Category: Opinion

How good was Ryan Tannehill’s rookie season with the Dolphins?

Jan. 07 Opinion 3 comments

The Miami Dolphins are in full offseason mode….meaning, just like the rest of us, the Dolphins are at home watching the playoffs.  Unfortunately, for the 4th straight season, the Miami Dolphins missed the playoffs.  By doing so, the Dolphins also extended their winless streak in the postseason to 12 years.  Yes Dolphins fans, that playoff win in January of 2001 over the Colts was the last time the Dolphins won a playoff game.  It seems like even longer than that, doesn’t it?  The Dolphins know they need to change things and change them fast if they want to get a crack at breaking that streak.  They’re hoping the moves made in 2012 and the moves they will make this offseason, will get them there quickly.

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

The fast track to ending that playoff drought will be for Ryan Tannehill to take the next step in his development into a franchise quarterback.  We’re going to start our reflections on the 2012 season with the most important position on the football field, quarterback.  This year, Ryan Tannehill won the starting job against Matt Moore, after David Garrard was lost for the season with a knee injury.  All Tannehill did was start all 16 games for the Dolphins and lead the team to a 7-9 record.  Comparing Tannehill’s 2012 to Andrew Luck, RG3, or Russell Wilson, is fair, although the argument can be made that each of those QBs had more help from their teammates.  All 3 of those QBs made the playoffs this season and one of them is still playing on divisional weekend.

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Dolphins are who we thought they were

Jan. 02 Opinion 1 comment

The Miami Dolphins just completed their 4th straight losing season.  Disappointing?  Yes.  Unexpected? No.  The Dolphins season was disappointing to all of us that love the team.  BUT, it’s hard to say that the 7-9 campaign was all that unexpected.  After all, the Dolphins were coming off of a 6-10 season last year, brought in a rookie head coach and started a rookie quarterback for 16 games.  So should we be surprised that the Dolphins once again fell short of the .500 mark?

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

Before the season started, many ‘experts’ predicted that the Dolphins would take a step back and finish with 4 or 5 wins.  They surpassed those low expectations, but ultimately fell short of making the postseason once again.  Before the season began, we ran through every Dolphins game in this post and came out with a 7-9 record, finishing 2-4 in the AFC East.  That’s exactly how the Dolphins finished the season….I wish we were wrong with those predictions!

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How realistic are the Dolphins chances of making the playoffs?

Dec. 20 Opinion 2 comments

The Miami Dolphins are still alive in the race for the final playoff spot in the AFC.  Before the 2012 season, starting a rookie quarterback, with a rookie head coach, did you think we’d be saying that in week 16 of the season?  It’s even crazier when you think that the Dolphins could be a game or 2 better if they hadn’t let overtime games slip away to the Cardinals and Jets.  The fact that the Dolphins are still on the playoff map at 6-8 comes from a deficiency in the AFC, not their solid play.

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

The Dolphins players don’t really want to talk about the playoffs because there are a lot of pieces that need to fall into place before they get there.  A number of those pieces could fall into place this week.  Before we get into how realistic the Dolphins chances of making the playoffs are, let’s look at what needs to happen for them to earn the 6th and final AFC playoff spot:

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Dolphins should use Lamar Miller as feature back for rest of season

Dec. 12 Opinion 6 comments

The Miami Dolphins 2012 season is all over but the crying….actually, there’s already been a little crying.  However, the Dolphins still have a lot to sort out in the remaining 3 games of the season.  Which of their own free agents should they resign this offseason?  Should the Dolphins bring back Reggie Bush or can Lamar Miller be an every down back?  Can Jonathan Martin handle left tackle or do the Dolphins need to start talking to Jake Long about a new contract?  Although the Dolphins are still mathematically alive for the playoffs, the rest of the season should be used for Joe Philbin to evaluate what he has on the roster.

Offensive Huddle

Outside of the Jonathan Martin/Jake Long question posted above, I think the next most important decision will come in the Dolphins backfield.  Reggie Bush is set to become a free agent this offseason.  He’ll probably command about $3-4 million per season on the free market (if not more).  However, the Dolphins have drafted running backs in each of the last 2 drafts.  The Dolphins used a 2nd round pick on Daniel Thomas in 2011 and a 4th round pick on Lamar Miller in 2012.  (cont’d on page 2, click below)

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Anger will turn to apathy if Dolphins aren’t fixed quickly

Dec. 11 Opinion 4 comments

The Miami Dolphins are one loss away from finishing the season with a losing record for the 4th straight season.  In case you were wondering, the Dolphins haven’t had a stretch like that since they were an expansion franchise in the 1960′s.  That means the Dolphins haven’t been THIS bad for THIS long in almost 50 years.   It’s sad that the only undefeated franchise in NFL history, is in such a state of middling mediocrity.

The franchise has only played in 1 playoff game in the last 10 years….and they lost…..and they were in the playoffs that season, in large part, because Tom Brady was out for the year….and the Dolphins happened to play the weakest schedule in the NFL that season.  Take nothing away from them that year, the Dolphins won their games and went 11-5, we all celebrated and hoped that better times were ahead.  That was 4 years ago.  Since then, the team has gone 7-9, 7-9, 6-10, and 5-8….or to say it another way, they’ve barely won 40% of their games.  If I were the owner of the team, I’d view that as unacceptable.

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

The problem is that the Dolphins fan base is being so turned off by this team that their anger has started to shift towards apathy.  That’s not good when you’re in the business of selling stuff.  And make no mistake, despite not being blacked out yet, the Dolphins are hemorrhaging tickets.  I expect the next two games at Sun Life to be pretty empty.  They may be on TV because the Dolphins could buy up remaining tickets.  But, the Jaguars and the Bills don’t exactly draw a ton of fans down to Miami…especially when both of those teams are terrible.

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Facts show that Jeff Ireland hasn’t done a good enough job

Dec. 04 Opinion 19 comments

The Miami Dolphins loss on Sunday has been seen by some as a moral victory.  Unfortunately, the only thing left for the Dolphins may be moral victories this season.  The Dolphins battled the Patriots the entire game, but ultimately fell short of winning.  Sadly, now that we know this season will end like the 3 before it, the Dolphins have fallen short of making the playoffs for four years in a row.  Since the start of the 2009 season, the Dolphins are 25-35 and barring a 3-1 finish, they’ll finish below .500 for the 4th season in a row.

There has been A LOT of arguing between Dolphins fans about the job that Jeff Ireland has done in Miami.  But let’s face it, we are ALL Dolphins fans and we are arguing because we love this football team and want them to win Super Bowls, right?  We want them to be competitive on a yearly basis.  So please, read the rest of this post knowing that we are all on the same ‘team’ here and we all want what is best for the franchise we love.

I’m writing this, knowing full well that it won’t make me any friends over at Davie.  I will say that the Dolphins are a first class organization even though their public relations with fans can sometimes leave a bit to be desired.  No one at Dolphins headquarters is trying to lose, they want to win as badly as us.  How do I know that?   Simple: Winning sells tickets.  And right now, the Dolphins are SEVERELY hurting in the ticket sales area.  It is in the organization’s best interest to put a winning product on the field.  It makes the fans happy, which in turn sells more tickets, merchandise, and orange carpets (sorry, couldn’t help myself).

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Dolphins Drinking Game for today’s game vs. Pats

Dec. 02 Opinion 2 comments

The Miami Dolphins welcome in the New England Patriots today and the odds-makers aren’t giving the Dolphins much of a chance.  Even though the Dolphins are at home, they are underdogs by 9 points….and they probably should be considering how dominant the Patriots have looked recently.  I don’t know about you, but when the Dolphins are playing a tough opponent, I usually need to grab an ice cold beer (or 4) to help ease the pain.

I’m guessing many of you are in the same boat.  You know, the Dolphins turn the ball over in the 1st quarter and fall behind early….so you reach for a beer or cocktail to help you forget what really happened by the time the game is over…right?  I am by no means endorsing alcohol abuse, just stating what I’m pretty sure is the case for many of you out there.

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What’s wrong with the Miami Dolphins?

Nov. 19 Opinion no comments

The Miami Dolphins are currently riding a 3 game losing streak that has made their hopes of the playoffs as likely as me finally getting that date with Mila Kunis.  It’s not impossible, but it’s not going to happy for our Dolphins.  The Dolphins season got off to a rocky 1-3 start and then the team rebounded to win 3 straight games to improve to 4-3.  Unfortunately, they couldn’t sustain that solid play, even against teams that were beatable.  The Dolphins 3 game losing streak has come against the Colts (6-4), Titans (4-6), and Bills (4-6).  Those are games that playoff teams win, but the Dolphins didn’t.

So the question that everyone is asking is: What is wrong with the Miami Dolphins?  How could a team that looked so good against the Bengals, Raiders, Jets, and Rams, look so bad in their last 3 games?  We’ll look at a few of the factors that have lead the Dolphins to their 4-6 record, which leaves them 2 games back in the Wild Card race with a tough schedule coming up.

Not winning the line of scrimmage:  Earlier this season, the Dolphins had the best run stuffing defense in the league.  Now, they are giving up chunks of yardage to opposing running backs.  The Dolphins had their streak of 20+ games without allowing a 100 yard rusher, snapped against the Titans.  The Dolphins are not winning the line of scrimmage on defense.

The offensive line isn’t doing any better.  The Dolphins are not creating holes for their running backs, which has lead to Reggie Bush averaging just 3.1 yards per carry in his last 5 games.  This, after Bush was averaging 5.5 yards per game in the first 5 games of the season.  If you’ve watched the games, you also know that the offensive line isn’t doing Ryan Tannehill any favors either.  Tannehill is getting hit way too much and is going to get hurt if it keeps up.  Losing at the line of scrimmage has cost the Dolphins yards, points, and games.  It’s hard to pinpoint a reason for the dismal line play on both sides, because the Dolphins really haven’t had many injuries at all on either side of the  line.  (cont’d on page 2, click below)

Dolphins Web Weekend gives fans a behind the scenes look

Nov. 09 Opinion no comments

The Miami Dolphins are trying to build a consistently winning football team. While doing so, the Dolphins are making strong efforts to reach out to fans.  This weekend we’ll be attending the Dolphins 9th Annual Web Weekend.  Web Weekend is a special weekend when the Dolphins invite down a small group of owners of Dolphins blogs.  This will be our first Web Weekend and we can’t wait to take part!

We’ll be live blogging from the event, giving you pictures, videos, and stories from behind the scenes and on the field of Sunday’s game.  Here’s a look at our itinerary  for the weekend in Miami:

Friday – Welcome dinner/social

Saturday – Special Teams charity event, packing boxes for American Troops overseas.  After the charity event, we’ll head to the Dolphins training facility for a full tour.  Following the tour, we’ll head to dinner where we’ll hear from Dolphins speakers.

Sunday – Dolphins Bloggers tailgate, on the field for warmups, and finally the Dolphins/Titans game

We’re very excited to take part in this year’s Web Weekend and would like to thank the Dolphins for the invitation.   Check back often for updates on PhinNation.com.  You can also follow us on Twitter (@PhinNation) and on Facebook for up to the second updates, pictures, and videos.

Dolphins midseason grades reveal some positives

Nov. 08 Opinion no comments

The Miami Dolphins are halfway through the 2012 season and man, did it fly by!  The Dolphins are in a rebuilding year, though they won’t admit it.  Some areas of the team are a little ahead of schedule, while others are disappointing to Dolphins fans.  On Tuesday, we asked you to vote and let us know what your grades were.  We’ve counted all of the hanging chads and below we’ll give you our grades along with the PhinNation reader grades for comparison.

Governer Romney/President Obama

This is clearly and unscientific poll, but we were surprised to see that Mitt Romney won our informal poll.  He earned 52% of our readers votes compared to Mr. Obama’s 48%.  Obviously, we all know that Mr. Obama won the election and it appears he will ultimately win Florida.  Interesting.

Ryan Tannehill (PhinNation Readers – B, PhinNation Staff – B)

PhinNation readers gave the Dolphins rookie quarterback a B (70% of the vote).  He also received an A from 25% of our readers.  We believe that Tannehill has done some good things, but at times looks like a rookie, which is to be expected.  Currently Tannehill has more interceptions than touchdowns, but we suspect that will change by the end of the season.  After a rough start to the season, Tannehill has posted QB ratings of 86 and higher the last 4 games.  He’s shown the type of potential and improvement that lead us all to believe that he is the franchise QB we’ve been waiting for in Miami for a long time.  Tannehill has also shown excellent toughness. He is getting abused behind an offensive line that is suspect and yet he continues to get up after vicious hits.  This kid should only continue to get better.

Dolphins Offensive Line (PhinNation Readers – C, PhinNation Staff – C)

Once again, the PhinNation faithful agree with our grade, giving the Dolphins offensive line a C with 52% of the vote.  Surprisingly, 41% of you thought they deserved a B.  We believe a B might be too high because the line has struggled of late.  The Dolphins once potent running game has been slowed to a halt and Ryan Tannehill gets hit on a regular basis on passing plays.

Dolphins Running Backs (PhinNation Readers – B, PhinNation Staff – C)

We finally disagree, but not by much!  48% of you think the Dolphins running backs deserve a B, while 45% of you believe they deserve a C.  Early on, we thought the running game was awesome, but they have struggled since Reggie Bush injured his knee against the Jets. Reggie is still running pretty well, but he is dancing behind the line, which is leading to negative plays.  Daniel Thomas has been effective, but not that exciting.  We’d love to see more of Lamar Miller, but he’ll only get on the field if he fully understands the playbook and improves his pass blocking.

Dolphins Wide Receivers/Tight Ends (PhinNation Readers – C, PhinNation Staff – C)

Again we agree!  We were tempted to give the Dolphins WRs/TEs a D, but there have been some bright spots.  47% of you thought a C grade was appropriate, while 37% of you thought a B was appropriate.  We think a B is too generous.

Brian Hartline has played better than expected and Davone Bess remains a 1st down making machine.  The problem is the Dolphins have gotten very little out of any other receivers and their tight ends.  Anthony Fasano has been very good in some games, but disappears in others.  Charles Clay made a nice catch and run for a touchdown on Sunday, but that was his only catch.  The Dolphins need their WRs/TEs to help Ryan Tannehill more.  (cont’d on page 2, click below)