Did we win convincingly last week? If so, then EVERY PLAYER on our team is good enough to win with. That includes Ryan Tannehill. Nobody here has ever said, "Ryan Tannehill is the best player ever." But when people get six pages of hate from 3-4 others for making a one-sentence comment about something Tannehill did poorly, then that's exactly what's implied. And God forbid if someone mentions that Matt Moore has a 6-3 record as a Miami starter...then things really get ugly. But you know what? Here we are, having a logical conversation and nothing happened...the universe didn't cease to exist or the internet didn't blow up. And we both still have differing opinions of Ryan Tannehill. That's the only point I was trying to make here...it's okay for people to disagree. There's no reason to flame because someone sees things differently.
Are you saying you wouldn't take the type of the Marino years again? I certainly would! Also felt like you had a chance at the super bowl. The last 20 I've never felt we had a shot.
From what I've seen over the past few years, and most notably last year, Ryan has indeed shown that he's capable of taking the team on his back and fighting back for another score even multiple times in several games last year. He repeatedly fought back to regain the lead and give the team the chance to win. He did it over and over again last year under insanely uncommon constant pass rush only to have the defense allow the opponent to score again... over and over. He still improved in the off-season and I think we've seen some signs this season even in the devastating losses. He's connected on some very impressive deep balls this year. Most of the off target ones have looked almost like throw-aways in the general direction of the deep receiver. He simply hasn't had the opportunity to work in an established pocket and Lazor/Philbin apparently weren't allowing him to take off running or roll-out much. That's a recipe for failure. I think this, along with having to play from behind in each game... tipping the advantage to the opposing defense, is what has limited Ryan Tannehill. Now if I'm Tannehill... and I see that what Lazor and Philbin are doing isn't working... maybe I step in and call a few plays of my own in the huddle to kick start a drive or get a desperate 3rd down conversion. That's one area I think he needs to improve on. But I think that will certainly come with a hair more success. He's done very well under the circumstances. The Dolphins would be foolish to cast this guy off. I expect he will be a perennial playoff contender at some point. Hopefully it will be with the Dolphins. If not, you think the Jets or Bills wouldn't cream their jeans to scoop him up?
Back on topic, the team certainly did have a different feel last week. Most of that, I'm sure, was the change in mentality going into the game that was brought on by Campbell. But how much of that was just Campbell on the offensive side of the ball? We were balanced for the first time, and there was a different pace to the offense. How much did Saunders play into that do you all think? He was brought in as a "consultant" but he and Lazor have a history of working together, and I'd also like to think Lazor asked him to come onboard. How much of this was Lazor being free from the previous HC's restraint? Was it just a perfect mix of all that? RT had a very clean pocket compared to every other game this year, and he thrived. He made some VERY nice throws and didn't have any really head-scratching plays that I recall. Turner starting and Albert returning made THAT much of a difference (including Turner's difference in the run game)?
Yup. I think all those things contributed to last week's success. It was like going into round of 5 card knowing your holding all the aces. Too many positives last week to give credit to one area. Some of those individually might have been enough for us to squeak out the win against a shaky team like the Titans. But all together, it was as close to a gimme game as you'll get. This week, I think we still have an excellent hand. And as long as the new coach keeps this team fired up, we should beat the spread considerably again. I do hope they have a plan for how to approach the Patriots game that follows. It's going to take more than just being fired up, and our positional players playing above average.
I agree with you. It is hard to have trust and confidence in Ross. I think Campbell needs to maintain buzz and hype. He needs to stay a topic of conversation through the media, and then hopefully Ross will rehire him.
