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A Different Perspective on the Season...

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by KeyFin, Oct 25, 2021.

  1. KeyFin

    KeyFin Well-Known Member

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    I've been thinking a lot about this season so far and what's gone wrong, and it has dawned on me today that the 2021 Miami Dolphins are nowhere near as bad as many of us think. Before grabbing the pitchforks, hear me out for a moment here...

    In game one of the season, we beat the Pats in Gillette. That's something that rarely happened in the past so we assumed that this team was going to be really, really good on the year. Only, the next three home games for the Pats were also losses (Saints, Bucs, Cowboys). So that sort of adjusts expectations- we didn't set the world on fire beating the Pats by 1.

    In game two, Tua got injured on the 2nd series. The defense played well though and we went into half time down 14-0. We had a few promising drives with Brissett that we couldn't finish and it was pretty clear that he didn't fit the offense on the field at all. Eventually the defense got tired and we were blown out.

    Week 3 we face the Raiders, who have turned out to be a quality team. Once again, Brissett can't get the offense going early, we blow several scoring opportunities, but then we come back and force it into overtime. That's the game where Parker got raped in the endzone in overtime but we didn't get the PI. Some would say we won that game...against a quality team.

    Week 4 was the Colts and we walked all over them on offense, but couldn't get into the end zone to save our lives. Again, this comes back to Brissett not being a fit for this offense and having no rhythm with the receivers or their routes. Again, the defense held...and held...and held...and finally gave up a play here or there. To my eyes, we were clearly the better team.

    Week 5, the Bucks...we don't have to talk about that one. They stomped us hard! Both Jones and Howard were playing injured though, which clearly made a difference.

    Week 6, the Jaguars in London with Tua returning....only without both starting corners or a starting WR in sight. Tua played well enough to win, the defense gave up a few big plays and we self-destructed at the end. Back breaking loss.

    Week 7, the Falcons. Tua starts fast, we establish the run, we're moving the ball and Tua has a couple of major mistakes. We stay in it though, make a few late drives to take the lead, and the defense completely craps the bed on that final drive.

    That's how this team ends up 1-6...but I want you to read each of my summaries once again. Did I exaggerate anywhere? Did I not see something correctly? Because if we're all being honest here, it looks like we won one game, gave away four with key starters out and got our butts stomped twice. But even with Buffalo, we hung with them for almost three quarters and had zero offense from Brissett.

    I get why people are so mad- we're 1-6. But I really don't think that record represents who this team is when we have Tua on the field. Four of those games could have flipped to wins just off a single play...that's how close they were. And would you still say we suck if we were 5-2 right now? Would you still say "fire everyone"?

    My point is this-
    • The offense under Tua has been competitive every single game this season and put us in a position to win.
    • The defense played well for all but two or three games, and Howard/Jones were both hurt or out in those games.
    • The deplorable offensive line has given up 1 sack in two weeks, and the ground game is finally starting to take shape.
    This isn't all doom and gloom- we're not looking at a complete disaster of a season and a full teardown next year. And I think we start to make that turn next week at Buffalo. The key to this entire season is Flores reigning in the team and making them believe.

    I honestly believe that this team is going to pull it together and salvage the season. We probably lose to the Bills, the Ravens and the Titans, but I could see 7 more wins in our near future. I believe anywhere between 6-11 and 8-9 is probable from here on out. And I get it, that's still a lousy season. But it would be a season we could build off of next year with some semblance of a line and a young QB entering year three.
     
    Last edited: Oct 25, 2021
  2. Dorfdad

    Dorfdad Well-Known Member

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    No I do not want that to happen we always are a 500 team and it has never benefited us we have been bottom dwellers it has never benefited us I do not want to see our team come back via 500 team extend the contract and keep Greer I’m of the mindset that it doesn’t matter anymore this organization and its current formation with coaches GM and scouting need to be completely revamped or we will never ever get out of this position and maybe Ross doesn’t want that maybe he doesn’t want the salary cap implications of having a good team I have no idea what’s in that man’s head all I know is pulling it back together and keeping the ban together for another year isn’t going to work it hasn’t worked for the last three years
     
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  3. Rick 1966

    Rick 1966 Professional Hipshooter

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    3-14. Maybe. 2-15 is not impossible.
     
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  4. cbrad

    cbrad .

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    You're the eternal optimist Key, but this season is a disaster.

    A good defensive coach like Belichick showed what he could do during the pandemic in 2020 with so many starters out: the NE defense didn't miss a beat. Flores loses key players and we collapse. As others have pointed out Grier has repeatedly failed. The only potential bright spot is Tua, and that's still uncertain. We should have absolutely beaten Jacksonville and Atlanta at minimum. No, we're once again headed down the wrong path, and at least for me the only reason left to watch is to see what Tua is really made of.
     
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  5. mlb1399

    mlb1399 Well-Known Member

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    I’m a big believer that you are what your record says your are. If we were 3-4 and lost to LV, TB, Buf and Indy, I’d honestly understand. But we are getting beat by bad teams too.

    I appreciate that you’re being optimistic and trying to find a silver lining. I’d understand taking a step back this year but being one of the worst 5 teams in the NFL is unacceptable.
     
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  6. RGF

    RGF THE FINSTER Club Member

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    It was Fuller that got mugged in the end zone against the Raiders. That play sticks out to me more than any other this season.
    Overall, I agree with your assessment that we're not *AS* bad as our record would indicate and I'm not usually one to sugar coat the truth. A few plays here and there and we could possibly be looking at maybe 3 more W's than we currently have.
     
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  7. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    The defender legit dove right at Fuller and didn't even go for the ball. That was blatant pass interference.
     
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  8. RGF

    RGF THE FINSTER Club Member

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    Just a terrible non-call. Still pisses me off.
     
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  9. KeyFin

    KeyFin Well-Known Member

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    This season has absolutely been a disaster so far- I completely agree. But Tua really gives me a lot of hope because of the way he's playing. The line has vastly improved, the run game is starting to become a factor, and I think we'll actually put up some big points on a few games this year.

    The main problem with our defense is that it really flourishes when we're playing with a lead- you can't run cover zero when you're down 10. We've seen that once this season and we lost, LOL, but the defense showed flashes of being the D that we fell in love with last year. I really think if Tua starts scoring early and this D plays to their strengths forcing other teams to pass...maybe it all falls into place. I'm not expecting it but I wouldn't be surprised either.

    My only point in all of this is that the team is not completely melting down. We lost 3 with Brissett because he's hot trash. We lost two recently where Tua couldn't win the shootout and the D couldn't hold. That's fixable stuff though. It's really not all doom and gloom like people are saying.
     
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  10. cbrad

    cbrad .

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    If Flores really was a good defensive coach the D would've held. So while the issues we've seen are theoretically fixable, there's no evidence Flores is up to the task. He should have fixed this long ago. You're right about the team not being in meltdown though, but that's little consolation. My only hope is Tua does real well so that we at least have our QB.
     
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  11. Fishhead

    Fishhead Well-Known Member

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    He’d better be, because Sinnett was just claimed by the Eagles
     
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  12. ExplosionsInDaSky

    ExplosionsInDaSky Well-Known Member

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    The season has been a disaster for sure with mainly the losses against LV and Jacksonville being the most deflating. We should have won yesterday against Atlanta. We'd be 3-4 if that had been the case. Instead we sit 1-6, we suck this year and that is all there is to know. Sports are very much about confidence and momentum. When you don't have confidence and you don't have momentum, things can go very wrong. There's a huge mental aspect to all sports that often gets overlooked. I think you add all those things up and this is what you get. With that said, I think we got extremely lucky last season with some of our wins. I thought the team very much overachieved. We went 10-6 when we probably should have been 6-10. We can definitely look at wins/losses the same way.

    I'm one of the rare people that feels like we just need to remain patient with things. I honestly feel like the team did anticipate a step back this year with all the turnover and the veterans we axed. I think that ultimately came back to really bite us in the rear and now we may be facing an even bigger, more concerning issue. That issue being a question and the question being, has Flores lost the team? We can speculate on this all day and night. If the answer is "no", then we tread on with Flores and see if this can get fixed next season. If the answer is "yes", then we are looking at a very busy, very strenuous offseason once again. I seriously hope he hasn't lost the team already because we are only in year three of this. I'm so disappointed and as of right now, nothing we do would surprise me.
     
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  13. hitman8

    hitman8 Well-Known Member

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    You're always making up excuses for this team. No, we are not better than our record. We are exactly as bad as our record. You act like we are the only team in the league that that has to deal with injuries. The entire BUCS starting secondary was out with injuries when they played us, and they still blew us out. Jacksonville and Atlanta, two of the worst teams in the league, were also dealing with several injuries, and they still beat us.

    Please stop with the excuses. We need to clean house asap, starting at the top.
     
    Last edited: Oct 25, 2021
  14. mlb1399

    mlb1399 Well-Known Member

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    I think you and I are on the same page about A LOT of things but here’s where we disagree. I appreciate that we still have ONE optimistic fan. It’s not what I see but I appreciate what Keys doing.
     
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  15. Dorfdad

    Dorfdad Well-Known Member

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    but it’s not a fair assessment since TUA has no offense line
     
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  16. Rouk

    Rouk Well-Known Member

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    This defense is buns and beyond trash. They give up 400 yards to everyone. It's the sole reason we are 1-6.
     
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  17. cbrad

    cbrad .

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    We need a QB that can overcome adversity, so it's still useful to see what Tua can do without a good OL.

    From a pure statistical point of view, I think the goal should be for Tua to end the year with at least slightly above passer rating, with no excuses for OL or anything else. That would be a great sign he's the QB we should build around because QB performance tends to increase before plateauing in years 3-4 (on average of course). So if he can perform at least slightly above average with a bad OL, then with further improvement in years 3-4 and a better surrounding cast we should have a potent offense.

    Guess what? While he has only 118 passing attempts this year (still short of the minimum 150 attempts you generally need for passer rating to be somewhat reliable), his current rating is 95.1 while the league average after this week is 94.9. So he's on track. And yes I know we still play Buffalo and the Ravens, but we also play Houston and the Jets (twice) so I'm optimistic.
     
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  18. hitman8

    hitman8 Well-Known Member

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    I don't want to hate on key, but I just don't see the point in being optimistic. We are just fooling ourselves and ignoring the obvious, which is that the franchise is disfunctional, we absolutely do suck, and Grier has to go now so we can start an actual rebuild with a competent GM.

    This season is lost, hoping for some light at the end of the tunnel with the current regime is pointless.
     
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  19. Alan in England

    Alan in England Active Member

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    who do you think they can beat?
     
  20. Galant

    Galant Love - Unity - Sacrifice - Eternity

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    We'll beat the Jets. They're atrocious.
     
  21. Rick 1966

    Rick 1966 Professional Hipshooter

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    The Jets.
     
  22. KeyFin

    KeyFin Well-Known Member

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    My reason for optimism is simple- we're football fans that want our team to win!

    I don't think our franchise is dysfunctional. I do think Grier did some very stupid things this off-season (cutting vets), he's had some picks bust (Iggy, etc), and he's trying to save his job by indirectly blaming Tua (thru the Watson crap). I don't see this as a team that sucks though- I see it as a completely gutted barebones roster that will struggle to win without our top starters on the field.

    So if you want a coach or a GM fired, I'm all for that. New owner? I'm for that more than anything. But this young team does have enough talent to win games and be competitive. Also, I'm not making excuses- we are definitely 1-6 (well, to be fair...I did make an excuse on that Fuller PI no-call in overtime...but I think it's a very fair point).

    I wasn't trying to make excuses though. In four of those losses, one stop by the defense wins the game. Or one missed field goal wins the game. Or one dropped TD pass instead of settling for a field goal wins the game. We had ample opportunities to win all four of those contests even when our was QB out. We could easily be 2-5, 3-4, 4-3 or even 5-2.

    I just don't see the complete doom and gloom and I think with a few subtle changes, this team can be in win-now mode. All I'm saying is don't be shocked when they turn this around.
     
  23. KeyFin

    KeyFin Well-Known Member

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    I think we can beat the Jets x2, the Texans, the Panthers, the Giants and the Patriots at home. Maybe the Saints as well since they're not what they were. The Titans, Bills and Ravens will probably dominate us.
     
  24. KeyFin

    KeyFin Well-Known Member

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    Again, Tua has been sacked once in the past two weeks. The offensive line is not "good" by any means, but they are figuring some stuff out. Compare that to the hits he was taking in Buffalo and this line is night and day better.
     
  25. JJ_79

    JJ_79 Well-Known Member

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    Let's see how they do against Buffalo, if it isn't a total **** show and Tua isn't getting rag dolled then there is definite improvement. Really not looking forward to that game, they got our number and we were out coached by them badly.
     
  26. KeyFin

    KeyFin Well-Known Member

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    I'm definitely not either- it's going to be a rough day. It's still a good gauge though between Tua and Brissett, how far the line has come, etc.

    Despite all that, I think that this is a must-win game for the Dolphins organization in order to "save the locker room". Another blowout could spell disaster for this team and I have a feeling that we'll come out competitive. Hopefully we have a decent showing anyway and it prevents this team from completely falling apart.
     
  27. Deus ex dolphin

    Deus ex dolphin Well-Known Member

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    There is a very real chance that a lot of players check out versus Buffalo. With no hope of winning the game, the season being over as far as playoffs/winning season, some will play to not get hurt.

    If Flores has the team fighting hard and it remains a competitive game, then I think he has earned another season.

    Saying Miami was one play away from beating some bad teams is cold comfort though. The real measure is how you do against teams like Buffalo. Flores and his history of failure versus the Bills is deeply disturbing, as you have to win your division first, before making a deep playoff run (unless you are one of the rare Wildcard teams that put it all together like the Steelers or Giants).
     
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