What happened to this team in the past 3 years?

At this point, I don't even care. I'm numb to the abuse.

I never thought the joy in week 6 of an NFL season would be that (hopefully) our future QB will be on national showcase in prime time saturday night but that is exactly where I am tonight. This has been a lost decade for Dolphins fans and it falls directly on the gutless or clueless wonders who have been at the helm of this once proud franchise.... ALL OF THEM!

Draft the quarterback and hire someone that is smart enough to know that WINNING starts with the quarterback.

 

You know the proverbial story of a rich businessman who built his company from the ground up? You know the one, started with nothing...worked his tail off and through dedication and perseverance built one of the most powerful companies in the country. Then he dies or retires and passes the keys to the kingdom to his son...the one who was never really much of an achiever...spoiled rotten....had himself a cushy job in the company and never had to worry much about producing because his daddy was the boss...and then ran daddy's business into the ground after being handed the keys?

We all know this proverbial story...

That's what happened in Miami I believe. Sure, Tony Sparano is the Head Coach...Jeff Ireland is the General Manager, but does anyone really truly think the man calling all of the shots wasn't Bill Parcells? Love him or hate him, Miami's first year under the Parcells experiment, Parcells had his hand in everything, from signing free agents, draft selection even to selection of coaches. All of it was Parcells with his underlings (Ireland/Sparano) performing their "duties", but doing what PARCELLS wanted. And his first year as Executive VP of Football Ops, we did...we had the greatest single season turn around in NFL history.

Then "daddy" decided to step back and handed the keys to the kingdom to his underachieving sons...and they ran "daddy's business" into the ground. THAT'S what happened Trowa.

If Stephen Ross were to clean house...from the top down...from a new Executive VP of Football Ops to GM to all of the coaching staff and bring in REAL football people...bring in say...Bill Polian as EVPFO...Jerry Reese as General Manager and let these two FOOTBALL guys determine the type of coach the Dolphins need, I'd support their decision...yes, even if it meant bringing in aformer Super Bowl winning coach. (my opinion on that is well known).

If Ross were to do THAT...bring in FOOTBALL people, then I could endure a few years of agonizing rebuilding because I would know there is indeed a brilliant white light at the end of the tunnel.

But as long as Ross continues to engage in gimmicks, we're not going to fair any better. We will become the new Detroit Lions of the NFL...the laughing stock of the league and we'll never see another championship in our lifetimes.

 

Ross's gimmicks have nothing to do with our plight. We sucked last night because Matt Moore is the worst QB in the league and might be one of the worst QBs to start for us not named Cleo Lemon. I don't think I saw Moore not stare down his receiver the whole night. Not sure I even saw him look at both sides of the field. Of course, I stopped watching after the 1st drive in the 2nd half. Our defense had the Jets right where we wanted them in the first half. Moore cost us 21 points in the 1st half.
-missed a wide open Clay waving to him in the end zone because he only looked at one side of the field
-threw the pass even though Marshall was falling to the ground
-threw way behind Marshall on the next red zone try (Marshall takes part of the blame for that one).

 

I have been as hard on Ross as anybody on this forum. Yet, while I remain unhappy with the way he went about it. The fact that he did attempt to hire Jim Harbaugh after last season certainly shows that he was looking at the best way to turn this organization around. It didn't work out with Harbaugh, but I have to believe that Ross will do everything he can to bring in a new GM and HC as soon as the season ends. Hopefully he will select individuals who actually know how to build a winning organization this time.

 

It all started when we traded out Brandon Marshall for Greg Camarillo, we went from a team that overachieved to one that drops passes.

 

Pennington was our fearless leader.
Sparano's message was new and full of fire, now it is just tired.

 

I don't agree with this statement. If Ross was actually trying to hire Harbaugh, he had to be tracking him for some time. And if he intended on hiring Harbaugh, Ross would have fired Sparano. But that didn't happen. Ross goes out and tries to court Harbaugh with a "hey would you like a job? yea, I already have a head coach but if you take the job, I'll fire him". Not too smart when you're trying to lure your next hot shot coach.

Sparano should have been fired at the end of the regular season when the Dolphins were watching the playoffs instead of participating in them. Then of course, Ross could have started entertaining Harbaugh immediately then offer him the job. Ross made an epic business failure...he left an 'either/or" option out there.

Either Harbaugh took the job....or he still had Sparano to fall back on.

It's no wonder Ross is rated the 5th worst owner in the league

 

This team hasn't had any balls or discipline since Tuna left. The team is unprepared, unconditioned and in a constant state of change. FIRE EVERYONE!

 

That's what stinks the most. Even at 2-4 there is at least a glimmer of hope.

You said it. The one common denominator in all of those things was QB play. We had an amazing year with a QB that played that way. I think even in 2008, when we started 0-3 with Pennington, we still had a chance. Miami must hit on a QB this upcoming draft.

 

I don't see why that would be the reason. I think it has more to do with ignoring our weaknesses that everyone knew.

1. We never even attempted to draft a franchise quarterback.
2. We never even attempted to acquire a tight end with the potential to be something more than Anthony Fasano.
3. We passed on acquiring a coverage free safety multiple times, which has killed us a lot this year (Reshad Jones).
4. We tried to address our lack of pass rush opposite Cameron Wake by bringing back Jason Taylor, who is 37 years old.
5. We lacked to address our right side of the offense line. Marc Colombo wasn't the answer or even an adequate stopgap.

That's five things off the top of my head I can think of. And that list doesn't even include the in-game problems which is basic fundamentals that we are lacking.

 

We weren't a 1-15 team in 2007 and we weren't an 11-5 team in 2008. The real Dolphins were shown in 2009-10. Team with mediocre talent and lack of playmakers that might fall into some wins based on a decent-ish defense. 2008 was smoke and mirrors for sure though. We had an unbelievably low amount of turnovers and we played an exceptionally soft schedule against the AFC West and NFC West and playing all the other last place teams. Not to mention that Tom Brady had his knee exploded by a Chiefs DB which opened the door to the AFC East. We were the tallest midget in 2008.

 

Our coaching staff was given center-stage to show at least one reason they should be coaches for this team, let alone be taken seriously by their future employer. When you get a bye week, your backs are against the wall, and you have nothing to lose against a struggling Overrated Jets team....

Thats the effin product you put on the field!? Sean Smith cramping on a 50 degree night a third of the way through the season after a bye, you still cant get a corner in shape to play 4 quarters!? Your whole team is not in shape to play more than 1 quarter!!!

You are at the 40 with a TO and 45 seconds down by 8 and you go to the locker room!? Hey Dbag how about we come out in the second half and punt on first down too! You are done put a fork in you. You defined your whole coaching career last night. What a waste.

This was the hardest game to watch since I began rooting for this team over 25 years ago. You know why? This team actually has the talent to be 9-7 or 10-6 and the coaching staff wasted it. All these players should be pissed that they wasted a year of there shelf life on this. If I was Jake Long I would threaten retirement unless they got me a QB to block for or traded me. If I am Cameron Wake I have no intention to re sign with this org. Why would he. They have not come to the table with an extension after a phenominal season and have not given him a pass rusher opposite to take some pressure off of him. This regime top to bottom including Ross just Punted.....

 

What happened? Easy.

1. Decline in QB play from Pennington to Henne.
2. Tougher schedule.
3. Neglect on the part of Ireland in adding quality depth.
4. Bad QB play.
5. Constantly putting out the same fires. We've had how many guards and centers?
6. Poor pass defense highlighted by a lack of quality free safety play.
7. Have I mentioned bad QB play yet? Bad QB play.
8. Red zone failures caused by, yep, bad QB play.
9. Bad coaching highlighted by an inability to use players correctly or to improve them significantly.
10. Lack of a true pass rush.

I can keep going. But the main point is that our front office stinks and crap rolls downhill.

 

Christ, the constant "fixing" of the offensive line to the point they broke it good. The arrogance to think that Columbo is an answer at RT because they are "familiar" with him. The pathological inability of the organization to address the QB position with a legitimate Qb prospect for over 10 YEARS. The horrible drafting of the previous regimes that left this team completely devoid of talent along with several serious misses on high picks by the current admin. And the sudden, surprising demise of what should be a pretty good defense.

That covers part of it anyway.

 

And an easy schedule.

 

No gamechagers or playmakers.

 

I know people hate to cite these things as an excuse, but I really believe Ireland and Parcells fostered a horrible attitude/culture amongst the players. Obviously, that's not the primary reason for the recent demise in Miami, but it all starts with the front-office. From their very first draft pick, they sent a message by taking Jake Long. That message was clear: "Be safe. Be conservative". That message was instilled in Sparano, and dictated the Dolphins philosophy on offense. The worst part, was that it worked. The Dolphins didn't win games, they played not to lose. And "not lose" they did.

I guess it's easy for me to blame it mostly on Ireland/Parcells/Sparano because it's clear there is talent on this team. I honestly believe this team is more talented than the one in 2008, save for the QB position. It also upsets me to no end that we heard rumblings of Parcells saying Henne wasn't the guy, yet the Dolphins (Ireland) did nothing to find a replacement.

I could write a book on this, as I'm sure many of you could. It's frustrating, and unfortunately cleaning house in the only option left. Nuke the **** out of it and start over.

 

What happened is that they went from a very good QB to an awful QB situation.

 

What you guys need to realize is that this isn't just a past three years thing. From 1970 to 2003, the Dolphins had exactly 2 losing seasons, the worst of which was 6-10 in 1988.

Since 2003, the Dolphins have had 5 losing seasons and are working on the 6th. Basically, the Dolphins will have losing seasons in 6 of the past 8 years. The 2008 season was an aberration.

 

Yup..it was the perfect storm of an easy schedule, almost perfect team health, strong leadership and QB play falling right in our lap, and collapses by division rivals (jets) and key injuries to others (brady) that allowed this team to win the AFC East, and then get their *** handed to them by a quality opponent.

 

We haven't had a reliable top level quarterback since Marino. You can start right there. All these spaghetti armed and block head QB's have come and gone. But that ends this year when we finally get the guy who will make us contenders for the next 10 years.

 

I agree with you concerning the way Ross handled the situation. That is why I stated that I was unhappy with the way he went about it when he contacted Harbaugh. I just happen to think Ross is smart enough to realize that he was completely wrong in his approach in this particular situation. My point was that at least Ross was going after a coach who would have been a terrific upgrade over Sparano.

I didn't renew my season tickets for the first time in the last 40 years because of my unhappiness with Ross and the organization as a whole. I just have to hope that Ross has learned his lesson and that he is taking his time and getting as much information as he can before he makes his hires for the next GM and head coach of the Dolphins.

All will be forgiven if he is able to make the hires which will once again turn the Dolphins into a winning organization. Since he purchased the Dolphins he really has done absolutely nothing to improve the product on the field. He stuck with Parcells, Ireland, and Sparano, even though he was not the owner who hired these men. This off season will clearly show if Ross is interested in building a quality football team in Miami.

With declining attendance, the hires he makes once he finally fires Sparano and Ireland will be seen in Miami as the most important hires for the organization since, Joe Robbie hired Don Shula. If Ross screws up and hires another failure as a coach or GM, it will be years before fans will return to the stadium. Ross made a lot of money by being a very smart man. Hopefully he has drastically improved his football smarts in the last year. As fans, we have to hope for the best from Ross, because right now he is the owner of the only professional football team in Miami.