There is a lot of debate here about whether Henne has improved. After the Patriots game, it seemed like a consensus was building that Henne wasn't the problem with the Dolphins after all. After yesterday's loss, some people, including Tony Sparano, still felt that Henne played well. From my point of view, the only area Henne has improved is his decision-making with regard to when to leave the pocket and run. Other than that, I am seeing the same Chad Henne we have seen since Day 1. His accuracy is poor. His passes, especially those over 15 yards, are rarely in a good spot for his receivers to make easy catches. He consistently over-throws deep passes, or pushes the ball too close to the sideline. He lacks touch on fade routes. In addition, he has always had a problem with passes being knocked down or tipped at the line of scrimmage. I am still seeing all of these issues through the first two games.
Given all of that, I still think there is a larger problem with Henne. In today's NFL, teams need a QB that can sometimes win a game on his own, when the team around him isn't playing well, when his defense may have let him down, when his running game is getting shut down, etc. A team needs a QB that can take the ball late in a close game, lead a drive down the field, and get the points required to win a game. The great QBs all do it. Rodgers, Manning, Brady, Rivers, Brees...that is what separates them as great QBs. Ryan Fitzpatrick did it yesterday for Buffalo. Sanchez has done it numerous times for the Jets. Roethlisberger does it all of the time. Rex Grossman did it yesterday for the Redskins. Josh Freeman did it repeatedly last season for Tampa Bay. We saw it throughout Dan Marino's career. When he had the ball in his hands late in a game, you knew he was going to get the team into the end zone. Winning QBs just have that knack. Think back to 2008 and how many close games the Dolphins won in the 4th quarter with Pennington leading the team to points late.
I can only think of 2, maybe 3 games at most, in his career so far where Henne was a difference maker. There was the 31-27 win against the Jets early in 2009 where Henne played extremely well. The Wildcat still played a big role in that win. Later that season, there was the 22-21 win over New England where the Dolphins drove for a late FG and Henne played very well. In 2010, Henne played well against Oakland and Green Bay, but I wouldn't say he made the difference in those games. They were solid team performances. He just never puts the team on his shoulders and wills them to a win. Every TD is a struggle with him. The red zone is his undoing. He rarely converts in pressure situations. Yesterday's game and the New England were examples. The Dolphins as a team were not playing well. Yet, there were opportunities where a big play by the QB could have shifted the momentum. Instead, we again get held to FG opportunities.
Henne just doesn't have the skills to win games on his own. That may mean he lacks the leadership skills, the confidence, the ability to think quickly to turn a bad play into a winning play, the ability to find the opportunity that the defense presents to an offense, or the accuracy required to hit the big play.
Bottom line - his "improvement" is a bit of an illusion. The true measure of his improvement would be his ability to win a game when the opportunity is presented to him. There have been opportunities out on the field the past two weeks - even in a game where Tom Brady shredded the Miami defense. Henne didn't convert those opportunities. He has converted those opportunities too few times in his career.
