So Miami is now 0 for 6 in their last half dozen divisional match-ups. In that time they've lost a home game to a rookie HC, given up a perfect game to one of the league's worst QBs, watched as a bunch of ex-Dolphins whipped their *** in what was supposed to be their home-coming and pretty much proved they have no shot at contention when up in New England.
What bothers me even more is that this team now looks scared and inept against divisional opponents. They're not just losing what should be close games, they're getting blown out quickly and show no signs of life. They don't even look like they believe they can contend.
At what point can we say the character of this team has simply been whipped out of it?
EDIT:
...and let's not forget about who Miami lost to in the past when the Play-offs actually were on the line! Yep, when things really mattered, this team folded in back to back games against divisional opponents.
The AFC East just freakin' OWNS the Dolphins.
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Fin-O, EverFin, MonstBlitz and 1 other person like this.
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They were trained to be this way. Years of getting rid of or squelching players that can effect a game by sheer violence and grit, guys that take the bull by the horns. Instead we have dutiful plebes that are content manning the china shop, and tidying up any mess. The bully scandal along with milquetoast figureheads have successfully neutered these guys as a collective.
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No small change can cure what's going on here. That much has become clear to me.
Only a massive, foundational change has a chance at correcting this ailing organization. -
What stands out to me is how often the biggest, most meaningful losses have been to divisional opponents.
When the division seems to think it's easy to slap you around whenever it's appropriate, it's time for some serious reflection.dolphin25 likes this. -
There's been a HC here for a few years that had no passion, a QB that has no passion and a front office that continues to make stupid moves, so it's obviously natural that the team is lacking in believing in itself.
dolphin25, Phins Up Wins Up and gunn34 like this. -
theres a new sherrif in town..gonna give him a chance to keep us afloat and in the playoff hunt, then if he does, let him have the job, hire some assistants that he wants, and let him have an offseason to find guys who are like him.
dolphin25 likes this. -
Couldn't have said it better myself brother, it's the absolute truth. I also bet on a lot of football and I never feel like a team is out of it EXCEPT when watching the Fins. Its a terrible feeling.
It's so cliche but we really do need to bring in an experienced coach that will change the culture. Its unbearable being the AFC East doormat. Im sick of it. We have a lot of work to do this offseason but it starts with hiring the right HCdolphin25 and Phins Up Wins Up like this. -
Campbell is going to have the rest of the season to show something but the reality is his resume isn't worthy of where he's at and he doesn't bring the offensive or defensive expertise this team needs and the guys that do are not going to come to Miami in order to be his assistant. It's as simple as that. He's out of his depth so unless he proves he can move heaven and earth motivating players he's going to get the boot and that's fine because there are far more deserving candidates out there who won't come unless the HC spot is open.
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I think you have to look beyond a few things no?, he did not choose these assistants, he's got a lot to learn, but he's seen some fine coaches structure their infrastuture..
does he have the mental capacity to devise and implement?...gonna look for signs, gonna take into account variables that put him at an unfair advantage..and Im willing to live with the green stuff as long as the big stuff shows during the 2nd half of the season. -
I really like Campbell but that mistake before halftime was just too much. When 99% of fans know to call a timeout with 12 seconds left and the clock running then your hc and qb should both know to take a timeout. Instead we take a timeout with 2 seconds left with a stopped clock. Brilliant! That play alone shows how stupid our hc and qb is.dolphin25 likes this.
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I think Greg's point, which is very valid imo, is that it may be difficult bringing in an OC and a DC who both think they are much more qualified to be the HC, if not, then your just testing the waters for inexperienced OCs and DCs.
Imo, what this team needs in the worst way, is experienced proven NFL coaches, we have been rolling with newbies way too long, and all we've been doing is showing the rest of the NFL who NOT to hire, we need stability and direction, something we haven't had in a long time.DolphinGreg likes this. -
there is no playoff hunt, we need to start to face the facts...yeah there is 8 more games to play...bla bla bla and we could still finish 11-5....lol, but lets face it 0-4 in the division is gonna be the killer
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I saw that someone said it before about our division. We have two teams that are just more physical than us, in Buffalo and the jets.....on both sides of the ball. Especially on the Def line and Off line. The other team, the patriots, are built like us, finesse and execution. Plus they have a HOF coach and QB. They execute flawlessly while we can't sustain drives, both offensively and defensively, without breakdowns. We just don't give the teams in our own division match up problems... And it shows in our division record the last few years.
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Honestly think the problem here the last ten years or so is we haven't been able to get the talent to really compete. We cant seem to get a GM who can have those back to back off seasons where we draft six new good starters. We don't suck in the offseason. We always seem to get one or two starters but to make that leap you need a couple of crazy good drafts. If you look at this team honestly you'll find we are usually outalented by the other team. We actually play decently for the talent level we have
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I both agree and disagree. We need successful drafts. However all teams need that. I think we are woefully deficient in some areas, average in some, and above in some other areas. Like an average team. That's what we are. And that's what the majority of teams are. Average. A few better and a few worse and a large middle pack who if they luck out get a playoff shot.
I think forums don't lend themselves to much reasoned thought. Our losses result in abject self pity. Our wins are the doorway to greatness. We perceive our team as much worse than it actually is and our rivals so far ahead as to be uncatchable. That's not the case. If Wake stays healthy we are much closer to our opponents the last 2 games. That's the fine margin. If the ball isn't snapped wildly we are much closer. I don't think we are massively out gunned, the places we are weak however we are frightfully weak and it's hurting us. -
Bingo. It's no knock on Campbell as a young coach, it's just he hasn't done anything yet to earn his shot. Putting all that on such a young, inexperienced guy would be unwise.
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Scotty,
With all due respect I don’t think it’s fair to paint the forum in that light. For one, not everyone sees wins as being ‘doorways to greatness.’ While some fans are guilty of that emotional response, I think many of us stay cautiously optimistic and readily point out when and where Miami is the beneficiary of favorable match-ups, calls or swings in momentum that won’t always be available to them against better competition.
Take the Houston game for example. It’s clear that Houston failed to show up given they struggled to make basic tackles throughout the game. It was an embarrassing defensive performance on their part. As we all know, Miami had 4 TDs of over 50 yards in the first half alone. None of those plays should have gone for more than 10-12 yards. I doubt a well prepared defense would have allowed a single one of those big plays.
The problem with being realistic is that it gets you labeled a party pooper or a Debbie downer. Trust me, I know! ;) That being the case a lot of realistic fans are happy to avoid crashing the party, so as not to be ridiculed. There are indeed plenty of fans who just want to chime in on game-day to comment on the outcome of the game. But those fans are generally not regular posters. The fans who post throughout the week (in general) see things much more reasonably. -
I honestly didn't expect Campbell to fix this mess, under the gun, as an interim head coach. It would be hard to unwind all of Philbin's work in a full offseason let alone in the season.
There are a lot of problems on this team and some major glaring holes at key positions. I don't think your OL, DL and LB Corp can be that bad and have any chance of being successful. The question for me, prior to Wake's injury, is why is our DL so bad?
There aren't many positions that we're settled in outside of Albert, Pouncey, Landry, Suh, Grimes and Jones. I think part of our problem is the result of disastrous drafts that have left us weak in key areas, lacking depth and relying on players that have no business starting in the NFL. I won't blame the failure of this team on Tannehill but I expected him to be much more settled into the posotion and quite frankly, I'm not sure if he's our QB of the future or not.
Bottom line is that is too much to overcome to expect to be competitive and be a legitimate playoff contender. -
We've split with New England for several years now......nobody goes into Gillette and wins a football game. I don't feel like getting into the reason why, but let's just say that the Pats are a solid team to begin with and practically unbeatable at home with all their extra weapons. Besides, they did blow us out in their stadium, but they've blown out everyone else as well. So that's not really a way to gauge our team at this time.
Next, let's talk about the Bills....they've swept us three years in a row with a great defense. If anyone in the division has our number, it's them, and very few should be shocked that we lost in Buffalo last week. We did have chances to remain competitive but ultimately, the dink passes weren't enough to earn the W. Campbell made several mistakes as well, but I attribute that to growing pains of being a new coach. The next time we're on the 1 yard line with 2 seconds left though, I guarantee you that he shoves a RB straight up the gut for the score.
Finally, there's the Jets....we've swept them or split in recent years under the spineless Philbin regime. And our loss to them this year came during a complete explosion inside our locker room with players giving up on Philbin and Ross clearing house. The Jets are an average team though, much like we are, and we should play them hard for the W the 2nd time around.
But despite all of that, we still have a young QB who makes dumb mistakes. We have a head coach that's still learning. We're without our best defensive player and two starting linemen. And yet we sit two games below .500....heading into Philly against a team that's horrible against the run. I like our chances there. Folks, the season is far from over and the AFC East was already decided regardless of what we did this season. The Pats can finish out 2-6 and still win the division so please, save the drama for something else. The AFC East does not Own Miami....we have been it's second best team by divisional standards for quite some time now. -
most all of the franchise turn arounds have been based on teams that get good-great QB's that can make a difference in games. We don't have that.
Phins Up Wins Up and Finster like this. -
I disagree. I think Tannehill is a good enough QB to win with, he's just having a bad year as is the team. Andrew Luck has been pretty bad this year too, if theoretically we switched him with Tannehill from day 1, I don't think the results would be that different for us. I just kind of see today's young QB's as all having major problems just like Tannehill, there is no Dan Marino or Tom Brady of this era, just how it is imo. Cam Newton is probably the best young QB in the league right now Tanny's age or younger, but the way he takes hits would worry me long term as a Panthers fan. And of course you keep looking, hell GB just drafted a QB this last year too, as did NE a few years ago, every NFL GM constantly needs to be searching for QB's in this QB driven league.
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It's not about the low water mark. It's about the high water mark.
People understand that all QBs--including the elite ones--are going to down years and horrible games. However, if we ignore historically great defensive teams (the kind that carried Grossman, McMahon, and Dilfer to Super Bowls) we note that virtually every QB who consistently gave his team a shot at getting to the big game offered something special.
That's what people don't see in Tannehill. He lacks that special something. He doesn't have any redeeming qualities as far as being a passer is concerned. Trust me, we all want to see it. We pray every Sunday that he shows up with something we haven't seen before but so far, he's done little more than maintain a high completion percentage. It would make me VERY happy if Miami's QB was great at something which mattered but to this point, I'm not sure he is.
Eli Manning and Joe Flacco both proved they could make beautiful touch passes in hostile environments, late in games and with the pressure ratcheted up. No, they're not elite QBs, but nevertheless, you're hard pressed to point to anything Tannehill does uniquely well that doesn't feel like the product of the offense he runs.Phins Up Wins Up and Finster like this. -
Exactly my thoughts, I don't see this as that much of a down year for Tanne either, this will go down as easily his 2nd best year, close to last year, he's only 4 points off in passer rating, he just doesn't have the intangables of a winning QB, he doesn't come alive in the desperate times, in crunch time, and playoffs are all crunch time, he goes as the team goes, and those type QBs are available every year, even if he's better skill wise, crunch time is the only important time.
Tanne is the type of QB you HAVE to build a team around, when what you need is a QB that you WANT to build a team around, to try and put it in a sentence.Phins Up Wins Up likes this. -
I agree. When I look at guys like Wilson, Luck, Dalton and Carr I ultimately see a lot more confidence in those guys. It has taken Dalton awhile to get to where he is this year but he's won games in the process and always maintained a fiery, Rivers-esque competitiveness about him. People want that. They can root for that much more easily than a mouth-breather like Eli or a stoic figure like Flacco. Now, those guys got results so you tip your cap to them.
Tannehill seems to be a handsome, athletic, tough as nails, constantly optimistic, impossible-to-dislike guy...who happens to lack the fire, the consistency and the general feel you'd like to see out of the guy who's playing the most important position.
In other words, I think Tannehill has all the "aesthetic stuff" but when it comes to the real meat of what makes a QB, he's just not one of your top picks. -
While i agree that the AFC East doesnt own Miami, but that last statement couldnt be further from the truth, fact is, Miami has been the third best team team in the division since 2000;
Division wins since 2000
Jets - 46
Dolphins - 41
Bills - 35 -
At present the AFC East owns Miami. They're continually blowing the Dolphins out. The division is 6-0 in the last half dozen games which is what the thread was about.
I think Miami was what, 3-3 in the division last year? Again, not impressive.
The fact you have to go back several years kind of proves that.