Sports Illustrated video and article - "Who/What Should the Dolphins be thankful for in their success?" ESPN - "Dolphins Push for Top 10 Ranking."
A lot of folks have given them major respect in their power rankings. Gase seems to be learning more and more from mistakes in play calling with this team. Joseph maybe gets some toys back soon in Howard and Jordan.
But we really do fly below the radar. We have one of the longest winning streaks right now. Not that I don't like it. I would rather not be in the spotlight. I think they just figure were going to implode like usual - kinda like some on this board.
True. National media attention appears to be the kiss of death for this team. Much rather have these guys play with a chip on their collective shoulder.
I don't see any logic in assuming the current team will behave in a similar manner to previous teams under a different staff.
I think the best thing that happened to this team was Gase releasing the two POS lineman earlier. It let the team know they have to perform. After that, they all played better.
That was a JJ tactic, examplize some guys and get everyones else's attention, something that was twisted out of reality with the old regime, they got rid of strong characters, and protected the meek, and everyone got a participation ribbon...
Bingo. Turning point of the season. This team was spinning their tires until that happened. I believe it made this team buy in. It made me buy into Adam Gase. He is the EXACT opposite to what Philbin was. The Cubs just won the World Series. The Miami Dolphins are good and relevant and trending upwards. It's the year of PSG!
I think I know what you're saying? To be fair to Philbin and Co., they got rid of guys who sort of did it to themselves. The Incognito incident really forced their hand. They lost TWO O-lineman in that debacle, with one being a high pick. Let's not get get into a 'coulda, shoulda, woulda' draft debate. The draft isn't perfect because of the human factor. I hated the release of Vontae, but if you show up drunk to practice and meetings, you're gone. Chad Johnson? New regimes get rid of personnel, players, equipment guys, etc. That happens with a turnover in power. In defense of the previous regime, these changes were almost inevitable. How they went forward after that was their falling out. I don't think they connected with players very well. I do think they had a solid vision (most coaches do), but without the connection, how do you get the most out of your players? A team drafts a QB to become the face of franchise. So getting rid of "strong characters" is not out of sorts considering you're starting anew. Do you keep everything the same when you purchase a new home or move into a new apartment? With Tannehill, everything looks good from the surface, but it doesn't work out under them. Why? Is it the QB's demeanor? Why did Philbin want to draft Carr? Tannehill is only now start to show a little more in the leadership department. He's always been a good guy. Under Gase he's grown. He's beginning to show a little more of himself. As far as pure long-term development, I don't think Philbin did wrong by Tannehill. As far as giving him a O-line to work with and sticking with the two who were recently released, they failed him.
The problem with Philbin was that he got rid of anybody who showed any leadership and that left the team rudderless. Last week's game in LA was a game you'd often see a loss in. It was the second week of a long west coast trip. It's actually pretty rare that an east coast team wins back to back away games against to west coast teams. Gase cited how throughout the two weeks they had no issues. Nobody was ever late, etc. He credited the leaders on the team keeping everybody focused. You need the players to keep themselves accountable. That's the only way you build a positive culture. If it's just the coach yelling all the time, he will eventually be tuned out. I firmly believe that for the first time in a long time we're building a positive culture here. That pays dividends in so many ways. One easy, recent example is in the belief you can come back when you're down late. This team trusts and believes in each other. That's why you hear stories like this one from the MMQB, The best defense in football over the last month (Los Angeles’) was throttling the Dolphins 10-0 with seven minutes left at the Coliseum. For some reason—confidence? stupidity?—quarterback Ryan Tannehill looked at the other 10 guys in the huddle before the first snap and said, “Take a deep breath, everybody. We’re gonna win this game.” That's obviously leadership which is something that's been questioned about Tannehill. IMO the situation here hasn't always been conducive to that. Gase is providing a situation where the players are allowed and encouraged to be leaders. I'm not saying we'll never lose again, but I feel that we're far more likely respond favorably if we do. I also expect that we'll have more successful reclamation projects. I'm not talking about injured players, I think the jury is still out on our sport science program, but rather with questionable attitude players. Guys like Parker and Ajayi came in with known attitude issues. I'm not sure we'd see their recent success under a previous regime. A big part of that is the culture. In any job you automatically see what everybody else does and you accept that as the expectation. You consciously and subconsciously mirror those efforts. If the culture is one where the players hold each other accountable for their mistakes you see fewer of them. Who knows, maybe we'll even see a guy who previously failed like Dion Jordan make a miracle turnaround. I wouldn't bank on Dion, but I think he'll have his best opportunity under this regime.
Marshall had a breakdown. Also has a legitimate injury history. Long was oft-injured. Bush. Square peg in a round hole. Also looking for a long-term. Wallace was dynamic. His production didn't match his salary. Could've been several factors playing into why he wasn't productive here.
I actually read that about Tannehill a day or so after that game, Rafael. Not only was I highly impressed, but I kind of had a proud papa moment, like watching a kid finally grow up. Landry had some strong words to say about Tanny as well. Confidence is a brewin'! Could really bode well for this team. Now if we can get those penalties down...
I was talking about Brandon Marshall. When we let Long go, he had missed 6 games in 5 years.(leadership council) Reggie played his best football here, 2600 yds from scrimmage(2000 rush, 4,7 ypc, 600 rec) and 15 TDs in 2 years.(leadership council) We had already given Wallace his big money, he was now affordable, and he put up 1800yds and 15 TDs in 2 seasons, and I can't remember the last time we had a WR score 15 TDs in 2 years.
Huh? (With regard to Marshall) Seriously on Long? All six of those games were in his last two years here, with 4 being in '12 (Philbin's first year). He was looking for a contract, and Miami was right to let him go. Loved Long. Just fell apart. As we speak, he just had an Achilles. In the last 4 seasons, he's only started 25 games. Hasn't started an entire full season since '11. Sparano got the best out of Bush. I liked him, and he was a great team guy. Again, oft-injured. Isn't he trying to sue a stadium nowadays? I liked Wallace. He did score a bunch. Wasn't necessarily a team guy and they couldn't/didn't reel him in. Would've rather kept Rishard Matthews.
Well under the previous regime Tannehill had zero input into the game plan, was severely restricted in his ability to change plays at the LOS, and was basically treated like a robot. How you can expect your QB to be a leader and for other players to look up to him as a leader when you don't treat him like a leader and take active steps to prevent him from being a leader is beyond me.
No doubt. I can't imagine how that would've played in Tanny's head. I don't know that I'd let a 1st or 2nd year QB really give input with regard to game plan, etc., esp. one who has issues to work out himself. Not saying that it's impossible, but I'm not sure that it's typical. Lazor was brought in. He had to learn something entirely different. So we're back to square one. The early rumblings about Tannehill's leadership and QB play cannot go unnoticed. But we now see a different QB out there. You can say the same about the team in general. I've always liked Tannehill. I hated saying earlier in the year that I wasn't sure about him anymore because it was an admission to rebuilding. Now, I see something. And I hope he continues to grow.
Well I have to say that I was thinking Huh on Marshall, he's missed 7 games in his entire career, there was and still is no "legitimate injury history", and was that meltdown before or after he caught 4 TDS in the probowl? lol. There was no meltdown, there was an erroneous report that he cut a womans face at a club, so we traded him for 2 3rds like the next day, a couple weeks later it comes out that his girlfriend got hit in the face with a bottle, and all he did was get her out of there. In hindsight it was the right decision on Long, however, at the time no one knew anything, Long didn't miss a game in his first 3 years, then missed 4, and then 2, so you're trying to say that it was now obvious that he was done? That is a bit disingenuous. We legitimized Bush's career here, his career was kind of in limbo when he got here, thought to be a pseudo bust, then after 2 years here he is considered a top RB again. What was pretty telling was that the entire leadership council was gone the following year, Long, Bush and Dansby, and there was a leadership council because Philbin didn't want captains, lol, so now we had something similar to what the driuds had, a leadership council, what BS. It was pretty clear, Philbin didn't want his players to have opinions, so he got rid of the ones that did.
IMO having 3 OCs in five years was a big factor. Being just another person who doesn't know the offense doesn't help someone take charge. Additionally, who the OCs were also factored in. He started with his college coach so you'd likely see him treated more like a college kid than a pro. I think you saw that in the 'you're not allowed to run' mentality early on. Lazor was a control freak with questionable pass concepts and tendency to blame the QB when his offense failed. There were multiple reports of Lazor blaming Tannehill and calling him stupid. Neither of those situations lends itself to having your QB be viewed as a leader. Not to mention the Philbin wanting Carr thing. Now he's on his 3rd OC and arguably it's the first time he's had the opportunity to be the leader. He's still learning a new system, but with a little more experience I'd imagine that learning curve is quicker. It certainly looked like he was directing the others on the offense pretty early in the process. Even now you see struggles with some obvious errors by Parker and Caroo in recent games, but that provides the opportunity for Tannehill to be the guy to correct and instruct. He's always been tough so that lends to him being respected, but now with the OL and the D playing more competently he also has the opportunity to make more throws that actually result in a win (he made some of those same throws before but we usually lost when other parts of the team failed so few remembered them).
Lazor called Tanny stupid? Wow. That's pretty crappy. I didn't realize that if it's true. I agree with some of the throws. One of my favorite throws was an over-the-middle back-shoulder to Charles Clay against the Colts. It was an odd place to throw one of those, but I think he meant to do it.
This is new to me too. Always thought Lazor was an arrogant prick, but never thought he would say this type of stuff.
Maybe he didn't say the word stupid but he treated him as if he was, which is pretty close. again is counterproductive if you want people to believe in your QB. For Lazor it was easier for him to believe there was a a deficiency in his QB than to admit any failures in his planning. We saw it when Campbell was promoted over his head. Despite Campbell repeatedly saying publicly and privately he wanted the offense to commit to the run Lazor kept calling 70% plus passes.