How It Looks From The Opposite Corner: Week One

Good points!!!! I think what bothered me the most about yesterday's game was the way Abraham manhandled Jake Long. He not only flew around him a few times, but he also went right through him and over him. I also think Jake might be better off being moved to the RT position, but how can you pay a RT that kind of money? If he cannot get the job done at LT at his salary, we might be better off trading him and getting back something of value in return? I still think Jake will work out but yesterday he got taken to the whupping shed.

I think our main problem is our very vanilla offense. I believe three offensive coordinators lost their job a couple weeks before the season started, and I think Miami's offensive coordinator Dan Henning could be next. Ronnie Brown turned into the invisible man yesterday. When we did tried running the Wildcat, it seemed very predictable and the Falcons were not fooled by much we threw at them.

Things always look a lot worse when you turn it over four times in a season opener. I think next week we will right the ship against the Colts.

 

very nice post!
i have YET to see why henning was the choice for our oc. the only thing he has done was instill the wildcat...and it wasn't his idea! i truly think we are doomed on offense as long as we have him as our oc. mularkey looked like an offensive genius compare to henning yesterday!
ever watch another team dominate or just deliver a close game that could have gone either way and say to yourself "i wish my team could get there, consistently"? i do, and have for a long time. how long has it been since we have scared anyone? we either have the offense or we have the defense...we just can't get it all together at once, for even one season.
it's tough to pick up where we left off last season.
it's tough to have lived this for 34 years (didn't start watching them until i was 6).
even if we turn it around, does anyone think we have the talent or coaching (oc and st), to beat the "real deal" teams? to even get back to where we were last year?
i don't, not this year.

 

LOL

Wont matter bro, wont matter.

Its in people's nature to justify spending a lot on something, especially when it has faults, and you know you over spent.

As I have said before, Ginn is a decent WR yet far from elite. I thought when he got drafted that he'd be someone ala Lamar Thomas....yet with his speed he might be more of a Randal Hill.

Both of those guys never became elite. Just OK if that.

I hope the coaches sit him down and make fun of the fact that even the announcers are shedding light to his on field actions but I doubt it will make much of a difference. I just think its his make-up and who he is.

For those of you too young (did I just say that?) to know who I am talking about:

Lamar Thomas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamar_Thomas

stats: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/T/ThomLa00.htm

Randal Hill: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randal_Hill

stats: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/H/HillRa00.htm

 

Although I don't agree with all of them, I think your post has some good points.

Hey everyone is entitled to their own opinions, no matter what they are, I respect them. But the one thing that does bother me is when people jump from one side of the coin to the next between games or even plays.

I am not saying you do that, I have no evidence of that, I don't look at the posters too often. I am speaking more from people I've spoken to about the Dolphins. When we lose an ugly game, they want half the organization fired, when we do well, everyone should be in the HoF.

I don't mind anyones opinions, as long as they're consistent. Its annoying when someone posts how they want a player/coach fired one day and the next day they're the best.

Once again I am not directing this to you, like I said I respect your post and they had some good points. It just seems like a cycle with every loss or bad play.

That being said, I am disappointed in the game yesterday, like everyone else. But I am feeling confident about some aspects of our game, like our defense specifically the run defense.

Although the offense played poorly I think they are mainly issues that will be fixed soon enough. I think we play much better as a whole against the Colts next Monday.

 

GREAT post. Everything you wrote is dead on. To be brief, I was totally befuddled when Henning was hired to be our OC. The guy is vanilla as it gets. You'd think as long as he's been involved with the NFL, he'd have developed a little creativity and no-how when it comes to playing to his teams' strengths. He has always been a run, run, pass guy. Last year, I was pleasantly surprised to see us throwing a lot of shorter stuff on 1st downs to make 2nd and 3rd more manageable. We did very little of that against Atlanta. We were so predictable, I was calling what our plays were going to be before the offense was even completely set. It's pretty unsettling to see the lack of creativity our OC has.

As for the Wildcat: I would be happy to never see it again. Sure, it makes for some exciting plays every now and then. But we need our offense to be able to execute conventional plays and not waste practice time on trickery - taking time away, however little it may be, from getting our offense clicking on whatever cylinders we might have. The Wildcat is not going to get us to the playoffs and it certainly isn't going to win us the big game. In that respect, Pat White was a wasted draft pick - IMO. I can't see him developing into a legitimate NFL QB. We wasted a #2 on a guy for gimmicks. There were so very good players that would have actually been functional and productive for us that we passed in favor of White. Sure, he has athletic ability and looked crazy good in college. But yesterday he got a wake up call about how good and how much fast NFL defenses are. I can't figure for the life of me why our brain trust drafted White so high in favor of areas where we truly needed help. To me, if we are to continue to run the WC, putting White out there throws the offense even more out of rhythm (as if we had any yesterday). But it was like Henning was putting White out there just for the sake of doing it. Also, if Henne continues to be our 3rd QB, and Penny goes down, Pat White steps in and does what? Overthrows everyone while our potential future QB continues to hold the clipboard?

You're dead on about Ronnie. He is very indecisive. I mentioned that in another thread. Ricky Williams is the better runner because he is more decisive, runs with more authority, and doesn't get caught from behind because he's busy dancing behind the line. Ronnie looked very tentative - frustratingly so. I don't know WHY he's like that, but it could very well be the reason you stated: thinking too much. Whatever the reason, he's got to start running with more authority.

In closing: I would be very happy to part with Henning after this season. I know we'd have to learn an entire new offense, but hell, the one we have now is so predictable and so elementary that I could run it with a Pop Warner team.

Okay, so that wasn't very brief as I stated at the beginning, but I felt like venting a little.

 

I hear your pain, and it is painfull to see the team we had so much hope in come out looking like one of the worst teams in the NFL. IMO Henning should take a lot of the blame because he makes the team play to his likes rather than playing to the teams strengths.
Sure would be interesting to hear what Parcells thought of that performance?

 

Fire in the barnhouse.
We just as might as quit playing football.
Hell.
We should lose every game from this point on to get the best possible pick, right Nabo?

 

It's Mark.
And no, no we shouldn't.
Message boards are made for this.
That's the beauty of it, if you think that sky is falling, and you feel the need to run around in circles and scream, you have the full right to do so.

 

Pointing out OBVIOUS problems isn't panicking

 

Well, for example, saying Chad Sucks, would be obvious, right?
Because he did suck. So does Ronnie, he sucks too. Fasano should be cut after a performance like that. THat's obvious, no?
Do you agree with that?

 

Well during the game I might put it that way while screaming from the couch....however on here I would take the time to explain why he sucks

 

Dude you added to your post after I replied.........that's cheating.lol

 

I edit while you replied, when i finished editing, there was still no post

 

Does that mean it's Tim Tebow time in 2010? Or, how about Sam Bradford?

Seriously though...I don't think that's fair. NaboCane is just expressing his opinion. And, he made several valid points IMO. I don't agree with everything he posted. But, I believe he's entitled. We all are. You gotta admit...we looked pretty bad yesterday...no?

 

What exactly isn't fair?
Like you stated, everybody is entitled to their opinion.
Some have stronger opinions than others.
Jake's one bad game, makes him overrated, Chad sucks, Oline sucks, we made wrong picks... and on. Some people agree, some don't. Thats the beauty of the message boards.

Did we trade Henne, and i missed it?

 

OK fine. But, and with all due respect...to suggest we should just quit playing, and lose all our games is, well...I think a little much.

Look, I love our Dolphins. But, I too am very quick to criticize. And, yesterday's game was about as bad as I've seen. I think there is still much work to be done in south Florida. I am however confident we are in much better hands now than we have been in a long time. So, I still hold out hope we will get better. But, we better get a whole helluva lot better. And, I mean real quick.

 

Good post and analysis. The problem lies with Dan Henning and that joke we call our OL. We are going to suck on ice until those 2 things change. And don't even get me started on ST's, we don't have ST's, we have a joke.

All that said, the D showed some real signs of life and once our secondary gets it together, we should have an awesome D. JT sure looks like his old self of 2006 DPOY and Joey Porter seems to have learned how to play the run. And who woke up Channing Crowder? He played way over his norm. Merling looked like a serious stud, like he wants to get that starting spot back, and he may.

We lost our first 2, then won 2, then lost 2 last year before going on a run that took us to the playoffs and AFCE Champs, I suspect we may lose 4 of the first 6 games again this season before this OL and ST's and Dan Henning all pull their caca together. Then we could well go on another run, who knows?

 

Yeah, well, with all due respect, I think that calling for Jake's head after 1 game is too much also. And calling this team as bad as you've seen? Did you watch the game vs Arizona last year? THAT was a bad team, but somehow we got it together. They started in our territory 4-5 times, and walked away with 20 points. Oline sucks, yeah, but I think we will be alright.

 

No offense brother but that is a absolute load. One bad game does not a career make.

 

I don't know if that is true. I a few years ago when Walter Jones had this game when he gave up 2 sacks and then the next year was moved to right tackle.

 

Jake Long goes to the Pro Bowl as a rookie LT, and now after ONE game where he struggled against one of the best pass rushers in the league, means next year he'll be our RT with Carey at RG??

Henning has a strong resume' in the NFL as an OC. Been to 3 Super Bowls with 2 championships while in that role. I'm willing to give him a little more than 1 game before calling him a glaring weakness on our coaching staff.

Considering Grove and the OL didn't block anyone all game long it was a miraculous feat I guess for us to average 4.4 per on 22 rush attempts.

Will agree about Fasano. His two fumbles were real killers, especially the one in the red zone.

 

Actually, it's not that far fetched at all. Now it would a serious set back for us, but it could happen. Especially with the way things are going.

The problem with this whole Jake Long thing is that he is pretty much living up to his draft grade...him struggling with speed rushers isn't new. If he doesn't step up his game, within a couple years he may find himself on the other end of the O line.

Just because we took him number one over all doesn't make him a HOF candidate.

 

So...if you take the 4 turnovers away, I think we're in this game and have a chance to win it. We're a little broken, but not that broke.

 

First off, I think you're taking what NaboCane wrote out of context. He isn't calling for Jake's head. He said:

Secondly, who said the team was as bad as I've ever seen? I said the game was "about as bad as I've seen." Not team. Third, no I didn't see the Arizona game last year.

Look, I ain't gonna get into a pissing match with you (or anyone else here). The only reason I chimed in in the first place is because I felt like NaboCane was being vilified for simply expressing his opinions. Hey, we're all entitled. Like I said, I don't agree with everything he wrote. But, it was obviously a well thought out and thought provoking article. I tip my cap to him.

G Man...out!

 

Henning has a strong track record as an OC and you want to throw him under the bus now? If you want to toss someone under the bus, Fasano makes a lot more sense. Those two fumbles killed us far more than any play calling by Henning.

As for Long, making the pro bowl as a rookie indicates his ability more than ONE game against a premier pass rusher who gives a lot of LTs fits. Even so, Jake won on far more downs vs Abe than he lost. To me it's crazy to say this one game affirms Jake should be a RT. Did you say that last year on the 3 plays where his man was involved in a sack? Even Richmond Webb got beaten at times in pass pro. They are human ya know.

 

Jake Long at RT by next training camp? Talk about a knee jerk reaction. Put your money where your mouth is. I bet $100 american dollars Jake Long is still playing LT next season (barring injury).

 

huh? He pretty much said Jake suck's at LT, that he was overrated and that he needs to be on the right side.

oh, okay.
i apologize, for some reason i saw team. but at the same time..the game vs 'zona was still waaay worse than this one. in this game, they didin't murder us, we shot ourselves in a foot couple of times that helped the cause.

i truly didi not mean to come off that way, if i did. pissing contests is a second to last thing on my 'to-do' list

Exactly.
he think that the world is on fire (well, i might be exagerating just a bit
while i don't. that doesn't change the fact that i appreciate and respect 'nabo for his posts, and work he puts in to his articles. just because i don't necessary agree with all of his posts, doesn't mean I don't like the guy. Nabo, if I came of as a dick, im sorry, we just don't share the same opinion on this particular topic, that's all.

Back to square 1
message boarding 101

 

^^^ ^^^

 

What baffled me in the game was:
1. Why didn't we run more, early in the game to wear down/tire out any speed advantage they may have had?
2. Is Pennington's unwillingness to challenge the whole field going to hurt us?

What I mean by that is, he seems to take the sure, short completion. Overall, that's not terrible, but over the course of the game you need to make the other team pay for squatting on your short routes. I keep hearing how Ginn is open downfield but Penny just won't let it go...

 

I do agree with Nabo on the center situation, Grove hasnt shown me a damn thing, what really pisses me off is that we let a an elite young center walk while we overpayed for an old, average at best Center. It boogles the mind to think that we sunk so much money into this OL and we didnt even bother spending the money(which we had) on Jason Brown.

He's not ready.

 

What exactly he isn't ready for? Throwing it deep to Ginn?
Heck, like KB said, that was his ONLY ready, (I think) just to go deep to Ginn. There was 2 guys behind withing a yard, and he overthrew him. Heck, im sure Ginn forgot what it feels like NOT to slow down for a ball coming his way.

 

We have now lost our last two "Real" games to other teams defenses beating up our offensive line. The Ravens I might understand but the Falcons, are you kidding me! Jake was owned Sunday and I'm begining to hate Dan Henning for his lack of agressiveness and misuse of the people in his charge!

NaboCane!