Yet, some people here seem to have a problem with how Todd responds to this loss. That is a double standard as far as I'm concerned. Unfair, and I am all for fairness. Todd is not a blind homer. I found everything he said in the OP to be well thought out and accurate.
Is it the end of the world? Of course it isn't. That will only happen for me when they close all the golf courses in South Florida. As far as the Dolphins go, yes I am unset they lost today and I want Ireland gone. I think he is a bad NFL GM and I don't see the Dolphins ever being anything but mediocre as long as he is the person responsible for selecting the talent for this roster. I come on here to vent because I have been a fan since 1966 and I'll settle for nothing but a legitimate SB contender every year. I am tired of all the rebuilding years, or should I say decade this team has been going through since the Shula era ended. I think the problem is that many of the fans on here are individuals who have only been Dolphin fans for 20 years or less. Therefore they are content with mediocre or a team that will possibly get to the first round of the playoffs and then get blown out. I want a team that can consistently win 11 or more games a year and contend for a championship every year. Great organizations do go through rebuilding from time to time, but it doesn't take these organizations over a decade to do so. Other than the 2008 season when the Dolphins were fortunate enough to get Pennington after he was cut from the Jets and Brady went down for the season with the Patriots, the Dolphins have been in a rebuilding mode since the end of the 2003 season. Other than a 9-7 record in 2005 and the 11-5 record in 2008, the Dolphins have been nothing but mediocre to bad for the past ten years. What they have been doing since Ireland became the GM and Ross became the majority owner hasn't been working. Hopefully Ross will decide to sell the team, but if that is not in the cards, the least he could do is get rid of Ireland and hire a GM who actually knows how to draft and sign players who can turn this team into a consistent winner. Until that happens, I'll just vent on here during the week, but forget about the games while I'm on the golf course. I stopped losing sleep over the pathetic play of the Dolphins a long time ago. It's just disappointing that when the Dolphins play a game like they did today, I find myself waiting for them to blow the game, instead of expecting them to find a way to win. Hopefully some day they will get back to playing like the Dolphins of old. Those teams may not have won every game, but you always felt like they could come back and win any game they were still close to winning in the fourth quarter. I still don't have that feeling with this team.
WADR, I myself don't care what this team did the previous 13 years under different circumstances, different players, different coaches, etc. This 2013 team is its own team, and it deserves the right to be judged on its own merit rather than be influenced by past unrelated woes. If some fans want to be down on a 3-2 start and expect the worst from this team b/c of what prior Miami teams did, then obviously that's your prerogative. If our defense can't get healthy and we continue to shoot ourselves in the foot like we did today, then yes- it could quickly become a long season..... but I for one am realistically optimistic that our mistakes will be lessened, the defense will regain its health, and that our agreeable remaining schedule will provide a great chance to be a playoff team. We've got some problems right now. big deal, so does the majority of the teams we'll face the rest of the year. The Jets have a rookie QB and a decimated receiving corps. We play them twice. The Bills have a undrafted rookie at QB for 6 weeks. Tampa has a rookie QB and is averaging 11 pts/game. Pitt is a wreck all over. NE is dealing with massive injuries at WR/TE. The Chargers have their own oline problems.
Again, the irony of this thread is that you are overreacting, in your own way, more than anyone else. As to the weaknesses: 1. The offensive line is horrid, averaging around five sacks per game and weak in run blocking 2. The running game is not good, no thanks to the OL 3. The offense in general seems unimaginative to me, vanilla and few surprises. 4. The DB play has been average- at least today Reshad Jones got an easy pick and TD thanks to Dion Jordan. 5. Mike Wallace has been underwhelming relative to what he was supposed to bring to the team- his stats were pretty good today, but the drops and his problems with physical bump and run DB play are concerning. He got blanketed by an excellent CB in Joe Haden but I was more concerned with his play last week and his drops today. When I keyed on him today I wasn't seeing good releases from the LOS against bump and run coverage, I m thinking that that is the book on him now. His getting physically dominated concerns me. Is all lost? Of course not. The main problem seems to be the OL, and I wonder how long Tannehill will stay healthy getting battered every week. The OL is a big problem, and of course it's going to get talked about- especially after losses. After wins there's somewhat of a mentality of "we won the game, the OL can't be that big of a problem." And that's just a wrong way to look at it imo. As to Tannehill- it was interesting to see him last week going against a master in Drew Brees. I like Tannehill, but solid play and a 3-0 record hardly make him a franchise Quarterback. Two metaphors come to mind- Ilie Nasatase once said of Bjorn Borg, we're all out here playing tennis, he's doing something else. The other metaphor is someone being good at playing checkers versus someone being good at playing chess. The point is, Brees is the QB version of a master chess player and I think the Tannehill is becoming, metaphorically, a good checkers player, not really the solid chess player just yet. The reading of defenses, looking off receivers, looking off safeties, play action fakes, all that stuff- Tannehill isn't there yet. In time maybe he will be, but what I see now is a guy who can be a solid QB, not the making of a master, and I see those traits in Russell Wilson and Andrew Luck. As an example, that 1st quarter bomb down the right sideline- he stared down the receiver for about five seconds, no wonder the Safety made it over to make that pic, which was overturned by instant replay. It's an example of how Tannehill concerns me- not as to whether or not he'll end up being a good QB, but rather whether or not he'll end up being a great/franchise QB. If you took a poll after week 5 as opposed to after week 3 I'll bet that a lot more fans would have questions about Tannehill because weaknesses and concerns were exposed. So this, the OL and other concerns are being discussed online in a Dolphins forum- big deal.
all great points. Is it wrong to say dropped passes did us in today, as well as losing Ellerbe's presence in the middle? How many punts and missed scoring opportunities did we have from drops?
People are pissed and they have EVERY right to be. How much money have we spent on "OL gurus" and actual lineman over the past 5-6 years? What are the results? One good Center, and lets face it, if he wasn't a genetic abnormality that # would be zero. This on Ireland's inability to scout lineman, honeymoon's over you soulless ginger prick.
Theres nothing really wrong with the OP. It could have been a little less provocative in the thread title so I edited that. We did find a way to overcome some of those issues the first 3 game so lets see how we adjust after the bye week. I agree you can vent. But people also have a right to pick out the positives all the same. Not everyone has to dwell on the negative (and I know you usually dont). That its an hour after an emotional loss doesnt really preclude people from making threads that pick out those positves. Theres 20 other threads that people can vent in. Every team has injuries and is missing starters. Part of being a good GM is building depth and coaching that depth up. Sloppy play, penalties, drops...thats coaching and concentration and effort. I think part of their frustration comes from the fact that expectations were raised when we got to 3-0. I think the overwhelming majority (except for homers like me ) thought we would lose the saints game but I think a lot of people were really hoping for 4-1. IMO some of the frustration comes from being let down in years past and as fans some of us are probably a bit jaded. Thats what being a fan is though and sometimes its tough to stay optimistic or maybe optifinstic (I think that was someones post handle once upon a time). Please treat each with the respect you want to be treated with....thats not directed at anyone in particular by the way.
Now that I've calmed down, yes, I'm happy we're 3-2 but I'm not happy with 2 straight losses following a 3-0 start. If the offensive line can be even mediocre we are going to win a bunch of games this year. This is gut check time for that unit. The coaching staff has got to use this bye week to get it straightened out one way or another. Guys within that unit have to have some pride and turn it around.
I have zero problem with people venting or being upset or even genuinley believing we are a bad team. I just take issues with the..zoomagod we are sucked ti fied dewd crowd. Being critical is one thing..but at least bring something of quality to the board with a pst Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
Yup, just b/c I don't whine like a little kid and treat the season as if its washed up after a loss it doesn't mean I don't get upset about losing. It just means I don't act like a little kid about it. I deplore losing, but I won't let a loss obscure objectivity for the entire season. Nice straw post BTW. Nobody on this forum that I've seen is telling others how they should or shouldn't feel about the Baltimore loss itself; however, it's not the Baltimore loss that some of you are complaining/venting about. Some fans are essentially complaining/venting as if we're already eliminated from the playoffs, and it's THAT type of venting that GMJ & myself are responding to. You're advocating that fans should have the right to vent, correct? Ok, so then tell me how the heck someone can vent about something that hasn't even happened yet?!!! Get what I'm saying? How can a fan "vent" about Miami having a failed season when we still have 11 games to play? Isn't it a prerequisite of venting for the event to have ALREADY TAKEN PLACE? So send your sob story somewhere else b/c you are categorically NOT supporting the fans' right to vent. You're supporting something else entirely but are attempting to sweep it under the venting umbrella.
Bull****, same problems, coach defended them this week saying " gosh we have to try different things in protection" What did we get but the same old crap, if I were Philbin, I'd go into the back of the liquor cabinet, find the good stuff and determine as I watched film what is acceptable in my own ****ing players and what is not, then ACT on it.
Agreed. I feel like Richie and Pouncey are the only ones pulling their weight. I tried google translater, they couldnt find results for that middle sentence. Can you please translate
Fair enough. I can agree with that........ provided you let me similarly edit every post that infers the season is over despite us sitting at 3-2. you mean like Giselle's Dong? That's understandable, although I don't think we should lose sight of our original expectations in the process. It stings losing to Baltimore b/c if we had our best on the field going against their best, I think we win that 7 out of 10 times, if not 8.
That's a VAST overstatement. Some of the concerns you mentioned didn't suddenly pop up. We've had them all year.... but regardless, we're 3-2 with two wins over playoff teams [the win over Indy is looking more impressive by the week], one loss against a potential SB team, and a loss against the Ravens after having a 13-6 halftime lead only to have the defense become even more decimated by injury than it already was. Hopefully those injuries are coming to a close and our guys are getting back to 100%. We most certainly are not out of the playoff race as some are intimating, so by all means, tell me how it's an overreaction on my part to think otherwise, especially with a beneficial schedule ahead of us. Heck, by your bolded statement and points 1 through 5 above, I'm led to believe that we lost to Indy and Atlanta. C'mon, if we have soooo many problems then how the heck did we beat those two strong teams? We're good enough to beat them but now we're suddenly not good enough to beat a remaining schedule of mostly inferior teams? At the moment, out of the two of us, it would seem as though you're the one overreacting.
I knew there was serious trouble when we failed to run for one yard on two consecutive plays on the first drive. Short yardage has been an issue all season. Playoff teams turn 2nd and 1 into a first down basically every time.
This thread would have had better responses without the antagonizing OMG gif. Just my opinion. You're making it hard for some to even pay attention to what you actually wrote.
I think there is a fine line between venting and discussing our problems... and some posters have leaped over that line. Discussing problems? That's fine. Venting? That's why there is a Soapbox sub-forum. I don't want to read people's *****ing on a forum because they have no better alternative to handling losses.
You're right, but an hour after a loss like that, posters don't want to be lashed at for being angry. Honestly, I don't think new threads should be able to be made until a few hours after a loss. Let people post and vent in the game thread and then collect themselves and start their threads talking about the game when emotions aren't so high. It's a crazy idea but it would prevent the kind of back and forth fighting that happens after every loss within that 2-3 hour span.
I don't see how one could consider Todd's OP as lashing out at anyone. To me, it was along the lines of what Boik changed the thread title to. Relax guys. I'd bet if a poll had been taken before the first game asking if people here would be happy realistically speaking, with a 3-2 record going into the bye week, that 90% would have said yes.
It was probably a little obnoxious... but that was my way of venting. lol. It's bad enough to sit through today's loss which shouldn't have happened; it's even worse to sit through today's loss AND listen to some fans basically declare the season a failure. I figured one little ONOZ is fair enough for enduring all the doom and gloom posts. I'll remove it though out of respect to your opinion if you like.
You can't say with a remaining schedule of SD, CAR, NY, NE we should go 5-2. Where do you see that this team is talented enough to just show up and win. Buffalo has a decent team, they have better RB's than us, Carolina better running game then us, SD a better passing game than us, New England a better overall team than us. Where is this hubris coming from that we are good enough to win so easily. The point spread on every one of these games will be +/- 4 or 5, there is not much that separates the Dolphins from any future opponent.
I think the rest of the staff and myself do try and edit stuff thats over the top or threads that are baiting arguments or lack rational thought. Yours was maybe a little over the top and between the title and the mocking tone. What Muscle wrote below I think sums it up. The emoticon was kind of used mockingly which is fine when you and I converse but I can see where it may rub some people differently. You really love Giselle's Dong. You name your team that every year. I tend to agree that we shouldnt lose sight of the original expectations but I think a lot of people wanted 1 of these 2 and to not get 1 of the 2 in a game 2 we should/could have won...its frustrating when youve been kicked for so long. 4-1 sounds a lot better then 3-2 and it feel better as well. Hence the frustration. But i digress.
It's nice that we're still clinging to the 6th seed (way too early, though its the NFL and one game can make a huge difference), but they must play better. If we play like we did today on offense against the Patriots or Bengals, and even on the road against a team like the Bills (who beat Baltimore) it'll slip away fast. I'm not so confident we can sweep the Jets & Bills anymore, and we haven't swept both anyway since 2003. And we haven't beaten New England since 2009 so they need to do a lot more to prove they can. Forget about the O-Line, I have no hope they'll play better, but hopefully the drops end and the running game can do something, plus some more inventive playcalls. Not being able to take advantage of the Ravens, without two of their WR's, Pitta, and with their run game not doing much damage does hurt for now.
Look, I love Todd and find myself agreeing with him a majority of the time, but there was some mocking in his OP. I didn't mind it, but I understand why others would. We're all die hard fans here and losing games like that brings out the worst in everyone. In the end though, it's over with and it doesn't matter anymore. I'm looking forward to discussing how we can get better during the bye week and get back to winning games in 2 weeks.
Simply put, prior to editing and with that whole "oh noz" GIF in the original post, this is the very definition of a Soap Box Rant thread. And that's where it belonged. The mods felt they could change things up and make it an actual discussion point, and I'm glad they did that. Honestly I have not seen very many doom and gloom threads at all. LBsFinest contributed his thread, predictably so. STColeridge immediately had his thread moved to the Soap Box Rant forum. Aside from that you have: 1. A series of Bpk threads that simply asked questions for topical discussion, 2. A question about whether Sturgis might be injured, 3. A complaint (which may be valid) about the QB Spike on 1st & 10 after that big 4th & 10 play by Tannehill, 4. A joke thread about the fact the mascot thought Sturgis hit the 57 yard field goal, 5. A thought provoking discussion thread about whether teams tend to over-invest in skill positions, 6. A straight up "let's focus on the positives" thread by Bpk, 7. Another focusing on the positive thread about the bye week coming at the right time, 8. Another outright positive thread about the Patriots also losing today, 9. A thread complaining about Tyson Clabo, which we all know to be a valid complaint, 10. Two threads that (in a calm, discussing manner) take on the task of addressing what the team's problems are. So here we have all this rational discussion going on, all these rational threads. You have at least three threads focusing purely on the positive angles. You have two short-point negative thread complaints about things I think we all might find are at least worthy of discussion if not straight up correct. The rest are just all discussion points in the wake of a tough loss. Why does the response to that have to be provocation? That was my point. I was looking at the responses here and looking at the responses on a place like FH and it was like night and day. I was actually kind of proud of how people here were attacking it. I think that when you start in on people ranting at them and pretending they're being irrational, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy...especially when you don't make it clear that essentially you're talking almost purely to LBsFinest and STColeridge. It's just like last week. I let Aqua4Ever know when I didn't like that he started up a thread like that and I was just doing the same here. I think we can do better than that. That's all.
It's a long season. We have a chance to make the play-offs. But this loss stung. It stings when you're potentially good, and have hope. It takes the fun out of watching the NFLN/highlights all week when you lose. Carrying a loss into the bi for an extra week as well sucks. Converting 4th and 10, just to take a dump...that's a tough pill to swallow. 8 hours later, and I'm still hot about this loss. MUCH more than the Monday night debacle.
Oh no, not SD, Carolina, and NY!! You say that like they're SB contenders no offense. No, where is your anti hubris coming from? When the Jets, Bills, and Panthers of the league begin streaming together wins vs the Falcons & Colts of the league then I'll start giving them better odds against us, but until then, a 5-2 home stretch against inferior competition is fair. BTW, I like how you cherry picked single aspects from Carolina, Buffalo, and SD as if that's supposed to make them an overall better team. Who cares if Buff & Carolina have better running games? They're not gonna be running against our running backs; they'll be running against our defense, and if our defense is healthy it's not a joy ride for opposing backs. Big deal about SD's "passing game"; their defense is one of league's worst; their ground game might be worse than ours; their offense is capable of imploding at any given moment; and they're currently getting their butts handed to them by 1-3 Oakland.
shaddup. As a Patriots/Brady loather it's a fitting name... cause we all know his kids were adopted... cause we all know Tom's "wife" wears the rubbers in the family.
It's not his fault if all it takes is a little gif to upset some people so much that they become overcome with emotion and illiterate. I don't think this thread was meant for the people who he thought were ovaryacting so maybe their responses won't be missed.
I hear what you're saying Chris. As far as what my thread/OP was directed at, it was more about the gameday threads that I'm finding myself wanting to stay further and further away from. As soon as we fell behind by 10 today it was like a switch went off and the game was doomed and our season suddenly over. Granted we did end up losing, but it came down to a missed FG. Our record currently says we're an improved team, a winning team. We're scoring more points regardless of lackluster Oline play, have 2 wins against playoff teams, and we're creating more turnovers on defense...... but when we fall behind in a game, the game day threads appear indistinguishable from the 2011 team that started 0-7.
LOL..this is drivel. This team is what I said they were in Preseason; a substandard bunch of misfits. Not to say I am not relaxed. I am. But not because we are anything but horrible. I am relaxed because I was right about the Fins all along. The HC is in over his head, the QB cant progress because there is no blocking and his 60m dollar WR can't catch, the OL is completely horrible, no lockdown CB, LBs cant cover TEs. So yes, there is a point to this....Relax. This team is going to suck whether you stress out or not. Relax and accept it.
Bravo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And without calling for them to be banned! Excellent post from an excellent poster.
