Game 9 thoughts: Dolphins at Panthers

The numbers are ugly. The defense gave up 548 yards (including 294 on the ground), 30 first downs and 6 TDs. Hell, in the 3rd quarter alone the D allowed 3 TDs and over 200 yards. The offense held the ball for only 24 minutes and scored just 14 points when the game still mattered. A 45-21 ass-kicking on national TV, in a game that might as well have been 100-0 with how one-sided it actually was.

And yet, despite all that, Jay Cutler told us after the game that “The pieces are in that locker room. I truly believe that. I have been around a lot of good teams, there [are] a lot of good guys in there, a lot of talent. And there's really good coaches. So we just have to get back to work.” Andre Branch echoed that sentiment, saying “"We just have to go back to work, and it will be fixed for sure.” Mike Pouncey actually said, “"We're good."

Let’s forget the fact that those three players were all terrible last night, and the 3 combined count almost $25 million toward the cap this season. The big question is, are these guys fucking delusional??? Go “back” to work? I didn’t realize that they had even started working! The way they play on gameday, it looks like they play fucking tiddlywinks during practice.

The fact is, this Miami Dolphins team SUCKS. I’ve seen a lot of bad football in my day – hell, I’m a Dolfan – and I can honestly say that I’ve never seen a worse team. The 4-5 record is an illusion. The team that finished 1-15 in 2007 displayed more heart, guts and fire than this current group of losers ever has. There’s a bunch of overpaid players, like the 3 mentioned above along with Alonso, Suh and Jones, that display zero leadership and get pushed around by their opponents every week.

The offense has no identity at all, they can’t run the ball, the OL is a disaster, the QB refuses to set his feet on the majority of his throws and he’s wildly inconsistent. The D gets pushed around like ragdolls, the LBs and secondary can’t cover anyone, there’s no pass rush. The return game is pretty much non-existent. The coaching staff is unprepared and overmatched every week, and have no solutions.

As for the game, I have two pages of notes but I’m just going to throw them out. No use going through it again. I’m just going to call out a bunch of players on defense that totally shit the bed last night. Reshad Jones has been playing more of a free safety position the past two games, and he’s been flat-out awful in coverage. Xavien Howard can’t cover anyone right now – what a horrible performance by him last night. TJ McDonald hit like a truck but did nothing else (other than dropping an INT). Kiko Alonso played maybe the worst game I’ve ever seen a LB play last night, getting beat in coverage over and over and either getting blocked out or missing tackles in the run game. Timmons was awful in coverage and missed a few tackles. Suh got pushed around and did nothing other than get one pressure. Branch couldn’t do anything right. Charles Harris knocked down one pass, but was otherwise – surprise – invisible. Carolina receivers were wide open all game, and it could have been even uglier if the Panthers didn’t drop at least 5 passes. I don’t know how receivers get so open at the NFL level, but it was painful to watch.

And don’t even get me started on the offense. They played with no sense of urgency at all, wasting tons of time even in the no huddle. Penalties on the OL, passes thrown at receivers’ feet, head-scratching play calls (like attempting to run up the gut on 4th and 1 or trying to push the ball downfield with 40 second left in the half), etc. The OL was letting people through the line all night in the pass and run games. I saw 3 or 4 linemen standing around blocking no one on far too many running plays. UGLY.

Not much else to say. There’s nothing positive to take from this game, at all. It was just a terrible performance in all phases, and it appears that the defense has completely given up. It’s difficult to watch this team – there’s nothing fun or exciting or interesting about it. It just sucks. Sadly, things aren’t going to change any time soon. We’ll continue to stick with the Tannenbaum-Grier-Gase comedy of errors for at least another year because Ross doesn’t know what he’s doing, and they’ll continue to bury this team deeper and deeper.

No heroes this week. Everyone sucked.

Goat of the Game: As bad as all the players were, I’m giving Gase and Burke the award this week. Godawful preparation and coaching all around. Honorable mention to Alonso…I can’t stand watching him…so bad.

So, was Alonso worse THIS week that last week when he gave up , what was it 12 catches? I thought that could not be topped. 

Terrible play calls, you're right. Running straight up the gut on 4th and 1, trying to push the ball 40 or 50 yards up field with 40 seconds left in the half, with Jay Cutler. Jay Cutler?

Suh is stealing money this year. How many times do we have to see him get double-teamed right out of the play? I thought in football, when you double team someone, it leaves another player, one on one and with a chance to make the opponent pay for that double team. Rhetorical question.

I think Cam Wake is done. Hate to say it. Happens to all at some point. Well, maybe tom brady is the exception. Talk about invisible man.

Just shit the bed on National TV, once again.

Perfectly summed up. I'm heading up to NY Thursday to visit my family and do some deer hunting. I'll be in the woods on Sunday all day, and the timing couldn't be better.

Fuck this team.

Oh and Suh had a key offsides on a 3rd and 7 making it a 3rd and 2. Gruden ripped him for it, "highest paid lineman in football". Exactly. And what are we getting for it?

Then again, we can't get off the field on 3rd down anyways to it makes no difference.

I thought Chuuckie was spot on with his commentary last night. He ripped us a new one. Saying we need to challenge the other team downfield more, ripped suh in multiple occasions, and basically just calling us the shitshow that we are.

Some lines from Gruden that I wrote down:

(on Landry) “I’ve never heard of a WR averaging 7 yards a catch.”

(late in the first half) “Where’s the pass rush?”

(during Carolina’s opening drive of the second half) “Miami has bad body language on the sideline.”

Something that upset me to no end was that every time we saw ole Cam Newton, he was just having one hell of a time, laughing, stylin', profilin', shuckin' and jivin'. And guess what? Not ONE of our defenders took offense to this. How bout just knock his ass to the ground, yeah, I don't mind a late hit once in a while (not to injure), but to show, you may be winning, but you are not getting off scott-free. Seemed like the Fins were just peachy while Ole Cam just having the time of his life last night.

Daniel Snyder tried to spend his way to a free agent super team. The Eagles attempted to amass an all-star free agent cast (two of which they later dumped on Miami). The Tannenbaum directed Jets eschewed drafts picks for other teams’ over-priced cast-offs. And now Ross’ team is following in the same footsteps. But there is no reasonable expectation that he will learn his lesson.

How many players in Miami starting base front seven were drafted by Miami? One – Jordan Phillips (and he ain’t that good). First round pick Charles Harris isn’t good enough to crack the starting lineup. Aging Cam Wake was a CFL signing and he rewarded Miami with a stellar career. But right now, five (Suh, Branch, Alonso, Timmons and Maualuga) of those seven are overpaid players that Miami had to buy because things didn’t work out with their own draft picks – those that weren’t traded away, that is.

And this is what free agent based defenses do. They do not play as teams. They play as a mish mash of almost good talent thrown together, but never really playing as one. There is a reason why these five guys are in Miami and were not retained by their previous teams.

Daniel Snyder tried to spend his way to a free agent super team. The Eagles attempted to amass an all-star free agent cast (two of which they later dumped on Miami). The Tannenbaum directed Jets eschewed drafts picks for other teams’ over-priced cast-offs. And now Ross’ team is following in the same footsteps. But there is no reasonable expectation that he will learn his lesson.

How many players in Miami starting base front seven were drafted by Miami? One – Jordan Phillips (and he ain’t that good). First round pick Charles Harris isn’t good enough to crack the starting lineup. Aging Cam Wake was a CFL signing and he rewarded Miami with a stellar career. But right now, five (Suh, Branch, Alonso, Timmons and Maualuga) of those seven are overpaid players that Miami had to buy because things didn’t work out with their own draft picks – those that weren’t traded away, that is.

And this is what free agent based defenses do. They do not play as teams. They play as a mish mash of almost good talent thrown together, but never really playing as one. There is a reason why these five guys are in Miami and were not retained by their previous teams.

Excellent point.

I will offer this counter. The team seemed to successfully resist the big splash FA deals this past offseason. We signed Timmons and Maulaga as essentially short term rentals, instead of building blocks like we have in past years. For example, the long term Suh contract was clearly a building block type move. So was the acquisition of receivers Mike Wallace and Brandon Marshall.

If we can maintain that approach and resist big free agency signings, we will be much better off long term. It looked like we had found a good MLB in the draft until he got hurt. We drafted both starting corners. Alonso was rented and only retained when the coaches saw what he could do and how he could fit in. Don't get me started on how that's working out. But it reinforces the idea that our approach has changed in a plain to see way.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the 2018 offseason. With all the holes and needs, and the rumored "offensive makeover", I don't see how you can do that all through the draft exclusively. I would prefer to see more short term rentals (1 or 2 year deals), with draft picks hopefully developing and taking over starting roles. Mixed with a couple key re-signings when the players match the squad well, done AFTER we've seen them play here - not before - this can work.

white1 wrote:The team seemed to successfully resist the big splash FA deals this past offseason.  

That's actually not true - they signed Timmons to a big 2-year deal (an aging, declining vet) and gave Hayes $4.75 million to be a rotational D-lineman, and they threw tons of money at their own free agents - none of whom were drafted by Miami: Alonso and Branch got huge paydays in response to mediocre 2016 seasons, and Kenny Stills got a huge payday to be the team's #3 receiver. And of course, Julius Thomas and his $6 million contact were added via trade. Damien Williams was handed $1.8 million to be (at the time) the team's rarely-used #2 back, and OL Sam Young was given just under a million to sit on the bench. And of course, we just had to give TJ McDonald a giant contract extension before he even played a single game. And, last but not least, Gase panicked and threw $10 million at Cutler.

Maybe none of those deals was necessarily a "big splash", but that's a ton of money tied up in players that really aren't very good. Definitely not a return on investment.

And, excellent post merc. Spot on.

I never understood the Cutler move. As much as I think Moore stinks, I'd have much rather gone with him and whoever behind him, because the season was toast.

If you can't have your backup start when your QB goes down . . . get rid of him. Why do we keep Matt Moore if we don't want to play him? I mean, if they think he's a loser, why not just have a developmental guy at No. 2? Lose is lose, might as well try to improve a young guy instead of just treading water.

These are really simple concepts that seem so foreign to these guys.

Degarmo wrote:I never understood the Cutler move.  As much as I think Moore stinks, I'd have much rather gone with him and whoever behind him, because the season was toast. 

Gase begged Cutler to un-retire and paid him all that money for one reason and one reason only: because he thought the season would be saved with Cutler. So far - that's a major fail. And it's on Gase.

Degarmo wrote:If you can't have your backup start when your QB goes down . . . get rid of him. Why do we keep Matt Moore if we don't want to play him? I mean, if they think he's a loser, why not just have a developmental guy at No. 2? Lose is lose, might as well try to improve a young guy instead of just treading water.

Why is Moore even on the team? It's pretty clear that Gase doesn't trust him at all.

JMP wrote:

Why is Moore even on the team?  It's pretty clear that Gase doesn't trust him at all.

This is exactly what I want to know. Didn't he bring in Fales "Forward Fast"? Just roll with that schlub.

I see us going w/ Tanny next year, w/ Fales-Doughty and hopefully, a future starter drafted. Holding my breath about drafting a QB that is anything more than PS, clipboard-holder material.

Actually, for where we will be next year, I'm ok w/ Tanny for one more year (most likely his last), provided we draft his replacement.

I think we pick top ten. A QB should be our pick. He should be groomed for the starting role. If he sits behind Tanny, so be it. We need a franchise QB. Tannehill hasn’t shown he’s franchise caliber.

It seemed like Parker had 2-3 defenders around him at all times. If he was double teamed who had single coverage and why weren’t we able to exploit it?

Believe it or not Parker is a legitimate threat because he’s 6’3. They played man under with 2 safeties on top. they rolled the safety coverage to his side. They constantly pressured the A and B gaps to see if Larsen could handle it. Pouncey was discombobulated to the fullest. Tunsil is slowly getting a 5th round grade if we re drafted. By the time Parker was on top of his route Cutler had no chance. Landry is not a superstar. He’s a guy with good hands. He waits for the zone to clear and runs underneath. That’s why he has a lot of receptions.

BTW, i think Landry has fully checked out on the Dolphins. I saw a total different side of this guy that I thought I would never see. All the fire, the passion, the will to win was gone. I saw him drop a crucial pass on 3rd down(his so called specialty) and then just kept running off the field no desire. Then he caught a pass and was cornered by 3 guys and he just non chalantly ran out of bounds. no fight, no trying to get more yardage, just get out of bounds without getting hurt. He won’t be here next year!!!!!! I think this team his a product of the fucked up coaching.

CarsonChris wrote:I think we pick top ten. A QB should be our pick. He should be groomed for the starting role. If he sits behind Tanny, so be it. We need a franchise QB. Tannehill hasn’t shown he’s franchise caliber.

I don't think Gase has any interest in drafting a QB high. He just gave Doughty a raise for some reason, and he clearly loves Fales. I think we roll with Tannehill and Fales/Doughty next year, and ignore QB in the draft. Big mistake, but that's how I see it.

Umix10 wrote:Believe it or not Parker is a legitimate threat because he’s 6’3.  They played man under with 2 safeties on top.  they rolled the safety coverage to his side.  They constantly pressured the A and B gaps to see if Larsen could handle it.  Pouncey was discombobulated to the fullest.  Tunsil is slowly getting a 5th round grade if we re drafted.  By the time Parker was on top of his route Cutler had no chance.  Landry is not a superstar.  He’s a guy with good hands. He waits for the zone to clear and runs underneath.  That’s why he has a lot of receptions.

BTW,  i think Landry has fully checked out on the Dolphins.  I saw a total different side of this guy that I thought I would never see.  All the fire, the passion, the will to win was gone.  I saw him drop a crucial pass on 3rd down(his so called specialty) and then just kept running off the field no desire.  Then he caught a pass and was cornered by 3 guys and he just non chalantly ran out of bounds.  no fight, no trying to get more yardage, just get out of bounds without getting hurt.  He won’t be here next year!!!!!!  I think this team his a product of the fucked up coaching.  

Great post. Landry would be so much better in a real offense. His routes are all short, which totally negates his strengths. He's good after the catch, but if he's catching the ball so close to the line of scrimmage he's only going to get a minimal game most of the time. I think he'd be ideal on intermediate routes where he can have some space to run after the catch. But no...we constantly use him within 3 yards of the line. IT's clear that he's frustrated, and I totally get it - he's wasting away in this garbage offense.

Parker has the size and skills, but I don't think he has the heart. I see a guy that runs lazy routes and is very inconsistent on 50-50 balls. He should be dominating, but that just doesn't happen often enough. I think he's destined to be a solid player, nothing more.

mercury22nathan wrote:And this is what free agent based defenses do.  They do not play as teams.

don't believe me, just ask the coaches.

“To be honest I felt that Monday night and possibly the last couple of weeks there’s been a little disconnect between the different levels of the defense,” Burke said referring to the defensive line, linebackers and secondary.

“I felt it was important for everybody to be in there together and talking it out. I didn’t feel the communication was there. I didn’t feel like the understanding of how the front fits with the linebackers and the coverage on the back end fits with the linebackers and that sort of thing [was right].

“And we need to get it sorted it because I feel we’re not playing together as unit.”

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/armando-salguero/article185011933.html

9 games in and the players still don't understand how the defense is supposed to work.

mercury22nathan wrote:

mercury22nathan wrote:And this is what free agent based defenses do.  They do not play as teams.

don't believe me, just ask the coaches.

“To be honest I felt that Monday night and possibly the last couple of weeks there’s been a little disconnect between the different levels of the defense,” Burke said referring to the defensive line, linebackers and secondary.

“I felt it was important for everybody to be in there together and talking it out. I didn’t feel the communication was there. I didn’t feel like the understanding of how the front fits with the linebackers and the coverage on the back end fits with the linebackers and that sort of thing [was right].

“And we need to get it sorted it because I feel we’re not playing together as unit.”

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/armando-salguero/article185011933.html

9 games in and the players still don't understand how the defense is supposed to work.

So when the defense was "good" early in the year and everyone was praising Burke, were the defenders playing as a unit? And if so, what happened??? It just seems like the coaches on this team are completely clueless when it comes to problem-solving. If anything, I think they are much better at creating problems than solving them. I hear a lot of talk, especially from Gase, but I'm not seeing any solutions or improvements.

I hear from a lot of shitty coaches that the players don't get their brainiac schemes. They're just so fucking smart that no one can make plays in their phi-beta-kappa defensive schemes. These geniuses are never wrong, it's always these shitty players, who then leave and play much better elsewhere.

Yup, it's all these dumbfucks who can't grasp this intricate, DNA-decoding-esque, Hawking-inspired, transitive defense of mental clarity.

"I'm confounded why they can't cover a quick slant when they're 27 yards off the receiver. My scheme calls for them to use their super speed and/or teleportation abilities to get into coverage," Burke said, dipping into Foerster's abandoned stash of self confidence powder.