First of all, hats off to the Falcons, they took our strengths and turned them into weaknesses, from our bookend tackles playing poorly to Pennington turning over the ball twice, the Falcons were prepared to take advantage of some quality game planning. That said: 1. Pennington looked uninspired to me. 2. Fasano has been targeted as a fumbler, the Falcon's D scouted that about him, both times a helmet was put on his arm and he coughed up the ball. 3. Greg C looked very good going forward. 4. Jason Taylor for whatever reason eclipses JP when they are both on the field, JT was flying around the field and JP seemed almost muscle bound chasing Matt Ryan. 5. Run D was stellar, 6. The kick return game was pathetic, we consistently started inside our own 20 yd line, the ST unit simply did not block effectively no matter who was returning the kick. 7. Our offense is in search of an identity, are we a power running team or are we not? That is biggest question going forward. 8. Jake and Vern Carey seemed unprepared, I think it is fair to ponder if replacing Oline Coach Tony Maser with Dave Gugemilo(sp) has not went as well as planned. 9. Our Defense while playing fine to very good, did not take the next step and created opportunities, the secondary got their hands on 1 ball, they will have to do better than that going forward. 10. Sean Smith had a good game for a Rookie Cb, he was targeted early and blew one coverage but he also had a pass defensed against Roddy White. Overall, I thought we were sluggish and slow to react against the Falcons, whether they have not fully recovered from the onslaught of two a days or the turnovers sank their spirits, not even Joey Porter was doing much on Sunday. For those who worry, keep in mind that is the worst game by far Carey and Long have played, they are both pros and we can expect a rebound next Monday night against the Colts fine combo of Freeney and Mathis.
Note to self: Wear dolphins hat monday. Note to our offense: Don't embarass us on national tv like that. Get in sync for crying out loud. Note to our defense: Create some pressure. Note to ST: BLOCK SOMEONE. Note to team: WIN THE DAMN GAME
I don't think you can see everything on tv the same as live and vise versa Considering that, did you see how many times Ginn was 10yards wide open. I've been a Pennington supporter but Im ready for Henne now. He could and probably will do some rookie stupid stuff. I can deal with that. Our O played scared. Pennington missed open guys way too many times and lacked the vision and the ability to get the ball there regardless of the poor oline play. The Falcons didnt even try to protect the long ball because they knew we couldn't do it. We will never eclipse last season until we can throw the ball...............period. That is what it looked like live.
This team has a whole lot more to do than what an 11-5 record might indicate. We are still a couple of position coaches and 3-4 more players from being one of the better teams. I am sorry but if we start 0-2 after next week this is going to be a long and frustraiting season. We don't have a schedule that allows us to count on a win or to work out the kinks.
Thanks for that... The impression I got watching the game was that the Phins seemed to expect to just show up, after all they were AFC East champs last year... I kept expecting them to rally and at least make it a game. They seemed shell-shocked and unprepared to me.
I read a couple of disturbing side notes today. One said that Ginn had beaten the secondary by 6-7 yards on the play where Penny quickly threw it away out of bounds. Another had Ronnie all alone in the flat when Penny dumped it off to Bess for no gain. Ronnie was noticably ticked off about it too. Hope these guys get together this week and work everything out.
i know what play you're talking about. i doubt that was seen on tv. the camera was probably on pennington the whole time as he was struggling to make a decision then came the pressure. Ginn was wide open.
Exactly, save for Greg C, JT, Merling the rest of the team seemed flat, when that happens, imho, it is because they are either tired or just don't care. I know it is not "just don't care". And I really think the offense lacks an identity to me Henning got a bit happy in the candy store and was trying a little bit of each brand of candy wereas what we may have needed was a "maul them" sort of approach. I fully expect we will be straightened out against the Colts, that does not mean we will win the game, but I do expect our intensity level to be much much higher. I had the sound up and the only tackle that registered a blip was Crowder's perfect hit on Turner, but he had already gotten the first down..
Pennington couldnt get the ball to him before the safety got there. Long ball down the sidling is not possible with the current staff.