I think that there would be less people would be calling for his head if he should the ability to adapt. Gase continues with the same plan. Bubble screens and running the ball when there are 8 to 9 defenders in the box. Of course Ajayi was trying to bounce outside, who could run into a standed box behind the leagues worst offensive line.

The whole Cutler experiment was a 10 million dollar failure too. I would have respected Gase more if he would have just ran with the QBs that we have on the roster when THill went down. Clearly Cutler doesn’t know the system as well as Gase sold it.

 

imo..last year, Ajayi had favorite plays that came on the outside zone stuff..however, I saw and stated that teams were starting to see it and you could see them filling and flowing to the outside, bottom line defensive coordinators figured us and Jay out..

now here we are trying to adapt to that by calling inside stuff, delay stuff up the middle, and we got crappy guard play..it wasn't working, and the film and stats showed it..

as far as Gase goes...We'll see..imo a head coach has to be able to get players to run through a brick wall for him and have great respect for him..

I'm perplexed as to how all this stuff about preparation has come about, I mean all we've heard is that this team has worked hard and is so close and all that, but somewhere he lost them a bit..

The one thing I truly believe is that its going to very hard to win a championship in Miami..I think you have to take a different approach as far as acquiring personnel..you need to prioritize smarts and work ethic, and I've said that for years..im so tired of minimal success followed by bloated egos and sh##y prime time performances and in big games.

I like the fact that he is the first coach I can remember to call these players out...im fascinated to see how it plays out.

 

Hold me Boik, I'm scared!

OK I guess I'll man up and go read this. Cover me, I'm going in!

 

Whew, that wasn't so bad after all. I am glad to hear another adult voice in the wilderness.

 

NOOOOO GASE SUX

Thanks for these rational thoughts.

 

Well, a big part of the problem and lack of better production for him this year is certainly the interior OL. It wasn't great to begin with and a couple of guys got injured. I think when Steen went down, we were on a 3rd stringer. That can't be overstated. It's an effin' mess. Of course he's going to have a big drop off in production and big plays. That's also a reason for why you see him trying or forced to stretch some runs outside. I don't know what the real details of he and Gase's issues were, but if that was true, that can't be a good thing, but I would put a lot of the blame on the interior OL.

 

Since week five of last year, we have one of the best winning percentages IN THE ENTIRE LEAGUE. For 2017, we have the third best overall record IN THE ENTIRE LEAGUE. That's not an ability to adapt?

Our offense has been horrible all season yet we're 1 game above 500. That's not an ability to adapt?

We've travelled more than anyone. Lost a coach to coke. Resorted to our 3rd string QB. Been without our top LB and WR most of the year. That's not an ability to adapt?

You could pick any team in the league, find one thing to complain about and make the case that the coach should be fired. Again, our offense sucks. We got that part. But we've won more than we've lost and we're still in the playoff hunt. On top of everything, we just cut our stud RB to get young blood on the field. That's not an ability to adapt?

If we were 0-7, then I'd say sure...let Gase have it. But you don't freak out over one blowout loss with our QB3 playing on 2 days practice (for the season...not just the week) and our best WR out. Our stud RB? He ran two yards the entire game minus the very first play. I could see if people were yelling "Bench Ajayi," even though not a single person did except for me.

But fire Gase because he can't adapt? Seriously? I don't think any NFL coach has adapted more this season.

 

I stopped reading after your first sentence due to the fact that you and far too many people live in the past. We have the WORST offense in the NFL. The only reason we have 4 wins is because those teams beat themselves. Now we are coming into the difficult part of the schedule. Over the next 9 games, we are only going to win 1 to maybe 2 games. We traded our best offensive player for this season. Now all of the teams will know that we are going to throw more bubble screens. Everyone who knows football sees that Gase’s offense is a simplistic POS. It is borderline high school crap.

 

This is pure gold coming from the guy who cited Ajayi's 1200 yards in 2016 a billion times in various threads the last three days.

Can't make it up.

 

:amen:

 

A Dolphins win on Sunday would change a lot of people's perspectives around here.

 

I get the feeling that Gase's offense runs very well with a QB who can run (threat to run, at the very least) and a running back that is versatile (which Ajayi is not).

A QB who can recognize defenses quickly at the line and make the right check/option makes his offense ridiculously difficult to defend at times. We saw some of that with Miami last year with Tannehill in the driver's seat.

Andy Reid's offense runs tons of screens, and they're pretty darned effective at it. It always has been a staple. He's also had some versatile QBs and RBs. I think the ONLY reason Miami got Philly to bite is because they got a potential rockstar RB who has run in a similar system. Pederson was under Reid.

Let's not get it twisted, Aljayi sucks at catching out of the backfield. He's an okay blocker. I don't think he's really going to be a huge focus initially up in Philly.

I think Philly looks at it like: "Well, Ajayi is just something else the D will have to focus on". They have a fantastic young QB up there who takes shots from time-to-time. Keep the D honest with the threat. They have Blount who is doing fairly well, but he runs best inside. Ajayi, he can run the outside zone stuff pretty damned well. But he can also do damage inside.

Anyway, Ajayi not being part of the team anymore, we have Williams and Drake. Drake, who's not necessarily a small RB, is shifty and is probably more dynamic catching the ball than Ajayi. Williams, who is an absolute beast on wheels and such, but is just okay when running out of the backfield. Dynamic runner doesn't really come to mind when thinking about Williams. Both of these running backs offer something that Ajayi does not: the threat to catch it out of the backfield. That's a wrinkle.

I think on the 3rd and 5 situations, that screen that everyone is complaining about pays off. Or at least, the threat of it. Ajayi gave no such threat.

Remember, some of these are the QBs call at the line. Maybe the QB makes the wrong call? Maybe the personnel grouping doesn't scare the defense enough to put their best LB or Dlineman on Ajayi in those situations, leaving better players free to blitz or rush the QB?

Ajayi, for what it's worth, is a helluva runner. And he needs an offense where he's sort of the feature running the ball. Not catching the ball. And Ajayi wasn't even Gase's player. He was previous regime's. They started off on the wrong foot. Players like that usually do not learn, and I think Gase and the team tried everything to keep things under wraps regarding Ajayi's temper. Not much was said. Everything was always behind "closed doors". Nothing very specific. Miami did their job and gave the guy the rock. Apparently, it wasn't enough. Well, Ajayi seemed to be the one not putting in the mental reps. This is what happens. He probably was slowly becoming a cancer to the TEAM dynamic. Ties were cut.

As great as Terrell Owens was, he played for several different teams. In my mind, he's a HOFer. Now that's maybe a bit extreme when comparing Ajayi to Owens in the attitude dept, but the fact of the matter is, this isn't the "Give ME the Rock Dolphins" It's THE Miami Dolphins.

Gase did two things here:

I think he opened up the offense a bit more given the particular personnel because Ajayi is not dynamic. But he also sent a message, do your job and get rewarded. Or don't and get traded.

Now, if Cutler can start throwing accurate passes and reading the defenses a little better and stop Favring near the Red Zone, we might have a competitive team with the way the defense typically plays. McDonald comes back in a couple of weeks.

Odd stat: Pouncey hasn't allowed a pressure in the last five weeks. If this Oline can come together just a bit better, we might have something worth watching. Because of the lack of Tannehill, consistency will be the biggest issue moving forward this year.

I think Cutler and Moore are somewhat of a hinderance to this offense simply because they're no real threat to run. Which kind of brings me back to Andy Reid and screens: they're not going anywhere with Gase. They are setup plays with QB read/options that work very well with dynamic backs and a QB who's a threat to run. The "read" part of it is very important.

Think of it like pitching: low to the left. Low to the left. High fast inside for the strikeout. The Landry TD on the "Jet Sweep" play was a prime example of that. And he was WIDE OPEN.

It sucks watching this offense right now, but we lost a QB who I've been comparing to Alex Smith for the past three years as an insult. I'd take that all day in this offense. Hopefully he comes back stronger than ever.

 

not sure what it means if we win...I think its about how this particular team handles a bit of success without self fellatio.

 

I know your pissed man, but your on the extreme side right now lol..why not try to figure out the puzzle with us.?
I get it though,its tough being a fan of this team..Ive actually come to enjoy the process of trying to be better than the pros when it comes to fixing this team..problem is they don't listen to me lol...but its fun trying to find the right path and personnel.

 

To preface, I really don't care about the trade but I want people to have a realistic understanding about Ajayi's production. We can say he only topped 100 yards a couple of times and we can hand pick the stretch of games we look at, conveniently beginning right after a 200 yard game if we want to. Others will say if you take out his 200 yard games he is not so good either. I never understood handpicking stats other than to make a point that one already wanted to see and finding the stats to back it up. If we take out any player's best games and look at their worst stretch of games we will not so shockingly find that they are not as productive as it seemed. We can also do the opposite if we really like a player and throw out their worst games. Bottom line is that Ajayi was a 5.6 yard per carry back last year and 4.6 this year. It happened. All of the games that contributed to that average happened.
Some games he didn't get the ball much and other times he was a workhorse. He can't control play calling, or the situation of the game. If a back is on a team that is trailing, there's a good chance he will not see the ball as much for example. So measuring by how many 100 yard games he gets is irrelevant IMO. If you want a quick set of stats to see how good a back is at running, look at his yards per carry, not per game. If you start taking away his good games, by the mystical powers of math, his average will drop and you have a mediocre back. Take away his bad games and amazingly you will have the greatest back ever, but neither of those 2 assessments is realistic. It all happened so it all counts. Some games defenses keyed on him because our offense as a whole never scared anybody, but he was productive as a Dolphin. I just wanted to clear that up. It comes to mind every time somebody rolls out some handpicked stats.
My apologies if any of this comes across as juvenile. I am just trying to respectfully disagree.

 

Yeah your right. Gase will be coach of the year we will be going to the Super Bowl officially turned the corner and unbeatable...and then after our next loss people will be calling for gase to be fired a complete blowup of the team and staff and a full rebuild because of how terribly bad this team and organization is from top to bottom.:favre:In reality the dolphins are a team that has had a lot of adversity but has found a way to win despite that. I’m happy with there record and think that they have made the best of a bad situation. Yeah they have had some god awful offensive outings but wins no matter how they come is all that matters.

 

Noticed a few errors. Fixed it for you. No charge.

 

Yup, I can see where "best win percentage in the entire league" would piss a Dolphins fan off.

 

I'm strongly in the give Gase a chance camp, but this trade is troubling to me. No matter how I look at this it isn't a good look for our HC. Assuming Jay is the problem, if Gase had concerns about AJayi coming into the season then front office actions should have been taken, if he had no concerns about Ajayi, then he (and his staff) are doing a bad job. This type of thing needs to be sniffed out before it impacts a season.

This move takes a weapon out of our arsenal. Nobody was holding a gun to Gase's head making him play Ajayi, so even Gase knows his most talented running back is the guy he just sent to Philly. We can argue merit of the decision all day long, but in the end this is still a hit to talent level.

I'm a little worried the way this and the Maxwell cut happened. Its almost like once your in Gase's dog house you never actually make it out. That's not a good way to coach, and it will go a long way in losing the locker room. This is from the outside looking in of course, so, there is always the chance there are other circumstances I don't see.

I don't believe this is all about Gase's ego, but if I'm wrong, the next couple of weeks should show us something. If the team rallies and plays hard, then the team is still behind him. If the whole team starts looking flat... then my guess is Gase lost the locker room. I would caution reading too much into this next game, we will need to give it the next 3 or 4 to see what the result of this decision was.

 

2 things.

1. I don't think a player in Gase's doghouse is always there. Ajayi was in the doghouse last year, Gase let him out. I just think the things that put him in the doghouse originally got worse because.........of this next part

2. They haven't been playing well. It looks like we became rudderless with Thill. I don;t know where you personally stand on the Thill issue, but I think it is fairly obvious now that he held the offense together. There's a power void on offense right now as Cutler is still trying to get back into the groove and Moore has never been an alpha. Sometimes a group of people need a lynchpin to hold them together. My grandmother, for example, was the lynchpin on my dad's side of the family. Once she died, the family fractured. Its not that any one person is terrible or worse than another, its just that there often needs too be a stabilizing force.

 

Yeah I had high expectations with Tannehill in, and had very low expectations when they lost him. I did not get into the hype of Cutler, or Moore. I expected the offense to struggle without Tannehill, and it was going to take a lot for me to attack Gase for this season. I've argued for him in most posts, this year. This decision I don't think is defensible without putting some blame on Gase. He needed to know what type of person his star RB is/was. Finding out this late in the season that you can't work with him??? Its just not a good look.

 

I'm with you there. A win sure would put the Ravens game in the rear view mirror. A loss, especially a bad one, just makes the week go so much slower. This has been a tough week. A bad loss and trading a good running back makes for a long, long week. Such is life in the NFL.

 

Belicek traded chandler jones and Jamie collins during the season, two players that were in their prime and supposedly on the upswing..

Im sure he didn't trade them because of their on the field football talent..but he went there anyways..

just saying.

 

I guess. I just think you don't often know a lot about a person until you go through adversity with them. Winning masks a lot of things. It is possible, that Ajayi's true personality reached a crescendo with this season's adversity.

 

it is possible he was a primmadonna or a real doucher..lol

 

Yes, that's kind of what I'm getting at. He could be a real problem either as a prima donna or a cancer...either way I think the way Gase handled Thomas & Turner last year shows us he doesn't make harsh decisions lightly considering he gave them plenty of time to show him something.

 

He was in the dog house last year, got out and had a good year starting. Your statement is obviously false.

I think it was the British accent.

 

yeah, and maybe this trade turns out great for the Dolphins, and that trade turns out horrible for NE, or vice versa... My concern is more with the way I view the trade, I generally consider myself to be a pretty level headed fan. This trade doesn't feel like a good football move to me, feels more like desperation. Maybe reports about Jay being a cancer in the locker room have been trickling out and I have missed them, since I haven't heard any of those types of reports, this seems sudden, and honestly unnecessary. If Jay was doing things wrong, then bench him. Let him watch another RB take the carries and run it right. Either the light comes on or it doesn't for Jay while hes on the bench.

I can't explain how a player goes from clear starter, to traded for what will be a next to nothing pick. At least not while the season is still salvageable. Maybe he really is just that bad of a person to deal with, nothing I have heard has lead me to believe that though...

 

I'm not sure that its obviously false. I'm also not stating that its unequivocally true. I'm saying that his sudden release hints at that Gase might still see Jay as the player in the doghouse and it led to his quick departure. Its speculation on my part, but it is something that I'm a little bit worried about.

 

That's fair. Maybe I expect too much that a coach and his staff should be able to catch warning signs about their players. I'm not turning on Gase over this, I just felt like this was a miss for our young coach...

 

valid points, he could of managed the situation...I think the combination of Ajayi one dimensional game combined with poor oline blocking, combined with some diva attitude problems made him tradable..

there are some things that came out that were not positive in terms of his ability to be coached.

 

its a tough one to figure out in terms of handling this properly...we do know that this is a player that was left home on an important road trip during this coaches first season...must of been a pretty big fu## up for a new coach to do that..

I think its a case where the attitude and lack of attention to details outweighed the production..

 

Did you feel the same way when Gase cut two linemen after week 5 last year? Probably not, because the thought was that both linemen sucked....even though folks don't watch linemen and they really had no idea. But if Gase said they were a bad fit, people took him at his word.....especially after we went on a huge win streak.

So what's different this season? The only thing different is that your eyes say Ajayi is a great player. Only, it goes right back to the situation from last season....if you're not watching the line, then you don't know why our run game has collapsed entirely. It's easy to blame it all on the line every time something bad happens, and fans are so used to doing it that they can't even comprehend that the problem could be the QB, the RB or someone else.

The truth of the matter is that once you watch film, Ajayi and the offensive line are both problems....but Ajayi was by far the biggest one. His pass blocking was terrible. He did whatever he felt like on run plays. And he should have been benched again 3 or 4 weeks ago.

Again, what has really changed? In both instances, Gase saw problems and got rid of the problems. The only real difference this season is that we're 4-3 and still in the playoff hunt, where the last season appeared to be all but over at 1-5.

 

might be a small difference, but had he benched him 3 or 4 weeks ago, I wouldn't have had any problems with any of this. Even if it led to the trade being exactly the same. I think it would have changed the entire optics of the situation.

 

Ive heard several players talk about Game and how he protects them in practice, takes measures to make sure they have their legs and are ready for the game...looks to me some players took advantage of him, and he let it go for a bit, until he couldn't anymore..

basically, ''im gonna go the extra mile to make sure your ready on Sunday but you have to do your part on your own to make sure your ready mentally...''


got burned...lessoned learned by a new coach.

 

I thought those linemen noticeably sucked Keith. I do agree that Ajayi may not have helped himself this year either. As Gase said, sometimes he didn't seem to be willing to just take the 2 yards behind our crap line to get us to 3rd and 6 or 3rd and 5. Although a couple of times, he was dancing in the backfield because a defender was already there as soon as he got the ball.
I'm really wondering how much Ajayi's knee and expected short career played into this decision. We think of him as a young rising back, but the truth is, he may only play another 2 or 3 years. Then you get nothing in a trade. That's not to say I am happy they traded him, but I'm just saying what might have been a factor in the decision.

 

nobody is talking about how a defense can key on a player when he is one dimensional...if you don't pose multiple threats you become predictable when your in the game.

 

He's just cleaning house. Just like Belichek.

As for Baltimore, it was a bit of a perfect storm. Lots of factors played into why the offense was flat.

 

I agree pretty well with everything in the OP and was going to start a similar thread.

Some extra points from my perspective.
1) I am still in the “give Gase a chance” camp. I think it is important to look at the type of players that Gase has cut and compare those to the ones that Philbin cut. Philbin cut players who didn’t kneel subserviently to him, and a significant number of the people he cut/gave up on went on to have productive stints at places other than the phins (Brandon Marshall, Vontae Davis, Jamar Taylor, Carlos Dansby, Sean Smith, Jonas Gray et al). Compare that to the players Gase has cut and I can’t think of one who has gone on to be productive elsewhere. Obviously we all expect Ajayi to be productive in Philly, but Gase’s track record on who to keep and who to discard is looking pretty good right now.

2) Whilst the O has been crud, we do have to give Gase credit for the improvement on the D side of the ball. Which shows that the D side has come on board with Gase’s message and methods and it is providing dividends.

3) I think there has been an attitude problem with the Phins since the Philbin era (error?). I talked about it at the time of the purge last year, and I think it bears repeating, that Philbin created an environment where your onfield performance had little effect on your status as a starter. It takes time for team culture to change, people hold onto their habits, good or bad.

4) The FO neglect of the OG position is something that needs to be addressed. We have seen how addrressing the lack of talent at LB, which fans have screamed for since the Ellersby/Wheeler debacle, has helped transform the D. Now I don’t know exactly how much to apportion blame between the FO and the coaching staff on this one, but since it is a pre-Gase problem I am inclined to put most of the blame on the FO.

5) I am not all aboard with Gase. One specific example is his complete overuse of WR screens.