The biggest question going the rest of the way

Hey I can respect that, I really can.. Does make for some good drama though.

Point being Fisher made the "safe" choice with the RG3 stockpile of draft picks and the franchise QB.

In retrospect, the Dolphins may be in better shape to make a run in the next 2-3 years, given the overall state of the AFC, our D and our franchise QB.
Of course you could also argue that no Sherman + Philbin would have led to no Tannehill.... Either way, I want us to stick it in Fisher's face on Sunday. Whether the players care or not is one thing, but I suspect that some players feel the same way.

If I'm Ross, I probably say a thing or two to the team about it..

 

There's nothing about this question that is already even close to determined, nor will this game show anything IMO.

The Rams got Jeff Fisher and now they're above 0.500 for the first time in six goddamn years. Good luck telling any Rams fan that if the Dolphins win this game then that will leave "no doubt" that the Dolphins got the better coach. I mean, let's be realistic here. That was a toilet water team. Now they're 3-2 without even being close to having fully filtered out the roster mistakes made by previous front offices.

Let me ask you this. Back in 2008, in Week 7 we faced John Harbaugh and the Ravens. We're fresh off 1-15 back in 2007 yet here we are 2-3 a lot more respectable than we'd imagined being, having exploded the Wildcat right in the faces of the 18-1 record breaking Patriots en route to a blowout victory, coming away with a victory against the Chargers right after, and dropping a tough game in the final moments to the Texans on that Schaub draw play. The Ravens also came into the game 2-3. Both John Harbaugh and Tony Sparano were hired in 2008, both were rookie Head Coaches.

Heading into that game was anyone going to tell you that the outcome of that game would leave "no doubt" that the Dolphins made a mistake in hiring Tony Sparano over John Harbaugh?

Hell, fast forward it to the playoff game. The Dolphins are 11-5 and the Ravens are 11-5. Someone comes to you and says when the Ravens beat the Dolphins in the playoffs that will leave no doubt that the Dolphins hired the wrong coach. Your reaction?

 

And if Steve Ross is smart he'll keep his mouth shut about anything having to do with their public flirtation with Jeff Fisher. Right now you've got a little bit of public perception of a "he said, she said" thing going with that deal. Did Fisher tell us no? Did the Dolphins in effect tell him no by not caving to his demands? Who really knows?

Now's not the time to have a "set the record straight" conversation about it, letting everyone know that Fisher was their first choice and he said no to us so let's go beat his arse. And I hardly see a pep talk centering on "Hey let's go beat the guy that we decided wasn't the best choice for the franchise!"

Like I said I doubt Philbin even knows the first thing about that Fisher episode, and I doubt he wants to know. Nobody in the organization is going to tell him about it, unless it's to lie to him and say you were our choice all along...and it doesn't seem like any third parties have a unanimously agreed-upon version of events. That one's a don't ask, don't tell situation if I've ever seen one. And like I said it would be very out of character for Philbin to even care enough to ask.

 

Good points.

Both coaches may find success, one may fail, or they both may fail. We obviously won't know for a while.

Given the public perception of this organization 6 months ago, I'd like to believe that it's moving in the right direction. And it is. When was the last time we had to hear about a Fireland plane circling the stadium or a Ross needs to go post? How much of that previously affected Fisher's ultimate decision?

Short term, it would be nice to blow the living hell out of them on Sunday. For me at least.

 

Or any regime. The only time since 1984-85 season I've seen them handle success was the 08 Pennington season. They have been masters of choking. We'll see if anything changes.

 

And as soon as it hit "post" on the previous thread I though the same thing.

Let me ask you this, because you said the same thing about the Philbin - Dansby issue (comments regarding 85's dismissal) in the preseason, what makes you so convinced that all the media noise stays outside the locker room? Is it from firsthand experience? Not being facitious at all, you have been steadfast in believing that players and coaches don't have the time to worry about this stuff.

 

It's a combination of things. For one thing yes I have spoken with players that have perspective on this. For another I've spoken to the other side of the coin, the guys that are the ones that are the distraction, and they tend to have a good feel for when what they're saying is ignored or assiduously paid attention to. And then I've also seen all the same interviews with all the same jargon and real talk, fake talk, no talk, etc...that everyone else could also hear, if they spent as much time on it as I generally do.

So I do think I come away with a decent perspective on what's likely to move the needle for guys and what isn't. A lot of the guys absolutely, positively shut that stuff out. Some guys obsessively track it. Trick is picking out which guys do what.

 

This is one of those games...where the crowd can really make a difference. They will be pumped after enshrining Zach and JT into the Ring of Honor....

The team has exceeded alot of expectations so far this season.....now lets see if the fans can step up as well.

 

I'm going to be honest. The fans and crowd noise are pretty far down my list of things that will be factors in this game.

 

I see Ben Volin says that he just saw Richard Marshall walking down the hall with a heavy limp, leaning on a crutch. I'm going to go ahead and guess he's out until after the bye week, minimum.

That won't be as big a factor against the Rams as it could have been against the Bengals. With Amendola out the Rams will be using Austin Pettis in the slot more often. I don't think that's a big disadvantage. And it seems to me Nolan Carroll is no more or less likely to get burned deep by a Chris Givens or Brandon Gibson than Richard Marshall was, from the outside.

But we will miss Richard Marshall's ability to stop the run and come up in support tackling. I still believe the Dolphins are vulnerable on screens.

 

What I have noticed in the media is a turning of the tide. We were the laughing stock for a while. Now when I hear the NFL AM show, they say things like we are one tough team whose record could be the tops of the AFC East. ESPN also says we a tough team and no easy out.

Much different then the perception 6 weeks ago and earlier.

 

I've always seen it the other way. Maybe this is just a function of how wide the media space is that there's always someone saying something, but it seemed like every year we were a dark horse one way or another to someone in the media.

 

I've seen too many times where the team has built momentum and hope only to come home and see a half empty stadium at kickoff, followed by a flat performance..I think it can affect a teams mentality.

 

Perhaps. I don't know if it has a big effect or not.

 

Do you think a packed house and great energy in the building can get a team to come out on fire and play above themselves at least thru the first quarter?, if so then the destiny of the game has been altered to favor the team who has it...we don't have it in our repertoire as a franchise..

It's how a true home field advantage pays off in points, neutral sites do not..

 

I never expect an emotional letdown. Haven't for a long time. They hardly ever get blown out or have a completely awful game start to finish.

 

What's interesting is both teams are potentially in for a letdown. The Rams had to be pretty stoked to get above .500 for the first time in the better part of a decade. The Dolphins are stoked to get the W and prevent this season essentially being over just past the quarter pole. Which team will manage the letdown better? You do have to admit Jeff Fisher has a lot more experience with this sort of thing.

 

This will be the best defense we have faced since Houston. In turn it will be the worst offense we will have seen yet.

They will be 10 days rested and inspired with the hype.

That being said we simply can not turn the ball over...the pass rush is going to be relentless, their CBs are playmakers, just limit the turnovers to 0-1 and make your FGs and all of a sudden we are a .500 team.

 

I would agree to this if it was the same players etc. 37 players on the rams team this year were not on the team last year. plus a new coaching staff etc. the rams are also by far the youngest team in the NFL. So with all that being said not many of the players are used to going through all the bad years besides Long and James. Remember Bradford got rams to 7-9 (still bad but not terrible) and of the guys that were their before that their are about 7% remaining. It is a new team with a completely different roster so they are not used to being the losers as the fans are.

Also I must admit having the redskins 1st rounders are looking better and better as weeks pass. Hell even if the rams some how "Pull a Ram" and blow the rest of the year with the way the Redskins are playing the rams could possibly get 2 picks in the top 5.

 

Our opponents are a combined 14-7.

 

Rams are the exact same haha whats your point?

 

O ok gotya and idk about the Bengals, I respect them but you guys were the first hard team they played besides the *** kicking they were handed by the ravens. browns, redskins, and jags arent really the cream of the crop.

Also I know it means very little but Bleacher report has the Rams ranked 8th in the Power rankings with the Fins at 20

Also the Rams have not given up a touch down in 115 minutes and 46 seconds or a passing touchdown since week 2. (that includes against cutler and kolb.) and have given up 2 passing TDs the entire season. (have played against brandon marshall, larry fitzgerald, and megatron)

The fins also allow the 6th most passing yards per game of any team this season