Michael Lombardi-Next QB change in Miami

I don't get this he's XX for XX as a starter. Dan Marino was 0-0 as a SUper bowl starter. It takes a team to win is what we always say. And Chad Henne isn't winning these games for us. IS it Henning's fault? Is it Henning's distrust of Henne?

You're telling me this FO spent a #2 and a #2 and the richest WR contract to throw it 15 times a game? You play conservative with a good defense and you get what we got against Indy last year. A new NFL record. For them.

 

I thought the same thing. This regime had me fooled. Now it appears they spent those two #2's just to create some space for the running game. Which, if you're scoring at home, is like buying a Ferrari to get groceries.

But hey, it's only Year 1 (with Marshall). The team as a whole is pretty young, so there's not a sense of urgency here that there is with a team like the Jets, who have approximately 4837423847494287346 Free Agent contracts to deal with next year.

 

You realize we threw it 34 times in game 1 right? How many times has Henne played a whole game and thrown it so few times? How about less than 20?

I don't get why people look at one game and just assume every game we're only going to throw it 12-18 times.


As for the Colts argument, how many times did the Texans throw the ball week 1 this season? Our offense was not the biggest problem against the colts last year, it was our defense that let up 10yds per play. It was not our conservative calls that left 11pts+ on the field it was one player failing to haul in 2 catchable TD passes.

 

Lombardi is stupid. Football fans in general should not listen to this clown.

 

Absolutely. In today's NFL, not having a QB and WR who can do something FOR you is criminal...its playing 7 card stud with a five card hand you haven't even peeked at.

I'll admit that I found Lomabardi's statement absurd when I first read it, but then I started asking myself WHY I felt it was absurd. Here's what I have come to realize.

1) Saying that Henne is next in line to jump on the QB carousell is absurd because:
a. This franchise has invested WAY too much to cut ties when the team is winning.
b. It's MUCH too early in the season to be making judgements on Henne. See Jekyl and
Hyde act by Sanchez. Young QBs are up and down too often to sell Henne stock so
early in the day. This FO would want to see things play out to at least a point
where we start LOSING games b/c of Henne, vs. NOT winning games b/c of him.

2) Part of the reason for my offense to his statements, and probably many others, is that we've just waited too damned long for "the answer" to be giving up on a possible solution so quickly. This franchise and fan base is HUNGRY for somebody to make us forget about the last 10 years and to dash our hopes so casually is a heartbreaker and we just can't entertain that kind of pain at the moment. And let's face it, he does have some qualities that have given us reason to believe in a big way. Rocket arm. Cool customer under pressure. Smart. Can have the 300+ yard game. Can even take over a game if he needs to (see late game comebacks and some terrific games on Monday night, etc.). This isn't exactly a talentless bum we're talking about, this guy has the goods to be special.

3) However, having said that, and meant it, I must admit the other reason for my disgust with this response: Henne's performance over the last 15 games has given us not only cause for optimism, but cause for concern. On one hand we've seen from him all the positive traits I've listed above (and I think all would agree), but at the same time, we've also seen things that make you scratch your head and wonder. Why does it seam like every time he has a big passing performance where he's airing it out for 300 yards, it's accompanied with an equally frustrating serving of turnovers? And even though it's still very early in the relationship, why all of a sudden does Brandon Marshall, and the other WRs for that matter, seem to have digressed in their ability to get open from their old QBs (Pennington; Cutler; Orton; et. al) to Henne? I don't know about you, but when we started this season I fully expected to Henne/Marshall to turn into Schaub/Johnson, not Fiedler/Gadsden (with all due respect of course). I was willing to dismiss the Buffalo game as I saw many missed close call opportunities for big plays, and let's face it, that secondary is very good. But then when I sized up the MIA/MIN game, I saw a team with a very strong run defense and an ailing secondary and thought, now THIS is the game we should see the offense turn from being smart when it needed to, to being aggressive when it can with the passing game. And so after a 114 yard passing performance, I'm left with any empty feeling of good old fashioned doubt. This wasn't the way this game was supposed to be. I expected to see BM open on just about every play until he was double or triple teamed, and then for Hartline/Bess to do the same once they were freed up by said double teams, and for Hene to be carving them up with that rocket arm, cool customer attitude behind what has turned out to be a very good OL. That may have been alot to ask for, but not only did we not get it, we got.....anemia of the passing game. We got Henne doing to MIN what we all saw (and laughed at) Sanches do against Baltimore....not much at all.

So, I'm led to believe this: Over his first 15 games, Chad Henne has shown us that he's a guy that can put up big positive plays and points, but usually not without comparable amounts of negative plays in the way of turnovers, turnovers that last year would cost us games late in the season when we were in position to make a legit playoff run, and we lost. Conversely, when the shackles are put on him from a vertical passing game standpoint (outside of the obvious throw the ball to BM who's wide freakin' open 50 yards downfield), he's capable of running the offense just efficiently enough to win, but not enough to make us proud of him.

Personally, I'd prefer to have a QB who's willing to make mistakes in exchange for being dangerous, and as he matures learns how to keep taking the risks without being penalized with turnovers. I'm not fond of having a QB back there just to "manage" the game to the point that he DOESN'T LOSE the game by what he DOESN"T DO. I want someone back there who is ready and willing to WIN the game by what he DOES DO.

I'm hoping that the reality of the situation is that I'm right, and the coaching staff sees it like that, and having been recently blessed with a defense that can actually win games for your team, their philosophy has simply shifted to that of letting Henne play the role of efficient game manager when we don't need him to score alot of points by virtue of some great defensive performance, and the role of gunslinger when the defense just isn't on its game and we need alot points to win. And while that may be a smart but dangerous philosophy, its better than the alternative, which is that Henne just can't be trusted to throw the ball down field despite having one of the biggest playmaker WRs in the game and current rules that almost guarantee that he'll be open on every play.

Just something to think on.

 

A lot of people tend to talk like a QB is either a definitive hall of famer or a complete waste of a roster space...with no middle grounds at all. Henne is what...the 13th or 14th QB we've started since Marino left and only Penny can be compared with him when we're talking about the best Miami QB over the last decade? It's not that I don't want to hear anything bad about Henne; it's that many Fin fans on here seem to have a short memory on what a truly BAD QB really is (insert Daunte Culpepper/Cleo Lemon/Gus Ferotte remarks here).

Henne is a decent quarterback that still has some mental aspects of the game to learn, but that in no way means he's not good enough to be our starter. Me personally...I would love to see Pennington stat against the Jets this week, just for the added insult to NY, but Henne has a greater upside and for now he's the man.

Besides, an undefeated team does not bench a QB who has committed zero turnovers. Henne runs the plays that are called, and even though he may opt for the 3 yard dump pass over the sixty yard bomb it is not detrimental as long as we're still winning. Once we get into a game where we're down 7 in the fourth quarter, it will be a completely different story.

 

good point...each game is different and calls for a different winning solution...here's to hoping that's why our passing has been so anemic this year so far.

 

I didn't realize Henne was given full control of our offense like a Peyton Manning. Henne is ONLY "willing" to do what our staff lets him do. Our FO obviously doesn't want our offense in the position to make mistakes. Have you not listened to any of Sparano's pressers?

Wish in one hand and poop in the other. LOL. Maybe you should take this up with the coaching staff responsible rather than lashing out at Henne. Just a thought.

And..... we DID win the game. Sorry that we WON it the way this REGIME wanted to win it and not the way YOU wanted. Don't fool yourself into thinking that just b/c we added Brandon Marshall that we're all of a sudden going to throw all over everyone. Brandon was added to help maximize our smash-mouth ground game and create space (among other obvious reasons). He's not getting paid to be like Larry Fitz. He's getting paid to help us win. THAT'S IT....... even if that means by way of the intangible things he creates for us.

 

I doubt they tell Henne to go out on the field and do nothing more than hit the checkdown. They don't have to give him Manning like freedoms for him to be willing to throw down the field. And I think you are getting the wrong vibe from my post. I like Henne, I would love for him to be the guy for the next ten years and was not lashing out at him or anyone else, no matter how much you may try to pencil me in as such. But, I also think that limiting him to short dump offs is not good for this team in the long run. When the chips are down, you HAVE to be able to threaten the whole field. And you may be right, it may not be Henne's fault at all...it could be that Henning threatened to cut his balls off if he throws a pick and to be totally content with a dump off in the flats on 3rd and long....but I doubt it...I imagine that Henne is reading in between the lines and is holding back...much in the same way we saw with Sanchez between the Ravens and Patriots game. In one he was eager to get rid of the ball on a dump off...the next he was pushing the envelope downfield. Personally, I'd fear a Jets team that is letting Sanchez attack the deep middle of the field than one that is limited to the short flats. And if it is the coaching staff that is forcing Henne's hand in all of this, I agree it's not his fault at all and i NEVER said otherwise, in which case I do have an issue with the coaching staff. If the Wannstedt era taught me nothing else, it's that you don't play not to lose, you play to win. It's not just limited to football either, you don't go through life afraid to fail and ever accomplish anything of note. I say attack life, fear nothing!