I will not make any excuses for the play of this team today. What I will say is that the moment Ross announced that Philbin would be back..he opened the door for the crapfest of a game today and months worth of fan frustration and anger going into another off season. You knew that this defense was on an amazing downward spiral coming into this week and getting torched by one of the worst offenses in the league and worst QBs in the league would only make things worse...yet you chose to announce retaining Philbin with a huge chance that todays game would be a disaster. You knew people would be embarassed by having a BAD Jets team come to your home stadium and laugh, joke and parade around a half empty stadium and paying homage to a Coach everyone knew was going to be fired..but you still chose to retain Philbin knowing this might happen this week. You knew that people were already screaming for Coyles head and people were looking for any sign that maybe a change with bring some hope for next year...that someone had to be held responsible for the play of this defense...yet you told us that you were bringing the same people back...that you were going to stay the course knowing that today could make things 1000 times worse..even though you knew this might happen this week. You knew that you had players on the field who might mail this weeks effort in...not care about anything "team" only about "I" and "me"...not have enough pride about embarassing themselves...getting their QB beat up and thrown to the wolves..that it might lead to a ton of finger pointing and internal fights among the players, coaches and staff...yet you chose to announce that Philbin would be returning knowing this might happen. Of course I am angry about what happened today...you took so many positives from a season and pissed alot of good feeling down the drain because you opened up a HUGE array of possibilities of that today might be a disaster and the only band aid you gave the fan base was that we are keeping things status quo. Do you really believe that dolphin fans are happy right now? Do you think as a whole we have faith in these coaches? some of the players who quit today or were just plain terrible? Why would you open yourself up to such a disaster going into the off season? 8-8....the players...coaches...owner and fan base...all we ever want is hope that all the pieces are coming together and we have direction. Today you started an off season in probably the worst way possible.
I think he used the win over a bad Vikings team with a rookie QB as an excuse to keep Philbin. He certainly didn't want to wait until this weeks game to make his decision known. Could you imagine him coming out and stating Philbin would remain the head coach after the performance by the Dolphins today? Ross certainly knew last week that the win over the Vikings, no matter how bad they are, was the best opportunity for him to break the bad news that Philbin was going to be the head coach next year. The complete collapse of the defense and the OL today only shows this team was not prepared to play today. Philbin already had what he wanted and it appeared the players just wanted to get the season over with and get on with the off season. This team doesn't play hard for Philbin and that is why they seem content to play at a mediocre level year after year with him as their head coach . 23-25 after three years as the head coach of the Dolphins. That about says it all.
Year 1, Philbin ended the season in a meaningless loss to the Pats 28-0(see how the Bills shut them down today?) Year 2, we all know how we needed to beat one out of two terrible teams for a playoff berth, and lost 2 straight. Year 3, we drop 3 out of last 4 and exhibit, yet again, zero heart down the stretch. How do you keep a coach who breeds these results?
Once again, you have plenty to crucify Philbin over but you don't go for the real stuff. We continually struggle against the Bills and Jets because they have very good DEs, DTs and LBs. The fact that Philbin/Ireland/Hickey haven't built up the interior of the O-line to combat that fact and it wasn't until this year that we addressed our OT problem should be your angle. The Bills and Jets represent 4 games that are going to be on your schedule each and every year. It's fine that we have begun to compete with the Patriots due to our pass rush but we still struggle against the Bills and Jets because of our O-line issue. We are not going to get to the top of this division until we can confidently say that our O-line is a strength. No matter the OC, no matter the QB, we aren't going to see real progress with this team until the O-line is officially fixed. I'm willing to accept that Pouncey will probably return to form as a Center. That still leaves us with gaping holes at both LG and RG. I don't love Philbin, so all I can do is hope that he and Hickey address that issue this off-season.
It is...you draft a Guard at #14 in the first round then trade the rest of the draft to pick another Guard at #15. Boom. Done. I'll assume my check is in the mail thank you!
Yeah, Ross should probably fire Coyle on his own before the fan base starts snorting bath salts... Gay zombies is where I draw the line.
Because he wants to prove Ireland wrong, it's an ego thing imho. Reports last year were Ireland wanted Philbin canned, Ross's guy, didn't sit well with him so he fired Ireland. After the Minny game, like any Dolfan Ross was pumped and let his ego get in the way and felt he was justified in keeping Philbin. Didn't allow for a chance to prove Ireland right in week 17, these are the luxurious you can afford as an owner.
Greg, you make very good points and true ones, but those issues were not our biggest downfall...This D is horrendous, giving up 35+ in 4 of the last 5 games... If you're playing the "Weak Sisters Of The Poor" and give up 35+ points, it'll be hard to win. Yeah, the OL needs help, yeah we need to be more competitive against our division foes, but this season, unlike the last two, is all about the demise of the defense...
Uhhh...Ireland resigned. He wasn't fired. He was offered to keep his title but without personnel control and quit instead...either way, it was good riddance. Yeah, I want Philbin fired but because he had his chance after last year's locker room fiasco to fix this team and didn't do it...not because that loser Ireland wanted him gone...
I'm with you. I can't figure out in what universe those results point to winning in the near future. Three years of playing our worst football in December. Three years is a trend. Lucky for us there's at least a chance the interim coach next season will have a better December though playoffs will of course be out of the picture.
I was not surprised at all about this game. Rex Ryan showed again how he can get his players to play whereas Philbin can not. Ross would do well to hire Rex as our DC.
That is probably right but if we could get him as DC for 1 yr and then boot philbin next yr and move Rex up. The biggest thing I like about Rex is that he can get his players to play for him.
The fact we are dreaming of Rex to be DC just to replace failbin eventually is a fail itself. Could easily can philbin and hire rex. God I hate this pathetic owner. Always knee he was a damn stooge from the minute he came in
That "loser" Ireland found got us our best QB since Marino, a franchise RB, Clay, Pouncy, and a lot of good young defensive players. Like it or not, Ireland has built the vast majority of this IMO young and talented team and left Hickey cap flexibility.
Moving the right direction. Ross is very wise. He knows best. Track record of success. Never question The Ross. My two cents via iPhone.
Perfect... This ensures Ross will pursue him as a DC before firing Coyle and be publicly rejected. My two cents via iPhone.