Is it playoffs or bust for Dolphins’ Philbin and Ireland?
On Sunday, the Miami Dolphins will come to a fork in the road. Will the Ryan Tannehill led Dolphins travel down the road that the Chad Henne, Cleo Lemon, and John Beck Dolphins ventured down? Or will the Ryan Tannehill led Dolphins travel down the newly paved road…the one that hasn’t been used for a few years (since 2008)? Will Sunday’s performance be ‘the same old Dolphins’? Or will we see what a new franchise quarterback can do? Will we see a coaching staff, despite their issues, prepare their team well enough to make a statement and hopefully make the playoffs? We’ll know very soon.
The Dolphins will lay it all on the line on Sunday (we hope), with a second chance to earn a postseason berth. That’s right, they laid an egg in their first chance to take a strangle hold on the #6 seed, but instead shot themselves in the foot….repeatedly. The players want to make the playoffs…..they want to beat the Jets again……they want all of their hard work to pay off in the form of a playoff berth…..they want to reach a place the Dolphins have only sniffed once in the last decade. BUT, Joe Philbin and Jeff Ireland NEED this team to win on Sunday. They need the Dolphins to take care of their own business and hope to get some help in Cincinnati or San Diego. If they don’t, I contend that the Dolphins should press the reset button and start over. Fire them. Both. Start over. I have no idea if Stephen Ross feels the same way, but he should.
Joe Philbin came to the Dolphins last year and in my opinion, hasn’t exactly given us reasons for hope and optimism. Ask yourself this: Are you as excited right now as the Philadelphia fans with Chip Kelly at the helm? I didn’t think so. Philbin was supposed to bring a high powered offense to Miami. You know, like the one we saw in Green Bay? The Dolphins rank 28th in the NFL in total offense. Reminder: There are only 32 teams in the NFL. I’ve made no secret of my dissatisfaction with many of Coach Philbin’s in game calls (i.e. calling timeouts late in the Panthers game, giving them time to score the game winning TD).
Joe Philbin brought in Mike Sherman and Kevin Coyle as his coordinators. Both sides of the ball are below average. The Dolphins offense ranks 28th in the league and their defense ranks 20th. The Dolphins rush defense, which was 3rd in the league in 2011, is now ranked 25th. Some of that has to do with the players (we’ll get to Ireland in a minute), but it also has to do with coaching and scheme. I am not a fan of Mike Sherman and I know many of you aren’t either (Hi Miami Jules!). I’ve said repeatedly that this offense is constantly ‘Sherminated’ a meme that has been picked up by others in Dolphinsland. Sherman is uncreative and extremely stubborn (see: abandoning the run vs. the Pats in Foxboro).
For all that this coaching staff has done (or failed to do), this team still has a chance at the playoffs. They have to feel at least a little nervous that if they do not guide this team to victory, they could all be out of jobs on Black Monday (the day after the regular season ends). They have to know that they are possibly coaching for their jobs, right? They can change all of that if they beat the Jets on Sunday. I say that because I think either the Ravens will lose or the Chargers will win, which means all the Dolphins have to do is beat Geno ‘Sanchez 2.0’ Smith. (continued on page 2, CLICK HERE)