So Apparently...

The O-line still has no depth and sucks, Raekwon McMillan really was needed to keep the special teams from being the league's worst, and the Ravens still make this team their prison bitches even in preseason. Oh well, at least nobody got hurt for once.

Feh.

Glad I didn't watch the second half and let's not over react to a pre season game. The biggest thing that stuck out to me was Cutler's pocket presence. Amazing how pocket presence can make up for poor OL performance. This just reaffirms my belief that for Tannehill to win the OL will have to be top 5.

I haven't watched the game yet, but NFLN showed extensive highlights. It looked bad...really bad. Cutler was rusty, the OL was worse than ever, and STs were downright disgusting. It looked like the D made some plays (including a nice INT by Howard and 2 forced fumbles by Maxwell) but the LB unit continues to look outmatched.

Just like week one, there's really not much to take from this game. It seems like Gase really doesn't give a damn about preseason. But it is disturbing to see how poorly the team has looked for two consecutive weeks, and the depth across the board looks just as weak as ever. Oddly enough, I think the D will have to carry the Phins, at least early in the season.

JMP wrote:I haven't watched the game yet, but NFLN showed extensive highlights. It looked bad...really bad. Cutler was rusty, the OL was worse than ever, and STs were downright disgusting. It looked like the D made some plays (including a nice INT by Howard and 2 forced fumbles by Maxwell) but the LB unit continues to look outmatched.

Just like week one, there's really not much to take from this game. It seems like Gase really doesn't give a damn about preseason. But it is disturbing to see how poorly the team has looked for two consecutive weeks, and the depth across the board looks just as weak as ever. Oddly enough, I think the D will have to carry the Phins, at least early in the season.

Considering Cutler was under duress on every throw I was very encouraged. On the other hand I though Matt Moore looked awful. It just blows my mind Greg Cote wrote a piece this morning calling for an open QB competition.

Well, like Dave Hyde said in his latest article, Cutler is a "professional" QB. He's done it all, seen it all and he knows what he's doing. So I think some of the things you pointed out - strong arm, movement in the pocket, etc. - are a result of that experience.

On the other side, despite all the games he's started, Tannehill is still 'wet behind the ears' and he's still learning - partly because he didn't play much QB in college, and partly becuase of crappy coaching for most of his NFL career. So I think we will absolutely see Cutler doing some things better than Tannehill did. Pocket presence is the most glaring difference, IMO. Frankly, Tannehill doesn't know how to feel pressure and his footwork gets awkward at times when he's under pressure. Cutler is much smoother in that regard.

But overall, Cutler is what he is and he's reached his ceiling - we know what to expect: there's going to be some good and some bad (and some REALLY bad), and it will all add up to 6 or 8 wins. Keep in mind that in Cutler's so-called "best season", the Bears won just 6 games. With Tannehill, he hasn't reached his ceiling (and he may never reach it), so at least the potential is there to be better than average.

All that said, it does appear that Cutler was the best available QB option. I'm excited to see what he can do for DeVante Parker's development.