It is a motto that has been said about basketball teams for years. The same can be said for our Dolphins. Tony, Henning, Henne, etc...They don't play to win the game. They play to delicately work their way through the mine field, hoping to not suffer a casualty and to live for another day. This team plays for field position, not for touchdowns. This team is connect attempting a FG, instead of working downfield to get touchdowns. This team needs a change in philosophy...AGAIN! It is getting sad...real sad...that we continue to go through this every couple of years. There is a reason Parcells jumped ship. It wasn't because he thought Ireland was ready and that his job was complete. He left because he wasn't comfortable with Ross and the product on the field. At this point I can't say I blame him. It has been near 20 years since we last had a chance at getting to the Super Bowl. It is has been over 25 years since we last played in the Super Bowl. It is 37 years since our last Super Bowl Championship. Folks...we aren't relevant. We aren't even in the conversation. Sure...we have won a division title here, showed glimpses there. However, in the end we got tails handed to us on a silver platter and regressed from that point. So where do we go from here? I think Tony is a great guy. I love his fist pumping passion that he has and how fired up he is post game during a victory speech. For whatever reason that isn't translating to the players on the field. They aren't responding. This tells me 2 things...Either they don't buy into the system or they don't buy into the man. I think here we are seeing a combo of those two things, so something needs to change. The only bright spot has been our D. Nolan has done wonders with what might not be the most talented bunch, but he has gotten tons of effort out of them. The lack of turnovers is troubling, and something needs to be done to figure out how to get these guys to hold onto a damn ball. Several games we could have won this year if the guys just held onto interceptions (and potential pick 6's) when they were in their hands. More often than not these balls landed on the ground instead of in their hands. But other than that, how can you complain of a 5th ranked D in the league. They would have been #1 with those turnovers. So the change at the top shouldn't come here. Henning....oh Dan Henning. Live by the 3, die by the 3. So many times he coached well enough to move the team between the 30's, but just shut it down when the team got close to the red zone. So many times Henne was on a roll and then got taken out so we could run a few wildcat plays in the red zone. Drive killed....momentum killed...FG attempted. Today we didn't even get that far. He was stalling drives before we even got to the Bills 40. He coaches scared to achieve rather than coaching to win. No trust in the players, no trust in calling the plays, no trust in what is being called. It is a never ending circle. Ronnie Brown had a lot of promise at RB. IMO his career has been derailed by the Wildcat. The WC has him reading the D more like a QB instead of reacting like a RB. As a RB he needs to follow his assignment, follow the blockers, and hit the hole. More often than not he is dancing in the backfield and not sticking with the assignment. He is tip toeing and not hitting the holes hard. Ricky is getting the same calls at RB and he hits the hole and line like they took his lunch money. Ronnie might do that 1 out of every 10 times. He did it a couple of times today, but also tip toed quite a bit back there. Sad part is that both of these guys are gone next year and we will be breaking in a new RB (acutally 2 new RB's) and probably a new QB. So, do we let Henning and Tony have a crack (with 1 year left on their deals) to mold a new backfield? I say no. Tony won't fire Dan and iyam they are a package deal. One goes, they both go. We have to bring someone in that the players buy into. Someone that has had tenure in the league and has proven themselves on the NFL level. It might not be Cowher or Gruden. It might be someone else out there that we can get from another team. Maybe it is Jeff Fisher. There will be other guys out there, but I think there are guys out there that these players can and will buy into. Folks the mentality needs to change here. We need it from the top to the bottom. New uniforms, new look, new voice, new attitude, new leadership, new....new....new! I know we just did this 3 years ago, but obviously it wasn't the right move. Ireland might be fine in his position, but those on the field and in the coaches box need to move on (outside of Nolan). This will be the only way that we no longer live by the 3, but we start driving for 7.
