I have a serious question for all the Dolphins fans out there about the definition of "DOLPHINS FOOTBALL". You hear it all the time from coaches to players and even owners on the occasion when discussing their prospective football teams. All the other teams in the league seem to say it as well, and most of the time it brings an immediate image or design to your mind. For Example when the Steelers say we just need to continue to play Steelers Football I would image all of us would have thoughts of the Steel Curtain Defense and a smash mouth running game. If you say GreenBay Football most of us would think Spread em out 5 wide or dink and dunk possibly. However when someone says we just need to play "Dolphins" Football I am at a loss for what the hell that means.. I assume they mean going back 30 years but since than we really haven't had a definition of the team even with Marino at the helm. Sure we were a pass happy team but nothing dominant or tone setting. Dan never had a running back in his good days, and when the defense was good we had no offense, and over the last 15 years we have no identity. So what exactly is or should Dolphins Football mean? Right now I can't really think of something besides "Just another mediocre team"
I'll get it out of the way and say losing.... Then.... Honestly I dont think at this point we have an identity. I think you have to have some success or lots of failure to have an identity. Like Sparano with running the ball and not turning it over. I don't think we have an identity right now which is a big part of our issue.
I get that and agree, but did we ever have one?? I mean even with Marino I cant think of one..except "Marino"
Generally speaking, most of these stereotypes are pretty off-base. The Steelers are pretty much a passing team now with a slightly above average defense.
I'd like to ask Chris Collinsworth what is a bear Qb ?... What is a bear receiver? We have no identity.. First time head coach, I'm willing to give him some time to create one.
I would argue that it almost never brings an immediate image to your mind, and that teams achieve this sort of firmly entrenched identity only when they've been good for some time, which happens rarely. In other words, what you're talking about here is what a team achieves about last, after it's done a whole lot more foundational work beforehand. I don't think you're going to take a team with new coaching staff and a rookie quarterback and find these elements in it year one. The team's identity is in flux.
The Dolphins are a tease and have been for quite some time. Anytime you get something positive going, they find ways to completely smash any hope you had.
Dolphins football is running a 4-3 base defense with personnel that is better suited for a 3-4. That means that you play the run well. But you have trouble rushing the passer and covering people with your linebackers. Offensively, Dolphins football operates within 10, maybe 15 yards of the line of scrimmage. The reasons for that could be numerous. Thus I will speculate since I can't read the coaches' minds. The main reason Dolphins football is three to five step drops (except when Matt Moore is QB) is that despite investing a ton in the offensive line, they can't really block that well and we don't want to get our rookie QB killed. Another reason is that the coaching staff doesn't trust our receivers to get open downfield, nor do they care about this aspect of offensive football since they traded away the WR they had previously invested the most in. The last reason I can think of for our dink and dunk offense is that the coaches don't trust our rookie QB to make plays downfield. Or it could be a combination of a few or all three of those reasons. Regarding the running game, Dolphins football is closing our eyes and hoping Reggie Bush breaks a long run all the while knowing that he probably will only get about 3.5 yards every time he touches the ball. And they repeat this exercise quite frequently because of the reasons stated above regarding the passing game. Putting all of that together, you have a defense that can't do the most important thing it needs to do (stop the pass) and offense that can only do the most important thing it needs to do (pass well) in a very narrow context (within 5-10 yards of the line of scrimmage). That, combined with the randomness that is special teams (which means bad luck for us since that's just how it is for the Dolphins), makes you an average to mediocre team. That's Dolphins football.
I'm not sure the concept of an "identity" is really all that valuable outside of something being readily available for fans to digest. I think more often than not it means you're one dimensional rather than an inherently successful team, and a lot of identities I think are a bit oversimplified. The Dolphins don't really have one area they are all that good at, and they're basically casting around for an 11th offensive player. A 3rd WR, a fullback, or a 2nd TE, and so far no one has really distinguished themselves and they seem to be trying to push on alternating weeks trying to get one of those guys to become more than a guy.
Actually, to better answer the question, the media uses that framing because it's easy, they are lazy and they know the normal sports fan can understand it. It does matter the style in which you play the game. But the media doesn't frame it properly and is often wrong in how they talk about it.
Dolphins football.....drawing a blank as well. Nevermind what was...Many teams go through years without an identity and then acquire one. The Saints are an example after they acquire Drew Brees. Other teams like the Patriots seem to flip back and forth on their identity. I don't know what exactly Dolphin football is but I know i've been patient for a long time and it's been a frustrating run as a Miami fan and this dates back to 1989 for me. I really hope Joe Philbin can get this thing turned around for us. So far i've seen the same Dolphin team we've seen for the last 15 years which is basically a mediocre organization. We need a chosen one to lead the way. I hope Tannehill is that guy. Last week he didn't show me Neo...He played more like Trinity.
