Game 7..rewind thoughts..2nd half...Omgoodness..

Deej, this was the 32nd ranked, overall, secondary.

They were missing C Joseph and were down to their #4 and #5 safeties.

 

This was the seventh straight game of solid play having played the numbers 1 and 2 Defense in the league. Anything else?

 

7th straight game? The losses to the Jest, Patsies and Steelers pretty much put us on the playoff bubble, his horrible performance vs the Ravens sealed the deal, by mid November our season was effectively over, if that is "solid play" I am not sure how much more we can afford of such play.

After the loss to the Ravens our chances dropped to something like 5% of making the playoffs.

Do you consider his game vs the patsies, either one "solid play"? v the ravens?

At this point in the season, we have 1 good win vs the packers, and 3 wins vs teams that went on to have horrid seasons, by the time our season ended Henne was playing much worse, but by all means...do continue.

Let me also add that Sparano said Henne was benched because they were looking for a spark on offense, as in "guys maybe make more plays for him then Henne" but that is the unsaid, I do not blame Henne for the 2010 season as to me if you read Deej's game recaps Ronnie and Ricky were being stoned far to often when we needed yardage to grind the clock, I do think Henne does not inspire confidence in his team.

 

Did he play poorly in the jets or the Steelers game? Nope. He played well. Even after the two Patriots INT's wasn't the score 14-13? He didn't even lose the Pats game. ST did. Now you're just throwing things out to hope they stick, again. What does the Ravens game have to do with anything I said? Non-sequitur. You're changing the debate in order to win it. And incidentally, didn't Pennington play like **** twice against the Ravens who weren't as good as they are now?

 

Of course, making it all up I am.

Henne went on to have good games vs the Raiders and Titans, then fall apart in the Bills game when we were eliminated from the playoff for the second yr in a row by them wih Henne playing badly, this is when things really turned against Henne and Sparano, he played steadily worse vs the Browns and for the 2nd half vs the Lions, though Eop5 in club mentioned he thought Henne was rather lucky in the first half v the lions.

FWIW, I chalk Henne's declining play to his dislocated knee cap that no one wishes to talk about, and the running game not being there, and TBH, Receivers who won't make plays for him.

 

That and this

While I'll give you the fact that Henne has been misused to some degree, to damn the messinger (Henning/Lee) 100% while blamelessly stating the product as better than most including the greats is abit over the top imho. Those greats would include several 12,13,and 14 game winners along with a few trips to SuperBowls. Our Mr. Henne has yet to get passed 7-9 and throwing more INTS than TDs.

Could Chad become the next Drew Brees? This Fan waits in great antisipation but what with the staff being less than stellar we can only wait and see, I have my doubts.

 

He played GREAT against the Bills. 73.3% completions. Carpenter missed 5 FG's and in the red zone he was pulled for the Wildcat. In the Lions game, TWO receivers fell down on their routes. Why not blame them for falling? Is Henne their balance as well? You're not even remembering it right. Which is what tape is for. And you're doing it again. Changing the topic to win the argument. Rather than addressing my points, you bring up new points. We went from discussing the Bengals game to you bringing up the Bills and Browns game. The Bills game you mis-characterized.

 

DJ, great writeup once again. Not sure what kind of stats others expect (in terms of td:int ratio) when they take the ball out of his hands inside the 30 so he has no chance to score tds after leading the team down the field.

Everyone complains about all the fgs. How did we even get to that point? We started at the 5 yard line for what seems like half our drives....with a running game that consistently gives us 2nd and 9 and 3rd and 8s...but we somehow get to the 20 or 30 yard line often enough to get "all these fgs"? As soon as we get close we take the ball out of the qb's hands.

He's not perfect....but what 2nd year qb is? He's not Marino ....but who else is? What do we expect? It my thought that besides j long ...henne was the best player on O the first half of the year

 

That is a case of lies, damn lies, then Statistics KM, anyone can look better then they are by checking the ball down, he did the same in the patriots game and it really padded how well he did not play.

 

It was essentially the betrayal of it that bothered me most. You had Sparano talking to the media about how Henne was his guy, in response to fan criticism. A game or two later he was benched. In my experience of watching over a decade of losing baseball and football teams when a manager or coach does things like this it is a sign they have lost control. I have two hopes for 2012, either Henne fully puts it together (with the help of his teammates) and/or Sparano steps back and lets his coordinators develop and make game day calls while he just cheer leads and takes on the role of quality fundamental play overseer on game day.

 

That is true, when the manager or coach starts flailing around a bit you know they are in trouble especially if the move makes no sense.

For example the two teams that picked up Randy Moss in 2010, both coaches are no longer there.

Is the Henne benching in the same category?

And cannot know, his replacement lasted all of 53 seconds, and Henne then bounced back with his two most effective games, but then dislocated his knee cap..no answers only more questions.

 

Dude you sound ridiculous. Go watch the Bills game before you start accusing of people of "Checking the ball down". His best game in 2 years was against Detroit. Yes, better than his NYJ comeback game or Patriot comeback game. He had 5 total mistakes out of 80 something snaps and 4 of the mistakes were protection calls or PSR reads. He had 1 bad throw that game and it wasn't either of the picks.

 

it is all interpretations of what was seen. I guarentee that Henne gets alot of blame for things not his fault. he also probably given passes for things he could have done better.

I think what we should take out of it is the regime probably did watch tape and saw enough to say henne deserved a shot to keep his job but he had to earn it

 

he's the QB ... so blame goes that way ... such is the life.

i was happy when we drafted him, and happy that he is still here .... very unhappy what this regime did to/with the offense last year -- period.

did Henne progress and do some things better in spite of it -- yep .... did he come back and likely play injured most of the 2d half of the season, even when the playoffs became an afterthought -- yep ... did the staff put him (or the offense) in a position to succeed -- nope, not a chance.

i still firmly believe the kid can lead this team to a SB .... if Trent freakin Dilfer can win a SB with a 'special' defense -- Henne can win one with and near elite one.

once the OL sorts itself out ... and we can get a legitimate running game, with some good (not asking for great STs) play ... i think Henne will be just fine.

he'll never be spectacular or sexy ... but we don't need that -- Griese sure wasn't ...

get rid of Thigpen ... have a decent veteran around that is 'Henne-like' ... instead of trying to make him something he isn't, someone like Hasselbeck (though i doubt he'd want to come and be a backup).

 

Let me ask anyone who cares to answer, how many games in 2010 ended on, or because of Henne interceptions?

I'm thinking..3.

 

Deej, much love Bro, do have reasons, enough so I led the charge for the switch then, and am at best neutral/hopeful even today.

To make it simple, Henne is like having the road and track guys test drive a porsche 959 around a track, as compared to a professional driver take it around the track, same car, vastly different results.

 

Before I answer this, Brett Favre made a career out of that ****.

Let's do the run down then:

BUF - W
MIN - W
NYJ - L game ending INT. Not really though. The guy brought us back. Took the lead. ST shat the bed this game. But someone pointed out a while ago, the wrong route was run on this play bringing an extra defender into the area.
NE - ST Meltdown.
GB - W
PIT - Last one wasn't an INT. Fasano dropped the first down completion to keep us moving.
CIN - W
BAL - 3 INT's. 15 runs or so? Henne ran himself half as much times as our RB's. We got dominated all around. Just like Pennington in 08.
TEN - W
CHI - Didn't play
OAK - Damn good performance
CLE - Tipped pass INT to a D Lineman
NYJ - W
BUF - 5 Missed FG's. 73.3% completion rating. Threw the ball 45 times.
DET - Two INT's on risky throws that would not have happened if the receivers didn't fall. I won't even count this game. This game was a passing clinic.
NE - Didn't finish the game. Everyone played like ****.

The Cleveland game was the only one where it was just a bad throw but three. Officially three that is, but only if you count PITT. 2 in reality, but only if you count NYJ as his fault as well which a case can be made that it is. You wanna keep trying though?

 

I still refuse to count the Stealers "int" as it was not one.

NYJ/Browns/Lions

As I said, put the average driver in an above average car, such as a 959, the results will never be what they should be, Henne is moving onto his 1,000th pass attempt and 3rd yr of starting, hopefully he has learned something by now.

 

It took you that long to count 3 games? Might need to switch to Abuelo instead

 

Boy, these threads are remarkably empty. So many opinions in other threads, but game tape kills all memories I guess.

 

I haven't rewatched game tapes like you, but I really enjoy reading these in hindsight.

Going off memory of Game 1 to 7, I remember thinking our offense can really move the ball, but we could never put the ball in the end zone. After the first few times the WC got stuffed, I would cringe when they took out a hot Henne for it. Our running was inexplicably horrid and I couldn't believe it got so bad after being the strength the year before.

All season so far in scoring position, our running game would get nothing and Henne would end up throwing some outlet pass that had zero chance to score and we'd kick a field goal. I'm sure the receivers weren't totally open, which they shouldn't be outside of bad coverage. I expected to see a lot of balls throw up to Marshall and it never happened. In hindsight, I think it was coaching of playing scared, but Henne never took end zone chances and I think that was the reason for his benching.

Then there is leadership. I don't think there is a question that Pennington's leadership casted a shadow over Henne, and is why I believe it's a good thing Pennington won't be around anymore.

The second half of the season was a different animal. Henne was playing injured, and after the benching, he fully lost the respect of teammates. I remember seeing Marshall, Hartline, and Fasano all making gestures at Henne after errant throws. That was embarrassing to see as a dolphfan.

Contrary to popular belief, I think the Dolphins will benefit hugely as a team because of the lockout and player organized workouts. This is time for Henne to earn the respect of the locker room as "the guy". There are no coaches giving him daily negative play counts, no clock buzzers to get the ball out, and there is no Pennington looming.

I think the FO would make a mistake if they brought in a good Vet to compete. The team needs to totally accepted on their terms that Henne as our guy we ride with, sink or swim, this year.

 

I agree with your conclusion, I watched the Jets alot and thought Sanchez was mediocre at best but the coaching staff stood by him and helped with his confidence and worked to develop an offense that helped him that is run the ball and run some more.
Henne best game was against the Raiders and the Fins run the ball with authority and the results were solid.
There are those that cry for Mallet a supposed franchise QB that hasn't thrown a pass in the NFL and fell to the 3rd round, Mallet couldn't take Henne's job in Michigan.
I hope that the decisions that were made during the draft focusing on OL, running game and speed allow Henne to show what he can do.
I would play him all 16 games and let the chips fall where they may.
Marino ain't coming back.

 

Offensive players are almost by definition rhythm players. I dare say all athletes are. You can ask a QB to hand it off a dozen times in a row and then throw a beautiful 30 yard strike, but you should not expect it to work out very often.

The play calling last season usually worked against the grain. If Ronnie was popping off 8 yard runs and proving impossible to tackle, they would substitute Ricky in to run 2 yard dives. If Henne was in the groove, they'd bring in the wildcat for a one yard loss. It was all a case of Henning outsmarting himself (3 and 20? Ha! we'll take a knee!)

 

You and Deej..You and Deej..

 

If I remember right, and I could be wrong, I think that what marshall was pissed at Henne was Henne wouldnt change the routes schemes into deep routs, he would run what was called. Should Henne have? I dont know.

 

And Peyton Manning completed 20/36, 185 yards, 0 TDs, and a 69 rating in a 23-17 win two weeks later. What's your point?

 

The games against TEN, OAK, NE, and NYJ bear that out. All four of those games, the deeper routes were called, the lowest YPC was 8.0. His season average was 6.7. In OAK, he was at 10.2 YPC. When the deep routes are called, he takes the chances. He may have thrown that deep throw to Hartline poorly, but he took that shot. In the Tennessee game, he took shot after shot. The OAK game too. He has shown himself willing to go downfield when given the chance.

 

wow, so now wins and losses come solely at the hands of the QB? Do things like coaching, special teams, injuries, lack of depth, allowing too many big plays, not creating enough TOs, and no ground game bear any weight in the win-loss column?

 

This.


A few added things.
1. We were 29th in field position.
2. We were 11th best in punts per drive %.
3. Ground game was 3rd worst in the league with a Run WPA that predicts a much greater probability for losing than winning.
4. If 1, 2, and 3 are true, this leads me to believe that SOMEONE was responsible for us moving the offense during all these long drives (Henne).
5. If 2 is true, then I'm led to believe that the opposite is also true--- that we likely ranked in the top 15 in scores per drive percentage.
6. If years of statistics predict that our putrid ground game should be leading to frequent failed drives, yet we're in the top 15 in scores per drive %, then I'm inclined to believe that our QB had to perform above average to make up for the difference, especially considering the horrible starting field position.

 

How many of those games was Henne put into the situation to throw an INT b/c Special Teams failed, defense gave up a big play, ground game couldn't finish out a freakin game, or defense failed to capitalize on a TO opportunity? Most if not all of them.

How many of those INTs came from being put into an unfavorable throwing situation despite not having a full or complete arsenal at his disposal?

 

Deej, he actually started off the Baltimore game looking good IIRC. I think this is where Bess slipped leading to an INT, and Marshall half arsed a pass that bounced off his hands right to Ed Reed. After that is when things turned to crap.

 

Welcome to the NFL Mr. Henne...as an acronym: NotForLong