2017 Phins epitaph

Dave Hyde at the Sun Sentinel wrote a piece on what went wrong with the Phins in 2017.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-dolphins/fl-sp-hyde-dolphins-problems-20180102-story.html

a few highlights...

Lack of football IQ. Undisciplined?  They ranked 31st in penalties.  They tied for third-worst with a minus-14 turnover margin.

this is lack of preparation and focus.  i put that squarely on the coaches, but then again who has time to prepare their players when you're busy snorting coke on your desk or ignoring half your football team while devising new and inventive bubble screens.

The Dolphins brass thinks if Tannehill was healthy this year, they would have made the playoffs.

yes, that's right, everything is fine.  as soon as Tannehill gets back this team will return to the powerhouse juggernaut that backed into the playoffs in 2016 and was promptly eliminated.

DeVante Parker and Laremy Tunsil flopped. Throw in tight end Julius Thomas, if you want, to illustrate the offense’s problems. But Parker and Tunsil are first-round draft investments. Parker had one touchdown, no 100-yard games and a deflating 11.8-yards a catch this year. Tunsil had nine pre-snap penalties and a fifth-most 12 penalties in the league on top of meh play. The larger issue: Throw in Ja’Wuan James not being missed when Sam Young played right tackle and the Dolphins got the minimum from their top picks in 2014, 2015 and 2016. With 2012 top pick Dion Jordan in Seattle, this spotlights the forever issue in this franchise.

this one i had to include in its entirety.  i think it speaks for itself.

Something’s wrong inside this locker room. ...coach Chris “cocaine platter” Foerster or linebacker Lawrence Timmons going AWOL. When Jay Ajayi got traded, several players said they were unhappy he was traded but happy he was in a better spot. Huh? Landry’s emotional outbursts were a sore issue inside the team. Even veterans such as Kenny Stills and Mike Pouncey criticized him...

this is what happens when you build your team with high-priced free agents:  there are no leaders to keep shit in check.

The point on Parker and Tunsil really resonated with me. These are high-end first round draft choices, and we could go ahead and add Charles Harris to that same list.

None of them are giving us what we need, which are blue-chip athletes that can't be found in free agency. Players that consistently deliver, and players that opposing teams have to plan for when facing the Fins.

If our first round picks continue to turn out to be average, or worse, we are never going to improve the talent on this roster. Period.

I don't see Tannehill fixing the team but there will be a different attitude for sure. Cutler is not a motivator and all he did was sit on the side line and didn't pump up the team nor a motivational speech. You have to have a leader with the coach to keep the team going and Miami didn't have one of those this year.

If Tannehill is healthy, they make the playoffs???

Tannehill alone is worth 4 wins? Seriously?

How many times can you point to any one player and say he singlehandedly won 25% of the team's games? Even a Marino??

Delusional. No other way to put it. Gase is headed to the same place Sparano ended up at. Unfortunately, it likely isn't going to happen until 2019.

If Tannehill is healthy, they make the playoffs???

Tannehill alone is worth 4 wins? Seriously?

How many times can you point to any one player and say he singlehandedly won 25% of the team's games? Even a Marino??

Delusional. No other way to put it. Gase is headed to the same place Sparano ended up at. Unfortunately, it likely isn't going to happen until 2019.

Totally agree. Did someone miss the fact that our defense TOTALLY SUCKED this year? Every QB we faced put up historical passer rating numbers against us, all season.

Even if by some twisted magic we made the playoffs, another first round drubbing featuring the opposing offense moving up and down the field was all but inevitable.

Ridiculous assertion.

Hyde had an article within the last week or two about how every move the Phins made last offseason failed or at least didn't work as hoped. Until that changes, we're screwed. And why would anyone think Tannenbaum is suddenly going to become a genius?

Tannehill is not the savior of this team. Why does everyone continually measure a career statistical season as on the upside of getting better. Before he got hurt he had 19 tD’s and 12 INT’s. How does that equate to upside? How does a 93.5 passer rating equate to upside? I just don’t see how this leads everyone to believe that we would be in the playoffs. We had a weak schedule last year and a tough schedule this year. Just curious but how does his statistics on a weak schedule translate to a tougher schedule? Tannehill has been sacked more than any QB since he entered the league, he holds the ball too long!!!!!! How does that translate to better offense?

I am actually impressed with Jay Cutler in the fact that he was such a pussy that he threw the ball away in obvious sack situations!!!!!

Umix10 wrote:I am actually impressed with Jay Cutler in the fact that he was such a pussy that he threw the ball away in obvious sack situations!!!!!

There's your "why Jay Cutler belongs in the HoF" argument.