The world thinks we suck. What do they see that don't?

[Cloudy]

Virtually every prediction out there has us losing a substantial amount of games from ESPN , NFLN to the mom and pop websites around the web. Surely we believe that we are better team than the media believes but outside of Chad Henne it's difficult to understand where all the hate comes from. Now of course if we meet their prediction and go 3-13 or 4-12 it will be our homerism that blinded us and the media's "I told you so" but even if we exceed expectations and go 7-9 or 8-8, we still are stuck in mediocrity and watching a Dolphin-less playoff. The only way I see this being a successful season is if we make the playoffs. Winning a game in the playoffs would be nice but just making it would be a victory in itself. It feels like a tough pill swallowing admitting that I would just be happy to make the playoffs while some of our rivals go deep into the playoffs year in and year out but in all honesty, we aren't them.

 

[JerryD]

:crazy:

 

[Lilseb93]

We've been mediocre for over 10 years. While 3-4 wins is an absurd prediction, we deserve it. We'll have to earn our respect, beginning with defeating the Patriots on MNF.

 

[LANGER72]

With the Harbaugh and Orton incidents still fresh in the medias mind, they have every right to snicker and pile on the insulting commentary. Until we start beating good teams convincingly, reaching the playoffs, we will not get any respect.

 

[FinFilbert]

I think the real question should be "What do we know that the rest of the country hasn't yet had a chance to see? No one really "studies" our team as thoroughly as its local fans. We are not reporters with agendas. We (at least ME) are objective with what we see on the practice field and we evaluate the total body of what we see in games, not clips on highlight reels. I for one am optimistic. I could not predict our record at the end of the year, nor do I want to speculate how we compare to the other teams (on paper). I know that we, like all the other teams, have our strong traits and our weaker traits. But I know we have guys that absolutely ball and go out to effin compete their butts off.

 

[PYRO]

They see a joke, Right now the Dolphins are a team that only a mother could love...(fans)

 

[FinHopeful]

With the Harbaugh and Orton incidents still fresh in the medias mind, they have every right to snicker and pile on the insulting commentary. Until we start beating good teams convincingly, reaching the playoffs, we will not get any respect.

The media does not realize that the Players actually like Tony. The organizational antics you mention make the media think that the Dolphins are broken as an organization. Further, no one in the media believe Reggie will stay healthy. The media expects the wheels to come off if that happens.

 

[LANGER72]

The media does not realize that the Players actually like Tony. The organizational antics you mention make the media think that the Dolphins are broken as an organization. Further, no one in the media believe Reggie will stay healthy. The media expects the wheels to come off if that happens.

Sparano is making better decisions now. I think the players like him too.
As far as the media goes, who cares. But, our organization this off season has given them plenty of powder to blast us with.

 

[JerryD]

I don't know about that "liking Sparano" ... that's just the company line & the truth comes out after they're gone. You don't go around dissing your boss, even if he's a jerk or dolt.

Players "said" they liked Wanny, Satan, Cam too ... then later on it was quite different.

I have a hunch ... they feel Tony is a people-person who isn't the brightest bulb. Who wants to play/work for a dim-bulb who produces poor results? The list is loooong ... Play-calling, O-Line, Special Teams, etc. (I don't put the poopflinger QB on the list as Tony's not in charge of getting a QB ... but he is in charge getting the most out of him = FAIL!!)

My nickname for Sparano is "fluffy" ... he's soft across the board. Then talks fluff to disguise it.

Just sayin!!

 

[R_t_Kraken]

Blame Lebron.

Seriously who knows, maybe we do suck? I guarantee it won't be to the tune of 2-14 or 3-13 though like some have predicted.

Depends on if Henne has progressed at all since last season, our OL can hold up, and if our defense can gel quickly. Those are my 3 main factors. If all 3 are favorable to us it is possible we could be a playoff team.

The difference is, fans will almost always see hope, outsiders will see little/failed effort to upgrade our QB or HC. They look at the plain facts fans look beyond them.

 

[ALLFISH]

all of you are right....other than jerryD..... the moves by our owner have made us look broken. henne has looked much better and much more in command. this is going to be a carbon copy of last season, when henne plays solid we win. when he dosnt we dont. we were 7 n 9 last year and have gotten better on both sides of the ball. 3 wins is a joke... the only way that happens is if chad goes down with a broken bone..... god forbid.... we are better than most people think and i wouldnt have it any other way!..... GO PHISH!!!

 

[BigNastyDB13]

They look at our QB and put aside the rest of the team without realizing we went 7-9 last year with the same QB plus an incompetent OC. Id be shocked if Henne isn't better this year if for no other reason his OC will give him a fighting chance. You add in a couple of speed guys like Bush and Gates and there's reason to believe our offense will be better (couldnt get much worse). Assuming we use a lot more 3-wide and spread them out a bit the running game should benefit as well. "Experts" seem to forget we arent the only one's in the league with a mediocre to bad QB and they seem to over-look that our defense is better than most teams including those with just as big question marks at QB. How the hell they figure the Panthers, Bengals, Titans, Bills, Browns, Redskins, etc are better than the Dolphins is beyond me. I dont have Super Bowl asperations with this team but I fail to see how we've gotten worse than last year.

 

[Dr. Phin]

They see a QB starting that everyone thought would be replaced. They see an OL with Columbo at RT and Carey as a guard. Really? They see Hartline as our #2....

They see a bust at NO being seen as a savior here...and a rookie RB that doesn't look very good so far.

They see a coach who was completely disrespected by the owner, and probably has little respect left with the players.

The only good thing they see is a decent defense...but our offense is a joke at this point. And even our defense needs a second OLB opposite Wake...and we brought in JT????

 

[jlfin]

Its mostly ignorance. I was reading ESPN the magazine and Charles Woodson and Hugh Douglas were discussing the Phins. They stated that the Fins had no speed on offense and had no talent on the defense outside of Wake. They mentioned Bush and Marshall almost as an afterthought. Do these guys study the rosters of teams before they make such ridiculous statements?
I can understand the doubts regarding Henne, but I don't understand dismissing the talent on the rest of the team. In this issue they have the Phins at 24 in the power rankings.

 

[roy_miami]

They see a QB starting that everyone thought would be replaced. They see an OL with Columbo at RT and Carey as a guard. Really? They see Hartline as our #2....

They see a bust at NO being seen as a savior here...and a rookie RB that doesn't look very good so far.

They see a coach who was completely disrespected by the owner, and probably has little respect left with the players.

The only good thing they see is a decent defense...but our offense is a joke at this point. And even our defense needs a second OLB opposite Wake...and we brought in JT????

Plus the D will only be considered elite if you're picking off balls