A) A Season where the Dolphins go to the AFC Championship game but lose in a close game, while there is no discernible reason for why they were so good..... OR B) Go 9-7, and miss the playoffs while Ryan Tannehill has a prolific Passing season and gets a pro bowl berth.
I think if the phins are in the AFC championship game, everything is clicking and RT probably had a pretty good year. I would take a team accomplishment over a personal accomplishment any day of the week, especially on Sundays.
Rex Grossman made it to the Super Bowl. Mark Sanchez made two AFCCGs. I'll take #2, just because I know we have a franchise QB and many playoffs to come as long as we assemble a decent team around him. Our defense is probably better than our offense right now. Finfangirl I know what you're saying, but Sec specifically said in his post we have no idea how we made it that far. Keep in mind this is my option because I know the ending (not a Super bowl). If you ask me, make the playoffs or not make the playoffs, with a chance to win the SB, I take A. But you're telling me we definitely won't even make the Super Bowl, I choose B.
OK...well...I voted A)...but...after really thinking about the QUESTION. You prefaced it by saying we would loose the AFC Championship game. So...knowing we would not get the the Bowl...the excitement of getting to the AFC Championship and hoping to get to the bowl would be gone. Still..being one of four teams left playing...while fans of NY, NE, and Buffalo were home watching us play....thats a pretty good feeling. My dilema would be...did Tannehill have a great season because of the system? or because he really took his game to the next level. If we go 9-7 theres a good chance we are seeing a whole new regime next season.
I'll take B only because I don't want to start all over on another QB project and really want him to succeed and be our guy.
Yes, keep in mind guys Option A - No Super Bowl. No Franchise QB. Option B - No Super Bowl. Franchise QB. That's how I look at it. In hindsight, I bet a lot of Jets fans would trade those two AFCCG losses for an Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees. Wouldn't you?
Why in the world would anyone want to go 9-7 and miss the playoffs over the AFC Champ game? Stats don't mean a damn thing unless you are a player fan instead of a team fan.
Well this is an interesting poll. Option B probably means another year of the same old same old. Option A definitely means another year of the same old same old. OTOH, it means somethings working one way or the other. I suppose I'd go with A, if but for the fact that it brings some respect back.
A...as it would signify team success on most fronts, including coaching, game-planning, talent, and fire.
I see it totally differently: Option A: No super bowl, but a good to great all-around team. Option B: No super bowl, but one stand-out guy.
That one standout guy happens to be Drew Brees or Aaron Rodgers in their mid 20s. Good teams without a standout QB tend to fall faster than good teams with an elite QB. A Joe Flacco has a mediocre season, their run game and defense also mediocre. But he does just enough to make the playoffs,a nd then gets hot. Great. Next year his QBR is 73. In our case, Sec is saying, Joe Flacco doesn't get hot enough to win the SB. So you're stuck with a guy who just threw a 73 for how many more years? Give me the prolific QB. That's the holy grail of the NFL.
A, and not even close in my mind. A means your team is playing great and your QB is playing good enough.
Did you see option A? We don't win a ring. And if you get there without a stellar QB the odds are against you making it that far again. Long term play here. Dan never won a ring, but he made it to the playoffs often. How many playoffs have the Bears made after Sexy rexxy grossman? One. How about the Jets. How many since Sanchez' two? Would you rather be the Dolphins of the 80s, or the Jets of the 2010's?
I guess for me, the question is just HOW prolific are we talking? Andy Dalton has made a pro bowl and put up prolific REGULAR season numbers and I think he's avg at best. And how Un prolific was RT in this AFC Championship run?
I always root for the team. If this team made the AfC championships, its because the oline gelled, RT put it together, and the defense played lights out. That's my take. I'd rather it be a team accomplishment than to know that the team pretty much failed around RT. In either scenario, if the the team wins its because RT took a step forward.
I do not consider Andy Dalton prolific. If that's the bar then ehhhhhhhh Prolific is in the 4,500 40/15 area. For example, I don't think Rivers is prolific. He's borderline elite, but prolific is .... prolific. Lots of yards, lots of TDs.
Option B. If Ryan Tannehill had a great season we'd likely not get in the playoffs because of the coaching. Meaning next year we go after a good HC candidate in Harbaugh or Malzahn and we'd already have the most important piece (the QB) set, making the job all the more attractive. Option A to me does not guarantee repaeated success, see Mark Sanchez and the Jets.
Ah come on thats what we do around here been to stable philbin is on his third freaking year! It's old hat now we need to rebuild for the future... Just give us a few more years guys we got a plan..
That's different though. Sec said (it's his poll), no discernible reason why they performed so well. Meaning RT did not take a step forward. The oline didn't gel. The defense did not play lights out. Not saying it's realistic, but those are the guidelines Sec put out in his poll. I'm abiding by it 100%. Like the Ravens super bowl run. Their regular season was quite average. Joe Flacco took a step back last year. Huge step back.
I'm not sure what you guys like about harbaugh, his own GM hates him. The fans out here think he's a tool and I'm not sure he'd even consider Miami after what happened a few years ago.
IF's are allowed. My thought process, with logic I might add, says that those things have to happen in order to get to the AFC championship game for any team, especially one coming out of the AFC east.
Give me the answer at QB with a sure-fire new staff in 2015, over a team lucky to get that far and not likely to repeat season that's outlined in A. If you have the QB you're chances of success year in year out are much better, as is your likely margin for error in other aspects of the team.
He didn't specifically put it that way though. If the Dolphins get to the AFCCG, it would be a pretty good bet Tannehill had a good year even if it says we don't know how they got there. However, if the options were 9-7 and Tannehill is a franchise QB vs. AFCCG and no answer at QB, I would choose 9-7 in a heartbeat. Missing the playoffs would also equal a coaching change which could potentially yield Jim Harbaugh or Gus Malzahn, and that would be almost as good as finding out Tannehill is a franchise QB.
But his players love him and he's a phenomenal coach. If you get those, who cares about what the GM thinks. And I don't think what happened a few years ago will dissuade him from coming. He very nearly took the deal with full knowledge of how the Dolphins were going about courting him.
The REAL question here is, which is easier to fix A) Finding a QB good enough to improve an otherwise great team B) Finding enough other parts to improve a bad team, or bad coaching to go along with an otherwise great QB.
Extremely unlikely that a team with a prolific passing game misses the playoffs, particularly in the AFC East. Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
If that's your definition of prolific, then hard to see a team with that type of offensive efficiency miss the playoffs. IIRC the Chargers had the best passing game of any non-playoff team last season. Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
The way I see it is Tannehill would have to have a great season as well as the rest of the team to get to the AFC Championship game. After all of the crap I've seen on the field the last 14 years or so I'll take that in a heart beat over missing the damn playoffs again. Plus it would keep the staff and team intact and I believe that a large degree of success comes from continuity. The last thing I want to see is a regime change and starting all over again. And 9-7 missing the playoffs would most likely mean that.
I want him mainly because I want to say that my alma mater (University of Dayton) beat the team that was coached by Jim Harbaugh, now the Head Coach of the Miami Dolphins. . UD actually did give him is only loss my senior year at UD when he was at the University of San Diego. In all seriousness, the guy may be a PITA, but he's a winner. And he's gotten more out of both Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick than I ever thought he would. His teams are physical and play much better defense than what we've seen in Miami since...Saban, I guess? Imagine what he *could* do with Ryan Tannehill. That's where my mind wonders when I think of that possibility.
Fair. I'm just thinking, the Jets made it to the AFCCG not once but twice with the crappiest of crappy QBs, and a great defense. They haven't been back. I'm not sure they've sniffed it lately.
But if that happens, wouldn't you think Coach will be fired and they would have to start over again anyway? Who knows if that guarantees Tanny being the starter next year. HC's and their philosophies are different and Tanny 'might not' fit that mold.