how much power did Sparano have in creating the offense he was going in with on his first gig as a coach...I think not much and thats what comes with the territory when Parcells hired him..Thats a pretty rough starting point when the guy in charge checks out and is stubborn.
Maybe, but we led the league in max pro in 08 when Penny was the QB so I think it was just Henning's preference to use it.
I don't have the numbers for this season, but Football Outsiders puts them into their almanacs IIRC. Generally speaking though, you'd only see one or two man routes off of play action when you're trying to hit a big play down the field or you're expecting an all out blitz. I'd say a couple times per game, maybe a handful. We didn't get blitzed much, and we didn't go down field much, so I don't see why we would use so much max pro. I'm just glad Henning's *** is gone.
You seem to be suggesting that Bill Parcells made him keep Bonamego and Henning for as long as he did. And if Sparano doesn't have enough balls to stop something he knows is making the team fail I don't want him around anyway. The thing is though I don't think he knew those guys were a problem. Not until it was painfully obvious in the form of humiliating special teams meltdowns and prolonged offensive inefficiency. And even then how many times did we hear, "It's the execution." We would see things that seemed to be failing early in the season and we continued to see it again and again as the season progressed. Indicating that Sparano was either OK with it or didn't have the balls to step in and do something about it. Those guys are gone now and the rotten tuna is gone as well. To me this season is all about finding out if Tony Sparano was really qualified to ever have this job.
So, let me ask you this. If the owners didn't lock out the players, would the players play without their union having a contract? Should the Patriots (just using it as an example) tell Tom Brady, that you signed a contract with us, so you play no matter what? What would Brady do?
Those are tough scenarios you put front and center and they really make you think about the situation.. Why did he let him coach for 3 years?..To that I would say, when a coach is appointed to you as probably part of the deal of getting your first job, and that coordinator orchestrates the biggest turnaround in league history, it buys you more things than just time ya know? Why didn't he have the balls to take over control once he broke down the film and realized what we perceive to be true?...Thats the million dollar question.It can go many ways like you pointed out. a} He doesn't have the foresight to see Hennings flaws and thinks exactly what he said in press conferences. b} He didn't have the balls.... c} He was willing to take the hit til the end of the year, even if it cost him his job.. Basically it comes down to being loyal because of the prior circumstances, or being clueless..I can understand the first, were in trouble if its the latter. Its really a topic thats not being talked about enough 79, but its so hard to project something like that when not knowing much of the dynamics behind the scene. I think Sparano was caught in a hairy situation..but your points about not havin the guts to change a situation, and letting Henne take the hit, do worry me..
The poor finishes and really home record, is mostly due to the youth on the team imho, JT back a couple of yrs ago said it takes 3 yrs to really learn how to play and how to keep your body fresh for the grind that is a NFL season, which imho we saw the last 3 yrs imho. That is one of the reasons why I championed keeping Sparano this offseason, the team is primed and we have a favorable schedule, also knew there were going to be labor problems and a lockout, made no sense to dump Sparano for Harbaugh as the players would not know Harbaugh and knew want he would want and how they would and should prepare themselves for his vision for the team.
They sort of did last year....but it doesn't matter, most people seem hell bent on blaming the players no matter what. So have at it, blame them for everything. Even if you are wrong, if it makes you feel better.
You and GM agreed on something yesterday and now you and me agree on something. What's this world coming to?
I disagree with your characterization. You're arguing that the owners are morally wrong. Many argue that regardless of one's 'opinion' of right and wrong, the owners did nothing illegal, own the business, and have a right to do it.
Madison told Sean Smith he is in great position he just has to get the cheddar....... All I hear is SS can't get it done. Any takers. I think he can.
I am 100% sure he will Killah, I follow SS24 on twitter, really all of the Dolphins who are on Twitter and the defensive guys have had an offseason of nothing but hearing about those dropped int's which tends to motivate pro athletes. Heard a story about that concerning "Kill Bubba Kill" Bubba Smith after the loss to the Jest in the SB, he wound up having his best yr afterwards and the Colts beat the Cowpokes for the SB.
Loved ol' Bubba. Best DE to ever set foot on a football field IMO. He was livid after the SB loss to the Jets. Made some comments that it was a fixed game, just to give the AFL some parity and allow the merger to go through. I think he played just as well in the season before SB III. The SB where they beat Dallas was 2 yrs later. His best individual season was probably the year after the Colts beat the Boys in SB V.
Had a dog eared copy of one of those old "NFL Season 1969" paperback books, forgotten the name of the publisher but it talked about how Smith said he heard it from everyone around his hometown in TX after that loss, I suspect athletes have not changed all that much over the yrs. That is one thing the Internet lacks Mr C, no real Institutional Knowledge if it did not happen say after 1996 or so, then it is as if it never happened at all. Used to love those old paper magazines that would recap the season and pick the best players and the most underrated players etc, James Wilder was just a horse for the Bucs when they were kinda bad, now few people would know who he was.
Smith and Clemons..those boys need to supinate their damn hands when the ball is comin into their chest and gut..Thats what you do when you can't catch..lol
The secondary is better than most think...Clemons took so much heat if you remember the masses wanted Clark and Rolle here..
most def...Clemons is my bustout player this year...That boy cant catch a cold, but damn is he aggressive in nature, with really good range, and limited mistakes..
Hmm, I thought Clemons did a good job in 2010, much better then I thought he would as a first yr starter and a true "safety", though by the time the 2nd pats game came around CC was just not effective due to a torn groin muscle and the pats just ate him for lunch.
Totally agree on Ronnie and RW as both were subpar plodders last year. We do need two things on D though so I dont know if it qualifies as a lot of help but we need another pass rusher in worst way to help out Cam Wake. Wake had all his sacks rushing off the right tackle side and Misi has a history (both in college and now in the pro's) of getting pressure but not sacks. I hope Koa can emerge but the biggest misconception about the defense is that we have a good pass rush. None of Starks, Misi, Langford, Dansby, or anyone else showed themselves to be truly reliable as a pass rusher besides Cameron Wake. Someone has to help alleviate the double and triple teams off Wake and it will only get done by being consistent It doesnt matter if the players would play because the owners wont let them. The only way the players could play now is if they went to another league or organized their own league.
Thought we should have drafted Brandon Graham. Looked like the next Woodley to me. We'll see about what Odrick does. Remember Randy Starks had 7 seven sacks in '09 before the NT move in '10 Yes we need another guy who can get after the QB.
I doubt anyone here expected Clemons to do as well as he did as a first yr starter. He in that role was basically an unknown to most of us, hence the desire for Clark and/or Rolle. Since Ireland made offers for both, he apparently wasn't sure what we had too. Turns out sometimes the best moves are the ones ya don't make. As for me, personally, I feel more confident about Reshad Jones going into his 2nd season than I did about Clemons. I think most of us do. I think we need to get him into the starting lineup with Clemons, sooner rather than later.
CK, or someone, I recall it as him, (perhaps I'm wrong), said Henne had the option for calling the protections. Hence the fault lies with Henne I suppose.
And it is sort of the death roll of Qb play, they wound up using max pros and 3 step drops for John Beck in 07. Henne can do better then that I'm sure of it.
I think that since we were middle of the pack in 2009, for offensive yards and points, it bought Henning another year. His friendship with Parcells perhaps made firing him before the end of the 2010 season, more awkward, once things got underway. Bonamego was more or less one of Sparano's own former coaching associates and to change horses in mid stream with the STs coach would be a more seamless move than doing so with the OC. Kind of had to dance with who brung ya once we started the season under Henning at OC. IMO anyway. Also as much as we complain about the job Henning did with the offense, it was world class compared to the mess our STs became. Not all the blame goes to Bonamego either IMO. The constant churning of the bottom of the roster, new guys moving on to and off of STs, didn't make his job any easier.
I know Dan Henning said that in his PC the week after the second Jets game referring to the hit that everyone thought Lydon Murtha didn't block a man. Henning said Henne had changed, or failed to change (I don't remember exactly) the protection to the correct one and got drilled.
Anyone who identifies Brian Hartline as the #1 wide receiver doesn't know what a #1 wide receiver is. Calling the Z receiver your #1 automatically is just ignorant. Brandon Marshall was the team's #1 wide receiver and Davone Bess was #2. Brian Hartline was #3. That is not even close to as "doomed" as some people would have us believe. It's just another way to try and reach and excuse bad play calling and bad quarterback play.
I thought last year's offense had some play makers, but they weren't all complementary and the play calling did not take advantage of their skills. Marshall and Bess largely worked in the same areas of the field and that made it too easy for the defense to flood that area with defenders. When Hartline was healthy, the defense was forced to spread out some and the offense was more efficient. Brown could have been a good weapon in the passing game, but inexplicably wasn't used that way.
Is there a misconception that Henne is good under pressure and the blitz? whatta you think of this? There was a little blurb in today's Sports Buzz edition • Although the Dolphins point to Chad Henne’s deep-ball accuracy (10 for 40 on throws of 20 yards or more) as a big concern, here’s another raised by a Pro Football Focus study this month: PFF analyzed which quarterbacks had the NFL’s sharpest drop in completion percentage when pressured by pass rushers. Worst on the list for 2010 were Mark Sanchez (26.5 percent plunge) and Henne (26.3). Henne, pressured on 30 percent of his drop-backs, completed 67.8 percent without pressure but 41.5 when pressured. Tom Brady completed 53.2 when pressured.
He's been good against the blitz, but that's not the same as good versus pressure. One reason I think he probably has a good record versus the blitz is because of Dan Henning. You can ask Tony Sparano about this if you like but one trademark of Henning's is what he does to guard his QBs against the dangers of blitzing. Henne had a lot of freedom to check the backs and tight ends in to protections, and Henne made use of that. The Dolphins had 537 extra guys stay in to protect in 2010, on 643 passing plays. This often provided Henne with a LOT of time to throw the kind of passes to wide receivers running routes against the soft zone coverage you often see on blitz plays. The downside of this though is that you often end up keeping guys in for protection even if you didn't need him. I remember I compiled a bunch of data about how many people ended up rushing against the Dolphins and whether the Dolphins kept too many protectors inside or not enough protectors inside. The Dolphins kept too many protectors inside. When that happens you make a play a lot easier to defend in coverage. I know people want to attribute this to Dan Henning but Chad Henne is the guy that decides how many people he wants in on protections. When Henne is successfully pressured, he lacks athleticism, and doesn't have consistent natural instincts for how to use the pocket or move within it to deal with pressure. He also doesn't have a very accurate early warning system (feel the rush). This leaves him in a bad way when he's pressured, and that's why you see his efficiency drop so much. It's one of the things he has going against him, the sum of which make him not a very good quarterback.
The Dolphins kept 3752 men in to block 2725 pass rushers on 643 pass plays, 224 of which featured blitzes. You need 5 men in to protect on every down so this left 537 extra blockers to play with, for Chad Henne. If you figure a 4 man rush for every normal non-blitz down (a useful, but not necessarily accurate assumption), you have 153 "extra" pass rushers, versus 537 "extra" protectors. That means an average of 3.5 extra blockers per one extra pass rusher. This seems very, very wasteful. Let's look at Peyton Manning as another case study. The Colts kept 4023 men in to block 3127 pass rushers on 746 pass plays, 271 of which featured blitzes. You need 5 men in to protect on every down so this left 293 extra blockers to play with, for Peyton Manning. This meant an average of 2.0 extra blockers per one extra pass rusher. This is much more efficient. Do you blame this on Dan Henning, or do you blame this on Chad Henne? I've always maintained that when it comes to these its both, not just one. Dan Henning sets the table, but the quarterback chooses the chicken instead of the fish, so to speak. Chad Pennington in 2008 kept 3243 men in to block 2484 pass rushers on 577 pass plays, 171 of which featured blitzes. You need 5 men in to protect on every down so this left 358 extra blockers to play with, for Chad Pennington. This meant an average 2.0 "extra" blockers per one "extra" pass rusher. Notice how this is perfectly in line with how Peyton Manning calls his protections, but not very in line with how Chad Henne does? Tom Brady kept 3399 men in to block 2579 pass rushers on 588 pass plays, 209 of which featured blitzes. This is 459 extra blockers, or about 2.0 extra blockers per extra pass rusher. Phil Rivers kept 3390 blockers in again 2646 pass rushers on 615 pass plays, 209 of which featured blitzes. This is 315 extra blockers, or about 1.7 extra blockers per extra pass rusher. Supports what I was saying earlier about the Chargers' scheme being more aggressive at sending out as many players as possible in many different directions, relying on Phil Rivers' decisiveness and ability to sense the rush and handle it, the eyes he has in the back of his head, to get the ball off in every different direction. How about another young player, Matt Ryan? He kept in 3873 men to block 3034 pass rushers on 706 pass plays, 290 of which featured blitzes. This is 343 extra blockers, or about 1.6 extra blockers per extra pass rusher. Aaron Rodgers kept 4590 men in to block 3565 pass rushers on 773 pass plays, 290 of which featured blitzes. This is 725 extra blockers, or about 1.5 extra blockers per extra pass rusher. Mark Sanchez kept 3800 men in to block 3029 pass rushers on 687 pass plays, 256 of which featured blitzes. This is 365 extra blockers, or about 1.3 extra blockers per extra pass rusher.
