what seemed to be a "I'm the coach, it's my way or the highway" type philosophy from Joe Philbin and that philosophy only works if the results come along with it. Not sure how the players feel about their coach/GM at this point but I could see some trust issues amongst the group.

In the next week, Miami's season is literally on the line . . . there is no Chad Pennington on this team that is gonna dig the team out of a 2-4 hole. You go 3-5, you're done. If we've been holding back on anything, all the cards need to be on the table.

 

[Dr. Phin]

The team could be 5-1 . . . so when you look at the standings and see 3-3, it is bound to be disheartening.

I've had the feeling that Philbin is the type of coach that the team could quit on if things get rough. This Sunday's game is certainly a character check for the Dolphins and this thing could snowball real quick with us having 2 games in less than 5 days. These guys better get their **** together quickly.

The team could also be 1-5...they are what they are...which is average...

 

[fishfanmiami]

No. I believe he needs to split the week to keep hope alive. 4-4 going into November is fine.

However, a coach worth something finds a way to keep the team together even through adversity and blowouts. If Joe loses the team after a Sunday throttling, it just means he is not long term coaching material.

I hate to say so cause I like Philbin but you are absolutely correct.

Losing to Buffalo and their practice squad QB after a bye week is so fricking discouraging.
A win in New England makes it all better. Beat Cinny as well and the ship is righted. Lose both and we're done.
I'll still support my team but a winning season would be highly unlikely.

 

[2413fanphins]

I dont think they will get blown out, and I dont think philbin will lose the team.

I swear some people on here look for drama. There is no reason at this time for me to believe philbin will lose the team.

If we can worse case scenario split the next two games, we are still in good shape.