Should Sparano or someone else take over play calling ?

-Dan

 

The ST Bonamego firing didn't hurt the team, although OC handles a greater scope of things. If it's up to me, he's gone. I don't even keep him aboard.

 

I used to blame Henning exclusively for the offense's woes, but it's not just him. The players fail as well. We're just not a good team, and the problems for that aren't on Henning alone.

 

I believe if Sparano keeps playing Henne he and the rest of the coaching staff should be fired! It is about winning football games and our season is getting to the point of elimination. Time to bench Henne play Penny because right now it appears our team has no confidence in Henne.

 

Thing is, if you take this past game vs the Ravens as an example. If you have a running back who has 6 carries for 45 yards and a TD on the first drive alone. Then you only get him 3 carries the rest of the game, well who else is to blame besides the OC? Or the HC? Ronnie was on fire, and we put the fire out, not the Ravens. We gotta force opposing teams to put the fires out, we can't keep helping them out.

 

Henning has turned into this predictable mess! Sure Henne has issues still but Henning was just HORRIBLE!!! Ronnie running like a BEAST??? Well, I better drop Chad back and pass all day then... The Ravens getting a little pressure? I'll just call an F'ing PLAY-ACTION PASS THAT NO ONE WILL SEE COMING!!!

Henning is actually stumping Henne's growth with inane bullsh*t... Henning should be fired in the offseason, just as Pasqualoni. Nolan was an upgrade, now we need an upgrade at OC. One that can work with the strength of his players effectively.

 

Henning sucks, I wanted both him and Pasqouloni gone this offseason
But since he is one of Parcells boys he got to stay.

 

Players still have to execute. They don't do that.

 

I hate to be a conspiracy theory guy, but........

Henning may already know he is not coming back. So what better way to sabatoge than to screw with the offensive play calling. Parcells left, and Henning is his boy. When Parcells left he made disparaging remarks about Henne. Could Henning just be following orders and making Henne look bad ?

Many of you guys will think that's an "out there" theory, but you never know. Parcells is very, very vindinctive. If he left because Ireland & Sparano starting making decisions without consulting him (which has been suggested as to why he left, at the time he did, so it would sort of sabatoge the season), what better way than to have your boy (Henning) who knows this is last year, screw Ireland & Sparano over.

 

They did execute, hence the 6 runs for 45 yards and a TD. Then he got 3 more carries over the course of the game. Thats the OC not executing what was working.

 

Well one thing you're right about this is "really out there". Can you show me some examples of Parcells being "very, very vindictive"? I've always heard that he is very, very loyal to his friends.
Not to mention that Henning also has history with Sparano.

 

I said it was an out there theory, but how else can you explain Henning's play calling yesterday ? It is incomprehensible that Brown got 3 carries after that 1st drive. Something is wrong internally and is dysfunctional within that coaching circle if you ask me.

 

That's a pretty silly opinion.

No basis at all in fact. But, that's sort of the key to theories such as this.

 

Well its just a suggestion, not saying that is what I think.

But I still think there is something going on internally within that coaching staff. This team should not be performing this badly on offense. Something needs to be done and soon, or the whole lot of them will be on the street at the end of the season.

 

So, what went wrong in the second drive? The third drive? The 4th drive before halftime?

 

of course players have to execute but that doesn't mean the playcalling isn't bad...

you can call a double reverse flea flicker on 4th and 1 with the game on the line, and if its executed to perfection it'll work... doesn't mean its a smart play call...

you have to call better plays that put your team in better positions... running a 2 minute drill with polite in there and play action?? thats not putting your team in the best position to succeed considering the current game situation... its just not, you cant defend that...

 

I'm not. I'm just not letting Henne get a free pass for not putting the ball in a good spot. I'm not letting Ronnie skate for having a good pass clank of his hands. I'm not letting Henne slide on those two screwed up snaps. I'm not letting Fasano off the hook for his drops. I'm not ignoring Jake Longs two penalties. It's not all Henning, its the players too.

 

ok, the players are going to have mistakes like that... QBs are going to miss passes, RBs/WRs are going to drop passes, this happens for every team in the NFL... of course you want to limit that, but one way to help is to put them in a position to succeed...

having an offensive coordinator who can not call a game is putting your team behind the 8 ball right from the start where you have to overcome his ineptitude and play a PERFECT game to win... and majority of the offense in the league can not play a perfect game let alone this one...

 

The offense has not appreciably changed since Henning took over.

I think it makes pretty good sense that it would not change now.

I agree something needs to be done. It could've started by not trading away our only deep threat. Not saying Ginn was great, but, he was our only threat to take it to the house, for better or for worse.

Henning needs to go...And you know what, so may Tony. This team
has, in general, been woefully mediocre in general, barring the first season.

And AFC East title only takes you but so far if that's all you've got to offer in three years of work, and two of those years will leave us out of the post season.

We were sold a three year plan.

I want what I was sold.

 

This happens to us often, it's not just an occasional thing. Does Henning call play action when down by 16 with 6 minutes to go? Yep. But the things I listed above are drive killers. Henne puts two balls on the ground during a freaking handoff! Ronnie, on third and three, gets a pass right where it needs to be, and drops it. Drive over. Our execution, no matter the play called, absolutely stinks more often than not. We rarely get big plays, and almost never for touchdowns. We give opposing offenses all the opportunity in the world to put up points by giving them the ball over and over again. From Sparano to Henning to Henne, this offense cannot execute worth a damn.

 

can we change all our players right now? no, can we give playcalling to someone else? yes...

so we made those mistakes, but what were we doing right at the start of the game? Ronnie carrying the ball... so instead of continuing with that, you stop? you run 5 more times the entire game?

rarely get big plays, why? how often do we spread the defense out with 5 people out in patterns to find mismatches? how can you expect to get open when you put 3 players out on patterns with 6 defenders covering them? again how does play action allow Henne to find a quick open man if hes got his back to the defense for the first 2 seconds of a play, especially when hes a young QB who needs more time to read a defense?

your OC has to make due with the players he has and put them in the best position to make plays... yes they are going to screw up at times, and thats on them, but for now if the OC isn't even doing that how can you expect these average players to have ANY success?

 

It doesn't matter if you replace the OC when the players can't even do what they're asked to do. Look at our Special Teams - we fired the coach there and while the special teams have improved somewhat, we've got that absolutely despicable 4th down pass converted against us for no good reason. Even Davone Bess saw that and was yelling at guys to cover the open guy and no one did. The coaches were yelling, Bess was yelling, and someone had a brain fart. Disgraceful. The players are absolutely as responsible for their play as the staff is.

 

My 2cents, going away from the Ronnie after the 1st quarter is baffeling, and should be explained by the staff, thats not the players fault

Henne has all day to throw, but tucked and ran too many times or the ball just doesn't come out. What's going on? It's hard to tell from the tv. poor Route running? poor Routes and play design? Just wont pull the trigger? I feel if we had the answers to these we would have our answer

If he wont pull the trigger, pull Henne

Bess and Marshall, I bet they are running thier routes correctly

Ricky and Ronnie and Cobbs and the guy from Montana who looked prommising last year but dissapeared this year (edit Lex Hilliard)......anyway all four are good passing targets, but I dont remember alot of attempts to them this year. Thats the biggest thing I saw yesterday, their underneath routes were well designed and blocked, our guys were out there on their own with no blocking. (that screen to Marshall for a five yard loss.......really)


My laymans opinion is that the OC is not developing the right plays nor calling the game correctly.

We have the talent.

 

No basis for thinking parcells can be vindictive? Really? So his relationship with the cheater(belichick) didn't sour after being turned down to coach the stinking jest?

His infamous "buy the groceries/cook the dinner" statement at the press conference for his new team. Why choose to air dirty laundry? It was a new beginning, keep it moving.

After being turned down by JT for an unscrupulous (no agent involved) contract offer, JT is on the sidelines on 3rd downs(the most important down for pass rushers). If that isn't cutting off your nose to spite your face then I don't know what is.

Then of course there's the leaked disappointment in Henne info to Mort case. Why weren't there an organizational outcry for a public apology from mort for spreading rumors on national tv? Because it wasn't a mere rumor. It is parcells' way in trying to distance himself from henne but no matter how far he tries to run from the decision to select henne in the second, parcells will be held accountable.

Parcells is loyal to himself. I put nothing past him when it comes to being petty at the sake of friendships.

 

Were we?

I’ve seen this posted frequently, that the team is on a three year plan. When was this ever stated by anyone in any position of actual authority in the Miami Dolphins organization?

No, seriously. When? Because I can’t remember anyone—Parcells, Sparano, Ireland, Huizenga, Ross—saying that we’re on some sort of a three year plan to get the team to the Super Bowl. I know that new regimes usually get four years to prove they belong. I know that the teams Parcells coached needed four years to get to the Super Bowl; the Giants in 1986 and 1990, and the Patriots in 1996.

But when was it ever stated by anyone in a position to authoritatively comment on the matter that it was determined when Parcells took over in December 2007 that we were aiming at Super Bowl XLV as the game in which the Miami Dolphins would win another championship?

As far as I’m concerned and can determine, we’ve been on a four year timeframe—Super Bowl XLVI—since Parcells arrived.

 

Second drive? Not running Ronnie. Third drive? See second. Fourth drive see Second also. Henne will not win a game on his arm, we need to slow things down and lean on the running game when we can. And in this game, we left it way too early.

 

Maybe the players aren't motivated or enthusiastic enough about Henning's BS play calling (including the offenses inability to call audibles) to carry them out with any degree of confidence..... so they end up just kind of going through the motions at times b/c they don't believe in him. Ever thought of that possibility?

I'd be cussing in the huddle every time I hear we're running play action pass on 3rd and long...... or any other obvious drive killing call. The obviously ineffective WC calls early in the year probably didn't help matters either.

 

Considering:
1. we took a wrecking ball to virtually the entire roster,
2. we took the "youth" approach for rebuilding for success,
3. that rookies typically have a 3 year learning curve for a reason......
It's a little difficult and irrational to expect a 3 year plan when our youth is still developing and improving. Having a 3 year plan means expecting your stable of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year players to become veterans overnight, and that's not gonna happen.

We still need a few more years for the guys drafted over the past 3 years to develop into vets since we're only 2.5 years into the 08 draft class..... 1.5 years into the 09 draft class..... and half a season into the 2010 draft class. The only reasonable plan is a 5 year plan. This at least gives our 2010 rookies 2 years of experience, especially considering we have 3 starters among them and possibly a few more coming.

 

Admittedly, I have been questioning our play calling (specifically the lack of running plays) all season long. And honestly, I don't know if it's Henning calling the plays, or Henne failing to read and react either at the LOS (or as the play begins to unfold). Or, a simple lack of execution on the part of our offense as a unit. But, what I do know is what we are doing just ain't gettin' the job done. Our red zone woes are abundantly obvious. So, if it were me, if I'm the HC, you'd better believe I'd be making changes.

And, the one thing I would do, today, is tell Chad Henne just play ball. Don't worry about making mistakes, just make plays. School's out, it's time to sink or swim. Let's see what you got boy. Time to take the leash off Tony.

JMHO...

 

There are no more 5 year plans in the NFL.

They need to start winning now. I'm not talking about getting to the super Bowl necessarily but they need to be better than they are.

We are living in a dream world if we think Ross is going to simply give them two more eyars without some tangible results.

 

Well, love Sparano Bro, but he is right, by yr #3 a team is what it is, it really needs to be more than just in games, they have to also win the games they used to lose.

In 09, we lose that Titans game, maybe the Packers and Vikings games as well, so there has been improvement in yr #3.

A part of me also wonders if Jerry Jones would take a run at Tony Sparano to be the new HC in Dallas?

 

Not here, Sparano is rarely questioned, on some other forums they are lynching Dan Henning and some are calling for his firing.

Well, head to head, the Cowboys have more talent, but are underperforming, we have less talent, but are overperforming, that is the key trait Owners look for when they look to hire someone.

We shall see, if we make a run to the playoffs Ross and Ireland have a choice to make with Coach Tony as the players name Sparano.