The only thing that kills me about this distraction is, we're 1-0.

We're 1-0 and beat our opponent by two touchdowns but all week this has been a distraction. Why can't they get the ball to Mike Wallace? How does Mike Wallace feel about that? How does Joe Philbin feel about it? How does Ryan Tannehill feel about it? Will they get him more involved? OHHH Tannehill just went out and said he's not going to force the ball to Wallace. Is there a disconnect between those two? Etc etc.

We're 1-0 and this is what we're dealing with all week. Blame the media all you want but they're nothing more than a mathematical equation that was set off by Mike Wallace's language and behavior after the game, coupled with the context (his $60 million contract).

I can GUARANTEE this week that several times Joe Philbin has muttered, either to himself or others, that this is exactly why he hates the idea of a big-money number one receiver.

 

This is a media created distraction. If he had anything less than 40-50 yards they were going to create a story about him being under utilized and mentioning his big offseason contract. He was one of the biggest stories and signings offseason. This a money maker for the media.

Obviously his comments didn't help the situation post game. I think RTH's comments are spot on. Wallace will create his own opportunities. RTH doesn't need to force it to him at the expense of this offense and team.

 

As annoying as the griping in the media about Wallace's targets is especiall after a win. I am glad that Tannehill is confident enough in himself as a QB and leader of this team, that he doesn't feel that he has to force the ball to Wallace into situations that don't call for it. He's not going to force throws to please the media, or Mike Wallace.

 

I dunno... that first deep ball in the second half last week was pretty telegraphed.

 

While I obviously agree that Tanny should not throw to a double covered Wallace if gibson is wide open, we do need Tanny to start trusting Wallace to the point that he will throw to him even if covered.

He needs to see if Wallace will be the type who can bail you out on bad throws or when the play breaks down.

 

I can't just conclude this is all media driven, and I will give you a GREAT example of why.

Tihs week I wrote a pretty extensive piece detailing from a scheme and skill set standpoint why Brian Hartline had such a GOOD day against the Cleveland Browns secondary

You know who I didn't mention in the piece AT ALL?

Mike Wallace.

You know who I got asked about THE MOST in the comments section of the article, on Twitter, and on two message boards (this one and FH)?

Mike Wallace.

Don't blame the media.

 

I agree with the Tannehills thought process, you the boss, don't crumble to his diva pressure, if he doesn't fall in line with Philbins direction, then we go from there.

 

Re: Tannehill says he won’t force it to Wallace

The media looks to generate revenue... Mike Wallace generates revenue, not Brian Hartline. Comparatively speaking, of course.

 

You're absolutely right. The media wouldn't push stories like this if there wasn't a market for them. That's what makes your pieces this week so refreshing, while John D Mainstream is out there flinging mud you're sticking to topics relevant to what's happening on the field and I applaud you for it.

Promise you won't go mainstream on us...

 

Call me crazy, but if Tannehill just goes through his progressions how the plays are called, and If Wallace gets open shouldnt he end up with at least 10 targets a game? Make at least 3 of those deep balls, and you got yourself a stew goin. Am I over simplifying it?

 

Its the media that invented this distraction and now the fans believe it is one.

Without Armando "breaking" the "HUGE" story of Wallace being upset about his performance, then speculating the reasons and causes of him being upset, then this wouldn't have been the distraction it was.

Its like the media members are the only ones infected with a disease and write about how fast the disease is spreading, then go out and cough all over the public.

 

On the bright side, this aint a distraction for the team. The fans may be unnecessarily alarmed but I'm willing to bet it's business as usual a the facility. Or is Philbin racking his brain in Davie trying to figure out how to get Omar and Armando off his back? LOLz

 

Despite the way Wallace was acting. I literally had to wonder how Marshall would have taken a 1 catch game from us.

 

If we go 2-0, our situation will also reach critical mass.

 

How big a distraction does it become if we are 2-3 later.

FOr that matter, if there is discontent and players are expressing it publicly (see Starks too, Soliai only by hearsay) after a win, I wonder how it looks if we struggle for any spell.

 

Not true. The media took it and blew it up.
But make no mistake...it was created by Mike Wallace and his words and body language after the game.

 

And that's he point! IF he gets open! Did he in the last game?

I haven't read a good analysis on how many plays he was really open and Tannehill had the time to find him. Does anybody know?

 

I don't think its the huge distraction the media wants to believe it is. But the media didn't create anything. Mike Wallace did that on his own. The media may be trying to make a mountain out of kiddie slope....but there certainly was something there on Sunday.

 

Why did RT have to even answer that question.

Sent from my LG-MS770 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

I like Tannehill's answer in that it's well stated and mature, given the question. But that said, what else is he really going to say?

Even if the game plan were to force Wallace the ball, for whatever reason, Tannehill isn't going to come out and make it known; if he were to do as much, he may as well send Indy's D a nice little note saying "Dear Sirs, in case you weren't going to try to make Mr. Wallace's afternoon difficult and frustrating enough in the first place, please let it be known that you should given that I intend to throw him the ball throughout the game, whether it is the right play call or otherwise."

 

Part of the problem, in my opinion, is Tanny isn't used to his game-time speed and doesn't yet really know to what degree he's actually open even if he looks covered. I don't know how long that takes to establish, but I can't help but think that's a part of it.

 

I think forcing it is what got Big Ben in trouble.

 

Gotta believe if Mike Wallace continues to run his routes, doesn't half-arse them, and plays hard even when he doesn't see the ball for a while, then he's going to end up getting his, and he's gonna get his big. It's just a matter of time before Tannehill gets in step with him -- Wallace just has to be patient. It's coming together for Tannehill and starting to click.

Obviously, the Dolphins can do some things to target Wallace, such as screens, short stop patterns, whatever. And if that's what it takes to keep the boat from taking on water temporarily, then I guess they'll probably do it. But I'd rather they don't. Just run the offense, like Tannehill says in his statement, go thru the reads, and throw it to the open guy. If Tannehill does that, he's going to end up finding Wallace open quite a few times a game. And Wallace, if he keeps his head in it, will make the most of those situations when they come. His stats will be there in the end if he does that.

The one thing that will derail all that is if Wallace gets upset and starts running lackadaisical routes, because he's upset. That will kill timing and Tannehill's confidence in him. I can certainly empathize with how he felt in the first half. Running wind sprints and never seeing the ball, and the Dolphins are down 7-6. That's frustrating as balls. Thing is, though, he's a professional, and he's being paid well not to take plays off, whatever the case.

Just persevere Mikey, and you'll get yours. You will. Probably starting this week.

 

If Wallace is expecting the same production from Tannehill as he got from Berger he's in for a suprise, it's not a knock on Ryan just that their different qbs with different time clocks built in..Ryan is a rhythm Qb..

 

Whatever like a school girl. The money you paid, the name that was hyped and the offense that can score from anywhere on the field which according to game one Sherman isn't any where near of producing and you think its going to go unnoticed? Media my a$$. Its on the fans- my fat a$$.

I was sitting at home wondering why the hell it took us an entire half to throw the ball deep to Wallace and if you didn't have the same thought, you're blind and clueless and drunk on the punch wearing the rosy glasses which is no surprise in here (Dolphins forum duh) Sorry to judge. Way it goes.

Now, was it Wallace that brought it to the forefront with his actions? Yes. Did the media blow it up? Their job. Did fans stretch it out? Every right to.

1-0. Okay. 7-6 at the half with 4 turnovers in our favor. You're not tired of letting teams hang around or does the punch make you forget from one year to the next? A well called for tribute to Rounders: heging eround. Henging eround. Every team we plays got alligator blood. We've been losing games since the Wannstedt era letting teams hang around which kept us in the middle of the pack with some pretty impressive teams and you're not tired if it? 1-0 pffft. Sure. who isn't happy about the win? Like tossing the ball to the ref after a score, act like you've been there before and you will be again. And, BTW, we'd be the same at 0-1 if you're paying attention; hoping we don't continue to leave points on the field.

What does that have to do with Wallace? Maybe nothing. Maybe everything. But hows about 1 f@$king play designed specifically for the biggest name in the offseason this year? Too much to ask? Topic supposed to go quiet into that good night? My fat, harry, pink a$$.

 

Or maybe you understand the concept of double coverage, and how its generally not good for your QB to force a pass into it...

Nice job insulting the whole board too... Good way to make friends.

Relax.

 

That's a whole lot of bs right there.

5 plays went to him. They didn't work. We won by 2 Tds. Calm the eff down.

 

Tannehill is still finding his tempo on the deep stuff, he's way ahead in that dept relative to last year, so soon I expect his feet to settle more on the deep stuff, it's hard when your getting pressured a lot to locate your actual target, Instead of a spot..

 

Heh, I would, Wallace had better be heads up as that ball is coming his way no matter where he is, coming out of the bathroom, leaving the drive thru, picking up his dry cleaning, he'd better be watching at all mfing times for that damn ball coming his way.

 

"Tannehill says he won’t force it into Wallace"

Well... that's a relief then.

 

This really makes me question the acquisition in the first place.

From all accounts and interviews with Philbin, it looks as he was the primary factor behind the Wallace over Jennings decision. But what happened during the vetting process? Was Mike Wallace that polished during his visit to Miami? Did Philbin get glowing recommendations from Steeler personnel? Basically, was Philbin led to believe that Wallace was the consummate professional with none of this garbage in him? Because I think this is exactly what happened, although it's hard to believe that Wallace was never a malcontent in his first 4 years in the league being that in just the 2nd quarter of his first game with a new team he was throwing his arms up and down everytime he didn't get the ball. And with the likely chances that he was a malcontent at some point, it's really amazing to me that this information didn't get into the hands or ears of Philbin and/or Ireland

This coupled with the fact that Philbin must have some inside knowledge that Jennings isn't the alter boy many think/thought he is/was.

Or is that over the top speed just THAT important to Philbin, even though his previous organization fared just fine without the top-end speed threat?

I don't know.....but what I do know is that those casting this off as nothing more than the media blowing it out of proportion may be sadly mistaken. Those reactions remind me of Marshall punting the ball in practice and the same excuses flying around in his first season. The writing was on the wall there. I hope this isn't the writing on the wall here

 

How much you want to bet that there's going to be a sports segment/article stating that Tannehill doesn't trust Wallace as a target?

 

I've kept my thoughts quiet on this because of the hub bub that happened when he was signed, but here's what I want to know.

You are giving Mike Wallace a lot of money. Why isn't he running similar routes to what Brian Hartline and Brandon Gibson are running to get himself open and get the ball? If he is running those routes, then why is he either not getting open or getting the ball?

I told you guys when we signed him that his route running would ultimately be a detriment to the offense, because he is not a good route runner. In this style of offense, route running is the most important aspect of wide receiver play. You have to make every route look the same when you are coming off the line. There cannot be an stutter stepping or false steps when coming out of the gates. You also have to sell something on your route, either by making the coverage think you are going vertical or giving a head fake to make the coverage think you are about to gear down and make a break. When you make a break, the breaks have to be sharp, and you have to explode out of them.

Right now, Brian Hartline and Brandon Gibson do this. As a result, they are the two most productive receivers on the team.

I always like to compare the receiver production to the Packers receiver production since this is the same base offense.

Green Bay Packers:
Jordy Nelson 7 receptions, 130 yards, 31 RAC, 1 TD, 70% Ct%
Randall Cobb 7 receptions, 100 yards, 25 RAC, 1 TD, 100% Ct%
James Jones 0 receptions, 0 yards, 0 RAC, 0 TD, 0% Ct%

Miami Dolphins:
Brian Hartline 9 receptions, 114 yards, 21 RAC, 1 TD, 64.3% ct%
Brandon Gibson 7 receptions, 77 yards, 35 RAC, 0 TD, 70% ct%
Mike Wallace 1 reception, 15 yards, 1 RAC, 0 TD, 20% ct%

 

I think its a combination of Tannys inaccuracy as well as Wallace not running good routes.He runs a lot faster than the other two main WRs so connecting is a matter of physics .

It will get better as the season develops.I do think he is being effective as a decoy in this early part of the season opening up possibilities for Hartline and Gibson and I expect Wallace will be a factor as defenses begin to cheat up to cover those two.

 

Well, through the first week of the season, Ryan has the 12th highest accuracy percentage as calculated by PFF in the league. His accuracy percentage was 75.7%. For comparison, Drew Brees's was 74.3 in the first week.

 

I kept on reading last year how it was harder to hit slower receivers. Now it is harder?

 

Not the same thing, Tannehill atm is an "area" thrower, the ball will wind up in the catchable area, it is not usually placed where the Wr can head downhill or consistently accurate deep down the field.

I'd love to see him try to overthrow Wallace deep down the field.

 

This is a ridiculous statement. The big money #1 WR forces teams to double him, opening up the offense for the other guys. And while he didn't have the numbers, he was open a number of times and either Tannehill didn't see him/throw to him, or didn't throw accurately. I think Philbin will be plenty happy with Mike Wallace. Lest we forget Brian Hartline as our small money #1 receiver last year...

The media has been all over Wallace during the preseason too. Wallace is injured... Wallace and Tannehill don't have chemistry, etc... They wanted this story. They were prepared for this story. If Mike Wallace had said "**** happens, didn't get it done today, the other WR's stepped up, I'll continue to work and improve and everything will be fine," the media would still be doing exactly what they're doing.

Mike Wallace may have given the media an opening, but let's not act like Wallace is T.O. He's a high character, hard working, receiver. I can't believe fans are really feeding into this crap.