Well, with the lockout have not heard much about any particular team.

 

Chad Henne can be a Franchise QB.

 

Tony Sparano received a 3-year extension.

 

That Brandon Marshall is a play maker.

 

Sorry, but that one's true.

 

That our team is gonna suck this year, and, that Henne deserved to be benched.

 

There's only one way to win in today's NFL.

 

That there will be a season this year.

 

actually there was a segment on nfl.com some time ago called something like "state of the dolphins" where kurt warner and the other guys all put there doubts on henne but in general said that we have a team with not many holes to fill

 

I'm not so sure that it would phase me if the season is missed. From a certain perspective I have to wonder what's up with the players- they make money hand over fist, I don't really see what right they have to participate in a quasi ownership role anyway. The whole issue is kind of draining. Salaries have risen exponentially over the last 30 or 40 years-if anyone has a right to ***** and moan about money it's the old timers who were paid what, 1 or 2% of what these guys make now? I'd have more respect and tolerance for the strike if it focused on issues like player pensions and other benefits for the older retired guys, not some 25 or 30 year old guy who wants to make $12 million a year instead of $7 million. And all of this in a time when home forclosures have reached epidemic proportions and most Amercians are just happy getting by in this wrecked economy...

A professor of mine had a great line years ago: football is the opiate of the American people. The country will miss it dearly if the season is cancelled, but as far as I'm concerned, life will surely go on even if it is and the sun will surely rise nonetheless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T82Ot04aqNw&feature=related

 

See you are participating in one of the biggest misconceptions going right now.

THERE IS NO STRIKE. The players wish to play, and are willing to even show up at the training facilities and do what they must.

Its the owners who LOCKED THE PLAYERS OUT !

At least can people grasp this ?!?!?!?

 

That there is no tension between Ross & Sparano, and between Ireland & Sparano. I think its still seething, and will eventually come forth, to the public.

 

There's no current labor agreement no matter how you cut it. So there are probably liability issues as per injury and other complications as well. Regardless of the players' desire to train in their respective facilities before the planned season begins, if no labor agreement is reached then there is no season. Grasp that.

 

That Henne cannot be a Franchise QB.

 

That the fanbase can support any QB not named Dan Marino's clone.

 

I would have agreed with you Aqua about the RB tandem last year. However, this year, everyone understands we have a BIG hole there because they are both impending FA's. Hence, the Daniel Thomas pick.

The biggest misconception for me is that we don't have enough talent in the receiving corps to win or allow Chad Henne the success to win. Could we add more? Sure. Everyone would love to be stacked in the favor of the Eagles or Giants, but we have plenty. We have good players who all have the ability to gain an advantage over most of their defenders in some way. I'm excited about the addition of Gates. I'll be excited to see how Henne looks throwing to the guys.

 

I think rdhstlr23 brings up a really good one.

Misconception #1 - The Dolphins were merely a few unlucky bounces away from contention.
Misconception #2 - The offense was doomed because they had no "speed threat" at wide receiver.
Misconception #3 - Bad quarterback play is understandable because the offensive line were horrible pass protectors.
Misconception #4 - The defense was a Top 5 type of championship caliber football unit.

Those are the biggest, most off-base misconceptions floating around out there currently.

 

CK this is going to put you in the firing line of many of the "everything is goody-goody in Dolphinland" people.

 

I agree about Henne's protection, overall it was good thru about 13 games..

I haven't read where people are saying that we were top 5 last year, what I'am saying is, they can be that this year with their personal progressions, their youth, and their overall talent as a unit.

I do think that we were a few bad bounces, and a few bad calls from competing...We were 8 and 8 last year, not 7 and 9, thats 1 bounce right there...there were others..The statement you made makes it look like we were worse than a 7 and 9 football team...How so? when you have the most inordinate amount of dropped easy int's that this league has ever seen..I think the opposite is true when it comes to your misconception #1..

So you don't believe in the speed element as it pertains to opening up an offense?

 

IMO we were a few bounces, bad STs play and horrible play calling away from being playoff contenders.

The biggest misconception about Miami is that were doomed if we don't replace Henne this year with any of the dozen or so middle of the road QBs that may be available.

 

No firing line necessary. He's just wrong.

 

I agree with most of this, except for the 8-8 part. We weren't 8-8 and we didn't win that game. The call was bogus. It should have been our ball. Had it been, we would have had the ball with 2:37 left on our own 1 yd line and the Steelers having 2 TO's left. Anything could have happened. Kind of like anything could have happened if Miami could have scored a FG w/ 2:19 left in the game.

I'm not going to assumed Miami would have got a first down, just like assuming Pittsburgh would have scored thereafter, but to say if Miami would have been the beneficiary of the correct call then we're 8-8 isn't correct by any stretch of the imagination. We had chances after the fact and would have they if a different outcome of that call played out.

 

I'll say that the largest misconception amongst fans is, we are a failed team, as if 2010 was some JT led team of grizzled veterans that tried one last time to mount a playoff run ala the later Wanny era through Saban, that is not the case at all this is a young team that is finding it's way and along that way they are going to lose games in the most amazingly frustrating manner until when and if, they learn how to win those games.

To my POV, 09 and 10 were mild successes as we were in the playoff hunt until the final 2 weeks of the season both yrs with a young team.

 

The Pittsburgh game speaks for itself. My daughter could've caught the potential INT that Langford dropped vs NY in week 3, and if he had, we probably win the game. Cleveland game down to a bad bounce, literally. Carpenter missed 4 FG (3 makeables) vs Buffalo in a 3 point loss. Detroit game to bad luck INTs at the end of the game were critical, though that was more about not being able to run the ball than bad bounces. Not sure what your definition of "contention" but we absolutely could've lucked our way into the playoffs last year, like we did in 08.

The offense was doomed b/c we used 3 centers, 2 LGs, 2 RGs, 3 RTs, 4 QBs, 3 practice squad WRs and 3 practice squad TE's. Please name another team who had the audacity to put such crapola on the field vs NFL defenses. Lack of speed didn't doom the offense, but it allowed defenses to sit on the shorter routes. That combined with no running game made our offense predictable and easy to defend.

See above. Bad QB play is understandable when you have Brian Hartline as your #1 WR, who has a worse #1 than that? Bess is a good slot WR, but as a flanker? Below average. Moore, Wallace, Pruitt, Curtis, Mastrud, Epps, Shuler? Garbage. AND NO RUNNING GAME. Seriously, what team asks their QB to carry the offense via the pass and then gives him such shiddy guys to throw to? Versus Oakland and Cleveland that's what we put on the field, and Hartline didn't even finish the Cleveland game so our #1 WR was Davone freaking Bess, with Moore and Wallace filling out the group. That's not a receiving corps, that's cruel and unusual punishment. Marshall was back in time for Buffalo, but he was nowhere near 100%, Hartline was gone by then and as a whole our WR corps sucked. AND NO RUNNING GAME. Add in the injuries to Long, Berger, Procter & Carey, plus the epically bad play calling of Dan Henning and you can begin to get a picture of what Henne was working with. QB was the least of our problems. IMO. When we had a healthy OL and WR corps Henne played well, i.e the first half of the season. He even had decent games in the 2nd half vs Buffalo, Detroit & Oakland. But when we faced good defenses, Cleveland, NY, NE, we got exposed. Totally understandable.

Totally agree. They weren't. Great defenses force TOs, score points and hurt QB's.

 

We're on the same page DJ. All I would add is that you don't "protect" a QB like Henne by keeping 6-7 guys in to pass pro. You protect Henne by giving him outlet WRs and check down targets he can get the ball to. The reason I say this is b/c Henne struggles w/ evading pressure or extending plays and if his initial reads aren't open he has to throw it away, get sacked, wasted play etc. Sending 5 guys into the route invites the blitz, but so what? Henne has shown he can handle the blitz, and the man coverage that teams normally play behind the blitzes. IMO we should be doing our best to force teams into blitzing, that's where the big plays come. That's when Marshall gets his coveted 1 on 1 matchups, that's when Henne doesnt have to think, he can just react. That's when we can start attacking the defense instead of just trying to get a first down or 2. Lawd I hope Daboll brings that aggressive mentality and I hope Sparano allows him to use it.

 

What's her 40?

 

I clocked her at about a 6.2.

 

I'am having a hard time graspin the idea that Henne's weaknesses {avoiding pressure, buying time, speed of motion,} would be able to welcome the blitz, but it does seem like he handles it more often than not...Doy you think that having a stationary pocket passer is more equipped to handle that style of defense over someone with great feet?..I guess I see the angle of a defense sending the house and a pocket passer just sittin there waitin til the last second and delivering the football...A lot of energy expediture for nothing..

So lets say the defense agree with you, they realize Henne can beat the blitz, so they drop in zone coverage most of the time, how do you feel then? I mean the guy does have amazing arm talent..What are your thoughts on his zone problems?

 

She's never going to make DB at that rate.

 

This is a hard one for. It really pits my optimism as a fan, vs. my reality take as a former athlete (baseball not football).

I read what dj & GM say and I really agree. Then I read Chris' thoughts and I know exactly what he's trying to convey.

Here's my take on the whole we're closing than we think/a few more breaks and we're there perception:

I think you can get yourself into trouble when you narrow down a game into one general play and say "that's the break we don't get and that's why we lost the football game". I say that for two main reasons. First, you can really discredit the opponent because at some point within the play, someone has to make a play. Second, because you squarely focus on one aspect you can forget that there are other opportunities within the span of a game that can dictate the W or L for a team.

I'm not going to get into the Pittsburgh game, because I did that a few posts above. However, the truth of the matter is this. We harp on that one play, but we screwed ourselves. We didn't make plays, they did. Our ST's crapped the bed on the kickoff allowing great field position, our defense allowed them all the way to the one yard line before making a play. Then our offense comes out and does nothing with the ball from their own 30 with over 2 minutes left. Plus, they failed to score TD's all game long when they had chances. Whoever is at blame on a personal level isn't the point (not trying to get into a Henne, Henning type debate here). The point is there were plenty of chances. You guys use the Cleveland game as an example (the ball didn't bounce our way). But again, looking at it, we discredit the DL for not getting his hand up to tip the pass and the LB for making the catch for the INT. Had our OL done a better job knocking his hands down (winning his matchup), that doesn't happen. We had big plays that we didn't capitalize on. Our offense was completely inept. That was the reason for losing the game. Not a few small bounces.

Here's where it's difficult for me as an optimist to understand and agree with Chris. If you have to catch every break, or win this theoretical battle of breaks within the game, you're a marginal contender. New England, New York, Pittsburgh, Green Bay, Philadelphia, etc. Those teams didn't have to win every break to win games, or get into the playoffs. Green Bay is a great example. They lose the most players, yet they still win. They get called for a bogus call on ST's that lead to us getting the TD that forces OT really, lose the game, but they still get into the playoffs. They don't need every break to be a contender or be good. If we do, then we aren't on that caliber. If we have to be the beneficiary of every trip, every botched call, every tipped pass, etc. then we're not a real contender.

However, with that said, I really do think we're close. We need improvements, for sure, but every team does before heading into the new year.

I think if we have these 3 things, we're a very good football team:
* Consistent, solid ST's (coverage, returns, kicking, everything); We don't have to be the best best, just better than average
* Forcing TO's; We had great schemes, the players executed it many times, they just failed at the last part--making the play
* Better Green zone efficiency (I term the green zone as 35 yards and in); We flat out need to score more TD's.

 

I stand by my 4 misconceptions. There has been no argument presented against any of them to make me change my mind.

 

We were really bad on special teams, so I understand that if your going to be that bad at 1/3rd of the game than you deserve to lose regardless of the bounces, but to not quantify how many negative variables were in play and how those can and did affect the QB's performance and stats is presenting a shallow argument.

 

In trying to dispel CK's #1 it appears to me you just confirmed it. Langford should have made that INT. Elite defenses do. Carpenter misses 4 FG's. That's not unlucky, that's a bad performance. We could have lucked into the playoffs. But we weren't unlucky, which is what CK Said.

 

St's rarely are poor in back to back seasons Deej, as for changing anyone's mind, that cannot happen until football is played again, right now we look at 2010 like it was yesterday, as an Organization that may as well have been 8 yrs ago as changes are always made in the offseason, with the offensive staff being gutted and the ST staff adding 2 more coaches, we all have to wait and see what transpires when the whistles blow.

Do know for Sparano, preseason performance is predictive of in season performance, but we may not have a preseason this yr.

 

To me, they were mild failures, but this is of course a matter of perspective. I find the fact that we collapsed at the end of the year as disconcerting. Now, there is a positive in that it won't take as much to turn the team around. However, if we started slow and finished strong then I would have more optimism.

 

Yes we were a coaching staff away from playoff contention. I think a misconception that a lot of people run with is that Tony Sparano deserves no blame for the coaching inconsistencies over the past couple of years. I guess we'll find out what he's made of this fall if we have a season.

 

It's a give and take kinda deal IMO. I think Henne, and the offense, is better served with 5 guys in a pattern, where Henne has the option of hitting a hot WR or checking down to a RB if he gets pressure vs using 7 man protections and sending only 3 guys into a pattern. The only time we should be using max pro is if we're looking to go deep and we know we're going to need good protection and/or we're expecting blitz. But last year we were using 7 man protections and running a bunch of 7-10 yd routes, even in situations where we were not getting blitzed. WTF? I don't care how good your QB/WRs are, it's incredibly difficult to make a living when your'e consistently sending 3 WRs into the secondary to get open vs 7 defenders. Sure you're going to get good pass pro, but the QB won't have anywhere to go with the ball.

And that's what we did last year, a ton. Now if we had Pennington back there, it'd be different. Penny is hyper accurate in the short-intermediate area and he is adept at manipulating coverages to create space for his WRs. But that's not Henne's game at all. He's not not as accurate, not skilled at looking off defenders at this point in his career either. So he struggles more with zone coverages where he has to anticipate and make stick throws into tight windows. But give him a man defense and he'll shred it. Look at the teams who played man vs us this year. NYJ in week 3, Green Bay, and Oakland. Arguably Henne's 3 best games. IMO the best game of Henne's career was the home game vs NE in 09. Belichek tried EVERYTHING. He sent 3-4-5-6-7 blitzers, played man, played zone, Henne just kept gashing them. Ironically, it was Belichek who exposed our offense's inability to beat the Cover 2 zone in 2010 and for the rest of the season that is primarily what we saw. I knew coming into the season that we didn't have the speed to beat Cover 2, but what I didn't anticipate was that we wouldn't be able to pound teams on the ground and and force them out of it.

Well only 3 teams manned us up this season, and Henne went in on all of them, Jets, Packers, Raiders. Everyone else wised up, especially after Monday night vs. NE. I don't know if Henne had a zone problem so much as our entire offense had a zone problem. For the reasons I mentioned above, no speed, habitually using max pro, exclusively using 5-7 step drops, etc. There are only so many route combinations you can call w/ the WR group we had and teams had us figured out fairly quickly.

In a Cover 2 the CBs have the flats, and the safety has deep 1/2. In theory you can run Marshall deep and get him a one on one w/ the safety, but you have to anchor the CBs, force them to play their flat responsibility by sending a receiver into their zone. If not, the CB will just double Marshall and that's what happened last year. We didn't anchor the CBs and even when we did throw into the flats, Ronnie, Ricky, Polite etc aren't scaring anyone. That's why I like the idea of a DeAngelo Williams or Reggie Bush. You have to respect their speed and it'll help create space for #19. Marshall is very good on slants and crossing routes, but since we had no TE to threaten the seam, the short middle was always clogged w/ LBs. Look at the INT to Reed in the Ravens game. The token attempt to catch the slant was probably b/c there were two LBs sitting in there waiting to smash Marshall. Look at Reed, he's cheated WAY over towards the sideline, so who's in the deep middle? No one, b/c we cant threaten that area. Vs Tennessee we finally took advantage and Fasano had two nice catches down the seam but all year long teams were cheating their safeties to the outside and ignoring the deep middle. Hopefully Clay can fix some of that. Hopefully Gates can threaten the safeties deep and create windows for Marshall on the deep in (dig) routes that we ran a lot of last year. Hopefully Pouncey & Thomas can help us run the ball and punish teams for ever going Cover 2 in the first place. I'm pretty sure that's what Ireland was thinking during the draft.

 

Yeah, TE maybe. She's definitely faster than Mastrud & Shuler.

 

This is the reason why Henne was at the top in throwaways, max protect, limited receivers in route covered, throw the ball away...It was so obvious that few guys were going out in route during the season..I thought the max protect stuff was to cover his weak athletic ability, but your thinking no?