Before the review, I'd like to make you all of aware of a special occasion. It's only 116 days until January 15th, my birthday. That's usually right in the thick of coach hiring/firing season. If this movie plays out like it probably will, set your calendars to welcome Eric Mangini on or around that day, just a hunch. And don't forget to send me something good as I'll be turning 30. Today's loss was also kind of special wasn't it? It stings, yes, but it's early and Miami's 1-1. Today was the type of loss that comes back to sting you in November and December when you're looking at conference records and tie-breaker scenarios. It was also a fresh reminder, if you're like me, or a sobering awakening for the majority of this board, that Miami's coaching staff is woefully bad. The lack of urgency. The lack of discipline. The lack of the ability to identify talent and place it properly. The lack of ability to use properly identified players within the scheme to maximize overall effectiveness. That takes a special kind of bad, and this staff has it in spades. It's to the point where I'm not shocked by losses like this; it's par for the course for the Joe Phiblin era. Buckle up, strap in and brace yourselves for something between 7-9 and 9-7. We've seen this same movie twice already. Time to complete the trilogy. Today it's good, bad and dunce, because there was a lot of dunce out there. Good - Ryan Tannehill overall was pretty good and today was probably, at times, the best he's been self-aware in the pocket in his career. The TD pass to Damien Williams may have induced DJ into a coma. - Rishard Matthews and Jarvis Landry. - Jordan Cameron was good until...did he get hurt? I had to call my boss and put the game on mute for the entire 3rd quarter. - Mike Pouncey gets dumped on a lot on this forum, but he's clearly Miami's best offensive lineman...by a good margin. - Terrence Fede. He should be starting ahead of Olivier Vernon. - Jelani Jenkins from 2014 time traveled to 2015. Good to see, and he may have been Miami's best defender today. - Reshad Jones, overall, has been Miami's best player on offense or defense this year. Bad - The O-line is STILL a problem and it will be the remainder of this season. I think that is pretty clear. I hope Ryan Tannehill survives. - Bill Lazor's play-calling is on a slippery slope...today was probably the worst game he's called. There is NO rhythm to the offense. The scheme is good; the play-calling is not. - The secondary not named Reshad Jones. Walt Aikens got caught flat-footed on the deep TD, but he did have some moments. Jamar Taylor and Brice McCain both had rough days at the office. Brent Grimes was pretty pedestrian today. - Kelvin Sheppard > Zach Vigil. Neither player should be a starting MLB in the NFL. - Earl Mitchell. DJ, you think he was juicing? Seriously. Mitchell was so damned good the first 3 games of 2014; he's so bad now that he belongs on the bench. Miami...well, Kevin Coyle, needs to wise up (highly unlikely) and start starting Mosley or Phillips next to Suh. Suh is playing 1-technique way too much; that usually coincides with Cameron Wake playing a tighter 5 or 6 technique and it gets him pinned in the run game. - Andrew Franks...just a bit outside. Dunce - Olivier Vernon. He shouldn't be starting at this point. Terrence Fede is the better player between the two. But that personal foul today was absurd. Philbin fined Jared Odrick $15,000 for the shouting match...well, it wasn't a match as only Odrick was yelling...that happened during the Baltimore game last year. Today's offense by Vernon was WAY more egregious. - Kevin Coyle. I don't need to go further into this, do I? - Dallas Thomas...ugh, he's so painfully bad. It's so obvious that he shouldn't be starting. Will Joe Philbin realize it? I say Philbin for a reason here. Those who know will get it. - Team discipline. I can only imagine how lukewarm Philbin is with all the penalties today. Extremely lukewarm, I bet. All this aside, Miami will probably go out and destroy Buffalo next week. Well, maybe not destroy, but something makes me think Miami bounces back with a win to stoke the fires of hope yet again. It's the home opener, and maybe the "Aqua-Out" will work this year since I think Miami's actually wearing aqua on Sunday. Miami's competed well against Rex Ryan's teams under Philbin, so I'll hope for the best, but until Miami strings together victories with any consistency (Miami's longest streak under Philbin is 3, which happened once. Even Tony Sparano ripped off 5 and Saban netted 6), a win over the Bills next week won't get me all that excited for Miami's only been consistent in only one facet under Joe Philbin, and that facet is inconsistency. See you next Sunday night.
I saw a lack of leadership. When the team was dominating in the second half, it should've put the nail in the coffin. Players have to show leadership at those times and get their teammates to keep the pedal to the metal.
Since Philbin has gotten here we've been the least penalized team in that span. We're likely regressing toward the mean in a bad way right now.
This team is so damn frustrating. Nothing has changed. At times we are dominant, and at times we are dominated. It ebbs and flows from game to game. We won't achieve anything this season unless we can find some damn consistency. We can't have half the team disappear for half the game and the other half of the team disappear for the other half. It's been unbelievably maddening how we can't get any kind of rush on the passer. We get stonewalled every damn time. These guys are too good to get beat like this on the line. Step up! It's time for guys to seriously step the **** up. We need some leadership now more than ever to get this train back on track. Philbin knows his job is on the line this season, so he better make some corrections.
you forgot jason fox who after almost giving up a safety proceeded to whiff on the very next play to remind tannehill that yes, it was no fluke, he sucks
What I'm about to say I've said time and time before and I'll say it yet again...you MUST be able to run the ball in order to win. In last week's fugly win against the Redskins, Miller ran 13 times for 54 yards. In today's loss, Miller ran 10 times for 14 yards. This simply will not do. When you depend on your quarterback to drop back 40+ times a game to throw the ball, bad things are going to happen and that ends up being a loss. I tire of everyone bringing up the Bradys, Mannings, Rodgers and Brees...how you CAN win with a qb throwing the ball that much. Those are the exceptions and not the rule. In order to be effective offensively in the NFL you MUST be able to have an RB that can rush 20+ times per game and optimally gain 100+ yards. We don't have that and until we are able to run the ball effectively, control the clock, keep opposing offenses on the sideline and dominate the line of scrimmage, we'll continue to have mediocre seasons offensively. As for the defense, all I can say is wtf? This was supposed to be a feared dominating defense that was going to stuff the run, force 3rd and longs and 3 and outs. Jesus, God, Mary and Joseph...who were those guys on the field today (and last week for that matter) because they certainly weren't the defense we signed. It's late, it's been a bad day and time for another drink
Defensive guys are talking about needing to fix the defense. Good. FIX IT. That unit is better than this. Much better.
incompetant oline breaks all schemes down and makes it hard to evaluate the qb..I saw some situational problems with him when we were close to field goal range, but he had pressure all game and no run game to play off of... I would shake some things up..let vigil play mike...put jamar back at corner...let mike thomas play alongside jones...or give kovacs some reps...let the rook phillips play alongside suh.. philbin tied his fate to this oline so he better get it strait.. to bad we couldnt have the home crowd amped up for next week...theres no confidence of who we are or how were gonna play. need a bell cow running back..give gray some reps until ajayis back...once hes back just give him the ball 20 times again and gtf out of the way lazor.
Injuries really sapped the team today. I know that's an excuse. And since the injuries happened to guys that you could have predicted, you can't say it's bad luck per se. Just saying. 1) You play a second half without Cam Wake. 2) Louis Delmas going down is the reason Walt Aikens is back there getting torched for mental mistakes. 3)Branden Albert getting hurt gives us the worst left side in the NFL and one of the worst overall lines. 4) With Dion Sims out the team was already thin at tight end then suddenly Jordan Cameron takes a groin injury at a crucial moment, cutting down on the number of Tannehill's favorite targets. 5) Brice McCain clear as day took a lower leg injury early in the game and his hobble was visible through the remainder of the game. 6) Olivier Vernon looked like a zombie a week ago when he went back on the field for the rest of the first half after getting leg whipped. He pushed it during practice, insisted on playing, the coaches and trainers let him, and because of that our right defensive end, who had the OPPORTUNITY to go against Sam Young instead of Luke Joeckel, was largely ineffective all game. 7) Reshad Jones wasn't even supposed to suit up. I don't even know how the hell he ended up out there. He played well enough but there's no way he could have been at 100%. 8) Tannehill takes a bad ankle injury, he clearly wasn't 100% when it came to crunch time needing scores in critical moments. 9) Lamar Miller takes an injury as well, also unavailable during critical parts of the game. 10) Maybe it's a cheap point to make but your star 1st round pick is still being eased in because of having to have a foot screw replaced. For all that...ya know, lost by a field goal on the road. Let's just hope things start to look better on the injury front.
I find it awesome that the players wait until AFTER the game is over to get angry in the locker room. Hey fellahs, can we try that DURING the game next time? Preferably from the first snap?
On one hand it's semi encouraging to see several people think we'll beat Buffalo next week , on the other hand is the glove of reality perhaps .
I could go along with that except for the fact that these guys came out of the gate like they were sleep walking again. Certainly the dings piled up big as the game wore on but the team just doesn't seem to have any will in them at all.
They always come out sleepy tho, under Philbin. There's been a big thing about it this week, Miami has had the fewest games the last three years where they're leading after the first quarter.
Those injuries were killer but the Jaguars were also missing 5 starters unfortunately. We need to fix this mess quickly
One thing I haven't seen anyone mention, that drop by Landry was a killer. Would have been a first down around midfield halfway through the fourth quarter. Credit to the Jags defender for stripping the ball on the way to the ground, but Landry needs to hold onto that ball.
Exactly, he cant seem to motivate them. Ever. Isn't it strange how the one game the team came out and played a complete game, San Diego last year 37-0, was the week Philbin's father passed and the team was motivated to win for their coach?
And Speaking of injuries, Isn;t that the kind of thing this Sports Science dept is supposed to help prevent somewhat?
That's true as well. Landry's drop came in crunch time though. Just not good enough all around. We HAVE to play better. Changes need to be made this week in some regard. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yes. But they can only do so much and it could conceivably take a number of years before there is enough buy in to start seeing legit results. The guy they hired tho has an impeccable reputation so I'd not jump on him yet.
Was it motivation, or was it Philbin having little to do with preparation and gameplanning that week? It's also worth mentioning that the Dolphins "slow" starts include the plays that are scripted to start the game- and the element of the play-calling Philbin is going to have the most direct control over.
Yet Tannehill gets the criticism for not pulling a win out of an ugly hat . Last week RM had a bad drop , now certainly Landry and RM have been overall really strong , but those drops were likely the reason we didn't score points . Add the Jennings one and the OLine play and for me it's hard to lay a lot of this at 17's feet.
''since russel wilson and bevell have started moving around and wilson running the offense has started taking off'' collinsworth... when lazor figures out how to use the qbs entire skillset we might score more than 3tds in 2 games.
The Jennings drop was bigger IMHO. He would have gotten some YAC on that play too, maybe even scored. Either way it puts us 1st and 10 inside the 20.
That is some blind optimism you got going there. You and other people said these first 2 games Miami would dominate the weaker opponents. And they would start out 5-1 or 6-0. Now after this awful play they're going to destroy Buffalo? The team that looked dominant against the Colts and went toe to toe with the Patriots? I doubt it. McCoy will have a field day against this front 7 and that defensive line might just put Tannehill in the hospital because of this horrible offensive line. Ingonito is going to have fun laughing in our faces much like Odrick did today. Miami loses by 20.
All three drops likely caused a loss of points , that's mostly the point , that and having to deal with the lack of production from the OLine , then add in the loss of several weapons and we're back to tomorrow I'll be perfect .
These drops don't matter. They should be able to blow the Jaguars out. Shouldn't come down to a play or 2. They should have won comfortable. But they're not a good enough team. No playoffs again this year.
The drops do matter. You can't blow teams out when guys are dropping balls, Grimes dropped pick include here, and when players are playing uninspired, unmotivated, and subpar football.
have to agree here Ro, dolphins have shown nothing to be confident in...unless we just chalk it up to the wacky nfl
Both teams had drops. The drops just hurt the Dolphins more -- even though there were fewer of them -- because Miami was completely one-dimensional as a football team today. We had our pass offense and that was it. We were completely impotent at pretty much everything else except for second half run defense.
