The REAL Problem

[Crzynick25]

The real problem isn't Tony Sparano, it isn't Ted Ginn, and it's not Chad Pennington's "noodle arm".

Coming off a 1-15 season and a decade of wasted drafts, I don't believe 90% of us really thought we were going to be good this year, and for the 10% that did you were just kidding yourselves. I know myself I said I would be ecstatic for a 4 or 5 win year. Then the REAL problem started, it was the MEDIA HYPE..... We get Parcells and company (which I loved then, and I still love now) Then the media started talking about how many teams he has turned around, then Free Agency comes and he MEDIA starts giving us grades of A and B+'s, then the draft comes around and the MEDIA starts talking about how great our draft was. Then even though no one said we were going to be a play off team, the MEDIA started talking about the new attitude in Miami, and how if teams sleep on us they will be surprised and how we wont be the same 2007 dolphins, how we will be in great condition, and technically sound, and disciplined.

That's when most of us myself included started getting excited starting to think "hey, forget about 4 or 5 wins, we most likely won't make the playoffs but we could get 7, 8 or 9 wins." We started all starting believing the hype.

But the fact is we are a BAD team and for the first time in over a decade and through 3 coaching regimes (Wanny, Saban and Cam) we are finally doing the one thing we NEEDED to do a LONG time ago, we are doing the 1 thing that 3 prior coaches were scared to death to admit... We are REBUILDING and for the first time in over a decade we aren't tip toeing around Veterans like Taylor and Thomas (who I love to death) who didn't want to hear that dreaded "R" word at this point in there career (and who can blame them). We are striping down from the bottom up and doing a complete overhaul. YEARS of horrible drafting and bad trades cannot be fixed in one year.

Because of the MEDIA and their A and B Free Agent and Draft grades you want to blame Pennington for not being able to throw the long ball or you want to blame Sparano for rookie coaching mistakes as the reason we are losing. The reason we are losing is because we are still that 1-15 team with a few changes. But those changes are good one that is going to finally put us in the right direction. We did have a great draft and we do have a lot of young player that will get better with experience

You say put Henne in but what is that gonna do? We aren't going to win 7,8 or 9 games cause Henne is in. There is no reason to make this kid lose his confidence this early like we did with Beck last year. We wouldn't be a good team this year even if we somehow got Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. I'd rather see Pennington stay in while we know we are going to be bad and let Henne be saved and learn from a Veteran like Phillip Rivers, Aaron Rodgers, and Tony Romo all were. Look at what they are doing now? Let Pennington do the dirty work, and in 2 or 3 years when Parcelles has more than one draft and more of his guys and we are better then let Henne take over.

You want to blame Tony Sparano for making rookie head coaching mistakes, this team wouldn't be any better this year if we had Belichek or Cowher or anyone else. I'd rather Sparano making rookie mistakes now while we are going to be bad anyway. Look at teams like Dallas or San Diego who have Super Bowl caliber teams and have average coaches, they can't get it done. I want him to make his mistakes now instead of bringing in another new coach when we are a good team and having that coach make stupid mistakes then.

Sparano will get better as we as a team get better. You can compare Sparano to Cam but Cam didn't have a Bill Parcells mentoring him and guiding him and in two or three years when he have the talent in place we will have a coach that has grown with the team and has taken his bumps and learned from them.

Then our team, our coach and our Future QB will all peak at the same time.
Just remember we have gone through a decade of decline, no QB or Coach is going to come in a make us good this year or next. Some teams are a Coach or a couple of players away... WE ARE NOT we are overhauling and starting from scratch.

Don't let the MEDIA's off season hype let you forget what we really are... a 1-15 team

 

[phinfan33]

Dude,i totally agree with everything you just said...100% agree...

 

[dwhorton]

come on man 3-1 in the preseason meant we were playoff bound j/k. these guys preaching doomsday now are probably the same guys that were talking playoffs 3 wks ago.

 

[MD]

The real problem isn't Tony Sparano, it isn't Ted Ginn, and it's not Chad Pennington's "noodle arm".

Coming off a 1-15 season and a decade of wasted drafts, I don't believe 90% of us really thought we were going to be good this year, and for the 10% that did you were just kidding yourselves. I know myself I said I would be ecstatic for a 4 or 5 win year. Then the REAL problem started, it was the MEDIA HYPE..... We get Parcells and company (which I loved then, and I still love now) Then the media started talking about how many teams he has turned around, then Free Agency comes and he MEDIA starts giving us grades of A and B+'s, then the draft comes around and the MEDIA starts talking about how great our draft was. Then even though no one said we were going to be a play off team, the MEDIA started talking about the new attitude in Miami, and how if teams sleep on us they will be surprised and how we wont be the same 2007 dolphins, how we will be in great condition, and technically sound, and disciplined.

That's when most of us myself included started getting excited starting to think "hey, forget about 4 or 5 wins, we most likely won't make the playoffs but we could get 7, 8 or 9 wins." We started all starting believing the hype.

But the fact is we are a BAD team and for the first time in over a decade and through 3 coaching regimes (Wanny, Saban and Cam) we are finally doing the one thing we NEEDED to do a LONG time ago, we are doing the 1 thing that 3 prior coaches were scared to death to admit... We are REBUILDING and for the first time in over a decade we aren't tip toeing around Veterans like Taylor and Thomas (who I love to death) who didn't want to hear that dreaded "R" word at this point in there career (and who can blame them). We are striping down from the bottom up and doing a complete overhaul. YEARS of horrible drafting and bad trades cannot be fixed in one year.

Because of the MEDIA and their A and B Free Agent and Draft grades you want to blame Pennington for not being able to throw the long ball or you want to blame Sparano for rookie coaching mistakes as the reason we are losing. The reason we are losing is because we are still that 1-15 team with a few changes. But those changes are good one that is going to finally put us in the right direction. We did have a great draft and we do have a lot of young player that will get better with experience

You say put Henne in but what is that gonna do? We aren't going to win 7,8 or 9 games cause Henne is in. There is no reason to make this kid lose his confidence this early like we did with Beck last year. We wouldn't be a good team this year even if we somehow got Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. I'd rather see Pennington stay in while we know we are going to be bad and let Henne be saved and learn from a Veteran like Phillip Rivers, Aaron Rodgers, and Tony Romo all were. Look at what they are doing now? Let Pennington do the dirty work, and in 2 or 3 years when Parcelles has more than one draft and more of his guys and we are better then let Henne take over.

You want to blame Tony Sparano for making rookie head coaching mistakes, this team wouldn't be any better this year if we had Belichek or Cowher or anyone else. I'd rather Sparano making rookie mistakes now while we are going to be bad anyway. Look at teams like Dallas or San Diego who have Super Bowl caliber teams and have average coaches, they can't get it done. I want him to make his mistakes now instead of bringing in another new coach when we are a good team and having that coach make stupid mistakes then.

Sparano will get better as we as a team get better. You can compare Sparano to Cam but Cam didn't have a Bill Parcells mentoring him and guiding him and in two or three years when he have the talent in place we will have a coach that has grown with the team and has taken his bumps and learned from them.

Then our team, our coach and our Future QB will all peak at the same time.
Just remember we have gone through a decade of decline, no QB or Coach is going to come in a make us good this year or next. Some teams are a Coach or a couple of players away... WE ARE NOT we are overhauling and starting from scratch.

Don't let the MEDIA's off season hype let you forget what we really are... a 1-15 team

Amen brother. Since December I have for the most part shared these same thoughts; however, admittedly, I started to get overly excited during the pre-season. It's nice to be broiught back to reality. Improvement is the key and there will be days that we play horrible and days that we play well. But we were so thoroughly pathetic that we needed this draft just to get to what, pathetic?

I think a lot my frustration is with Saban who was supposed to be a DB guru and look at the state of our secondary. But it even goes back further. Even JJ really did nothing on the offensive side of the ball. He should have been looking for Danny's replacement as the Pack did with Aaron Rogers.

We had a great draft this year and have a lot of picks for the next draft with some good football minds in place. The entire organization needs to grow together from the front office to the field. Better days are ahead.

 

[Smex]

Amen!

 

[Buff]

Quick, Administrators, lock the thread. Someone said the truth, the whole truth & nothing but the truth.

This is exactly what we have, nothing more, nothing less. I still think we can manage 4 or 5 wins with the bounce of the ball. If we don't, so be it.

 

[djphinfan]

good write up bro, its only the few ignorant fans that get on here and critisize without respect for the team, and the process, and what is fair to this particular regime.

 

[afishfan]

The real problem isn't Tony Sparano, it isn't Ted Ginn, and it's not Chad Pennington's "noodle arm".

Coming off a 1-15 season and a decade of wasted drafts, I don't believe 90% of us really thought we were going to be good this year, and for the 10% that did you were just kidding yourselves. I know myself I said I would be ecstatic for a 4 or 5 win year. Then the REAL problem started, it was the MEDIA HYPE..... We get Parcells and company (which I loved then, and I still love now) Then the media started talking about how many teams he has turned around, then Free Agency comes and he MEDIA starts giving us grades of A and B+'s, then the draft comes around and the MEDIA starts talking about how great our draft was. Then even though no one said we were going to be a play off team, the MEDIA started talking about the new attitude in Miami, and how if teams sleep on us they will be surprised and how we wont be the same 2007 dolphins, how we will be in great condition, and technically sound, and disciplined.

That's when most of us myself included started getting excited starting to think "hey, forget about 4 or 5 wins, we most likely won't make the playoffs but we could get 7, 8 or 9 wins." We started all starting believing the hype.

But the fact is we are a BAD team and for the first time in over a decade and through 3 coaching regimes (Wanny, Saban and Cam) we are finally doing the one thing we NEEDED to do a LONG time ago, we are doing the 1 thing that 3 prior coaches were scared to death to admit... We are REBUILDING and for the first time in over a decade we aren't tip toeing around Veterans like Taylor and Thomas (who I love to death) who didn't want to hear that dreaded "R" word at this point in there career (and who can blame them). We are striping down from the bottom up and doing a complete overhaul. YEARS of horrible drafting and bad trades cannot be fixed in one year.

Because of the MEDIA and their A and B Free Agent and Draft grades you want to blame Pennington for not being able to throw the long ball or you want to blame Sparano for rookie coaching mistakes as the reason we are losing. The reason we are losing is because we are still that 1-15 team with a few changes. But those changes are good one that is going to finally put us in the right direction. We did have a great draft and we do have a lot of young player that will get better with experience

You say put Henne in but what is that gonna do? We aren't going to win 7,8 or 9 games cause Henne is in. There is no reason to make this kid lose his confidence this early like we did with Beck last year. We wouldn't be a good team this year even if we somehow got Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. I'd rather see Pennington stay in while we know we are going to be bad and let Henne be saved and learn from a Veteran like Phillip Rivers, Aaron Rodgers, and Tony Romo all were. Look at what they are doing now? Let Pennington do the dirty work, and in 2 or 3 years when Parcelles has more than one draft and more of his guys and we are better then let Henne take over.

You want to blame Tony Sparano for making rookie head coaching mistakes, this team wouldn't be any better this year if we had Belichek or Cowher or anyone else. I'd rather Sparano making rookie mistakes now while we are going to be bad anyway. Look at teams like Dallas or San Diego who have Super Bowl caliber teams and have average coaches, they can't get it done. I want him to make his mistakes now instead of bringing in another new coach when we are a good team and having that coach make stupid mistakes then.

Sparano will get better as we as a team get better. You can compare Sparano to Cam but Cam didn't have a Bill Parcells mentoring him and guiding him and in two or three years when he have the talent in place we will have a coach that has grown with the team and has taken his bumps and learned from them.

Then our team, our coach and our Future QB will all peak at the same time.
Just remember we have gone through a decade of decline, no QB or Coach is going to come in a make us good this year or next. Some teams are a Coach or a couple of players away... WE ARE NOT we are overhauling and starting from scratch.

Don't let the MEDIA's off season hype let you forget what we really are... a 1-15 team

Well the truth is everything needs to be put in perspective. The problem I have with coaching staff is only my expectation that they would get it right initially. It concerns me that we seemingly have made some poor gametime decisions regarding personal, i feel the talent we have has been misused. Then things like clock management. They are just concerns...you would hope the coaching would have enough insight to do these things correctly. They might have and continue to overthink some stuff perhaps...who knows...as long as they get this stuff corrected.

As far as far as Pennington, the way the situation unfolded it was the correct move. I feel Pennington still has quite a bit to offer. Unfortunately I dont think his skill set matched the abilities of somebody like Ginn. And While it is neithers fault is causes both of them to look worse than they really are (in penningtons case because it gives him one less receiver in a limited amount of them that complement him) Pennington would be fine with a receiver that has great body control like Fitz, Bolden, Moss....he could just throw the ball in a position where they can go and get it. We don't have a guy like that. Think about it. Ben Rothlesburger has TWO TREMENDOUS wide receivers in Santonio Holmes and Hines Ward..yet what did he want and what did he lobby for and talk about in the offseason? a big receiver! hmmm...it just adds another dimension...it doesnt take away from the guys he has. what they do is great too.

This is the same thing with Ginn, and I defend the guy because the expectations of the guy given the circumstances are just wrong. the guy is not a bust. hes already shown big play ability. we are just having a hard time helping him use it, and being hard on him for us expecting him to be things he is not. Until the offensive line comes together which is the first thing that needs to happen before we can become a good offensive team, nothing else will matter. When the offensive line does gel, and we add some more talent there, we can insert Henne and maybe even Beck if he could prove he can lead and hold onto the ball...then perhaps somebody like ginn can. Ive resigned myself to the fact Ginn wont blossum till this happens. It could be two years from now. That still doesnt mean Ginn was a bust. It means his talents werent utilized, or he didnt fit the system at the time. Now if the line came together and one of the Qbs emerged, and Ginn still didnt produce...THEN and ONLY THEN is he a bust...but that wont happen.

This team has more either holes or mismatched pieces than I anticipated. it might take at least two years to happen. We are still going to have to find a NT in the draft. The secondary needs to get bigger and find some playmakers (at least two). We havent generated the outside pass rush so we need to find a pass rusher off the edge, and could probably use a upgrade in the middle...so four or five starters on defense need to be found plus depth. ON offense the interior of the line hasnt played well...we might need to find at least one guard, and a receiver probably needs to be found (although even if we do find one Hagan, Ginn, Bess, and Camarillo will still be the guys - because that receiver will take at least a year to develop)....so on offense we might ACTUALLY be ok already.....the improvement will come from the guys we have developing. So we are probably 6-7 starters away from being a good football team.

This offseason has taught us one thing. Free agents for the most part are not going to upgrade your team. They can provide depth, and hold the fort...thats about it. From what I've seen of Smiliey he has struggled a bit....and he is one of the bright spots. randy starks is the same way. so it might take two drafts to fill those holes....now if we find 2-3 elite players from those drafts and 3-4 guys we have develop into elite players...which is very possible (Long, Henne, Carey, W. Allen, Ginn, Langford, Merling, maybe satele) then we will be in good shape.

So give it time. and have patience. As long as Sparano is the correct head coach for this team....its not a matter of if but when

 

[nikeair498]

no man were a strong armed qb away from the superbowl and the best passing season in history with ten ginn.

LETS GO JEFF GEORGE.

 

[Awsi Dooger]

The revolting nonsense were the claims we lost 6 games by 3 points, so we were actually much better than the 1-15 record. I have no idea how that was allowed to go unchallenged so often. Those losses were on merit and in most cases should have been much more lopsided. The NFL is so balanced almost every pointspread is single digits. So how in heck were we soothed by close defeats? It was like a parody.

These were the rushing attempt totals in those 6 losses by 3 points:

* Washington 41, Miami 20
* Jets 38, Miami 23
* Houston 28, Miami 25
* Giants 37, Miami 26
* Miami 38, Buffalo 25
* Pittsburgh 29, Miami 23

That simple stat is by far the easiest way to evaluate the rightful victor, the team that controlled the game. So it's obvious we outplayed the opponent only once among the close defeats, the home game vs. Buffalo. The Texans game was basically even but otherwise we were outplayed, often decisively. It's absurd to claim rightful victory when you rushed less than 27 or 28 times. Every year that's the 50/50 tipping point, in terms of whether you'll win or lose. Teams that rush less than 27 times lose more often than not. The 27-28 range is the 50/50 median and above 28 you're more likely than not to have won.

BTW, we were outrushed 36-29 by the Ravens. It was damn fortunate not to be 0-16.

The problem in regard to expectation this preseason was the nature of the meaningless rout of Kansas City. I missed the first half but obviously we dominated. There wasn't much false expectation here prior to that game, but it exploded immediately thereafter. I was hardly immune. I thought we would win 4-5 games but I bumped it to 6 after that game.

 

[Nuno]

Amen

 

[emeraldfin]

The revolting nonsense were the claims we lost 6 games by 3 points, so we were actually much better than the 1-15 record. I have no idea how that was allowed to go unchallenged so often. Those losses were on merit and in most cases should have been much more lopsided. The NFL is so balanced almost every pointspread is single digits. So how in heck were we soothed by close defeats? It was like a parody.

These were the rushing attempt totals in those 6 losses by 3 points:

* Washington 41, Miami 20
* Jets 38, Miami 23
* Houston 28, Miami 25
* Giants 37, Miami 26
* Miami 38, Buffalo 25
* Pittsburgh 29, Miami 23

That simple stat is by far the easiest way to evaluate the rightful victor, the team that controlled the game. So it's obvious we outplayed the opponent only once among the close defeats, the home game vs. Buffalo. The Texans game was basically even but otherwise we were outplayed, often decisively. It's absurd to claim rightful victory when you rushed less than 27 or 28 times. Every year that's the 50/50 tipping point, in terms of whether you'll win or lose. Teams that rush less than 27 times lose more often than not. The 27-28 range is the 50/50 median and above 28 you're more likely than not to have won.

BTW, we were outrushed 36-29 by the Ravens. It was damn fortunate not to be 0-16.

The problem in regard to expectation this preseason was the nature of the meaningless rout of Kansas City. I missed the first half but obviously we dominated. There wasn't much false expectation here prior to that game, but it exploded immediately thereafter. I was hardly immune. I thought we would win 4-5 games but I bumped it to 6 after that game.

Totally agree. I hated hearing that stat that we lost six games by three so we are much better than our record says. Good teams dont lose six games by three points, they win them. That fact if anything proves how bad we were last season

 

[ChuckKLINGBEIL]

yeah your right on all counts...

but it will always be a win now business,

we all know that many of the current Dolphins will be shown the door....the pressure is on the players on the feild to see who is going to stick.....Players like Ginn, Jason Allen, Satele, Hagan etc...must show reasons for the regime to want to keep them or else they wont be here in those years of "growth"....

 

[SportsGuy04]

AWESOME.... I feel the same way... Thank you for an excellent post and letting our fans see what this team is doing and developing to be. The fans out there have to be aware that this team is what it is.. You can not just put a bunch of players together and coaches and expect wins in months...It is not the way it is in the fast pace NFL.. Again thank you..