The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

For me, I think the big weakness is the secondary.  We knew this going into the season, but I don't think anyone expected it to be this bad.

I would like to see Andre Goodman and Chris Crocker benched in favor of Michael Lehan and Jason Allen.  I think these guys are a liability, as Goodman doesn't know how to cover any receiver, and Crocker doesn't know that safeties aren't supposed to let anyone run past them.

I think this would be an instant improvement.

As of the offense, I'd like to see them open it up more, call more balanced run/pass play mix.  I'd like to see them stretch the field more and make teams pay for stacking the box.  Today, the game plan was clearly "run, run, run" as the playcalling was extremely lopsided.  I want to see them trust the WR's more and give guys like Ginn a chance to shut up all the haters.

So, what would YOU do to fix the Dolphins?

(and try to give better answers than "start Henne" or "fire everyone" - let's try to make this a good discussion)

I'll add a few things that you didn't mention...

I mentioned on the radio show,I think the problem with trying to Throw it Deep is Penningtons arm...He has to loft the ball,and have the Reciever run under it..The Ball is in the air a long time...Essentially he's throwing a Jump ball...

How about throwing the Slant more, it's a play That I think the Dolphins have damn near for got how to throw since Marino's been here.(Yeah we tried one to Ginn last week Ginn ran behind the DB)...The Skinny Post...Unfortunately, I'm not sure Pennington is comfotable throwing that....

How about running more screen plays,Move the Pocket....Last week against the Jets, we did it a couple of time.....

Get Fasano involved more..Today Zero Catches,Tried to throw it to him once in the endzone,Got the PI call....(Killed my Fantasy ass!) Yeah we threw it to David Martin,we ought to use Both..and then Go to WR's...

Defensively, Quit throwing kitchen Sink Blitzes,every other play....

Quit Having a LB cover a WR...twice already this year it's happened The Boldin First TD,Was against our LB.....

I'd also like to throw in...I think Our running plays are too Old school sometimes....They take too much time to Develop...Set up the Blocking,and require everyone to be perfect..IMO it seems like one guy gets through....The Play seems to be doomed really quick...

 Fire Cam.  Oh wait

See my criticism of Sparano

We haven't run a fake punt or tried a surprise onside kick in god knows how long.

Let's inject some fire in this team

I agree with Brian and Lil B. These are great points.

While not nearly enough in itself, one thing that is badly needed is TIME.

Rookies on good teams, or at least good units, can excel. Rookies on bad teams, with no support around them, rarely succeed right out of the gate.

On the all-important lines, we need to give Long and Langford time to develop. To get better. To not get frustrated and make stupid penalties. Samson Satele is only in his second year. So is Paul Solai. If Donald Thomas hadn't gotten hurt, he would be on the rookie list as well.

While we're on the subject of penalties... we've had a total of 111 yards of (accepted) penalties in just two games. Our two rookie linemen account for a third of that.

Dolphin Penalties:

Matt Roth: 15 (PF)
Jake Long: 10 (TRIP) + 10 (HOLD)
Andre Goodman: 24 (DPI) + 17 (DPI) + 5 (HOLD)
Reggie Torbor: 5 (RIK)
Kendall Langford: 15 (FACE)
Justin Smiley: 5 (FS)
Other: 5 (12 men)


DPI: Defensive Pass Interference
FACE: Face Mask
FS: False Start
HOLD: Holding
TRIP: Tripping
PF: Personal Foul
RIK: Running Into Kicker

I don't think Jason Allen is going to be seeing the field anytime soon other than special teams.  He had his chance when Chris Crocker got hurt, but the coaches opted for Renaldo Hill instead.  That shows me what the Trifecta thinks of him. 

He was in a lot yesterday.   Frankly I think they have him playing CB, more than safety, but I frankly believe as with Beck he just needs out of Miami to get a fair shake.  He must really be bad in practice, because in the games he is the better player.

Time. 

Seriously.  This team was not designed to win this year.  It is a squad of rookies.  It is built to be competitive in 2010 (maybe a wild card shot 2009)

I still say Miami is on a good track.  You can't go into a war with spoons and that is what this team is doing.

Two blatant needs on this team:  a veteran (or two) wide receiver and bolster the secondary.  Teams are jamming the TE's on the line and stacking upwards of nine in the box to stop the run.  We can't pass, and that is NOT because of Pennington, and we can't stop the pass.  Pass rush is also a slight weakness but not as glaring as pass defense.

I've been thinking about this for a while and my main question is WHEN do you pull the trigger?

Should the Trifecta already have spent the FA money and brought someone in before the season?

Do you realize that there's a critical problem that your young players cannot overcome and work out a trade NOW?

Do you wait until next season? Before or after the draft?

Do you give your NEXT draft time to work itself out a little bit (i.e. a year), just to see what holes really need filling?

I'm honestly not sure. I really want to say "wait", but there's a psychological aspect that cannot be ignored. If players "give up" or become frustrated, it's much harder to tell what positions you actually need to improve; all players look like crap when they're not trying. I'm also not convinced players will learn as much if they're frustrated and not seeing ANY results on the field.

With the massive roster turnover, I'm actually quite curious as to what our salary cap situation is like. Not just right now, but what kind of (cap) money is owed in the next couple of years. The uncapped 2010 season is a wild card...

For reference, really good skill position players are about $10 million a year these days.

Good points, but don't count on an uncapped 2010 season.  Most of the owners don't want that, so I'm sure they'll make a deal before then. 

I don't know that it's possible to return from that particular brink... the uncapped year is worked into a lot of contracts... and several teams would be crippled cap-wise if the uncapped year DIDN'T happen.

2011 is a different story altogether. 2010 is uncapped, but rules laid out by the CBA are in effect. In 2011, nothing like that is the case, so definitely a deal will get done to cover 2011 onward. I'm just not sure if 2010 can be un-uncapped...

We've got a coach that said we have strong depth at defensive backs and wide receivers. He even said our DBs are one of our strengths.  :o  I certainly am not calling for his head but I'm predicting with talent evaluations like this ...  people will be on his and Ireland's back before the season ends.

According to this weeks Dolphin Digest, we have 27 new faces from the new regime, 10 from last year, and 17 from the previous 4 years. That means at least half the team should be = or better than it was.  With observations like I posted above  ... you have to wonder what they are looking at.  :o     

Oh absolutely it can.  2010 is uncapped because a deal is not in place.  That's all.  I'm glad to see the new owner, Ross has deeper pockets than HuiPINGA, in case there is an uncapped situation. 

Unfortunately there is not much that can be done to fix the team this year. 

The offense is what it is and I expect gradual improvement from week to week as the line solidifies and the running backs get up to speed.  The receivers are under an evaluation process and so far Camarillo is the only standout (not to be confused with #1 receiver).  Bess could be included if you count his kick return performance.  Our #1 will probably be invisable all year because they aren't really #1 receivers.  Tight ends look up to speed and the quarterback situation may improve a little as blocking and running improve.

Offensive summary...  Offense will only improve at a slow pace due to youth and personel limitations.  The scheme is not the issue.  The coaching is not the issue.  Time in the scheme and personel is the issue.  At least Henne is showing good stuff to give hope for the future.

Special Teams is on par with the league.  They just need to work out some of the mistakes that are penalty related.  These mistakes are not necessary but tend to come with young players and new coaching staffs.  The kickers are young and we are stuck with them (like them or not).  I wouldn't be surprised if we had a new punter next year but that means very little for this year.  I really don't think it would make much of a difference having Ginn return instead of Bess. 

Special Teams summary... Nothing can be done except a coaching change and more time solidifying.  We do not have a magic return man in Ginn (not saying he is bad).

The defense has as much of a scheme issue and coaching issue as a personel issue.  I think Jason Allen is better at playing the ball than Crocker, so I would play him more.  If we get behind in a game, I would find a way to get Jason to do little but find a way to watch the QB and try to come up with an INT.  We give up big plays no matter what so we might as well look for a few picks and take some chances with our safeties.

Ultimately we rush the passer too much and our front gets caught out of possition on run plays.  I think we would be better against the run without blitzing.  Our secondary has to watch the backfield too much with the way we are currently setup which hampers their play.  Crowder is not a good pass rusher, so I would give up on that.  I would send more corner and safety blitzes instead, to mix up where the rush is coming from.  Porter has become a liability, so I would play Torbor and Ayodelle (sp?) more and limit Porter's time on the field.  Maybe this would piss Porter off, which he seems to play better angry. 

Defense summary...  Less linebacker rushing, occasional backside rushing from safeties and corners, play J. Allen and hope for picks, play Porter less.  Take chances in hopes of creating turnovers.  This is the only area of our team that has a legit chance of change in the short term but is still severely hampered by lack of size and talent in the backfield.

Next offseason, we need to get bigger and stronger in the D-backfield.  We need to ditch Porter as soon as possible if he doesn't start playing better in the next few games.  We need at least two relevant star players, preferably at least one at WR and another on defense (preferably linebacker).  Crowder is servicable and can stay, but we need someone with better instincts to lead the linebacking core.

In the end, don't expect much till 2010 or later.  This team is not ahead of schedule on its progress.

Wipe out the defensive backfield ,or we'll have to watch the guys chase recievers into the end zone all year! This, by default ,will make the d-line better and by getting some 3-and outs the defence will get better . They're too small and too slow to do much good.
On the offensive side , toss Pennington on the trash heap where he belongs!
Slow footed , slow to release , cannot make the deep throw (rag arm) .
Opposing defenses can pack it in against the run and it shows. Making some throws ,DEEP will spread things out. 
Schematically, going vertical and airing it out will keep things less bad ; if nothing else a 12-yard square in or curl route will get the linebackers to back off some .\
My2c

Fixing the Dolphins is easy... Just take a little duct tape, and seal the pie-holes of all the impatient bitches who want to win now AND completely rebuild all at the same time.

Voilla! Fixed...

Seriously. What did people expect from this season? If they carry this same outlook around their personal lives they must be absolutely miserable.

I don't see the phins that far away...One stud WR....get rid of Goodman and Crocker pronto...One impact LB....let the OL gel with time...that's all we need IMO....So we're looking at 1 WR, 1 CB, 1 FS, and 1 LB to improve by next year....Henne will be ready by then and BAM...back on top  :)

We need at least two stud WR's and two stud DB's. 

You're absolutely right. We'll just get Anquan Boldin, Rashean Mathis, Troy Polamalu and DeMarcus Ware... and then we're set ;)

Seriously, a top player at EVERY major position off the lines is what we're looking for. We may have one in Henne, but other than that, all we have is a pair of running backs coming off season-ending injuries (and not getting any younger). Even if we got 2 top players in every draft, that's 2-3 more drafts.

If we really want to be "back on top" (whatever that means), we really need some depth as well. Right now, we've got squat. Those 2-3 drafts really need to go EXTREMELY well to get not only the top players we need, but also the backups.

Basically, that's saying we're 2-3 years away if everything works out perfectly. If that's what you mean by not "that far away", then we're in agreement.

I don't know what your all complaining about. Its in the bag..........we are gonna win this sunday.   :|

You mean a draft like we had this year?  Seriously...Will Allen is a good #2 corner...We keep him around and get a stud next year in free agency or the draft...I think Jason Allen is our answer at FS but apparently the trifecta doesn't think so...Bell is solid until we get a younger replacement a couple years down the road...We only need one impact WR so guys like Camerillo and Bess (maybe even *gasp* Ginn?) can step it up as a #2 and #3...I think our front 7 is pretty solid, but looks bad because of a crappy secondary, but we could use another impact LB...I think Brown will get back to form...I just seeing us improving drastically by next season, hell even by the end of this season maybe...I know it seems like a lot of wishing that guys will pan out, but I have to counteract all the people saying every player we have is a bust just because they aren't producing right now...other side of the coin guys.  I'm still sticking with 10-6 this year ;D

What has me doubting any sudden improvement on offense is that our two worst linemen are veterans (Smiley and Ndukwe). Not OLD veterans by any means, but it's not like they are rookies either. Ndukwe has been in the league since 2005 and Smiley since 2004. I have slightly more confidence in Ndukwes ability to improve, just because he's the more inexperienced player, so maybe there's a better chance of a something just "clicking" for him.

Either way, we can scheme around one weakness on the line, but not two. Maybe Sparano, an old o-line coach, can figure out a way to expose them less, I don't know, but without improvement on the line, our offense isn't going to get better.

 


QFT...........But one thing that would help alot is if we had a receiver or two that would help stretch the field a bit. They know whats coming almost every play. And why doesn't Chad ever line up in the shotgun? Play action fake somemore? If we don't get some respect for the passing game our running game will never take off either. As it is I think our running backs and tight ends are our best receivers......... ::) :|