Everyone I was watching the game with (even the non fin fans) agreed that this game was not the slightest bit on Dan Carpenter. And I'm proud of our members here for not posting a single negative comment on the guy. During the game, we all agreed that we have ridden this mans leg riddiculously enough all year, and that we may have even worn it out. We were kinda joking about that, until we noticed that the wide right miss at the end looked like it would have fallen short even if it was on target. I don't know about any of you, but I felt a strange peace come over me with the missed kick, similar to the feeling I had years ago when Ricky Williams suddenly retired on us. I felt that way then, because I knew Ricky had just done something that no one else seemed to be able to do.....finally get Wanny fired. And while everyone and their mother was ripping RW a new one, I loved him for it. Now I have that same feeling again, only now I've got a man-crush on a kicker. Why? Because he just united DolphinNation, and finally opened many an eye. Not for his performance, but for the performance of others that need serious addressing.
It was a windy day and I refuse to say anything bad about Dan. He was money all season and it finally came to an end. Nobody is perfect, right? Except for Dan Henning.
The last one did indeed look short (though it was wide right as well). It sucks that he missed 3 FGs he could make (not holding a 61 yd kick against him), but we shouldn't have called plays that would rely on him to make a 48 yd FG when it was obvious he was having an off game.
Into that wind I wouldn't expect any kicker in the history of the game to make any 50+ yard field goals. Sure, it would have been nice is he had hit that 48yarder...but hey, as another poster wrote, no one is perfect, except for Dan Henning.
The kicks were all over 48 yrds ???? How could anyone blame him. He was due for a bad game. He had ONE, but Sparano & Henne have had many more. Carp is still THE MAN to me. Without his accuracy we'd have 3 wins, perhaps 4 this season. He has saved us from a Cam Cameron type season.
Me too brother. I've never been into buying them, but I'm thinking of getting a Carpenter jersey just for posterity.
Meh can't really hate on him, so he had a bad game, so what. Not to mention the weather conditions and the fact he had to kick out from 50 yards each time. He is the reason the Dolphins even had the chance to even compete for a wildcard spot. If anyone deserves an award for this season its him and our Defense.
Given how many times this season Carp has won games for this team, or just kept us in games, it's hard to blame him for one bad game. No, this loss goes on Sparano/Henning for playing for a FG, for not letting a hot handed Henne try to win the game with a TD.
Everyone is allowed a bad day, especially a guy who has been $$$ for three seasons!! I'm a bit shocked he missed the three "short" ones, but still, he was due for a bad day. It happens!!
SHORT ONES ????? The shortest he kicked yesterday was 48 FREAKIN' YARDS !!!!! That is not short !!!!!!
To me, how can Carpenter be blamed? If anything the offense having drives just die right on the edge of makeable FG range bares far more of the responsibility for the misses. Put it this way, you watch DC miss 3 FG in in the 49+ yd range, you know you have to move the ball closer than that when it matters, and instead, they pretty much just fold the tent and rely on DC to hit a improbable FG..it's insane, but that is how they are doing things.
He won a lot of games for us we didnt deserve to win.So he had a bad day .We shouldnt have been in the position that we had to depend on him because our offensive playcalling sucks. Hopefully it will lead to the firing of the coaching staff who have misused the players and whose playcalling and game management skills have been atrocious.
I still can't believe we didn't go for it on 4th & 2 heading into that wind against the worst run defense in the NFL.
this is why I was saying I hope they lose out, not because I am a hater....but this team isnt run right, they simple cannot win a Championship with the mistakes that are being made just by the coaching staff alone, it is an impossibility....they have lost me (after the Pats game), the fanbase, Chad Henne....etc....look at all the truly contending teams in the NFL....whats the one combo they all have and are successful?? They all have a good QB and Coach..... NE, Philly, GB, Atl, Balt, Pitt, NYG, NO, Miami well you know what they have......Mr. Cowher would be a step in the right direction...1/2 complete...
As coffee comes out of my nose! Still sad though, that a senario like that only exists in our dreams.
I've been a Dolphins fan for 40 years, and I never, ever wanted to see the team lose. But at the same time, I was afraid that if we "won out" we would see that "one more chance". I hate that we lost to Buffalo, but I love that there will now be changes. And drastic ones hopefully.
He's always been known as a very accurate guy with not the biggest leg in the league. Coming into this season, Dan Carpenter's career-long was 52 yards. All of the sudden he hits from 60 and everything else is now in his range. Even 61. We play at sea level, mind you. Consider that Carpenter has attempted eight field goals beyond 50 yards this season, including two over 60. You know how many he attempted the previous two seasons combined? Three. The fact that he's 4/8 this season (which includes the block by New England) is a testament to the man. Made - 60, 54, 53, 50 Missed - 61, 54, 53 (blocked), 50 Pretty damn good if you ask me. Especially considering three of those makes were career-longs. Coming into yesterday's game, he was 4/5 on 50+ yard attempts that actually got into the air. That doesn't include his 16 attempts between 40-49 yards in 2010. In all, 24 of Dan Carpenter's 38 attempts have been beyond 40 yards this season. When your offense ranks 31st in points scored yet you're still 7-7, that speaks volumes. It's just unfortunate that you watch the highlight shows, read the stories around the web today and it's simply "Dan Carpenter missed four field goals".
He's kicking long *** field goals, a few of them were into the wind. Thats why you never settle for FGs ever, I dont blame DC, he was put in a position to fail.
They got no balls. Way too conservative. I was saying there is no way in hell he makes that FG with the wind like that. No blame to Carpenter from me. He had a bad day. Sooner or later when you rely on the guy to do it all you will run into a day like that. I was hoping I would come here today and find out they had fired Sparano and his grandpa..... no such luck.
The blame falls on the fist pumping idiot who thought it was a good idea to attempt another long fg after the first 3 failed! That is a much better idea then going for it on 4th and long!
No reason to bag on him. Not his fault the offense couldn't get him inside of 45 yards. He has bailed out this offense all season. It would be nice if they returned the favor.
Whats mind-boggling to me is with yesterday's windy conditions, why kick a 48-yard field goal instead of going for it on 4th and 2?