Why is everyone so surprised?

[lemmiwinks]

First post here. I felt compelled to chime in.

I get it, our offense has been inept and our record is well..mediocre to say the least. It sucks to be here, but why is everyone so surprised? I don't think that we expected a winning record at mid point this season with Jay Cutler at the helm. Our team isn't going to do anything in the playoffs even if we somehow manage to squeeze our way in.

Also, Gase is not to blame for the way things are going this season. If anything, blame Tannenbaum for not addressing the offensive line and shitty luck with Tannehill going down. Gase went with the best option on the table by signing Cutler who he has had success with in the past. We had enough talent to compete this year and he wanted to give our team a fighting chance with the cards we were dealt with.

I mean look at teams like the Packers and Texans. Those teams have talent on their rosters but aren't going to jack this year with backup QBs.

 

[finmann]

First thing......welcome.
I didn't expect much from the Dolphins this year and I am on record saying that, However, I don't expect that many people thought they would look this bad with a boat load of off the field issues. The disappointment is justified as many fans had us going to the playoffs for sure, the realization has now set in for most (not all) people that this team is god awful and in all likelihood is at least 2 years away from being good. No one wants to wait any longer for that........it's been nearly 20 years of bad coaching and bad drafting, enough is enough.

 

[multistage]

Because we hope against hope.

Every. ****ing. Year.

You’d think we’d get calloused, but old timers like me remember when we were unreal.

And we will not settle for the shitshow that is our current team.

So, we get kicked in the balls. Again.

 

[fininpsl]

I'm also not sure why everyone is so shocked that we've been mediocre. It's obvious to all the world that there aren't enough decent QB's to fill even the starting jobs in the NFL. If you lose your starter a month before the season you might as well write the year off. We didn't, and that's going to hurt us in 2018. Less cash, and a lower position in the draft. I don't think the roster is quite the trainwreck everybody thinks it is. Between injuries, the effect of Irma, and the travel schedule to start the season, this team was turned upside down. I do think we have improved the talent on the defense, and I don't think the offense needs everybody replaced. The huge disappointments to me are the fact the two young guys on offense we all though would be foundation pieces in Ajayi and Tunsil, haven't proven to be what we hoped for. Hopefully Tunsil can put the work in and turn the corner as a player. The talent is there. if he doesn't, we may have an entirely new o-line by 2019.

 

[BenchFiedler]

For some reasons.... I think it's worst watching this defense than the offense. Teams treat this defense like a padded practice and most incomplete passes are on the other team's QB throwing an inaccurate pass or WR dropping the ball.

 

[<O>]

Two things are surprising:

1) How poor Jay Cutler has played, in comparison to his career average performance, and especially in comparison to his performance with Gase in 2015.

2) How much more poorly the pass defense has played in 2017, in comparison to 2016.

When you put those two things together, you have a team that went from one that made the playoffs with a bit of luck in 2016, to one that may not win another game this year if it continues to play the way it has. That's quite the plummeting.

 

[fininpsl]

We aren't losing the rest of our games. I've heard several different people say that the last couple days, and it's not happening. We just aren't that horrifically bad.

 

[<O>]

We aren't losing the rest of our games. I've heard several different people say that the last couple days, and it's not happening. We aren't as that horrifically bad.

When you consider the variables that most strongly predict winning in the NFL, the Dolphins have played in 2017 like a team that has finished 3-13 on average in the league since 2004.

They may not lose the rest of their games, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did, and I wouldn't place a bet on their finishing any better than 6-10.

 

[zach attach]

I'm surprised because of the difference in pretty much 2 players. Last year Tannehill and Albert were here. The o line protected him, and with time, Ryan can surgically dissect a defense.

Also, I'm surprised because Coach Gase sold us a raw deal. Trade Albert for Thomas. Bad. Trust me Cutler knows the system, he's great, pay the man.

Coach Gase, "System, system, system"
Well now the players suck.

 

[Snakell Beast]

I think I can speak for many of the fin fans on here when I say that I am not SURPRISED, I am PISSED AND DISAPPOINTED. I held out hope that Gase was more than just another also ran "system" coach who fails to connect with players, tries to force roles on guys that they can't perform with their skillsets, then argues with the media and fans about the purity of his "system" and how the players just aren't running the plays right.

I think we are disappointed that even with the most talented roster we've had in many years, the same problems keep creeping up, and that we keep changing our front office and players and winding up with the same soft, pretender team that flirts with relevance and then shits on the fans with a ghastly performance against a conference opponent that portends the fatal slide to come. It's jut gruesome and tedious, that's all.

We're tired of seeing the team throw away assets at the wrong time, often for the wrong reasons, and we're tired of the team drafting for smaller needs when they should draft the best player available, and drafting the best player available when there is an equivalent talent in our most consistent need (offensive line) readily available.

We're tired of the mismanagement, like having Tannehill avoid surgery only to have the same injury worsen in camp and end a whole new season, or signing a washed up player like Cutler when there were better options available in trade or free agency, or trading away picks after the draft and preseason to fill needs that were neglected in order to utilize our free cap space to sign said washed up quarterback, or keeping players on the roster for special teams when we could be using those spots to fill needs for the starting units, or dumping our kicker and punter every few years to save a buck while seeing gradual decline in both positions, or just not valuing draft assets highly enough, and constantly drafting players in the middle rounds that don't contribute, and passing on franchise quarterbacks like Rodgers and Ryan because of minor flaws while drafting quarterbacks like Beck and Henne with glaring flaws and then pretending those flaws don't exist when they play... but, most of all, we're just sick and tired of having to change the front office and coaching staff every 3 years, only to see the same flaws and problems crop up again with the next regime so we can rinse and repeat again 3 years later.

 

[ANUFan]

For some reasons.... I think it's worst watching this defense than the offense. Teams treat this defense like a padded practice and most incomplete passes are on the other team's QB throwing an inaccurate pass or WR dropping the ball.

You mean the same defense that has practically put us in positions to win(minus the Baltimore game) everytime? Including the most recent game against the Raiders.

That's the defense you want to pick on? What do you think happens to defenses when the offenses continually can't do anything with the ball and give the ball right back to the other teams offense.

 

[Danny]

Our lack of a consistent pass rush(specially on 3rd down) has really hurts the secondary. The middle of the fields seems to always be wide open. The offense has struggle because the O-line can not run block so basically we're losing up front on both sides of the ball. Yes the D-line has played better vs the run this year but that's about it. It all starts up front and we're losing there and of course all the penalties and dumb mistakes are not helping matters

Ozzy rules!!

 

[Adam Strange]

I’m not shocked. The season was over when Tannehill went down and the talent on the team was overrated to begin with.

But if you’re going to pay someone 10 million to come out of retirement and lead the team, he better be leading it to a better record than 7-9/8-8 or what’s the point.

I’d rather win 5 or 6 games with Matt Moore than 8 games with Cutler. We’d save money on the cap and have better draft positioning too. But, instead, the team just had to “do something” once Tannehill went down and decided that a mediocre journeyman QB who retired last year would be better than the mediocre journeyman QB who was already on the bench.

Then the spin began: how Cutler had never played better than under Gase, how he had never had better weapons and yada, yada, yada . . . the team is mediocre once more, but at least Gase’s protege got paid.

 

[<O>]

You mean the same defense that has practically put us in positions to win(minus the Baltimore game) everytime? Including the most recent game against the Raiders.

That's the defense you want to pick on? What do you think happens to defenses when the offenses continually can't do anything with the ball and give the ball right back to the other teams offense.

The pass defense surrendered a YPA of 10 to the Raiders, amidst a passer rating of 121.3 by Jay Cutler.

In other words, the pass defense played horrendously, even alongside a high-quality performance by the offense.

There have been 30 games in 2017 in which at least one of the teams involved had a YPA of at least 9.5. Those teams with the YPA of at least of 9.5 were 29-1. The one team that lost with a YPA of at least 9.5 was beaten by a team with a YPA of 10.9.

You stand almost no chance of winning in the NFL when you surrender a YPA of 10. The Dolphins' pass defense gave this team very little if any chance of winning Sunday night.

 

[fansinceGWilson]

The pass defense surrendered a YPA of 10 to the Raiders, amidst a passer rating of 121.3 by Jay Cutler.

In other words, the pass defense played horrendously, even alongside a high-quality performance by the offense.

There have been 30 games in 2017 in which at least one of the teams involved had a YPA of at least 9.5. Those teams with the YPA of at least of 9.5 were 29-1. The one team that lost with a YPA of at least 9.5 was beaten by a team with a YPA of 10.9.

You stand almost no chance of winning in the NFL when you surrender a YPA of 10. The Dolphins' pass defense gave this team very little if any chance of winning Sunday night.

While I agree, no pass rush affects the secondary. How much of Cutler's success was a below average pass rush?