Does this team have the Mental Toughness?

Great read,you put a lot of thought into that. I agree completely on your points. Also,I too don't think they have the mental toughness at times. It seems like in both games that they do not know how to finish a game when they are playing well,it is almost as if they give up. Some of those games were hard to watch because we almost had victory and it seems like they stopped trying. I too hope for a change on play calling,it seems like whenever something is working for some reason they try to change that. They need to find a perfect balance on both running and passing to be unpredictable. Even though it is frustrating at times,I will still support the team every Sunday.

 

I don't know, I think our game plan was fine for the most part. Just some poor execution and some bad breaks...

Another thing is that we lost two of those games to arguably the two best teams in the league, and the other two, to good teams on the road.

Henning has his moments, both good and bad......and I'd make sure we knew for a fact that we were getting someone better before we replaced him

 

Bottom line, i thought the change in philosophy going into the 2nd half of the game was a mistake...and obviously with the outcome it was..i'll take my chances picking up 2 or 3 yards on 1st and 2nd down puttin henne in 3 and 5.

I also think the lack of a shotgun formation is puzzling.

Not sure why were not going implementing a 4th down strategy with the cat in optimum opponents territory..if its 3rd and 3 or less, consecutive ronnie brown plays in the cat seems to be the automatic call....

If it can do it inside the 10, it can do it inside their 50.

Overall, iam happy with the hybrid, i gotta give the old man credit for implementing it into his philosophies, i think it takes balls to run it and even bigger ones to evolve it.

 

Keep your masturbation metaphors to yourself.

 

Bottom line we dont haver the talent to pretend we're a Super Bowl team. We have weaknesses that are being exploited. We do our best to cover them up. Relax. we're on pace to blow up the league next year with a psychotic defense and a ball control balanced offense. Fear whats coming! In 8 months, the 3rd SB winning Miami roster will be unveiled

 

There is a difference. For 1, we are still hurting in the WR, DB and TE areas. We have a great team leader on IR. We also haven't had Roth in the mix either. People say he's not that good but I think his relentless attacks keep offenses on their toes. He may not make all the big plays but he can not be forgotten about. I say 2 years from now we are a serious contender for the SB. We all knew that turning this team around wasn't gonna be easy. We had a great turn around last year and got spoiled. But in the big picture it's going to be another year or so before we claim our stake in the NFL. Let's just enjoy the ride. We get to watch our Dolphins go from old and tired to young and hungry.

 

Couldnt agree more, my exact thoughts....Henning has been putrid thus far even in the games we have won. Something I assume we will address in the offseason.

 

I do think there are some differences from last year, to me Sparano is more likely to play it safer this season which for our roster is a mistake.

Last yr we ran end arounds with passes going downfield, this year they have let White throw one pass, and tried an option play, and that is it.

Gambler Sparano is a much more dangerous Coach than staid Sparano.


And I've liked the job Henning has done, to me the WC is working at a high level and Henne is developing nicely, DC Pasqualoni on the other hand, is not my favorite Coach, he lacks feel, instincts and aggressiveness to operate the defense imho.

 

very difficult to judge
have demonstrated a lack of ability to close out games
why? out-coached? young, inexperienced team? bad luck?
very difficult to judge

 

Great post but I have read mostly about the poor mgmt decisions and poor coaching more than anything regarding mental toughness

 

Good post. I think you made some good points, but I think most of what you said is a coaching problem and not a mental toughness problem. Mental toughness would be when our team doesn't have faith in themselves to overcome the difficult situations. Calling the wrong plays and making the wrong adjustments isn't a matter of toughness at all.

I think we've got a physical weakness at WR which limits Henning and makes him look bad when he goes pass happy. Henning is kinda stuck in a situation where if the smashmouth ground game isn't getting anywhere, then he really doesn't have a whole lot to turn to. That was the case in week 7. The Saints started shutting our offense down after that long run by Ricky. Henning was forced to start passing on first down. We need a guy like Hines Ward or Donald Driver at WR. Someone who the OC can turn to when we need a play, because he knows that WR is going to get the job done. We don't have that kind of WR right now. Bess has the desire but not the skill. Ginn has the speed and maybe the desire, but not the reliability. Camarillo is reliable but isn't as physically gifted. We need the real deal. When we get it, our offense will grow immensly.

As a whole, I think our team is pretty mentally tough. We're just not a complete team yet.

 

I couldn't have said it any better.

The read and react philosophy he takes is very nauseating. The attack and react style was working really well in the first half against the the saints. Why he abondoned it we'll probably never know.
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I can see some of your points..although I do think that both the Colts and the Saints do have more talent than we do and are a better team. Not withstanding we had both games won and could not close those games out..and could not stop the tidal wave of bad plays on both sides of the ball.

You do bring up an intersting point that we do have problems making adjustments and stemming the tide when things go bad. Yet that has been a characteristic of our team for many years. I can always hear myself saying..".someone make a play..just one play"..You can go back to so many games where we needed just one stop or one play to turn momentum or finsish the game...yet no play was made.

I have to admit that...and some of you won't believe me..that when Bess fumbles that ball right before the half..when we could have put a nail in their coffin..I turned to my family and said..They just lost this game. My family thought I was crazy...don't I see the score???..Something deep in me just knew. I hate that..I really do. Yet I just knew we had just lost that game. When the game ended..my wife looked at me and said "How did you know?" I just knew...I have seen it so many times.

I believe in this team..and coaching staff..it will take some time..2 steps up..one back. You see signs of it each game..it is a different way we do things. I am excited from what I see. I just want to reach the day where we are up 21pts...and there is little doubt of the outcome of the game. We are getting there....slowly

 

yeah, i agree with the things you're saying. i just don't see the correlation between bad play calling and mental toughness.

 

Well, started a thread about the Turnovers and was really surprised at what I found, we've lost 3 games directly attributable to key turnovers either going in for Scores, or taken back for Scores.

Fasano's two fumbles, one led to a FG, Penny's Int led to a TD, all the Falcons needed to win, SD, Ronnie B fumbles out the back of the endzone and Henne throws a pick 6, margin of victory, the Saints game..

A lack of mental toughness or bad luck?

 

Sparano clearly still has alot to learn about being a HC, He has done a good job and I feel he is the guy but he has made some bad mistakes.

I think it has more to do with talent, we dont have a go to WR, we dont have a Troy Polomalu-esque ballhawk at S. We dont have a game changer at LB, these things will be adressed as it as all part of the plan.

 

Those are good examples. But last year those very same players, with the exception of Henne, were most mentally tough team in the NFL, by those standards. Is Fasano less mentally tough because Mike Peterson ****ed him up a few times? Is Ronnie less mentally tough because of one bad ball exchange?

I think mental toughness can only be judged when the tables turn very quickly, and your team needs to respond without giving in to momentum or the misfortune of the situation. We had a chance to be mentally tough many times last year and everyone on our team made plays when they needed to in order to get the win. This year those plays just aren't happening, with the exception of the Jets game. Despite huge collapses by our defense, we had every opportunity to stick it to the Colts and Saints on one final drive. Against the Colts, the clock was mismanaged and we lacked urgency. We also missed the big play to Ginn. Against the Saints, Camarillo makes a silly error. Then Henne throws a pick due to a miscommunication problem. These are mental problems for sure. In our two toughest games, against two of the best teams in the NFL, we came up short when it counted. We were mentally weak at those moments.

But, IMO, two instances of coming up short does not undo the work done last year. The coaching staff needs to figure out what they can do to improve the two minute drill, and have everyone as prepared as they were a season ago. I have faith that this won't be a permanant waterwark on an otherwise very aggressive and physically tough team.