Th problem with watching that over and over again is that I expect Finnegan to force him inside or make the tackle just once!....only to be horrified ...over and over and over again. lol

 

You are absolutely right. Before the snap I yelled in front of my screen "fake spike, fake" and as soon the play progressed and I saw the help, Finnegan got on the inside, I was sure we would win. How in the world he let the receiver go out of bounds!!!

Now every expert ist telling about the magic of Aaron Rodgers. Sure he was very good most time of the game and that last throw was great, but our Defense had so many chances to end the last drive. It's a shame.

 

While it is heartbreaking that we lost in such a fashion, I can't really blame Finnegan for anything on that play. There's no way he could have known there were 3 guys inside waiting for the tackle because it was a "trick" play. The reason we gave up a touchdown on that drive is because we had Wheeler covering a wide receiver, not because Finnegan did anything wrong.

 

Finnegan HAS TO KNOW he has help inside. Nonetheless, you never let that dude outside, whether you know there's help or not...although your chances of having help outside are zero...

 

I agree that it was not an ideal outcome, but the simple fact of the matter is that he did not get fooled and he did not give up a TD. It was a trick play, which is designed to cause confusion. He probably assumed that the rest of the coverage had broken down, and he reverted to the safest mode possible which was ensuring a tackle and not letting the guy score.

I am, by no means, a supporter of Cortland Finnegan. However, there are many reasons we lost the game, and Finnegan isn't anywhere near the top of the list. There are plenty of other people to blame who had a far greater negative impact. There's no need to make a goat out of someone for something so minor. Green Bay shouldn't have even had the ball at that point.

 

Watch the replay, Finnegan HAS TO see the three guys to his right. It is ridiculous to defend him. Terrible play, terrible decision. Almost as bad as the two timeouts Philbin took.

 

Like I said, it's not an ideal outcome, but you simply can not blame the loss on him for that one play. The Packers should not have even had the ball. And beyond that, we should not have given up a TD on the next play. I understand you're mad that we lost, but you're placing blame on the wrong person.

 

God, even trying to force him out of bounds almost let him sneak into the endzone

 

Letting Adams get out of bounds is completely unacceptable.

 

Fame, your arguing with me about something I didn't say. I didn't blame Finnegan for the loss. I DO blame Finnegan for the outcome of that play, which you said I shouldn't do. Finnegan let the guy have the outside, AND HE ALMOST SCORED. Finnegan should have forced him inside.

 

He wasn't trying to force him out of bounds, he was trying to drag him back in bounds.

 

When you watch the replay it looks like when Finnegan breaks down he is trying to force him inside but then the wr accelerates past him and Finnegan gets caught flat footed.

 

the problem is we are the dolphins.

 

It wasn't a great play by Finnigan, no denying that, but neither was Tannehill's attempt on that 2nd and 9. They were both competitive efforts when what we we needed was a great effort by either player. And really if you're looking for one great effort to win the game you should hope to get it from the QB.

 

That's fine. I don't disagree with that at all. The outcome of the play was not ideal, and he should have force the receiver back to the middle. I agree with you about all of that. I just disagree with the general implication that Finnegan deserves more blame than anyone else, or as other have said, the loss is essentially on his shoulders. Furthermore, I'm astonished that we're not sitting here talking about the fact that on the final play of the game we had Philip Wheeler covering a WR.

If Finnegan makes the tackle, game over, right? Yeah, but only because they let themselves be put in a situation where something so minor can have such a major affect.

 

So many "If this one thing happened" then the crisis would have been averted. This game was the Dolphins World War I.

 

The receiver was heads-up enough to go toward the out-of-bounds...the defender wasn't smart enough to take it away.

 

Know what the difference is? Tannehill played like garbage in the first half, but came back and played a stellar second half. Finnegan was non-existent the whole game, and don't get me started on Grimes falling down on three big pass plays to Nelson.

 

No excuse for Finnegan on that play as he HAS to know the receiver was never going to run to the inside. The ONLY thing the receiver was going to do was break it to the sidelines or the game was over. Terrible job by Finnegan on that play. He even had an angle to force him inside and he failed miserably.

 

Andrew Quarless is a TE, not a WR. Let's not change people's positions to try making the coaching staff look worse.

 

Yes, but the topic is the fake spike play which went to Adams. Quarless caught the following pass for the TD.

 

I wasn't making an excuse. I was pointing out that it looks like Finnegan does realize what his responsibility is but fails in the execution ie psychical mistake not mental.

 

Some people just need a specific person to blame. It makes them feel better if they can point a finger.

 

IMO, it doesn't matter whether Finnegan "thought" he had inside help or not, it only matters that he keeps the receiver in bounds. That's got to be his only thought...period.

Bone headed play, plus Wheeler's miserable excuse of pass pro is why they lost. Good teams know how to finish. We're still not there IMHO.

 

Should have been an offensive penalty for illegal formation. The 10 second run off rule would have sealed the game for us.

 

Was there a missed penalty there?

 

We lost. They came back and took it away from us. The team has to put on its big boy pants and win the next one. This one's in the loss column. There'll be other games and other plays.

We have a much more serious problem with the coaching staff than we do with the players. The head coach is learning on the job.

 

Was that really an illegal formation?

Rodgers faked the refs out of their jocks too evidently.

Sad...but not at all surprised.

 

Yeah it sucks..so many coulda shoulda wouldas in that game. Those moments have been creeping back into my mind all week.

 

Finnegan's excuse, I was faked out by the fake spike. Where do we get them?

 

Yeah, it never should have happened, Saban should have drafted Rodgers.....

 

Doesn't help when you watch the refs, without being asked, go and help a Patriot who was lined up over center for the potential game-winning kick...to avoid the penalty and win.

And the NFL says, "it's to be safer for the center." Couple that with the serious lack of offensive holding calls around the league, in the interest of making the game safer for the QB.

This league is seriously in danger of losing fans IMHO. What's the use in watching a sport with rules, if they're not going to be enforced, causing a significant degradation to the "fair play" aspect of it?

It's getting disgusting.

 

Still a lot better than it used to be before replay.

 

Maybe, maybe not, depends on your level of expected improvement. Back in the day, there may have been more missed calls, but with all the replay, reviews, officials on the field who have ONE assignment at particular times, there's no excuse for the amount of errors they make...particularly the errors having immediate impact on W/L.

 

Once we resolve this argument where does it get us?


My two cents via iPhone.