Signs pointing to new Regime

I'm going to step back from the ledge for a moment. To keep a little bit of perspective, we lost to 2 teams that are easily in the top 10 in the league right now. More importantly we were in both games and had opportunities to win, but this relatively young roster left plays on the field. I don't think anyone was prediciting a Superbowl birth this year and that doesn't excuse our pitiful home record or slow starts the last few years, but perhaps things aren't quite as bad as we think.

We do have a dynamic rb in Reggie Bush and apparently Thomas is better than many here thought. Henne has looked much better this year and we have a pretty good grooup of recievers. We have the best left tackle in the league. Admittedly he has not been up to snuff yet but he didn't play in the preseason at all. Our rookie center is looking like a hit. Even the right side of the line while not very good is not as bad as I thought they were. (Not sure how that's positive, but I'm trying here). The defense has more talent than they have shown and will improve. Special teams has been dicey, but are way better than the dumpster fire they were last year.

My biggest concern is still the poor conditioning, particularily the defense, and the mental breakdowns we still see with these guys on both sides of the ball. If Sparano wants to keep his job, he has to improve these things and get on a roll over the next few weeks. In addition, if he loses at home against Denver, he will be unemployed on the following Monday. Ross cannot afford to have this team continue to lay eggs at home and further turn off the fanbase.

 

Mess? This team is not a mess. This team needs one player at one position. How that fact is lost on this fanbase (at this point) is beyond me.

So I will now take a seat in the hindsight machine and say this:

Bill Parcells was sitting in the room in the captains chair when he chose Jake Long over Matt Ryan. Then Chad Pennington fell into his lap like a gift. Every pro bowl QB selected after that year falls on Jeff Ireland.

In this league you get one shot and you better find the quarterback. This regime got a second chance and stood by their man - Chad Henne. He will dictate the rise and fall of the regime. There is no mess. There is Chad Henne. He will get everyone fired or he will take this team to the playoffs. That is what this league has become.

.....you can read every opinion anywhere right now and you will find varying opinions on the state of the Dolphins. One thing is for certain. This offense scored 13 points in their last game. In the ultimate futility they couldn't even get a first down using all four downs of the last offensive series. The state of the Dolphins? They are better than the 1-15 they were found. They are right back to the Saban/Frerotte or Wannstedt/Fiedler years - take your pick.

 

with this team turner better win something this year

 

^ Very well said. And a very accurate and honest assessment of this team. Worthy of it's own thread, IMHO.

 

That may be true but the Chargers not signing Jackson to an extension and the Dolphins not sign Solia to an extension had nothing to do with who will coach those two teams next year and everything to do with how much money they wanted.

 

I'm not disagreeing with you, but given that he made the first mistake (courting Harbaugh while sparano was still the coach) it made it tougher to do anything else.

Particularly given his Ireland fetish, which may or may not still exist.

 

I think the Harbaugh thing helped more than it hurt.

I also don't think there is an Ireland fetish. But when it comes down to it, its easy to say that Ireland could have done a better job. There are mistakes to point out. But the hard part is actually finding a GM to do a better job. Dolphin fans have seen first hand that there are much much worse possibilities.

 

Don't see how the Harbuagh flirtation helped. It may not have had any real affect but I certainly saw no positives from that trip that didn't end with Harbaugh standing on our sideline rather than SF's.

I think Ireland has been ok. He's found some nice pieces, not many stars. And he seems to place less value on skill position players.

 

It applied a lot of pressure to everyone

Probably. I think with an elite QB skill positions will sort themselves out. Ireland's management has reminded me a lot of Ozzie Newsome.

 

Ireland hasn't found Ray Lewis or Ed Reed. Or even a Todd Heap.