At work, I need my Phins fix, but local radio is killing me. Same theme as last year, DLine dominating Oline. Hyde apparently ripped into the OL after first day of pads, not enough play makers in Secondary and LB's and the biggest decisiveness is how Ryan Tannehill is perceived. Am I the only one in outer space? I believe we are a 10 win team. Gase has a proven track record, offensively and sprinkled in with a defense that should be better against the run, I am not sure if I can take more local radio, based on camp, and might wait to see a preseason game or 2. Omar Kelly, HCK and the Big O shows have no positive outlook. The thing I hate is they provide no solutions. They were 6-10 last year, how do you do you fix all issues in one season? It's not like they were close last year. That run defense was so porous, that they were lucky to win 6 games. I have a question? Do teams like Pitt, Seattle, NE, Carolina and GB have the same issues as us, it's just that their offense is so good, led by an elite qb, that those problems don't matter? If that's the case, then we are towards that road with Gase developing this offense. Suppose we were able to stop the run last year (as well as this year), and all other things are equal, how many wins would we have had last year? 2-3 more?
Living here in Maui, I don't listen to listen to the Miami radio stations anymore. Yet I think they are probably being more realistic about this coming season then you are. The Dolphins will have a great season if they finish 8-8 this year, IMO. While Gase was an effective offensive coordinator and I think he will develop into a very good HC over time, this is still his first year as an NFL head coach. So he is still learning on the job. I think the Dolphins are still weak in the secondary and the LB position remains a concern. My view all along has been it will be at least 2018 before this team is a legitimate playoff contender. They need at least two more solid drafts to fill some of their glaring needs on their roster. I feel a 6-10 record is more likely this season and if they do reach 8-8, Gase should get some votes for coach of the year.
I don't live over there anymore but we need to face it, we've been pretty bad/average or worse for a very long time. Their job is to discuss the Dolphins. Not necessarily be fanboys. Doesn't mean that they don't want the Phins to improve. But they need to temper their wants with what retains credibility. Face it, at this point after all these years, everyone has Dolphins fatigue. The team on the field needs to win which fixes everyone's attitude.
This is pretty typical around the leauge. Defense usally always dominates early in training camps. The Offense usally starts with base package and builds out. The defense just pins it's ears back and rushes the QB. Also with alot of new faces on the offense you should expect a gel period. I fully expect it to take 6 real games before the oline is working and up to speed.
Then if Miami, according to the media, is a 6-7 win team, then they should just live with it. No sense in mentioning the past, those characters are gone. I mean it is double the work to call a team 6-10 and criticize players on the team....isn't the reason a team is labeled 6-10 for the players? I just want to know if the opposite happens? It is pretty much every writer, except Andy Cohen, that I see this way
8-8 would be a nice step up considering our schedule. I would be shocked if we won 10 games. Winning games ends all of these types of discussions. Dolphin fans want the media to be positive about our team when there hasn't been any reason to be positive about the team in decades. It is what it is.
After 2008 season, nothing shocks me. Honestly, teams are closer in talent than people give credit. A few lucky bounces and little injuries, this could easily be a 10 win team.
I hope so but it would shock me and Gase would be the Coach of the Year barring a 16-0 season from someone.
I'd rather not hope that we luck our way into a 10 win season, I'll take it, but it means nothing if it's luck.
The NFL is littered with the hot young coordinator prospects who flunked as head coaches. Josh McDaniels being king of the most recents. The Dolphins have been disappointing for much of this millennium. One winning season in the last 10. Every year started with "hope". It's a 'prove it' league. I think it's fair to be skeptical in this market.
I disagree. Take the extreme example: making the playoffs and winning the SB due mostly to luck should be far more valuable and mean a hell of a lot more than a team that played great throughout but failed right at the end (ask NE in 2007 when they would've arguably been remembered as the greatest team ever, or just ask Dan Marino). Luck or not.. just make the playoffs! Sick of 8-8.
Lucking your way to a 10 win season is different than winning a SB. Don't think anyone Would be unhappy with the latter
I agree.. just making the point that at least to me it would really mean a lot if we won 10 games and made the playoffs (highly likely with a 10 win season) even if it was mostly due to luck. Not sure how one could be unhappy with making the playoffs after the recent history of this franchise regardless of how one gets there.
Yeah, it's funny how excited people get and then predict an 8-8 season. For me it's all about the spectacle of athleticism on display. The marginal talent differential between teams has been dwindling and more onus is being placed on the coaches. I don't necessarily care too much about the records, just that we are competitive. Last year was pretty sweet in my eyes because all our wins were against teams we typically struggle against or we just flat out dominated. Lastly, I have no idea how much tampering is going on at that level, but my gut tells me I'm being extremely naive to think that there's not a fair amount of mischief and rigging in a 5 billion dollar industry. So, I'm good with watching amazing plays and losing.
Local radio is still better than ESPN. I was watching NFL Live a couple of months ago. The show was almost over and I was hoping that they would at least mention the Dolphins. The last 5 minutes of the show, the cast discussed which Ninja Turtle Gronk would be, seriously. I knew then that I would only watch ESPN for live sporting events. I wish the Finsiders were still around.
I think that we all need to be realistic about this team. As much as we want to believe this is a playoff team, it's not. We need to find hope that maybe Gase can elevate Tannehill's game and that we've got GM that can help us build a playoff roster. We had too many holes coming into this offseason to realistically fill all the holes. My expectation is that we improve this year but fill in some of those holes at CB, LB next year. What would be extremely disappointing is if our OL is miserable again. We have too much invested in our OL to be that bad. Maybe this is a sign of how dominant our DL will be or the early camp advantage that the defense has over the offense. If it's not, we need to start developing middle round guys that can replace starters that aren't effective or that can't stay healthy.
I think this is a symptom of the information age in which we live. We want constant analysis and information. There's nothing wrong with that, but the reality is that often we want what isn't there. This is the second week of training camp under a new regime with new players, there's only so much information that's available. In fact, there will naturally be more unknowns than knowns right now. As fans we've lived the story for years, the pressure mounts, and we reach the point where what we really want is to be at the end of the season already and know who this team is, see what the result is. The bottom line is that the revelation of who this team is, or will be, will only come later, with time. We want to see it now. Or at least, we're hungry to see flashes, and know things are moving in the right direction. The problem is, we essentially want to know what cannot, right now, be known. And what's the media's job, to some how satisfy what can't be satisfied. So they write, and talk, and project what is essentially filler. Predictions, projections, sensation, whatever they can. It's not football season yet. So the best we can do is gather whatever information we can, know it for what it is, and wait and be patient - and dream (or have nightmares) - whatever you prefer.
Right now the radio is the last thing we need to worry about. Sounds like our O in general is depressing. Hope they turn it around fast.
