Not on the players parts, but on the coaching... This season I was expecting Sparano and the crew to improve on their rookie head coaching experience instead what I saw was POOR clock management, poor offensive and defensive gameplanning and lackluster talent evaluation and preparation. I saw a Front office that REFUSED to fix the wide receiver issue going into the season, and before the trading deadline even with quality free agents and trades available to them. I saw NO defensive presence this year none. JT an Porter both looks MEH.. Wake looked great with the LITTLE playing time these coaches gave him. Next year I know it's always next year.. I did see some positive things, some rookie Cornerbacks (Davis being the standout), a new QB for the future, and a few other little nice things happening, however this season was winable. We EASILY had the chance to win 4 more games than we did this year. Indy, Buffalo, Saints, Tennessee. But poor play calling, Penalt's and lack of production killed us. I imagined we would be 9-7 so 7-9 isn't too far off but I consider this a failure, but I lay it more at the coaches and front office's feet. This team needs to make some MAJOR changes on defense and add some AAA talent on the offense for next year. I do not wan't to hear 2 more years and through the draft... I love the phins, the fans, (not the refs) I honestly feel this team is no closer to winning a Superbowl than we were with Dave "The Stash" Wannstedt in control..(of course were better) but I feel the same helplessness like my cries are going unheard because they know better.
Au contraire.... I saw MUCHO upside, and keep all this in mind: We had the toughest schedule of any team in the NFL We lost our starting QB We lost our All-Pro calibur RB We lost our starting NT We lost our starting Center We were not blown out this season, and in fact were very much in every single game. We are a stud WR and a couple of linebackers away from being REALLY good....and it has been over a decade since we were that close. We have a QB that could possibly be an All-Pro level QB with time. We are very young and talented AND deep at D-line...and I really like our two rookie CB's. Not sure exactly what you were hoping for this year to consider it a total failure....but I certainly take something different away from this season
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I don't think the personal attacks are necessary. You guys are out of line.
Bro don't feed into it if you see it. Please report it and we will handle it right away. Thanks, John
A failure? I dunno. Disappointing? Definitely. This team has a LOT of holes to fill...although we don't need to fill them all to be successful. We do have to get a go-to WR, a good safety and at least one star LB, and we could use a good RB and a TE as well.
Our coaching has a lot of improving to do. Why were they switching our Oline during the game when we were running the hurry up?
I feel that way anytime MY team doesnt win a Championship! I have had the pleasure of watching it happen twice for PHINs....and have had the displeasure of watching us reach SB but fall short. I know we can return and I know we can win our 3rd! And since we have 1 more game to play in this season, and options still exist....I cant place them in that category. Willing to still sit back and root and wait....thats all we can do.
I couldn't believe my eyes. This switching linemen in and out every other play has definitely got to stop. It's ridiculous. Why are we trying to reinvent the wheel here. I've never really seen a team do that
Turning point of the season came last week against the Titans, we were beaten by mistakes and VERY bad ref calls. It completely deflated our morale going into today's game. With that in mind, I think some of the blame DOES go to the coaching staff for not making enough adjustments and an apparent lack of game preparation.
Because it's never worked. You've either got healthy lineman or not, you shouldn't move them in and out.
Yes we can, especially when we make good plays that are called wrongly. Nothing was worse than last week's last call to give the Titans the win. Pathetic bought refs.
Bro we beat our selves last week and this week. The refs made bad calls but we shouldn't have even been in those situations. This team is killing itself.
Not a failure at all. If you were really expecting playoffs, well that's your problem. With the hardest schedule in the NFL, and this still being a rebuilding team (people are brainwashed by last year and seem to forget this), I was expecting 9-7 at best. With the injuries we've suffered, and what seems like the worst officiating in a season to date, I can't complain. We're the 2nd youngest team in the league, so that's a great thing. We've finally found a QB. As I said, we're still rebuilding. We have plenty of holes to fill, especially on defense.
All I'm saying is we can't overlook the bad calls. Today was a defensive disaster, last week too. Maybe we need to look at our def. coordinators. I know our secondary isn't top notch but better play calling wouldn't hurt.
I have to disagree. This team lost its starting QB, Starting RB, Starting CB, Starting NT, Starting C. Yet, somehow it was able to stay legitimately in it until week 16. The coaching staff did the best it could. We go into next year with a couple of talented, seasoned corners, QB, an awesome FB, and a young, hungry D-line. I've even seen Ginn have a few flashes of toughness the past few weeks. Next year will be an up year. If we can get Pennington as a backup, get some help at LB, and draft a solid FS, we will own the AFC East. Really, the only bad decision I've seen the FO make was Gerbil Wilson. The rest were just plugging 10 holes with 5 stops, smoke, and mirrors.
Yes bro, but we can't be saying what if's. If we would of played the first half like we did the second half we would of won.
Ahhh, you're just a Saint. If it were me, it wouldve been "Off with his head"... Good to see you brother, hope it was a good xmas for you
Answer: If the Phins were in Patriot unis, Camarillo would not have been called for a PF last week, the Texans would have been at 4th and inches, we would have had a fumble recovery, and Ted Ginn would have been a hero. Its no secret who Goodell favorite team is. Heck, they got caught cheating to win a SB and got a slap on the wrist.
I wouldn't call it a failure but one thing I find disturbing is Sparano's lack of improvement as a game day coach....I thought he would take a step this year. I'm also disappointed to see him lead a totally flat team out on the field, two weeks in a row, in must win, season on the line games. Before we were waiting until the 4th quarter to take a nap, now we're asleep at the kick off.
Man some of you are pathetic.. Beacuse I speak my mind about the failures this team has had this year people want to be jerks We have some poor fans. Clearly I stated the blame is on the COACHING staff. Im proud of the individual strives and performances by most of the players. Henne looks great for a ROOKIE with no talent. Bess is going to be a great 3rd wideout, Hartline looks serviceable as well. Vontae looks to become a man among children in short time. The season was a failure not because we played the hardest schedule blah blah blah but because we controlled our own destiny, we had a chance to step up and the coaching, and players in some regard blew it.. I love the Dolphins, been a fan since 82 never saw us win a Superbowl so yeah IM bitter seeing all the other teams show us how its done year after year and living with mediocrity. I saw some improvement on the team and Im happy for that going into next year, but unless we ditch the wildcat as the base formation and let Henne play his role, get some talent and stop the stupid sub ins, etc etc trying to fool people all the time were not a contender and Im not happy with being average.
3 separate thoughts 1) Very accurate...not sure if anyone is disagreeing with this fact 2) OK, so singular season failure/disappointment, but like most here we see positives too 3) 7-8 now, chance for 8-8....2009 is a Jekyll/Hyde team for sure. We have ability to make playoffs and if the RIGHT team shows up we can do well...but not sure what team will show up, and the BUF, TEN, and HOU game has proven that. All in all...we FAILED to achieve the success we are working toward, one game remains, and options remain those too are facts; let's see how this plays out completely.
The FO and coaching staff failed this football team miserably. No one else. That is all I have to say. I have lost total faith in the "rebuilding" process. Hopefully next offseason can change that.
This is just silly They have a great QB, we have a first time starter They have two great Wr's, we have a couple of decent WRs and a few that stink.
I agree, how many times has he brought us back in the 4th quarter. The kid has talent and saying he has no talent is just plain silly. Has he made mistakes, yes, but his upside is huge.
For real, the quality of posting in general in the last couple months in here has fallen precipitously.
Don't see the Patriots opening up with a 27 point deficit to the Texans at home either. Come on. The refs suck, Goodell is a bum, and the NFL is a joke of a league. However, you can say the same about our team today, especially in the first half. Always look within for the problem. Not elsewhere.
Not a failure by any means. We got a lot of information about our team this year. Please don't take this the wrong way, but it's been said for a while it's a 3-4 year plan. Last year was a fluke, due mostly in part to the wildcat offense, and having Ronnie healthy all year. We also made some adjustments at Safety that didn't pan out during the first half of the year, and lost Will Allen (which also wasn't mentioned) early in the year. Sean Smith and Vontae Davis stepped up some, but they're still rookies, you can't expect them to play lights out. We found out our Offensive Line (when healthy) is absolutely beastly. For a while there behind the starters we had one of the best running attacks in the league, and they were getting better each week at pass protection. We also found out that due to Garner we've got a bit of depth to play with in the line, which is a godsend. We found out that Chad Henne has moments of greatness, and hopefully also has his "rookie" moments that can only be nullified by true experience. We found out that our Offense can consistently put up 20+ points a game, and hold their own with just about any other offense in the league. We found out that our Defense still needs more work (specifically the LB position). If people want to focus on the negatives, there's nothing that's going to make them happy short of an SB win. But I choose to focus on the positives, and if you look at them there are a LOT of positives from this season. We're a team on the rise, you can take that to the bank. We may not be the AFC East division winners, but given the injuries we've faced this year, and the changes we know we need to make, I think we're definitely competitive enough to be there.
The idea that the team pretty much forgoes the entire reality of what the team is and how the rebuilding process tends to go. Second year regressions are normal to the point they are a rule, not an exception. Both among new administrations of teams historically and teams that have achieved big short term turn arounds. That's not even getting into the injury portion of it.