Yeah good point. Moreno could end up like Lynch, really becoming a great back with a new home. Hopefully we can add Finnegan to the list this year. Man im excited about this team, especially with Lazor's "not good enough" remarks.

 

IMO, if players need motivation at this level, its a problem. I'll reserve the right to say we are fortunate or not for a few more weeks.

 

We had a 3-0 last season which we were all overjoyed with. New uniforms, new star WR...and so on. We all know where that train derailed and the rest is history with a capital H.

All I am saying is: don't let one good win get into your head and give you fantasies of a SB appearance before we have even hit the half-way mark of the season. Why not us? Sure, why not but this franchise and it's followers have been so depraved of former glory that we will do anything to believe that the drought is over.

 

Sorry. Even the Sporano years we were not soft. Far from it. We just were not good. This team has only been finesse under Philbin. We are better than the Chiefs. I want to see us beat the Bill in Buffalo before I can join you in even the least of ways.

 

I'm not judging your level of fandom, but I honestly don't understand this attitude.

What's the point of rooting for a sports team if you don't have hope and optimism. I mean doesn't real life flaunt "harsh realities" in your face enough that being a fan can be the escape from that? Especially to the point where you feel the need to try and stop other fans from that escape.

For me, I'm not a fan so I can be cautious and nervous. I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just saying I don't get it.

</end yearly rant>

 

People are motivated for lots of different reasons .. its human nature. You can be a bazzillionaire and still want payback.

 

I saw Sundays win and came away feeling better about our team then I have in a long time. But Id be lying if I didnt say I am saying to myself..please be real..please be real.

 

I'm a believer because I see it.

My main concern right now is the QB. Once teams figure out that he is uneasy under pressure and can't hurt them deep, they will load up, they will make conscious decision to give up 20 rather than 30 a game by playing off. That happens to all poor passers. We'll have to see how that unfolds, and how we'll adjust when that happens as the season goes on.

 

He CAN hurt 'em deep...he's not far off the league average for deep shots, we just don't take a lot of them. Had either or both of Sims/Wallace pulled those passes in, there'd be a lot more fear of it. They won't drop/miss all of those... Go ahead and bring everybody in...please...endzone celebrations are good for our blood pressure.

 

Why do you hope teams load up and come after Tannehill?, what is it about his skillset that makes you want that?

 

To me, anything that I invest my time and energy in, following a sports team is no different, can be demoralizing when you arrive at a particularly negative point. Last year ended on the worst possible note and we were all pissed the hell off. That only demonstrates how much a fan cares about his team, not wanting to see that kind of self-immolation when the playoffs were right there for the taking. Personally, I told myself that I would not have any expectations the next year and just enjoy my team play, as it is far less frustrating than agonizing over every INT and sack.

We thumped NE in a historic opening day match, awesome, can't be prouder to be a Fin but let's take a deep breath and remember that we felt invincible those last few weeks of 2013 too...Support your team, just don't build a fantasy for yourself that reality cannot live up to, that's all i'm saying.

 

we know he can take a beating!

 

Or you could say we left 1 TD on the field, because we eventually scored a TD on the drive where Sims didn't make that catch.

 

Well, sh&$....he definitely will stare down the gun barrell, no question about that.

He has some issues with tipped balls at the Los..that doesn't lend itself to pressure.

He doesn't have swift maneuverability or Instincts escaping pressure..that doesn't lend itself either.

We'll see, I'm still waiting for the proper movement in the pocket that will take him to another level of Qb, I think if they try to blitz because they think he's a sitting duck, then all the more reason to run read option, more rollouts and boots..

I'm well aware of his arm talent on the move, it's fantastic, problem is getting his *** to run, or getting his coaches to bootleg him 3 or 4 times a game.

Glad were on the same page when it comes to read option, I'm not sure if he has the option to keep it there?, if he does he sure missed a few.

I am confident he can play better then what he showed on Sunday..but he needs to engage his instincts to run, more quickly, more deftly, and most importantly, more purposely.

 

Hope and optimism is a lot different from delusion; a 1-0 team has never advanced straight to the Super Bowl and it's not going to happen this year either. We beat a solid team last Sunday and it was an excellent start, but we still have 15 more games to go. I don't think anyone here is rooting against a great season; we're just not expecting miracles because of one week.

 

If Dion Sims catches that well thrown bomb in the end zone, people might be singing a different tune. couple that with the still-catchable ball for Wallace.
not saying Tannehill still doesn't need improvement, he does, but people are blowing it out of proportion.

 

No one, anywhere, ever, suggested you go from 1-0 directly to the Super Bowl. Acting as if that happened is what is delusional. This thread isn't long. Its easy to go back and read the whole thing. No one predicted a Super Bowl up to your post.

Buuuuuut, the team beating up on the perennial division champs when no one thought we had a chance is reason for optimism. Especially when the reasons we won were because of strong showings in the areas we were deficient in last year (when we beat 4 playoffs teams).

Even if none of that was true and people were predicting a Super Bowl....so what? Why is your personal need to be cautious about the team a trait you feel is important for others to have? Why is it unacceptable for other fans to shoot for the stars?

 

I like your enthusiasm Zeke but I wouldn't use the word "fortunate." I mean, look at how many years we have suffered from mediocrity. Having multiple self-motivated players on our roster is long overdue. If they play this way for several weeks I will then say the scales have tipped in our favor.

 

I'd like to add, people keep pointing out Tannehill's problems getting the ball deep to Wallace, and acting as if that's the only deep ball that Tannehill ever throws. Tannehill hits other receivers deep, without the same issues he has to Wallace. Tannehill hits literally every other reciever on deep routes much more consistently than Wallace. So, to act like Tannehill can't throw deep is a huge misnomer, and it ignores the statistics that show that Tannehill throws deep about as well as most other QB's.

 

I hear you on the 3-0 start last year, but none of those wins looked like this last win. those were the kind of scrappy, down to the wire wins we've seen for years, and i think many of us at 3-0 were not that impressed with the play on the field so far.

This win was much more concrete, easy to see why the score was what it was, especially winning in the trenches and seeing the offense constantly move the ball. That's where i'm pulling my optimism from. Sure, it could all come crashing down, but i'll take it for now.

 

I think his history shows he is better against the blitz than he is when teams drop 7-8 into coverage. His biggest problem last season was teams dropping 7 into coverage and still getting edge pressure.

 

You're clearly going to win the SB this year due to having a "Tom Brady eqsue" chip on your shoulder. Nevermind that you don't have a single player on your squad that will ever go down as being among the very best at their position as Brady will. Or that your team isn't very talented overall.

 

You should really give your tear ducts a break.

 

Your rapidly becoming our favorite village idiot....

"We had a really good game yesterday....our defense played awsome! " said the Dolphan as he waited patiently for the rapid pitter patter sounds resembling a four year old on the way to tell on their little brother or sister...

"You're clearly going to win the SB this year due to having a "Tom Brady eqsue" chip on your shoulder. Nevermind that you don't have a single player on your squad that will ever go down as being among the very best at their position as Brady will. " croaked the pasty white skinned Patriots fan, waving his boney white finger in the air.

"I love it when he does that"...giggled the Dolphan as he went back to what ever it was he was doing before.

 

This is one of the wrongest assumptions I continually hear fans make.

And if a head coach had this attitude, he'd never win Superbowls.

Motivation comes in many forms, and matters. A lot. A ferrari with no gas is useless.

That's why great coaches are often (not rarely) called 'master motivators'.

 

Only guy with any heart during the Sparano years was Joey Porter, imo. And Pennington had some.

 

1) I respect you a ton Deej (you know I wish you were our head scout. lol.)

2) I'm concerned a LOT about Tannehill at this juncture

3) That said, Ryan HAD a problem with tipped balls at the LOS. He no longer has that problem, imo. He fixed it and is now about average in that regard, if not better than average. Having a better Oline helps keep lanes clear too.

4) Agree on instincts... and that's why I think Lazor is actively working towards Ryan thinking LESS and just reacting to his training... see your keys and progression and DO -- no thinking, no second guessing, no analyzing or hesitating.

5) Still mystified why Ryan won't run. He keeps the ball on every read option, even when his side is wide open.

 

Glad you agree with us! SUPERBOWL!

 

Seriously though:

1) This team FEELS different and passes a different EYE TEST for heart.....

2) .... SO FAR.

3) Buffalo swept us last year. We won't have a heat advantage. We will face a fantastic D-line. Let's see if this Buffalo matchup gives us trouble. If we cruise to victory then...


I AM CROWNING OUR ***!!!!

 

That's what we thought last year at 8-6. The worst was behind us and it was. What happened? To this day no one can explain those two games to me especially coming off a deserving win against NE.

You're reaching a bit don't you think? We may have dumped a lot of the excess and picked up a decent OL and RB but we are largely the same team with the same head coach. That's not necessarily a bad thing as I believe the 2013 Dolphins were and should have been a playoff team but to say that the 2013 team has nothing to do with the 2014 team is just silly. My guy Ryan shat the bed in those last two game, and he certainly wasn't alone. Wallace, Wheeler, Sturgis and others who caused so much grief last season here are still here, for better or worse.

This has been the best week 1 start we have had in many years, yes, i'm not trying to take away from that but let's not forget that the Patriots defeated themselves as much as we beat them, the refs were fair and we were lucky to play a team that didn't have it together enough to capitalize on our constant 3 n' outs. Forget the turnovers.

For god's sake we thumped the Jets 23-3 only to have them beat us just as bad at home with the ****ing playoffs on the line. We are talking about the JEST @ Miami....playoffs....Nothing can be taken for granted, ever.

We are much improved but far from AFC championship/SB level team from what I've seen in this one game. Fins up.

 

In all honesty, outside the run game, the Bills O isn't very scary. We just need to mitigate it enough to force EJ to beat us, which I think will be a TALL task considering our secondary. Chicago's D is pretty poor, and they held them to 20 regular time points. Unless all of our nicked-up guys can't play, I have a hard time seeing them scoring more than about 16 points. The crowd will be hyped, the HoFers won't make a difference, the weather is predicted to be gorgeous.

We need to give them the ball first and hold 'em, or get a T/O and shut the crowd up a bit...then drive down and chill 'em out a little more. Throat-punch mode.

 

NE & Buffalo are different teams and different strengths and different weaknesses.

We happened to match up well against NE but not Buffalo. We didn't have the personnel to beat Buffalo last year. We could have played them 100 times and lost 75 of them. Coaching is important but it doesn't mask everything including having poor talent for the proper game plan for some teams.

The Jets game? That's a different story. We played defeated. I personally believe the Buffalo loss was the final in the coffin for our team. After the scandal, and the come back, and then the Pats win, the Buffalo loss I truly believe this team was spent.

The reason for hope this year? I think we match up better with Buffalo now. I doubt there'll be a scandal. The atmosphere between coaches and players is demonstrably better. But lastly, with a new oline, new OC, new oline coaches, and an influx of new talent across the board, then last year has **** all to do with this year.

 

Not entirely true. We almost and would have beat them in Miami if not for a last minute sack/fumble. But putting up no points in Buffalo? That's not just a bad match-up Fin D, that is a complete and utter meltdown.

If the NE win in Miami got us pumped up for the Bills and then we self-destruct then the opposite effect could very well be possible after losing to the Bills. We were still 8-7 and we beat some good teams that year (NE, Bengs, Chargers), there was no reason to focus especially on that embarrassing Buffalo game. These guys are pros and as bad as 19-0 is, they had all the opportunity to bounce back vs. a fairly disorganized JEST team.

Here's hoping.

 

Not matching up well =/= getting blown out. Not matching up well means they are likely to beat us more times than not. That's precisely what happened. Our deficiencies matched up with their strengths. As far as putting up no points, well our offense wasn't very good last year and I think people are giving more importance to a zero then they should. For example, when we lost 62-7 to Jax is that really a better sign than losing 62-0? No.

You are essentially arguing that there's no net effect of the ups and downs of the season...as if emotional stamina starts over every game. To a certain degree it does but there is absolutely a toll taken on a player, and our season was ripe for that with all the severe ups and severe downs. Its possible to be emotionally drained.

Agreed.

 

Our game vs, NO was a bad matchup, and it really was a game we could never win but getting skunked against the perennial nobodies of the AFC is a harder pill to swallow, even if they're the scissors to our paper.

And actually yeah, 62-0 looks worse but the example is incredibly extreme anyway. 19pts isn't even 3 scores. We didn't even have a field goal to our name that game. That is a nuclear meltdown by any definition.

And we scored over 30 vs. Pitt, and in most of our games we had 20+ pts win or loss so scoring wasn't really as much of an issue as was the o-line's fragility although the latter affects the former. We kept our games close for the most part and we gave a ripe ***-kicking to the Jests so in my head there is no reasoning out why we didn't get on the board up north.

As for why I think it is important to get on the board...let me put it this way, if I take a test and you take a test and we both fail, you scoring a 54% and me a 15%, do you think the instructor is going to view us as equally hopeless?

No, i'm arguing that when we come off a stellar win against the bullies of AFC E, with our morale high and we're pumped up for the next game and we end up losing in the worst possible way to the freakin' Bills then the opposite situation is just as possible. Coming off a bad loss, into a high pressure game and stepping up. We didn't vs. the Jets and that's that.

 

There might be something to that, but I think the biggest problem we had against the Jets was that Hartline got injured early and our offense went in the toilet as a result.

 

WADR, you're proving my point. How is it that we can score points in other games against other opponents but when we get tot his one team they out of the blue blank us? Either, the coaches forgot how to coach while the players forgot how to play all of a sudden OR we simply didn't match up well with them from a personnel standpoint. One is certainly more likely than the other.

See, you are arguing that it starts over after every game. You're saying a team can either be up or down after a given game. And again that's true to an extant, but you're completely negating the possibility of being emotionally spent after the crazy season we had. I'm saying the Buffalo loss was the final straw that broke the camel's back from an emotional level for our guys and that's why they came out flat against the Jets.

I blame coaching for not getting the players up for the Tampa game. We played that game every bit as flat as we did for the Jets, its just the Bucs were a worse team. With the Jets game, I don't think there exists a magic speech that could have inspired those guys. I think they were done.

 

,,,and if he's referring to the Wallace catch as the one not being able to stay in bounds, then he, like the others, is high. Very high. Waking and baking. :lol: