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Here's a thought

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by MIAMIDOLPHINFAN, Aug 28, 2011.

  1. MIAMIDOLPHINFAN

    MIAMIDOLPHINFAN New Member

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    I know our oline play last night was inexcusable but here's a thought:

    Maybe Tampa Bay just has a good defensive front?

    Of course the oline takes alot of the blame, and they deserve too. And I'm not calling Tampa Bay the Steel Curtain, but give credit where credit is due. Those guys came out to play.
     
    Pandarilla likes this.
  2. MIAMIDOLPHINFAN

    MIAMIDOLPHINFAN New Member

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    Nahhhh our oline wass just awful... Wow there I go contradicting myself again... Looks like I'm just as confused as everyone else when it comes to our OL situation... Well, hey... Thank god our head coach is a "OL guru" :-)
     
  3. NaboCane

    NaboCane Banned

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    I think that through experimentation and that precious "churning" process, we just may have achieved the elusive "perfect storm" of OL "suck."

    Parts of our O-Line are horrible; perfectly horrible.

    The other parts are players who range from rookie to good, playing out of position.

    It is an amazing feat, to take a bunch of guys with a vast range of experience and skillsets, and play them in the worst of each possible position for their ability. It reminds me of that guy who used to come on The Ed Sullivan Show and spin plates on long sticks; he'd keep adding sticks and plates again and again, and you'd sit there waiting for the whole thing to crash down so you could exhale.

    We're gonna need a broom.
     
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  4. Pandarilla

    Pandarilla Purist Emeritus

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    No doubt that whole team came ready to play and pissed off from last week. They do deserve a lot of credit. They destroyed our offensive line...
     
  5. Ohio Fanatic

    Ohio Fanatic Twuaddle or bust Club Member

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    That's what I have been harping. The bucs have invested a butt load of picks inthat line and they were playing well. Combine that with our mediocre line DES-Jake Long and people are doing the "sky-is-fallin" routine.
     
  6. DolfanJake

    DolfanJake Banned

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    4 offseasons and this is what we get. Inexcusable. Sparano & Ireland need to go. Those who think this team is going to the playoffs are really smoking some good stuff.
     
  7. schmolioot

    schmolioot Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Unfortunately we took a line that had 1 hole (as in we didn't know who the starter was) at RG. Instead of simply filling that hole with either a young guy already on the roster, like Garner or Feinga, we instead created a second hole at RT with the move of Carey. And we the filled his spot with the worst RT in football last year.

    So now with Pouncey's typical growing pains the whole thing is a mess that Jake Long won't magically fix. It's a shame, as Henne is playing well
     
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  8. Larryfinfan

    Larryfinfan 17-0...Priceless Club Member

    Yeah, schmoliot and he'll probably get all the blame...as he has been for 3 yrs...
     
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  9. DolfanJake

    DolfanJake Banned

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    This really shows the incompetence of Sparano & Ireland. I am not sure what is going on there. Is there still tension between the two ? Is Ireland trying to make Sparano look bad ? He sure hasn't given him the tools to succeed, and Sparano like a moron, has made things worse by doing his usual tinkering by moving people out of their natural positions. Its a giant clusterf*ck, and one I was afraid was going to happen. They both need to go, and I will be a "gloom & doomer" until they are gone.

    I've always hated Bill Parcells, and he is the cause of all this. I hate him even more now.
     
  10. GreysonWinfield

    GreysonWinfield Release The Hounds

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    I think they should fire Ireland and Sparano now. Why wait the season and see how it plays out? We should have the pleasure of making the change now an knowing the season goes down the crapper like a bm after a Mexican buffet.
     
  11. Larryfinfan

    Larryfinfan 17-0...Priceless Club Member

    Well, I'm not as negative about the whole situation as you are, Jake but I have to agree with the 'hated Bill Parcells' comment.

    I am still baffled by the Carey move. If he can't play RT any longer, why keep him on. He obviously is struggling at RG and that surprises me somewhat, as I always thought his natural position was RG, despite being an adequate fill in at LT and above adequate (but not great) RT. I really thought this would be a positive move. The question is why was this move made ? Was it at Carey's request ? Was it a result of the compressed time period to acquire talent ? I don't know what to think of it, except that it has appeared to have blown up in all of our faces.

    And I have to disagree with your assessment of Sparano tinkering. He has pretty much played the same guys at the same spots and been pretty consistent with substitutions as well. The only thing that has been 'out of place' was Murtha simply because he had to with Long being out... Pouncey has been very comfortable at C, despite having a rough game tonight (according to most). I do think that Ritchie would be better at RG, but you really lose a lot at LG with that move and he's been 'adequate' at LG with Long.

    I don't know what to think of the Colombo move. He had a bad year last year, as did several Cowgirls along the OL, that's no secret. Is he not healthy ?? Is he just too old (although 32 isn't ancient)... He just hasn't been much better than average, which was not as good as we got from Carey last year, so again I question why the Carey experiment was made ??

    Long being out is troublesome. Can Murtha, who's looked OK up to now be that RT we need ?? Maybe, but can't do anything with that until Long is back and healthy, since Murtha is the ONLY other option for us at LT at this point.

    But I've shared you feelings of disdain for Sparano's shuffling of the OL, however, he hasn't done that this PS as in the past 3... Is he gun shy about shuffling guys around because of his lack of success in the past 3 yrs ?? Is he more hands on with the OL than in the past or has he been more hands off than the past 3 yrs ?? It's certainly a question but whatever the reason, the OL is in shambles again and Henne will take the brunt of it. When D's figure out that we can't run the ball, they'll beat him up like Ndamakan Suh did Brady last night and he'll be someone's backup next year even tho he MAY not deserve that distinction...
     
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  12. gandalfin

    gandalfin Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Tampa's DL is one of the best in the NFL and played like it last night.
     
  13. RGF

    RGF THE FINSTER Club Member

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    Not sure I see the point of the OP. By those standards we should openly expect to get man-handled by teams with a very good DL and just live with it. Don`t see any positives in that way of thinking.
     
  14. ATLFINFAN

    ATLFINFAN Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I agree.......We are ALSO supposed to have one of the best DL in the league but we didnt have NEAR the success against TB's OL as they did against ours........or it at least SEEMED that way. I am supportive of the way they have used high draft picks to try to fix the OL, but I dont agree with some of the players they have taken with those picks....i.e....I wasnt a proponent of Pouncy being taken in the first.
     
  15. pacadermng67

    pacadermng67 New Member

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    We are deep at DL with solid players across the board. Granted, just from last night's play, I thought Tampa's DL was better. They were firing off the line and just crushing the run game. Our DL didnt have that intensity.

    That said, I think after halftime we came out with the intent to run the ball. If it were an actual game we'd put it in Henne's hands. Unfortunately that showed how awful the O-line played.
     
  16. Muck

    Muck Throwback Uniform Crusader Retired Administrator

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    I would have to disagree with ya on that. Lots of potential, but they're pretty young and admittedly got their asses handed to them by the Patriots group and Brady last week. Their current DL had a total of like 8 sacks last year as a 4-3 Tampa 2.

    That Tampa 2 style tends to give groups like ours (big, less mobile) problems. And we're struggling.
     
  17. Jaj

    Jaj Registered

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    There's talent on that line, that I'm sure of. You've got guys that have been really good, have great potential, or are overall solid linemen.

    A line with:

    - Long
    - Carey
    - Pouncey
    - Garner
    - Incognito
    - quite a few solid FAs available including Andre Gurode a five-time Pro Bowl C about to be released and a few other solid guys
    - Joe Berger has started some games
    - John Jerry looked like a talent coming out

    And this is the crap you make out of that?
     
  18. aesop

    aesop Well-Known Member

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    All this talk is without having seen what the actual lineup is going to be once Jake gets back. You people don't think adding the best lineman in football is going to have an effect on this line? His leadership shouldn't be overlooked either.
     
  19. KB21

    KB21 Almost Never Wrong Club Member

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    Right now, it is a combination of things. The lack of practice time together this offseason is a big aspect of this, particularly with the installation of a new offensive system. I don't know how different the blocking schemes are at this point, but the players openly said after the game that they didn't put many pass protection calls in to counter act the twisting and stunting the Tampa Bay defensive line does.

    There has been so much change and movement from this past season, it has definitely had an effect on the continuity of the line. Making mass changes at this point probably won't show an effect for at least a 3-4 week period.

    Add to that the fact that the Dolphins really haven't prepared for these preseason games like they would a regular season game. There is that paranoia among most NFL coaches that they can't show something too early or else someone will figure it out. They act like coaches haven't already seen what they are going to do.

    The change that needs to be made is to get Marc Colombo out of the starting line up. The man is a declining player and is a shell of what he was in 2005 and 2006 in Dallas when he helped stabilize that offensive line. I'd simply shift everyone from Incognito to Carey over to the right one slot and insert Nate Garner/Joe Berger in at left guard. This would allow the team to keep Lydon Murtha as the swing tackle and use him to push Vernon at right tackle if needed. It allows you to play Pouncey and not force too much on him too early at right guard. Incognito proved last year that he could play center.
     
  20. Rilo

    Rilo New Member

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    My thought on the O line

    I admit Sparano/Ireland are partially to blame for the O line problems the funny thing is you never here about our actual O line coach. Do you even know who our O line coach is? Isn't it time to be looking at a new O line coach
    Dave DeGuglielmo is the offensive line coach and has been since January 15, 2009. The reason why we hardly hear about him is because Sparano was o line specialist. Sure Sparano/Ireland are responsible for parts of the lines issues but lets face it they have OTHER jobs to dothey can not simply focus all thier time on part of our game. The O line is Dave DeGuglielmo only responsibilty. Why dont we here more about him? Are they protecting him?
     
  21. Jaj

    Jaj Registered

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    Leadership is one thing, ability is another. Long will have solid pass blocking from LT to C when Long returns, however the problem is the non-sense on the right side.
     
  22. NaboCane

    NaboCane Banned

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    I'll admit I'm not the guy who watches every move the O-Linemen make, but I did see Pouncey struggling a lot last night, as I saw Carey literally on his *** more than once and locked in step with a defender, unable to move him at all. Don't even get me started on RT...whoever was playing there all night was just punching tickets and letting them by, and when Murtha played LT it was disastrous.

    And then there's the result; Reggie Bush, 5 carries for minus 1 yard; 17 carries for 22 yards the whole night, etc.

    It's to Henne's credit that he didn't let the 3 sacks he took (2 more on Moore) affect him and he still ended up having a very good night; but in the regular season, the D wouldn't have let up to see their 2nd string, either. That has me concerned.
     

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