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Sunday was the Players' Message to Stephen Ross

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by Tannephins, Sep 29, 2015.

  1. Tannephins

    Tannephins Banned

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    I will write the following in first-person perspective, as though I'm a Miami Dolphins player, talking directly to Stephen Ross. Although its message is profound and packed with meaning, its tone is monotonous and flat line, reflecting the team's helpless, lackluster emotional state on the field. Here we go:

    Mr. Ross, you must be awfully excited about your team's first game in your newly revamped stadium. Ticket sales are up, the team has heightened expectations, and this is the stage where it will all play out. No doubt you're in your personal luxury suite with those closest to you, wanting to show off your polished gem. You spent millions on your stadium, and millions on the likes of Ndamukong Suh and Ryan Tannehill. The pieces are in place. This is the year where it all turns around.

    However, you've neglected to consider that the people running the team and calling the plays aren't good enough. They're not intelligent enough. We don't believe in them. They don't put us in the best position to succeed. We have the talent to succeed, but they will always get in our way. For that reason it's impossible to make good on what you want from us here today. It's impossible for us to hold up our end of the bargain and allow you to show us off to your friends and expect great things this year. There is a key piece of the puzzle missing here, and we know it -- although you may not -- and for that reason it's impossible for us to feel as good as you do about this team.

    This could've been a great year, the one you wanted. But we're hindered by a coaching staff that doesn't know what its doing. There are other coaching staffs in the league that will always be better than ours, despite perhaps the greater talent we have than they. Because we're helpless to change that situation, all we can do is languish and be uninspired. All we can do is take the field in the flat, helpless manner that reflects how we feel about our coaching staff, the ever-present thorn in our side.

    And when we take the field in that manner, we're obviously very beatable. Against a poor team, we eek out a close win, or get beaten by a last-second field goal. Against a good team we get completely drubbed, embarrassing you and ourselves in the process. You wanted more on Sunday, and we weren't able to give it to you. Your coaching staff is the ball-and-chain that will always keep us tethered to mediocrity or worse in the NFL.

    Please Mr. Ross, make a change. Help us succeed.

    Yours sincerely,

    The Miami Dolphins' Players
     
  2. Kud_II

    Kud_II Realist Division

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    He may have got the message. But he's not in much of a hurry to reassure the fans. Has he even said word one about Philbum? I'm sure he's shell-shocked like a lot of us faithful believers. But he needs to take his head out of his ***.

    Personally I think it was disrespectful the way the team played their home opener. Why not just spit on all the fans while you're out there? Do that kind of **** on the road if you don't care about winning. People paid their hard earned money to see their favorite team play. If I was a player I know I would understand that.
     
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  3. WhiteIbanez

    WhiteIbanez Megamediocremaniacal

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    Every story has two sides. Ross could easily respond..... You are professional football players so act like it. Get out on the field and execute you lazy bastards.
     
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  4. Piston Honda

    Piston Honda Well-Known Member

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    If Ross is watching the film he'd know that blaming the coaches is a lot of B.S.

    The team played hard on Sunday. They just didn't play well. Again. They're just not a good team right now.
     
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  5. jim1

    jim1 New Member

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    You actually watched the game and you're saying that the team played hard? Watch the first part again for a taste, when Clay waltzed into the endzone- through how many missed tackles?
     
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  6. resnor

    resnor Derp Sherpa

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    The team did not play hard, and they have more talent than they are displaying on the field. I watch other teams have starters go down, and replacements come in without skipping a beat. That is coaching. Our team may not be as good as we thought, but the coaching is terrible.
     
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  7. Vertical Limit

    Vertical Limit Senior Member

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    That guy is in love with Philbin and has no basis at all for this love. Just madly gay for him. And why? What has he shown or accomplished on this team for all that unwarranted support? Ridiculous in my opinion.
     
  8. Zach13

    Zach13 Season Ticket Holder

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    I am in favor of executing those lazy bastards as well.
     
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  9. Piston Honda

    Piston Honda Well-Known Member

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    Yes I saw it. And I saw Clay do that same type of thing to many, many, other players on several different teams. He's very hard to tackle in the open field. You're a Dolphin fan you should know this.
     
  10. Piston Honda

    Piston Honda Well-Known Member

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    From what I saw the D played hard till midway thru the 4th quarter, offense played hard the while game. Time to let go of the preseason hype and accept this just isn't a good team right now.
     
  11. MikeHoncho

    MikeHoncho -=| Censored |=-

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    ps. I'm still going to cash my pay-check, regardless of having done any work.
     
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  12. jim1

    jim1 New Member

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    I think that you're seeing what you want to see- the team came out flat, the effort level was unacceptable.
     
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  13. Piston Honda

    Piston Honda Well-Known Member

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    I want to see the team playing well and winning games. So you're wrong there. As for coming out flat, I didn't see that either. I saw effort through ought the game, they're just playing poorly.

    If you disagree please name a few of the players you saw not giving effort.
     
  14. dolphin25

    dolphin25 Well-Known Member

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    no offense to anyone, but why is anyone surprised by this? They have played flat the last 3-4 years. Watch almost any other game and the teams look faster and play harder then I've seen the Dolphins play.
     
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  15. Titleguru

    Titleguru New Member

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    Help me to understand. Coaching is more centered on playing well than hard. Thus the root word of coaches being "coach" or "coaching". So how is "blaming the coaches" a "lot of B.S."? I'm not saying it's the only explanation, but rather to exculpate the coaches seems just as extreme. Just my take on basic logic.
     
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  16. Piston Honda

    Piston Honda Well-Known Member

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    You make good points, no doubt. My post was in response to the idea that the players didn't perform as a means of communicating the the owner that the coaches suck. That's what I call a lot of BS. The players played hard IMO, and they continued to do so even after the game had been decided. What they didn't do was play well. And I'm confident that after studying the tape we can all point to more instances of players failing to execute their assignment than failing to exert proper effort.

    To your point, that playing well is equally related to coaching. Generally I have no issue with that but in the Bills game last week I'm not sure it applies. McCain was a dumpster fire all day long, he's only in the lineup bc there's no one better. Taylor has not played well when given the opportunity this season and he and Aikens allowed an easy TD soon after McCain was benched to further emphasize that point.

    Landry gift wrapped a TO for the D. Tannehill gift wrapped a pick 6. Jennings had multiple drops. Tyrod Taylor is at his best outside the pocket and yet was allowed to get to the edge for several east throws early in the game. Jason Fox and Dallas Thomas ruined several pass plays with bad play and communication. Misi and Bowman allowed big plays bc they took bad angles on Clay.

    I could go on but the point is that the players were out on the field screwing up all day long. The tape don't lie. It may not be basic logic but it's right there for everyone to see.
     
  17. danmarino

    danmarino Tua is H1M! Club Member

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    After watching the Dolphins for over 3 decades I have never seen them come out and play with so little heart as I did this past Sunday.

    I've been a Philbin supporter. My bet is they go out and beat the Jests next Sunday. However, I don't think I can support Philbin anymore.
     
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  18. Phins_Fan_87

    Phins_Fan_87 Phins and Heat fan Club Member

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    Weston
    He's worth almsot 7 billion. He doesn't give a rats ***.
     
  19. Piston Honda

    Piston Honda Well-Known Member

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    Ross spent hundred of millions on a new stadium upgrades. How much does a rats *** cost?
     
  20. resnor

    resnor Derp Sherpa

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    Which players played hard? The oline didn't play hard. The defensive line didn't play hard. Several DBs didn't play hard. Running around doesn't = playing hard. The team lacks fire. They aren't playing hard.
     
  21. cbrad

    cbrad .

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    Yeah, the team was flat. Only a few players I thought played with effort. Landry of course (so far team MVP), and I thought Tannehill played tough too even if he didn't play that well. Gotta also give Matthews credit. He's turning into a real bright spot this year.
     
  22. Piston Honda

    Piston Honda Well-Known Member

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    No offense but that's really the type of stuff we as fans need to get away from. Playing hard doesn't equal playing well. Again, name a specific player. McCain had more to do with the loss than anyone on the field but it's not bc he didn't play hard it's because he's not a good player and he played poorly to boot.

    This talk about the players dogged it, we're flat, not ready to play. Let's call it what it is. Attempts, weak ones, to explain away how the Dolphins, who we all thought were a good team, can produce such poor results.
     
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  23. Piston Honda

    Piston Honda Well-Known Member

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    People want to hang on to their preseason ideas on how good this team and instead of looking reality in the face, they're not a good team, come up with new ideas on how they're right all along but it must be the coaches. It weak.

    Blaming the coaches is easy. And comforting. But if you review the tape the truth is undenaible. Miami goy their asses handed to them. It's still early, there's time to improve. But I can see issues on this team that aren't going to go away no matter who the coach is.
     
  24. Stringer Bell

    Stringer Bell Post Hard, Post Often Club Member

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    Sure, but the bad coaching will hopefully go away with a better coach. Miami just lost to a team with Tyrod Taylor at QB.
     
  25. Piston Honda

    Piston Honda Well-Known Member

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    The Colts lost to that same team. Is Pagano a bad coach?

    What I do find inexcusable is how easily Taylor was able to get outside the pocket and make easy throws. It's baffling. I have to imagine the coaches emphasized keeping him in the tackle box and that the players understood this. So how'd it happen?

    Honestly, the rest of the game is pretty easy to figure out. Bills played well, got a few breaks, Dolphins played like ish. I'm somewhat optimistic bc it was only a few players who sucked but at the same time those players don't have viable backups waiting to come in and play better so...My main hope is that Wake and Vernon start looking like their real selves, Albert gets healthy at some point. Sims too. No one else gets injured. Parker builds on his last performance. All big ifs but what else is there to go on?
     
  26. roy_miami

    roy_miami Well-Known Member

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    Tyrod Taylor is playing like the second or third best QB in the AFC through three weeks. He did nothing poorly in that game, great decisions, great accuracy, extending plays and I don't believe he had a bad stretch. Its possible that he is actually a very good QB.

    And he played hard.
     
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  27. Stringer Bell

    Stringer Bell Post Hard, Post Often Club Member

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    Yes.

    lolwut?
     
  28. roy_miami

    roy_miami Well-Known Member

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    I agree. For fans watching on their television screens its impossible to tell if Fox is playing bad because he's bad, or if he's playing bad because he's not playing hard.
     
  29. MikeHoncho

    MikeHoncho -=| Censored |=-

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    Playing devil's advocate: Suh, Jennings, the offensive line, the rest of the defensive line really, Tannehill after about the first 6 pairs of defenders' balls on his forehead on dropbacks.

    Sent from my SM-G360T1 using Tapatalk
     
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  30. Piston Honda

    Piston Honda Well-Known Member

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    I wish I could argue that response but I really cant. Like I said it's inexcusable. It's like they didn't realize the Bills would try working him out idea the pocket till they were down 14-0.
     
  31. jim1

    jim1 New Member

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    It would be easier to name the players who I saw actually giving a very good effort- Tannehill and Jonas Gray come to mind. Rewatch that first TD of the game by Clay- he waltzed in, it was embarrassing- a little sidesteep was not some overwhelming move and I lost count of how many tackles were missed. Look at the Karlos Williams runs, the Hogan TD, our OL- the team played flat.

    Just about anyone can go to work and mail it in, appear to be trying but give a half hearted effort for the day- I've been watching the Dolphins for decades, and last Sunday the flatness was palpable, like the players weren't into it. Uninspired, ineffective. The team has the aura of already being defeated, which is really strange for the first few games of the sesaon, kind of bizarre.

    You seem to be intent on defending the coaching staff for whatever reason, and therefore somewhat blind as to what extent this team has lost its mojo. It's painful to see, and the question is why it happened. The team has plenty of talent and their performance and attitude are approaching levels of pathetic- sounds to me like the quality of coaching is a major issue here, no matter how you cut it.
     
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  32. Piston Honda

    Piston Honda Well-Known Member

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    Whoa Nelly. Not defending the coaching staff at all. I've been criticizing Philbin and his staff since all of Miami's losses were Ireland's fault. Long before it became en vogue so to speak.

    They pissed away a good defense and replaced it with what, exactly? Not even the world's most expensive DT can fix this mess.

    So please don't take this as a defense f the staff. I could write a dissertation on their screwups. But what I'm not down for is ignoring the fact the it's the players on the field performing like crap that's leading to losses.
     
  33. 77FinFan

    77FinFan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I've got to believe they coached against this.
     
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  34. Phins_Fan_87

    Phins_Fan_87 Phins and Heat fan Club Member

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    Weston
    He own's the stadium. He will make back more than what he put in to fix it up. It's called an investment.
     
  35. Piston Honda

    Piston Honda Well-Known Member

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    I think we'd agree for the most part if we changed the standard from who played hard to who played well.

    What we disagree on his how good this team is. You need to let go of the idea that the Dolphins are a really good team and accept that as of today they absolutely are not.
     
  36. Piston Honda

    Piston Honda Well-Known Member

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    The pass pro wasnt bad early on, especially considering who the Bills have playing DL. Hughes made a few plays vs Fox, that's to be expected. I thought James held his own vs Mario Williams for the mst part. Dareus fell into a sack as Tannehill climbed the pocket. Williams was a factor but not overly disruptive. The big take away for me was that Rex chose to stay away from blitzing and play coverage for most of the day. It shows a level of respect for Tannehill that I'm not sure we would have seen in years past.
     
  37. jim1

    jim1 New Member

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    Really, you're going to say that? I'm going to waste a minimal amount of time on this.

    Piston Honda, post # 4 of this thread:

    "If Ross is watching the film he'd know that blaming the coaches is a lot of B.S.

    The team played hard on Sunday. They just didn't play well. Again. They're just not a good team right now."

    So which is it, you're blaming the coaches or you're not blaming the coaches?
     
  38. WhiteIbanez

    WhiteIbanez Megamediocremaniacal

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    I'm not sure anyone in this organization from the field up deserves the right to point fingers at each other.
    Been a mockery of a sham of a travesty so far folks.
     
  39. Piston Honda

    Piston Honda Well-Known Member

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    I aplogize if my views are too nuanced. Playing, coaching, studying the game has humbled me in ways that perhaps you don't vibe with.

    I'd like to think I've been clear on my stance. Perhaps not. So I'll say again. I see the players on the field playing poorly. I don't see a lack of effort, I see a lack of ability and execution. I've made specific points regarding this if you're inclined to read them.

    I've also said that I don't like this HC. Never have. That doesn't mean I have to blame the staff for everything. Again, it's a nuanced view.

    The OP was about how the players mailed it in to show the owners they don't believe in the coaches. I objected bc I didn't see anything even close to that while studying the film. Obviously I'm just a fan with an opinion, for whatever that's worth. But I've watched the game several times and I'm sharing my opinion, isn't that what the forum is for?
     
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  40. Piston Honda

    Piston Honda Well-Known Member

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    There's definitely enough blame to go around. But you know the pre determined narrative is Philbin sucks...
     

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