Greg Cote: Dolphins’ flaw was evident from the start

As bad an article as you will find. Why did you post it?

"Anonymous wrote:

As bad an article as you will find. Why did you post it?

It fits his MO.

"Den54 wrote:

It fits his MO.

Very true. I'm not surprised as soon as an article like this popped up, he would post it.

He could at least pick an article that makes sense, though. Even if it is negative about Miami.

stupid. Vollmer wasn't going anywhere.

"Anonymous wrote:

Very true. I'm not surprised as soon as an article like this popped up, he would post it.

He could at least pick an article that makes sense, though. Even if it is negative about Miami.

i'm surprised it took him so long, its 3 days old

A member of the media wrote a negative Jeff Ireland article? That can only mean one thing. HE'S A HACK!!! AND A FRAUD!!! HE'S NEVER BEEN RIGHT ABOUT ANYTHING!!! smh A poster puts an article up that disagrees with the Jeff Ireland supporters and the first 4 responses are berating and insulting. If mods are curious as to why this board is becoming more and more a toxic atmosphere you only need to look at this behavior. Instead of attacking the poster, what about the article don't you agree with?

I am generally a positive person and despise negative articles, mainly cause I believe it is solely to invoke a reaction and not based on belief.

But, in this case has the Oline play warranted positive press or our seemingly lack of conviction towards the line validate Ireland?

Sadly the article does fit in line with the OP's "agenda"... however nobody should really be able to dispute its validity after watching the performance of this OL. It's sad, but its true. Most people in the media, and many fans knew this OL wasn't going to cut it. I dont think anyone thought Clabo would be as bad as he's been, and I think we all expected Martin to improve, not become a pro bowler, but at least improve, and that really hasnt happened either. Why we sat by and did nothing with the OL is completely absurd. We tried, sure... but that doesn't cut it. If we were willing to spend as much money as we did on defense, and at WR, why not invest in the key to the whole offense, which is the OL.

Some people are going to hate the article because it may go against their own agenda, or because its easy for Cote to come out with this now, after the fact... personally... I don't care one way or another about Jeff Ireland. He made some great moves this offseason, but failing to address this OL is an equally awful move as well. I think we need to be objective about this issue here. Its obvious the play on the field has been dismal from this group. Pass blocking, AND run blocking. If it were coaching, I think we'd at least see some signs of life from the unit after 5 games, maybe we will see that after the week off... However its looking more and more like these guys, aside from Richie, and Pouncey are just not good enough. Like it or not, that does fall on the guy who builds this roster, and acquires talent.

Again, I couldnt care less one way or another at this point about Ireland, I'm on the fence right now. In the past, I was ready to see him go, but we've built a nice solid core here with him, we're heading in the right direction. Maybe that was the plan... hope the OL improves from last year, and plays well enough, and build the offense and defense this year into a solid unit, with new, young playmakers. Not a bad plan really... but that's banking on Martin and Jerry improving, and Clabo actually playing like he's capable. I guess you can look at it this way... if we address the OL this offseason, and keep as much of this team together as we can... there's nowhere to go but up?

-the "3 tackles in first 4 picks", do note he does not point out those tackles are not playing well
-the "Hindering Tannehill" THill has a higher QBR then Brady and more yards

We are 3-2 including road wins v the Browns and Colts, you'd think we are 1-4

"brandon27 wrote:

Sadly the article does fit in line with the OP's "agenda"... however nobody should really be able to dispute its validity after watching the performance of this OL. It's sad, but its true. Most people in the media, and many fans knew this OL wasn't going to cut it. I dont think anyone thought Clabo would be as bad as he's been, and I think we all expected Martin to improve, not become a pro bowler, but at least improve, and that really hasnt happened either. Why we sat by and did nothing with the OL is completely absurd. We tried, sure... but that doesn't cut it. If we were willing to spend as much money as we did on defense, and at WR, why not invest in the key to the whole offense, which is the OL.

Some people are going to hate the article because it may go against their own agenda, or because its easy for Cote to come out with this now, after the fact... personally... I don't care one way or another about Jeff Ireland. He made some great moves this offseason, but failing to address this OL is an equally awful move as well. I think we need to be objective about this issue here. Its obvious the play on the field has been dismal from this group. Pass blocking, AND run blocking. If it were coaching, I think we'd at least see some signs of life from the unit after 5 games, maybe we will see that after the week off... However its looking more and more like these guys, aside from Richie, and Pouncey are just not good enough. Like it or not, that does fall on the guy who builds this roster, and acquires talent.

Again, I couldnt care less one way or another at this point about Ireland, I'm on the fence right now. In the past, I was ready to see him go, but we've built a nice solid core here with him, we're heading in the right direction. Maybe that was the plan... hope the OL improves from last year, and plays well enough, and build the offense and defense this year into a solid unit, with new, young playmakers. Not a bad plan really... but that's banking on Martin and Jerry improving, and Clabo actually playing like he's capable. I guess you can look at it this way... if we address the OL this offseason, and keep as much of this team together as we can... there's nowhere to go but up?

I think the bolded stuff isn't correct. Ireland did address the issue by picking up two guys in the FA market AND drafting one also. That's not sitting by and doing nothing. Clabo was a pro-bowl tackle before he got here. Now he's laying on his back most games catching some sunshine. You cant say Irelend has failed to address this OL. That's just not true.

Like I said. We have a wartime media. It's nothing against them, I just don't think they have good experience writing when things are going well. Call it habit. It would be hard for them to write in Boston, unless you had some sort of skill to write about multiple topics from multiple angles ala Volin. Now that we are losing, I expect to see more articles like this and when we win....an I told you so article or two....then nothing until we lose again.

“A concerning trend,” in the words of left tackle Jonathan Martin, who is cerebral but, unfortunately, not particularly physical.
Wow, you'd like to hear a little more emotion from a guy getting his QB killed. And why had Clabo fallen so far? It seems like he should at least be average.

"MonstBlitz wrote:

A member of the media wrote a negative Jeff Ireland article? That can only mean one thing. HE'S A HACK!!! AND A FRAUD!!! HE'S NEVER BEEN RIGHT ABOUT ANYTHING!!! smh A poster puts an article up that disagrees with the Jeff Ireland supporters and the first 4 responses are berating and insulting. If mods are curious as to why this board is becoming more and more a toxic atmosphere you only need to look at this behavior. Instead of attacking the poster, what about the article don't you agree with?

Saying the Dolphins' flaw was evident from the start is quite reactionary and takes advantage of the emotional state of Dolphins fans after two losses. We started the season 3-0, do we have some problems? Yes, but so does every team in the NFL.

"MonstBlitz wrote:

A member of the media wrote a negative Jeff Ireland article? That can only mean one thing. HE'S A HACK!!! AND A FRAUD!!! HE'S NEVER BEEN RIGHT ABOUT ANYTHING!!! smh A poster puts an article up that disagrees with the Jeff Ireland supporters and the first 4 responses are berating and insulting. If mods are curious as to why this board is becoming more and more a toxic atmosphere you only need to look at this behavior. Instead of attacking the poster, what about the article don't you agree with?

No.

The reason the board is getting toxic, is not because of the push against negativity, its the extreme negativity that's the problem.

Examples of Negativity:
- The oline has played horribly.
- Tyson Clabo was a mistake made by Ireland.
- I'm worried Wallace might be FA bust for us so far.

All valid things based on observation of tape and stats. It invites discussion and is devoid of inflaming rhetoric.

Examples of Extreme Negativity:
- Ireland sucks!!!!
- Ireland ignored ________ (insert any group)
- We suck!

Non valid things that are based on an agenda or misinformation. These things do not invite conversation and are nothing but emotional rhetoric.

Rhetoric that is actually harmful, btw. When you consider the things that happened in the last offseason from the protests, to the false reports from all the media that piled on, to potentially losing out on players because we were a laughing stock and undeservedly so, this kind of silly hate can spiral out of control.

People who rail against that sort of thing, like myself, are only doing so in an attempt to avoid the sheer lunacy that was last year.

The way I see our Oline is we have a RT that is playing well below what was expected when we signed him. A RG that was not really expected to do well. Probably the best Center in the NFL. A LG playing well and doing as expected, and finally a young LT that did not play very well last year but was pretty well thought of when drafted and IMHO still showing he needs a good amount seasoning but I still have hopes for. So you add all that up and you end up with a pretty bad Oline. If we had just average play at both Tackle positions we would be talking about only needing a RG in next years draft, but as it stands do we wait for Martin to develop or do we give up and start over next year needing both tackles and a RG and resign Richie. Unless Martin turns it up several notches from here on out there will be some really tough decisions to be made next off season and a probably a Oline heavy draft.

Oh our OL is playing bad?? Had no idea.

To some extent LB has earned the skepticism whenever he starts a thread that graces the subject. But in this case he merely cited an article freshly written by a nationally famous local columnist. So I agree with Monst to the extent of being disappointed that we can't get off this subject of attacking LB and addressing the article.

Nice to see that the Dolphins only have one flaw. That is a pretty big feat in today's NFL. I'm not sure how that is taken as a negative.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4

"ckparrothead wrote:

To some extent LB has earned the skepticism whenever he starts a thread that graces the subject. But in this case he merely cited an article freshly written by a nationally famous local columnist. So I agree with Monst to the extent of being disappointed that we can't get off this subject of attacking LB and addressing the article.

I agree. And I sense a lot of "the truth hurts" responses.

"brandon27 wrote:

Sadly the article does fit in line with the OP's "agenda"... however nobody should really be able to dispute its validity after watching the performance of this OL. It's sad, but its true. Most people in the media, and many fans knew this OL wasn't going to cut it. I dont think anyone thought Clabo would be as bad as he's been, and I think we all expected Martin to improve, not become a pro bowler, but at least improve, and that really hasnt happened either. Why we sat by and did nothing with the OL is completely absurd. We tried, sure... but that doesn't cut it. If we were willing to spend as much money as we did on defense, and at WR, why not invest in the key to the whole offense, which is the OL.

1st, Martin has certainly improved, and he's hardly the abomination Cote makes him out to be IMO. Yes, he's a work in progress, but so is our quarterback. It isn't exactly a surprise that a 2nd year player is still a work in progress.
2nd, Cote says Clabo hasn't been as bad as Martin (I disagree, he's been worse). Also, if no one expected Clabo to be as bad as he's been, why should have we thought that Ireland definitely should have done more? Or rather, why should we have thought it wasn't enough if the expectation (for both Clabo and Martin) was what you wrote above? (It is certainly a reasonable expectation, without hindsight, that the line as it stood in week 5 should have been at least near average in both pass and run blocking)
3rd, I don't know how you can say we did nothing. We brought in two veterans Clabo and Louis, re-signed Nate Garner, and used a relatively high pick on Dallas Thomas (also, it was a reasonable expectation IMO that Jerry would be better than last year; and I think his in camp injury has hurt his performance so far since he missed the reps early on). I totally get criticizing the acquisitions since they haven't worked out yet and even saying we should have done more, but I believe it is disingenuous to say we did nothing.

Some people are going to hate the article because it may go against their own agenda, or because its easy for Cote to come out with this now, after the fact... personally... I don't care one way or another about Jeff Ireland. He made some great moves this offseason, but failing to address this OL is an equally awful move as well. I think we need to be objective about this issue here. Its obvious the play on the field has been dismal from this group. Pass blocking, AND run blocking. If it were coaching, I think we'd at least see some signs of life from the unit after 5 games, maybe we will see that after the week off... However its looking more and more like these guys, aside from Richie, and Pouncey are just not good enough. Like it or not, that does fall on the guy who builds this roster, and acquires talent.

The only thing dismal about the running game has been the number of attempts per game IMO (we're 30th). We're tied for 19th in rushing average, which is hardly dismal. And we've been able to rush for 5 TDs on the season, which is tied for 6th (and none of the rushing TDs have been herculean efforts by the RBs that happened despite the OL). Yes, we haven't been as good on 3rd and short as I'd like, but that combined with our performance in other areas overall still doesn't equate to dismal.

Again, I couldn't care less one way or another at this point about Ireland, I'm on the fence right now. In the past, I was ready to see him go, but we've built a nice solid core here with him, we're heading in the right direction. Maybe that was the plan... hope the OL improves from last year, and plays well enough, and build the offense and defense this year into a solid unit, with new, young playmakers. Not a bad plan really... but that's banking on Martin and Jerry improving, and Clabo actually playing like he's capable. I guess you can look at it this way... if we address the OL this offseason, and keep as much of this team together as we can... there's nowhere to go but up?

If Ireland goes after this year, that's fine with me. If he doesn't (as it stands right now), I won't be too upset either.

Honestly 95% of the articles posted by our columnist/beat writers are garbage, even the homer ones. The only articles I'm interested in are stat/fact based. This is just another "the Dolphins blew it again" article which is equally as bad as the "the Dolphins are for real" articles we had weeks ago. Put in some actual statistical data or some actual news instead of speculation or your own made up rumors and then I'll read your article.

"ckparrothead wrote:

To some extent LB has earned the skepticism whenever he starts a thread that graces the subject.

Some? I think you can automatically assume the moment LB posts a link to any article it's going to be negative...........about as much as you can assume the sky is blue.

"lmeister3 wrote:

Okay... I have to ask... Who in the hell is that!?!?!?!? CBS-Man!!! with the eye on his chest!