How many teams win missing both starting pro bowl caliber Ends, 2 starting linebackers, starting safety? How many teams win missing 80% of the starting OL for most of the year?
Certainly the injuries have been impactful overall, but they don't explain the tremendous drop-off in offensive performance between the first and second halves of the past four games. It's as if right when one would expect a team to bear down and play better -- during the second halves of contested games during a late-season playoff push -- the Dolphins' offense has instead been thoroughly manhandled. The Dolphins' offense has been 3rd-best in the league in the first halves of those games -- 3rd-worst in the league in the second halves. Of course there is no magical transformation in skill or ability either team undergoes at halftime, which means the issue is far better explained by emotional factors.
The team has exhibited a clear pattern of being unable to overcome highly driven opposing teams during both of McDaniel's seasons. He's winning overall, but he's not winning when opposing teams are particularly inspired and driven to win. His own team is unable to match their level of drive and intensity. That poses a particular problem in the playoffs, where teams become far more equivalent in physical talent and they're all highly driven and inspired to win.
You obviously didn’t know any true nerds in high school. What you view as a being a “goofball” is actually an in depth intellectual analysis by someone like McDaniel. “Nerds” if you will are a completely different breed of individuals. I had quite a few friends in high school that were “nerds”. While they may not present a rough rugged alpha appearance, it certainly doesn’t diminish their intensity nor their seriousness. They are constantly analyzing, albeit sometimes to their detriment but don’t miss take their lack of emotional anger for lack of intensity or seriousness.
And why is emotional anger so "appropriate" or "wanted" to show that you're a "man" or an "alpha"? You obviously haven't watched any videos about McD and his personal journey. If you had you would never say things like he's not a serious person. He's intellectually serious. Leadership is an art that most never even sniff at mastering or even study. To see a couple clips or a few pressers and then make a judgement you know nothing about just goes to show something about you @Crash Jensen.
What I'm asking is whether the forum tolerates divergent viewpoints about the team as long as they're expressed respectfully. Or do divergent viewpoints automatically equate to someone's being labeled a troll and disciplined or banned?
People are suspect of you. Of the 21 posts you’ve done, every one has been about McD’s inability to be a head coach. Nothing else. Since you’re fairly new that usually indicates someone trying to troll the board. You can see how people might think that can’t you?
Or maybe he’s frustrated that the Dolphins continue to collapse at the end of the season, just found this site and wanted to vent to other Dolphins fans.
I personally like McDaniel but I also feel like he's "faking it until he makes it" in many regards. Last week, we did well in the first half with Tua pivoting right and Achane cutting it back to the left. Buffalo couldn't stop that one play until after halftime...yet we came out running the same darn play, Buffalo shut it down, and we abandoned the run entirely. That's unacceptable and honestly I'm shocked such an offensive prodigy was so one-dimensional. Screen pass to Achane on the left side? A drop-back and pitch to the left? Have Achane line up at WR and send him in motion to the left...then flip the ball? All essentially the same play, different looks, but we never did any of them. Likewise, it felt like there were designed plays "throw it to Tyreek" and a few plays "throw it to whoever is open". Tua missed badly and I'm wondering if the shoulder injury isn't more serious than we know. Or maybe the timing isn't there yet with Claypool and others...not sure what the issue was. The offense was flat though once Buffalo figured out how to stop our one run play. This week, we desperately need Waddle back and Tyreek somewhat healthy...he's been pretty beat up as well. McDaniel is not adjusting to get the most out of the offense though; it's either dominance with out starting 11 or mediocrity. I don't know the answer but I do know who's responsible- our head coach and his inability to overcome injury. Maybe that's not entirely fair, but he has the best WR and the best RB in the league. Find creative ways to get them the ball and let them make plays. I just haven't seen that over the past month and it's very frustrating.
I did not say offense. I said they scored. Buffalo scored 14 points in the second half. We scored none. Crash why over the EPA for each team in the second half, that clearly shows what I was saying. You guys have got to do assuming that we're being trolls or trying to crap on Tua. I'm not, and must of these guys aren't. We are trying to have a legitimate conversation, but you guys get all worked up.
We all want the Dolphins to win the Super Bowl. Until they do, I’m going to focus squarely on the issues I believe are between where they are now and getting there. My posts are not intended to generate feelings in other people. They’re intended only to express my own.
Crash is not trolling. He's an older gentleman out of touch with the way of the NFL and it's players right now Belichick is out. Carroll is out. Reid will probably be out. The league and philosophies are changing. It's not 1978 anymore.
Campbell is a players coach. Don't let his appearance fool you. He is emotionally unstable and as sensitive as any coach in the league.
Fair enough. It’s too bad you have no feelings at all that ANYTHING is right with this team. I couldn’t imagine being a fan of a team and only just hating everything about it. What’s the point? But hey you be you.
Because none if us have witnessed a playoff win in 23 years I welcomes all options about the people in charge until that is rectified I do think he needs another year at least to see how the methods continue to give us data
He is a players’ coach with seriousness and toughness, in a non-authoritarian way. I think that’s the perfect mix. His team wants to run through a wall for him, but they do it with a serious and driven personality like his.
There is a lot right with the team, like McDaniel’s technical expertise and the way he has helped turn Tua’s career around for example. I just think they need to take the next step where he does less pampering of Tua and expects him to lead the team and be highly accountable. The day McDaniel goes to the podium for a post-game press conference and says the team lost because Tua played a crappy game will be a major stride forward.
Really?! I don’t want a coach to throw one single player under the bus in public for a loss, what good does that do?! As long as he’s holding people accountable when there is no press, I‘m fine with that and he does it, like we seen with Boyer last season for instance…
Usually I’m not for that either, but in this particular situation something pivotal has to break McDaniel and Tua out of their miniature mutual admiration society and make that develop into a relationship with greater accountability for Tua. It’s OK to say the team lost because a guy had a crappy game. It doesn’t mean you’re finished with him as a player or that he can’t possibly rebound. But what it does mean is that you’re not going to deny reality for the purpose of continuing to pamper him and keep your chummy relationship going.
One player rarely is responsible for a loss, if ever, and to call out a single player after it, making them responsible, is probably the worst thing a coach could do imo. We don’t know how they interact behind closed doors and that is the most important thing.
What is the mutual admiration society? It’s like your in team meetings and hanging out in the sidelines during practices. Hard knocks is edited to show what they want to show so you can’t use that as a total barometer of what actually happens. It’s interesting that people who spend zero amount of time with the team but absolutely know every relationship and how to fix it. I barely know how to fix my own relationships. LoL.
Heck yes.. He's an incredible person, and a great leader. There's no doubt about that. He's proving you don't need to be "the man" or an "alpha" to succeed in the NFL. What he's been able to do for Tua is impressive. What matters more is connecting with people, and being able to find ways to press their buttons to get them to be their best selves. His in game and in season adjustments may leave quite a bit to be desired at some point but you cant discredit the person that he is. Whether you like him or not.
Yea theres zero chance of that happening.. you can send a message more subtle and yet still direct.. like when McDermott told the reporter at the half last week at Allen, that throw was a bad throw, got to throw it outside it costed the bills points.. thats how you get your point across to your quarterback with the media… Dont behave like Sean Payton is with Russell. With all that said, i did not believe for one moment that we would have a remotely decent game today. I wanted to be wrong. We needed that second seed.. our season went sideways after the crash we had against the Titans. but we move forward and hopefully we can improve more.
The way you start to change the culture of this team the quickest is by changing the relationship between the head coach and the QB in a way that's understood by the rest of the players. Getting far less chummy with Tua and starting to hold him more accountable will quickly ripple outward to the rest of the roster in such a way that the message will be "we're no longer doing 100 percent fun and games -- we're here to get serious and win big." As long as the head coach is chummy with the prime mover of the team -- the QB -- no matter what happens, there can't be the necessary accountability among the players.
How do you know all this is happening? You aren't at any practice. You aren't at any meeting. You aren't sitting in a room when they have direct one one-on-one discussions. You're just spitballing based on what information? What you see on Hard Knocks?
Admittedly it's a gestalt impression based on disparate sources of information that converge in that direction.
It’s actually a way of indicating an information gathering process that makes it different from a mere guess. However, admittedly I have no way of confirming it with absolute certainty.
It's a better explanation than anyone else is giving, and it makes perfect sense with regards to human thought and behavior.
Ahh. His guess is the best guess so his guess must be true. Gotcha. Could be right. But it seems strange that only the "goofball" issue comes out with certain teams but the rest of the year the goofballness isn't a problem. Yes. That now that I see it, it makes perfect sense.
