QB Chad Pennington to start vs. Titans

[Brian Fein]

^^ that is a product of playcalling though.   I agree it looks bad but if you watch games, he can only throw the ball.  He can't catch it too.  How many times is the route cut short?  Or guys drop balls in the end zone?  I can think of a lot off the top of my head.  Can you honestly tell me that you are completely happy with the way the offense has been run in the red zone this season?  The Dolphins have only scored 11 offensive TD's this season, and 8 of them are Henne's.

11 TD's in 8 games.

Something else is wrong here, and its not the guy throwing the ball.

[Kid Dynamite]

I never understood what in hell Sporano was doing with Henne.

The guy has a gun and a receiver in Marshall yet they wont let him air it out. They basically hand cuffed the guy and took away his best asset... They are giving up on this kid without letting him do what he does best. Maybe he sucks but at least let him try.

We know what we are getting with Pennington which isnt a bad thing but if they werent willing to give Henne a chance then why not start Pennington from the beginning.

[Spider-Dan]

On a side note:

I guess this puts an end to the Sanchez vs. Henne debate.

[dolfan13]

i never quite got that one, guess more so because of the rivalry...

but the comparison really should be henne v ryan/flacco because phins had the pick of the litter that draft with the first pick.

[MikeO]

The Titans will kill Pennington and Miami on Sunday. They will load the middle of the field cause PEnnington can't throw outside the numbers. They will blitz a ton, they know we can't throw it deep.

It's gonna be ugly.

[Cathal]

The best thing to hope for is Pennington getting hurt on the first drive, and Henne gets back in there. I don't want Penny hurt because I like the guy, but it's stupid to replace Henne with him.

[fyo]

One thing we're going to be sorely missing now is Camarillo. No one could catch a hitch / curl while getting absolutely drilled from behind like him.

[Philly Fin Fan]

I had an absurd thought last night. I haven't seen Sparano's press conference or read anything other than a line or two. Did he say that Pennington will be the QB going forward? Or that he will start Sunday?

The only reason I ask is that if you look at the Fins schedule, they play the Titans Sunday, and then on 3 days prep time, play the Bears on Thursday night. I was discussing with Brian that maybe he is splitting the two starts so that Henne doesn't get hammered against the Titans and then can't play against the Bears?

Wishful thinking on my part, trying to make some sense of this idiotic move....

[fyo]

I had an absurd thought last night. I haven't seen Sparano's press conference or read anything other than a line or two. Did he say that Pennington will be the QB going forward? Or that he will start Sunday?

The only reason I ask is that if you look at the Fins schedule, they play the Titans Sunday, and then on 3 days prep time, play the Bears on Thursday night. I was discussing with Brian that maybe he is splitting the two starts so that Henne doesn't get hammered against the Titans and then can't play against the Bears?

Wishful thinking on my part, trying to make some sense of this idiotic move....

Henne and Pennington's reaction, followed by the original statement by Sparano:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9XGXanO4kU

"Coach said we needed a new spark", Henne.

"What I've decided to do here as we move forward right now is that this week Chad Pennington will be the quarterback", Sparano.

"It's not an indictment on [sic] Chad Henne. This is not an indictment on [sic] his future. At all", Sparano.

[Tenshot13]

I was just thinking, Marshall could end up with over 200 catches with Penny at the helm...at about 1.7 yds per catch.

[Pappy13]

they are just saying that henne isn't any good, unlikely to develop any further, pennington at this point is better

I don't think they are saying that at all.

I don't believe that Pennington IS better.  Sparano isn't even saying that Pennington is better.  In Sparano's words, they "need a spark" and he is hoping, nay PRAYING that Pennington will give them that.  Sparano doesn't know if Pennington will fare any better than Henne, but he's making this change in a desperate attempt to spark the offense.

And even if Pennington outperforms Henne, Pennington is NOT the future.  He's a stop gap at best.  Even if he plays well enough to get us into the playoffs is there anyone on these boards that truly believes Pennington can bring this team a championship? (Besides Tepop).  I surely don't.  And beyond that, by his own admission his days in the NFL are numbered, so why put an aging QB in charge of a young and improving team?  It doesn't make any sense.

The smart thing to do would have been to continue on with Henne and see if he could pull it together in the second half of the season.  The second half of the season that contains cannon fodder like Detroit, Buffalo, Chicago, Oakland and Cleveland.  Teams where Henne would have had a chance to gain some confidence and maybe be a little less hesitant to go down the field and maybe end up being the QB we all want him to be.  And if not, THEN you would be completely justified in benching him and starting the search for the next QB.  That would be the SMART thing to do, but that wouldn't have helped Sparano hold onto his job unless Henne suceeded.  If he failed, then Sparano would probably be tossed with Henne.  He can say that this is what's best for the team, the reality is this is what is best for Sparano.

What Sparano did was sacrifice the future for the present.  He feels the season is still in question.  That the team could still make the playoffs.  I agree the team could still make the playoffs, but the fact is if they make the playoffs with Pennington as the QB, they will have accomplished NOTHING.  This team needed HENNE to take the team to the playoffs for it to have been a successful year.  Anything short of that, including a playoff trip with Pennington at the helm is a waste of time and energy.

That's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

[Spider-Dan]

i never quite got that one, guess more so because of the rivalry...

but the comparison really should be henne v ryan/flacco because phins had the pick of the litter that draft with the first pick.

If the comparison is Jake Long vs. Ryan/Flacco, I will take Long all day... um... long.

No one is second-guessing the Long pick.

[masterfins]

I can see Pennington winning games for us.  I have said that for a while.  But then what?   That's my concern.

I don't think Henne has even been playing poorly.  Maybe they're just trying to give a different look.

AGREED.  How do you now, as the coach, bring Henne back in the future??  What do you say is your reson for bringing Henne back after you benched him??  If Henne was tentative on throws before, how's he going to perform now that he knows the coach doesn't have confidence in him??

Hate to say it but someone's going to be left without a chair come the end of the season.

[masterfins]

Sparano is trying to SAVE HIS JOB with this move. 

I'm going to hate myself for saying this, but I agree with MikeO...UGH.  Probably also trying to protect Henning after Marshall called them out.

[MaineDolFan]

Pennington will be fine.  Unlike MikeO, who always seems to be running around screaming "the sky is falling, the sky is falling", I like to actually see things play out before I declare failure.