By all accounts 2009 was a fantastic year to be a Miami Dolphins Fan. Part of that was because we realistically had no expectations of achieving the Division Title and a Playoff Spot. The Team will say differently and they should but us fans knew 2009 was the rebuilding year but lightning struck all the pieces came together and the season while ultimately didn't end in a super bowl was a HUGE success for a franchise coming off a dismal and embarrassing 1-15 record. The Wildcat was the introduced and was a success. Adding some FUN into a team who wasn't expected to win anything. Now 2010 comes around the Wildcat is known, People will expect it however we do have some new wrinkles but it will not SURPRISE anyone again. We are the Division Champions regardless of how it happened everyone will be gunning for us. We play a MUCH harder schedule this year, Very few games we can afford to make mistakes. Pennington is coming off a Career year where he wasn't injured. Not sure he can repeat that not many do. The Expectations of the FANS is now at a fever pitch. The Media doesn't consider us underdogs anymore for the most part (though they do think we will drop down this year) And though I do believe we will be in contention for the Division Title again im not sure we should or can expect the same magic feeling that 2009 brung us it was un-expected and we were captivated by the system. Do you think the 2009 Dolphins can bring that same MAGIC again? Or should we all check our fandom at the door and expect 2010 to be a reality check? Yes we added some defensive players to make the defense that much better (thank you) Hope our corners and safeties progress. Jason Taylor is back. (let see what he has left), Joey Porter coming off Career year as well can he repeat? Chad Henning Progresses, but Pat White impresses in the wildcat.. Who gets more reps? If Pat does good does Henning get shafted? Lots of questions to be answered in 2010. Let just hope the Magic returns! Should we be expecting lightning to stirke twice?
I think we can dorfdad, and that is not straight homerism speaking, I look at the Oline, Rb, Wr and Qb situation and compare it to this time last season and we are miles ahead of where we were last season. Anyone else recall Beck hearing the "fail" buzzer and McCown struggling and Henne shining prior to signing Pennington? Tab Perry and David Kircus? Ronnie B coming off an ACL, Rickey coming back after not playing a full season in 4 yrs? P Cobbs was an afterthought we had Parmalee and Hilliard.. Heck on defense, this time last yr Vonnie Holiday was trying out at OLB and Roth (the "bust") was as well.. Y Bell was coming off a achilles tear. A night and day difference, and lest everyone forget we also started out 0-2 and everyone was "here we go again".
Good read I believe with how this team is being built from scratch by Parcells and company, we wont have to rely on lightning striking, we will make it hard for it not to strike......This team is being put together with a blueprint for long time sucess. The chemistry of our players, all being on the same page, having the perception around the league as being SUCH a team {almost collegiate they say}, is part of the plan. Identifying the right 53 players is all front office skill, coaching them with disipline,and execution at a premium is how we earned lightning to strike last year. How we force lightning to strike again?, have the rest of the NFL disrespect a TEAM thats as close as our team is, add some serious size and athletisism on both sides of the ball, give the intelligent QB a full offseason to work with this offense, bring back a hall of fame player that has a chip, and place him at a position that we desperately need, continue to evolve a hybrid offense that creates space and lanes for both Ronnie and Chad, let your skill positions players grow along with that hybrid offense literally {stronger} and figureatively, most importantly, put together a strong traditional offensiveline and teach them that their gonne play old school smash mouth style, and NOT to worry about whats goin on behind them. {power running line, with the wildcat behind them= Smashcat.}
I don't know if we really need lightning to strike. I think that the year we went 1-15 we had the talent to win 7 to 9 games. The coaches weren't the right ones to use that talent and then we had a lot go wrong so we ended up a horrible team. The next year we had the right coaches and were able to add some talent (most importantly at QB). I think that raised our potential to 8 to 10 wins. We got a few bounces (the schedule and Brady's injury) but that really only amounted to one more win (we won 11) than our talent level indicated. I think our talent level now dictates 9 to 12 wins. Luck is still a factor but we don't need great luck to achieve that. We really just need to avoid bad luck (ie. the key injury). I also think the harder schedule will end up being a non-factor. By the end of the season I expect that our schedule will no longer be the hardest. It will be in the top half maybe even top third but not much different than what every other team faces. So I don't believe we need lightning to strike. We just need to dodge the horrible luck. If we have average luck (a few bounces for us and a few against us, no key injuries at weak positions) then we're among those in the playoff mix.
Man, I love hanging out with you guys. So knowledgable!! Well anyway I agree with the both of you. I don't believe lightning needs to strike but it might do so anyway. We have a tough minded, smart, and disciplined set of players out there and we will see it on the field. The fact we have a hard schedule doesn't matter to these guys. Hopefully it wouldn't matter for us fans. This year we are starting over and taking a little bit of last year and adding it to this year and making it all better. We are striving for this year to be better and smarter than last year. I believe they will be that and so much more. Great read guys. It was a pleasure to read.
I'm really not trying to be a smart *** here. But it's going to be 2009, not 2010. I enjoyed the read though. I agree, we have a lot of questions to answer. And I don't think any of us as fans really know what to expect from this team. Was last year a fluke? A byproduct of a last place schedule? Did we win the division because Brady got hurt? Can we hang with the big boys this year? The only thing to do is keep the faith.
once the team is completed it will be all about coaching & the big enchilada We Will Contend in 2010!
I saw that I just gave him the benefit of the doubt that he was talking about a deep playoff run that would take us into 2010.
I disagree with ya Trowa, i think the beauty of how this team is being built is, we DO know to some extent, how the team will play...wins and losses are hard to predict, but iam confident moreso then any time being a dolphin fan that my team will play very tough, together, minimizing mistakes, less mental errors, hi level of execution because of heightened focus in practice.. These are the charactersistics you get from a team when the man to my left has autonomy in building a franchise from scatch and creating an identity thats consistent, thats what the avatar is all about.... thats what the code produces..
Good read, good thread. We have been built by a Master who knows how to win in this league. We will not need lightning to strike, we will play a tougher schedule but you have to beat the best to really think you are or can become the best, so I see that as a GOOD thing, not a detriment. We are the same team as last season except: 1. Penny has had all offseason to prepare and will be stronger and have a better rapport with his receivers, be they WR/TE/RB. 2. We will have a vastly improved OL if Murphy or Thomas live up to what we think they can do and Grove proves to be the upgrade we believe he is. That will make our OL what we THOUGHT they could be last year and were not. 3. We got JT back, and Wake, and we should have a vastly improved pass rush over last year when Joey Porter was all we had, and he ran out of gas because teams could double team him and get away with it. 4. We added a couple solid, tall WR's to our stable so we should see more red zone production from our receiving core. 5. We should have significantly improved our CB and Safety spots, Gibril and Bell should be a solid duo back there and Allen & Davis or Smith will be an upgrade, so we should be far better against the long pass and on 3rd downs. 6. With RB/RW/Cobbs and Lousaka Polite we have what I believe to be one of the strongest backfields in the NFL. 7. Tony and his staff turned out to be even better coaches than we expected, and they now have a year under their belt with the bulk of these players, who also know the system better on O and D. So our coaching will improve even more. 8. Our 2 new assistant coaches should have a solid effect on the OL and on ST's. If our OL and ST's both improve even 25% over last year, that right there is good for 2-3 wins. 9. The media and league are all giving us no credit and thnking we were 1 year wonders, good, that's more incentive for our guys and we will come out with a chip on their shoulders. 10. We will not require 2 games to start winning games like last season. You can bet money Parcells spent a good deal of time this offseason teaching Tony and his staff what they did wrong and how they can improve on that. We won't need lightning to strike, we ARE the lightning that WILL strike down more opponents than anyone expects we will this season. And AINT WE GOT FUN??? Edit: another bucket of koolaid please, I'm thirsty again after all that!
That aint koolaid or homerism talking rock, thats accurate obvious analysis. aint dont let anyone tell ya that it is.
