BREAKING NEWS: Sparano names Chad Pennington starting quarterback

Steve Smith is a vertical player. brandon Marshall does not have blazing speed like Steve Smith. They are completely different receivers. They dont even play the same position in Hennings offense. Smith is a flanker (y receiver) and Marshall is a split end (x receiver).

Going back to the Redskins era is too far back because its 20+ years ago already. And we dont have Art Monk Gary Clark and a third amigo like that team had. And actually in the Super Bowl you reference Timmy Smith had 204 much of which came in the first half including maybe the best single quarter rushing in SB history when he went bonkers in Q2 of that SB. You can buy it or not but watching the games thats what it looks like. Its no different then what Tennesee asks Vince Young to run except that Tennessee lets Young throw downfield.

 

Eh, 99 problems on an NFL team, Penny will decline when he declines no need to worry with it now.

FWIW, Penny is the root cause of what went wrong in Miami.

Penny is 34 (?) I know he isn't 36 at least, and he is fresh so we shall see what he can do with an offense with some really good pieces.

Here is what went wrong in Miami in a nutshell.

11-5/Pennington/Wildcat/wildly off base expectations among Tuna and Co.

Think back to the 09 offseason, Penny was #2 in the MVP, we had the WC, we were coming off of a 11-5 AFCE title season.

This lead to several errors:

-Drafting pat white at #43 for the WC
-signing Jason Taylor, by rights Cam Wake would have made more sense, but offered more lumps due to a lack of experience
-expecting a similar performance from Porter
-Adding another Olinemen with a shaky injury history (J Grove) because in 08, we had taken shots on players with shaky injury histories and it panned out.

CP was injured, the Defense collapsed.

Fast forward to 10, bring in Nolan, spend the whole draft class on Defenders, then watch as only 1 really plays, Koa Misi, and the other 4 do not, including Odie being injured, along with Merling.

Add Dansby and Beast for multi millions expectations get elevated, but this is still such a young team at it's core that they probably are not enough.

Rebuild G-C-G lineup for the third time in 3yrs and guess what, they are not as good at run blocking as the previous 2 units were, however they excel at pass blocking..but Henne needs a running game..ooppss

Add in an owner who said some stuff, and an 0-3 home record, along with an offense that is not scoring, and the "Break Glass, Start Pennington" lever is pulled.

If we had gone 8-8 in 08, or 9-7, then 7-9, expectations would be manageable, alas, we didn't and that has skewed the whole process.

FWIW, I am fully onboard the Chad Pennington should start bandwagon due to Henne's real lack of challenging defenses with some really good weapons, however I do not like how we got here.

 

Then Ross need to shut it and allow coaches to coach and players to play and develop.

Simms wasnt a wallflower but that means nothing. It doesnt mean Henne is a wallflower just because he doesnt throw fits. then people would be complaining about that and how it would indicate a lack of leadership. By all accounts Sparano is a mean cuss but we dont see him laying in to players in public like that. Should Henne? Is that appropriate? I dont want to see Henne snap; I want to see the training wheels come off this high school offense and have our QB be allowed to play bro.

 

I agree on the inflated expectations part in 2009. I said this was a 4 year rebuild when BP, TS and JI came on board and I still think it is. All year one of any Parcells regime is designed to do is bring stability but it brings inflated expectations as it did in NYJ and Dallas.

However all those moves dont change the fact that Chad Pennington is not getting you out of the first round and neither is this Mickey Mouse offense. Honestly Pads, we will have to disagree because I'm getting too aggravated discussing how this season is going to be wasted even if we make a first round exit. Pennington is not the short term or long term answer for me.

 

well thats why i was defending ginn last year. a coryell offense needs a vertical threat. thats one of the signatures of a coryell offense. run the ball and attack vertically to back them off. you can have your short and intermediate routes off that but a coryell offense needs a vertical threat. i still dont know why we got rid of Ginn without replacing his speed. Marshall doesnt cut it. Great receiver but doesnt have the speed. I really think we should have drafted a speed guy or kept Ginn

now henning is a run first coach. i dont want to petend that henning is some mad bomber or anything but the formula that works for henning is a strong running game and a vertical passing game. this year he has neither and its really about what he has to work with

 

oh come on. you want to see Henne snap even if its just once. Admit it. we all do

 

Ask Wade Phillips, Al Groh, Bill Belicheck, what it is like following Parcells.

Most forget BB was coach of the Jets for about oh..33 minutes..

My standard answer is, give the man a chance, Idk what Pennington can do now, neither do you (not be in your face) so why not relax and see what happens in the next two games?

I am willing to bet on Chad Pennington for a simple reason, I have never seen the man not bounce back up after being written off, not once, that and I believe he will get the offense functioning properly again, most forget that when Pennington went down, the offense was 100% intact, Henne could step right in and have all of the levers to pull and he did a fine job of it.

In 2010, Pennington inherits that same situation, only with some certified Studs at Wr in Bess and Beast, toss in Ronnie and Ricky's workload has been reduced and to me Pennington could not ask for a better situation.

He also throws the most catchable ball in the NFL imo, and we have been plagued with drops, that will be cleared up off the snap.

As for first rd loss in the playoffs, Bro, contrary to popular wisdom, we go as far as the defense takes us this season..imvho, we simply need an offense capable of scoring 25 pts or more in any game we play.

 

what if penny was their ace in the hole, from the get, but he just got injured...Penny is the reliever...

 

when an offense becomes the worst in the league, The qb must take the responsibility... The Qb has been trained to be safe, {probably because in practice they have realized that he's not as good as they thought, combined with a lack of downfield accuracy and a checkdown trigger happy instinct.}

like Dpate always says, Henning doesn't design plays to check down..

 

Wasn't that offensive line more of a run blocking line? I recall Pennington getting his butt whooped the entire game. Putting him into panic mode.

This years line has been really good (at times) with giving Henne a lot of time. Even if it uses a lot of max protections, with some real targets to run routes and throw to, it could end up a good thing.

My main concern is that they have not ran the ball well. You couple that with Pennington not having the strongest of arms and I can see some safeties moving up in their formations to make the intermediate routes a heck of a lot more crowded, making Pennington's job next to impossible.

 

Wow, a few people on the interweb thousands of miles away who know NOTHING about me, don't like me? I'm literally trembling with this information Travis.

Are you calculating how successful your life is by how many thankyous you get? You need to get out more. Occasionally I've posted information from people either within the Dolphins organisation or other media and over the years people, for whatever reason, have liked reading what I wrote. This may pain you, but frankly, I don't give a monkeys. It's not a popularity contest.

If people side with us that's why. If it makes you feel better, I'll transfer all of my thank yous to you so you can feel special.

 

Well, you could look at it this way...

At least Chad is still starting!! LOL

 

That's what you got out of my post?

What have I done for this site? Maybe you can tell me because, honestly, I don't know. All I've done is posted, like everyone else here. You're making this a lot bigger than it really is (its actually nothing) and I can't figure out why.

And I've been wrong plenty of times, I think everyone is well aware of that. That's why I'm a member on this board instead of a NFL board.

 

Not really Ozman, Penny's three games that yr:

Atlanta: Fasano's 2 fumble game, Mike Peterson also had a career game in that one.

Indy: That was the Time of Possession nightmare, we had the ball 45 minutes and the colts were scoring on average every 7th play or something, that is the game Ginn didn't catch the ball in the endzone as time ran out.

SD: They jumped out to a lead after we drove down the field and Ronnie Brown fumbled into the endzone, CP hurt his shoulder and Henne threw a pick 6.

CP should kill it in this offense, if he has as much time as Henne was getting this will be fun to watch.

Penny ain't skeered to throw it up for Beast or Hartline for that matter and I suspect Bess will have additional yac as the ball will hit him on the move, not on a turn in and stop, then run.

They were doubling Bess and Beast already, so I can't see where letting Penny deal with it will make the situation anything but better, now Linebackers and Safeties will have to respect the playaction pass.

Henne had thrown maybe 4 of his Int's off of playaction that won't happen with Pennington.

As for the running game, I am of the opinion that with CP the offense will be in more of a rhythm, which means the Oline will come off the ball better and run block a bit better.

 

Friend Aqua4Ever04:
lot of emotion running the board @ 4/4 & basic changes being made @ mid-stream

& you're right, Friend alen1 is more than just another poster by virtue of his personal likability & consistently strong contributions to the forum through posting

having said that

we are about to play an extremely difficult & important hone game
the entire team must contribute for a win: offense scoring points, defense holding the opposition & special teams playing flawlessly

lock your emotion into this one, this game will define the rest of the season & it is a home-game

 

Terrible, Terrible move.

First of all, Dan Henning BLOWS. BLOWS BLOWS BLOWS BLOWS BLOWS. I cannot emphasize how much he sucks.

Also, Dan Henning ****ING BLOWS.

This is what Henning said about what he expects out of all his quarterbacks.

And this is what Ed Reed has said about Henne:

I was at the Baltimore game. I had seats 3 rows from the field. I was basically 20 yards from the action.

These are some of the things I took away from the game pertaining to our offense:

- The offense is a piece of **** and extremely easy to defend if you are a physical defense and stay disciplined. And the routes instilled in the offense are some of the worst route designs I have ever seen.

- The Wide receivers get ZERO separation outside of Bess. Marshall gets double or triple teamed so its basically impossible to get separation. Hartline ZERO separation.

- Hartline is so Inconsistent. On the Marshall screen he completely missed on a block. Some of the times he runs TERRIBLE routes and sometimes excellent ones. Completely inconsistent player.

- Henning is terrible. I have had enough of it. I have never seen such a poorly designed offense. The routes the wideouts run get zero separation and are all bunched in one area. The wideouts run ZERO double moves, have crappy routes called for them and take forever to get open.

- Henne takes 3/5 step drops and he wideouts are still are not open on top of having a terrible designed route combination.

Ultimately, it came down to the wideouts only doing routes from the tree that had them breaking back to the quarterback or to the sidelines.

I saw ZERO posts, flags, 25 yard digs, 20 yard outs.

All I saw were 10-12 yard bullcrap routes.

BUT, if thats the offensive philosophy we want to stay in, you PUT Pennington in, no question. He is a monster at placing the ball on target within 10-15 yards. Our wideouts NEED that because they can't really get separation. This offense calls for an extremely accurate Quarterback who can make quick accurate and decisive reads. Henne is not that. Pennington can make those 8-10 yard curl routes with amazing precision and ball location. Henne can't. Henne can laser in a 25 yard dig or 20 yard deep out. But thats not what our offense is.

Henne needs an offense that creates spacing. One that has wideouts doing routes at every level of the field that allows him to use him arm. This offense is NOT that and will never be. This offense calls for limiting mistakes, ball control, running the ball, and eating up the clock. Thats Pennington's speciality. Henne is the complete opposite. He can eat up the clock, but mixes it up with short quick scoring drives.

I remember last year when Henne came in without all the coaching and Henning mantra instilled in him. He ALWAYS took the Dolphins into the opponents territory almost every possession by slinging the rock around. He looks like a much more timid and scared player this year.

Ultimately I dont think this is a permanent change. They need Henne to wake the hell up and become much more aggressive. Sparano is always talking about Henne bouncing back from a bad game, and how he excels at that. This is going to be Henne bouncing back from the worst thing possible to happen to him in his football career.

 

And sloppy QB`ing.

 

excellent move
should have benched Henne after game four
& we'd be contenders going into the game Sunday instead of fighting for our life
like the defensive acquisition too
should allow Nolan to get more creative in his blitzing packages
just hope we hit our stride immediately, there is no room for warm-ups or near-misses
Dolphins by seven

 

Friend djphinfan:
your mind & analysis consistently catch me by surprise
hell of a thought
as long as we pull the season out...whatever

 

Hopefully we can score TD's now.

 

For the third time, which of your losses are wins had Pennington been the QB? I think there is a reason why you won't answer the question.

sent from my EVO 4G

 

Also, you made an important point, indirectly, during one of your previous posts that I think went unnoticed.

I know for me the root of our offensive woes has come down to one central debate: Is it Henne or Henning that is the source of the overly conservative style of play? Is it that the playcalling induces Henne into just not having the option to threaten the deep zones? Or is it that the opportunities are there and Henne is simply leaving the plays on the field?

If we read between the lines, I think we might have been given our answer.

One of the points you made is how a QB should show flashes of special ability in his first year if he has any to show at all. Then, in the second year the QB's depth of ability and resilve will be tested by DCs who have a year of tape on you and have isolated your weakness. And as you pointed out, we saw great signs in year one, and then year two has been concerning with his ability to attack and succeed vs his weakness, which is zone coverage. That's obvious I think to both of us.

But, here's the hidden gem of information. If we're to test whether or not it was Henne or Henning that is the source of our offensive castration, we need look no further than those first two years. In year one, when Henne wasn't at a disadvantage to opposing DCs (due to their lack of knowledge on his weaknesses) the Henning offense was not only respectable, they were flat scoring points and exceeded their current high water mark of 22 points 8 different times, all of them with Henne at the healm. So, when all other things were equal (i.e. Henne vs DCs), we scored points consistently. I do recall the same maddening play calls, but we were scoring points and Henne was dicing up defensive secondaries beyond 10 yards on a regular basis. In addition, we were one of the leagues' top offenses in terms of red zone offense; and that was without Marshall! Bottom line, we scored points.

On the other hand, after DCs had a chance to exploit those QB weaknesses against zone coverages, and apparently able to literally dictate to the QB who and where he's going with the ball, our scoring is down by a significant margin and we are all getting the sense just from watching the games that we're not threatening the deep middle anymore and we have become a neutered offensive team. So, again, same Henning offense from last year, same QB (who now has one of the best WRs in the game at his disposal) but now we're not scoring points, and in particular we've gone from being one of the top red zone offenses to one of the worst.

Sure, it's a small sample size, but I think there's enough there for a trained eye to see that all signs are suggesting that it's not necessarily Henning's play calling that has led to our offensive ineptitude, but rather a 2nd year QB who's weaknesses have been discovered and he hasn't been able to correct things. And yes this is only 8 games into that second year, but you can't believe that Henne's weakness vs zone was not apparent to Henning/Sparano last year and that they didn't spend the entire offseason trying to get him over that hump this season.

As much as I hate to admit it, I don't think it's Henning. Yes, he makes bonehead calls that make me want to grab him by the neck through the screen and strangle the life out of him and I loathe his "just don't hurt your team with a mistake" mentality, but I don't think he's the reason for the drastic decline in offensive potency. And as you pointed out so astutely, the GOOD to GREAT QBs in this league hear the same "don't screw up" mantra week in and week out, right before they say "piss on that" and go out and take risks to win games. So, if THAT'S the reason Henne is playing timid, then THAT in and of itself is a problem as well, as it suggests he doesn't have the mental makeup to be "special". It tells me that even if he gets past his trouble with zone coverages, he's always going to be more careful than a great QB can afford to be. He's too ammenable to risk averse vs. risk taker, and that doesn't bode well for his progress in year 3 as a starter. So maybe, just maybe Sparano/Ireland just SAVED us one year of pointless development and fast forwarded the clock onto where we'd be after the end of the 2011 season.

 

Someone invite this guy to the Club, pronto.

 

Good point about DC's having more tape to use to stuff to confuse Henne.

"But" even a limping Henne, or limited Henne, can still win ball games the real problem is that next step from "average Qb" to "upper level Qb" is what we needed this season.

Henne is sort of caught in a conundrum, good enough at Qb, but not good enough to win in Miami in 2010 against good teams.

If the Defense were better, if the Special Teams were better, Henne can be given a pass as just a sort of Hyundai of a Qb, we need more.

But that also means Henne maybe stuck at "Sophomore NFL Qb" skill level we also can win with him down the road which why the hyperbole about Henne being done in Miami makes no sense to me.

At this point he is a better Qb on our bench than about 8 starting Qb's in the NFL but he needs more weapons like a better Te a scat back type and a burner downfield to make it work, we have none of those, enter Chad Pennington who doesn't need those things to be successful

 

Don't get carried away Vendi, St Louis was a big John Beck fan as well..

He is a great Qb afficionado all kidding aside.

 

Unless it's Glenn Beck ... my request still stands

 

But Pads, Henne didn't have a scatback or a seam busting TE last year either and he was fairly successful (and yes Ginn was a burner, but Marshall's abilities in every other aspect should easily outweigh that speed advantage). So I find it hard to just pawn his problems off as needing more weapons. EVERY QB needs or could use more weapons, that's a given. But the special ones tend to find a way to make chicken salad out of chicken $hit, somehow someway. THAT is the halmark of a special QB, he makes average players good players and good players great players. Can't keep making excuses for these QBs. If you can't get it done with the talent we have on offense, there HAS to be an issue with you as the QB. JMHO.

 

I wouldn't say that Henne has even been "average" over the last 4-5 games. Ever since the NE game, defenses have been doing the same thing and he hasn't figured it out. Its not even very complex stuff they're doing to him.

 

Henne is not a special Qb St Louis, that is sort of the point, he has no inherent ability to elevate the games of the players around him, Pennington at least has the accuracy and touch and recognition to rely on.

Henne doesn't have even that much, he will put the ball on a Receiver but he won't make the receiver great, that is why he needs more weapons especially after DefCord's figured him out, the next move is his but he needs those additional tools to make it work.

THAT is Chad Henne, give him a McCluster and a Te who can bust a seam and he will perform, but it takes years to get there, ask Phillip Rivers.

 

I agree that we have enough weapons on offense for Henne to be successful, and have said as much. I disagree with an issue having to be the QB though. I will admit Henne is an issue on offense currently, but I think issues are running from the top down on that side of the ball. OC, QB, WRs, TEs, RBs, and even the line aren't playing as well as they could. Execution (simple stuff) is a large part of the problem.

 

Well, then that may be where we differ. I'm of the belief that you draft QBs that you think are or could easily be special, without exception. Then, once you learn that he's not special in the regard we're discussing, you continue the search. Without exception.

In today's NFL, the QB has become the most important position on the field. The rules are designed for him to stand untouched in the pocket and throw to receivers who are more than encouraged to be wide open. It is the one position where the quality of play can be directly correlated to the overall quality of the team as a whole. Ergo, on average, if you have a special QB, you'll have a special team. With an average QB you'll have an average team. I don't know about you, but I can't root for a team that aspires to be average. Just not in my DNA. You?

 

Good point..... Sloppy QB'ing is also a result of sloppy coaching. Thanks for the addition.

 

All of you who think this is a bad move need to think again.

Henne is NOT the future of this team, and he never will be. He will NEVER be a top QB, and he will never even be much of a starter.

I see his career being like that of Gus Frerotte. He'll get kicked around the league and be a servicable backup wherever he goes. That's all he capable of.

 

On the contrary. IT'S THE OC's WEAKNESSES that have been discovered just as Ed Reed has mentioned...... and all of this ineptitude falls on HENNING for not being able to counter how defenses are playing us. The first year Henning had the Wildcat bail him out..... which is absolutely ABSURD to think we even needed the WC to win games when playing the WORST DEFENSES & crappiest teams in the NFL in 08. THE WORST!!

Seriously?! That was his answer?! The wildcat? Henning couldn't do it out of a conventional offense with veteran Penny so he had to resort to gimmicks to catch people unprepared?!

Well guess what?! Defenses began preparing for it. Hence in year 2, it was inconsistent.... and in year 3, it's dead as disco. If that doesn't give a clue that our OC sucks and is too predictable, then I don't know what is. He's unable to sustain an effective & challenging offense over the course of a season and especially over multiple seasons. Now, moving to 2009, we switch to Henne who was successful early on, just like the WC was early on. Then in the 2nd half of 09 we're losing games and teams are slowly making adjustments to Henning's offense just as they did to the WC. Now in 2010, teams are fully prepared to stop the WC AND Henning's crappy playcalling, yet he still calls the SAME BULL$#!T plays etc!! What major adjustments has he made? Our offense under Henning is currently following the same trend that the Wildcat experienced----- successful early on, but then falls to crap b/c of it's predictability and conservatism along with Henning's & Sparano's inability to out-coach another team rather than be out-coached.

FYI: Our pts/game in 08 were actually INADEQUATE considering the teams we were playing. We were mediocre to average based on the horrendous defenses we faced. However against good teams we could barely muster up points (See the Zona game.... and Ravens twice, Falcons, and Chargers). So we beat a bunch of crappy teams in 08 that made us look better than we really were?! So what!! Our schedule is the difference in our point total, not the QB. This is all on Henning..... and Sparano for believing in this BS approach to winning.

 

You don't actually believe this drivel, do you?

 

If Penny were the ace in the hole from the get go (2008), we would've never needed the WC to bail us out against the easiest schedule the NFL has seen in the past few years. IMO that ALL falls on an OC who isn't qualified to get the job done out of a base offense w/o the need for gimmicks to temporarily catch people unprepared. Henning (and Sparano) have had 2.5 years to give this offense an identity and have yet to do so.

 

Please tell me you're not serious.
A. Henning is doing nothing to allow Henne to play to his strengths, so you can't possibly say it falls on Henne's inability to overcome his weaknesses. He has a cannon for an arm and can make all the throws downfield, yet we gameplan to his weaknesses.

B. We surround him with an offense that doesn't play to his strengths. We use a 3rd and 4th round pick in 09 on possession receivers when we should be looking for vertical or intermediate threats b/c we already had 2 quality possession WRs...... he needs a reliable seam busting TE to open up the field and we draft the opposite...... we don't give him a legitimate 3rd down back..... and we get rid of his only deep threat (Ginn)..... we bring in one of the best possession receivers in the game in Marshall who can't make as many big plays b/c defenses can afford to put 2-3 guys on him. Then we get rid of one of his reliable sticky finger receivers (Cammy) and replace him with a FA rookie..... he has a FA rookie as his #5 receiver....... and has no TE behind Fasano. You're right. This is ALL on Henne.

Would you care to tell us how many zone coverages Henne actually faced last year that leads to your assumption?

So you're comparing a 2nd year starting Henne (who's trying to do what coaches ask of him rather than being insubordinate) to "good to great" veteran QBs? Yeah, that's fair.

 

Exactly...... and most of us here notice that Henne has made obvious improvements in most facets of his game, so if Henne is improving and the offense is less productive, then it's obviously the OC who's to blame.

W/o a deep threat or TE threat to force coverage to defend the entire field, Marshall is nothing more than a possession receiver b/c they can drape 2-3 defenders on him. Hartline is overmatched as a #2 receiver.

Bzzzzt!! Wrong again. QBs are only as good as the arsenal they have to work with. Period! If your theory were true, then Indy wouldn't have spent all those high draft picks getting Manning weapons..... nor would NE get them for Brady.... or the Giants for Eli.... or NO for Brees..... or Balt for Flacco..... or the Falcons for Ryan..... or the Eagles for McNabb, Vick, or Kolb..... or the Cowboys for Romo. I could go on AND on about this one. How about Elway, Marino, Favre, Montana, Aikman, Bradshaw, Warner, Kelly. All these guys were given weapons to become successful..... or had them already who were key to their development and future success. I love how you call the offense "chicken s#!t" but still throw the blame at the QB for not making something of it.

Bzzzzt again. YOU cant keep making excuses for an offense built for mediocrity with a lackluster surrounding cast that doesn't compliment the QB of the future.

"Talent we have on offense"? Give me a break! Is Henne gonna make chicken salad out of a #2 who is outmatched for his role who is vital for making everything else click? Is Chad gonna make filet mignon out of a rookie FA #4 & #5 receivers who don't contribute anything? Is Henne going to give Marshall the separation he needs in double and triple coverage so that he can pick up tons of YAC? Is he going to give R & R the wheels they need to bust one 70 yards at any given moment? Is he going to provide a run blocking TE the necessary hands and feet to become a great pass catching Te instead? And who is our #2 TE again by the way? And tell me who he's going to throw it to 60 yards down field w/o worrying if his receiver will be able to make a play. This is NFL football.... not pop warner crap. A QB needs the ability to throw all the throws that he's capable of throwing, not have them virtually deleted from his repertoire. I like how you contradict yourself. First you compare our offense to "chicken s#!t".... and then you say it's talented. ??????? Make up your mind will you, although your first assessment was accurate.

 

The Oline knows what I've been speaking about, only now they know they must generate positive yardage consistently on first down to make Pennington's job easier.