Ryan Tannehill to start the season as the number 1 QB

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

Someone needs to explain that to Joe Philbin then. I think he considered the preseason games a valuable tool in the evaluation process. Moore didn't exactly impress in practice either.

Of course the coaching staff does.  That doesn't mean fans can, if they don't know what the player was asked to do.

The other day one of the Patriots QBs threw 3 int during practice and the press was all over that, Belichick later explained that he had told the QBs to take chances as he wanted them to get a feel for what they could and could not get away with because during the 4th quarter of an actual game is not the time to find out a closely you can thread the needle, practice is.

So YOU might think a RB is doing great if you see him break a tackle and run down field and get tackle 30 yards down field.  But if the team was practicing the 2 min drill and he had the oppertunity to get 25 yards and run out of bounds stopping the clock instead of getting an extra 5 yards and being tackled inbounds.  Likewise you might think a QB doing bad when in fact he is doing exactly what the coaching staff asked him to. 

[Pappy13]

Of course the coaching staff does.  That doesn't mean fans can, if they don't know what the player was asked to do.

The other day one of the Patriots QBs threw 3 int during practice and the press was all over that, Belichick later explained that he had told the QBs to take chances as he wanted them to get a feel for what they could and could not get away with because during the 4th quarter of an actual game is not the time to find out a closely you can thread the needle, practice is.

So YOU might think a RB is doing great if you see him break a tackle and run down field and get tackle 30 yards down field.  But if the team was practicing the 2 min drill and he had the oppertunity to get 25 yards and run out of bounds stopping the clock instead of getting an extra 5 yards and being tackled inbounds.  Likewise you might think a QB doing bad when in fact he is doing exactly what the coaching staff asked him to. 

Practice is one thing. Games, even preseason games, are a bit different. I just don't buy that they would purposefully make Matt Moore look worse in games than Ryan Tannehill. It's a nice theory though.

[Brian Fein]

PHilbin knows what he's looking for out of a guy during a game.  He has a specific reason he's asking guys to do what they do.

Do you know what he's looking for?

Philbin sees these guys every day.

You are judging based on a broad scope of QB play, and that is inappropriate in a preseason setting.

[Pappy13]

Seriously? Now I can't tell how a player is performing based on a preseason game because I don't know what the coaches are looking for? How about if I listen to what Philbin said after the game was over? Does that mean nothing too? Like how he has said a dozen times or more that Tannehill is looking good. That the game doesn't seem bigger than him? That he's been able to recognize when they have the wrong play called for the defense and has gotten them out of the bad plays? Like when he's said that he's checked down when he was supposed to? Like when Philbin said repeatedly that Tannehill gives the Dolphins the best chance of winning right now? Do you guys even listen to Philbin's press conferences after practices and after games?

How about Sherman, do you listen to him? Did you listen when they asked him about the 4 batted balls and he said that
part of that is on the offensive line, that on 3 step drops that they know they have to "punch" the defensive lineman to keep their hands down and that most of those 4 batted balls were on 3 step drops?

And if I'm so wrong then why is it that I pretty much guaranteed that Ryan Tannehill would be named the starter and then he was? Lucky guess? Yeah, that's what it was, lucky guess.

The level of denial you guys are in is impressive to say the least. It's one thing to be skeptical and I wouldn't blame any of you if you say it's only preseason and the real games haven't started. I agree, it's only preseason, but to even suggest that we can't tell who has played better, Tannehill or Moore in the preseason because we don't know what they are asked to do is ludacris. They are both asked the same thing, to score points any damn way you can.

[Brian Fein]

No one is discussing Tannehill. 

Link me to the press conference where Philbin and Sherman got in front of the media and said "Matt Moore is a terrible QB"

[Pappy13]

No one is discussing Tannehill. 

Link me to the press conference where Philbin and Sherman got in front of the media and said "Matt Moore is a terrible QB"

LOL Yeah right. You must think that Philbin and Sherman are idiots.

Here's what I know, NO ONE ever asks anything about Moore. All they ask about is what he thinks of Tannehill. They all have eyes. They all watch the game too. They all talk to the players. It's not rocket science guys, it's football. The idea is to score more points than your opponent. Since Tannehill and Moore don't play defense, there's not much point in comparing the defensive production all you have to do is compare the offensive production when both are playing. It's not really all that difficult.

[Brian Fein]

You stated this:

The last 2 preseason games are relevant and [Moore] was lousy.

Your statement was to refute the use of last year's games as a judgment of Moore's performance.  I was stating that you can't use preseason games to judge either.  I find last year's performance FAR more relevant than preseason.

[Pappy13]

You stated this:

Your statement was to refute the use of last year's games as a judgment of Moore's performance.  I was stating that you can't use preseason games to judge either.  I find last year's performance FAR more relevant than preseason.

You are welcome to your opinion.

Hey, here's a thought, how about you listen to Matt Moore's press conference? See what he's had to say about his preseason performance. I'm sure he'll tell you that the coaches told him not to score when he was in the game.

[MikeO]

No one should be making judgments on preseason games in which no game plan is assembled and they merely are exercising guys in effort to make roster decisions.

Thankfully I am not alone on this one. lol

[Landshark]

Yes, Matt Moore blew all those leads.  Maybe that is the problem - QB's shouldn't be playing defense.

Surely you must read what you write, no?

To quote one of our fellow members in another thread:

"When your team loses 38-24 and gives up over 600 yards of combined offense to the opposition, you can blame the defense.

When your team loses 24-6 (with three turnovers by the offense, including a pick-6) and your defense held the opponent under 300 combined yards, you don't get to blame the defense.
When your team loses in OT 18-15 and your defense held the opposing team to 308 combined yards, you don't get to blame the defense.

You can easily remove personal opinion from the comparison.  Take a look at PFR's season summary page for MIA and look at the expected points differential for games that Moore started (higher positive numbers are better):

- of the 6 wins, the defense outplayed the offense in 4 of them
- of the 6 losses, the offense underplayed the defense in 4 of them

Matt Moore cannot point fingers at the defense.  Only a fool would look at the fourth-quarter defensive stats and ignore the fact that the offense had three quarters to build a lead (while the defense was suffocating the opponent) and instead chose to sit on their hands."

[EKnight]

Ok but if the defense is so good, why couldn't they hold teams to field goals instead of touchdowns? When given the opportunity, they failed to do so in at least four games if I remember, and gave up 29 points in the fourth quarter of two of the games Miami won. How does the D get no blame for that? And how about the Denver game? Up 2 TDs with less than 5 minutes left and they lost. That's not on Moore. -EK

[Brian Fein]

I fail to understand how your QB hands the defense a 2 TD lead in the 4th quarter, and its HIS fault for it not being a 3 or 4 TD lead?  its HIS fault they blew it?  Its HIS fault they couldn't recover an onside kick?

You can blame the QB for a lot of things but be reasonable.  Blowing leads in the 4th quarter isn't one of them.

[badger6]

Is everyone forgetting the fact that Moore was a backup to Henne ? If you asked me he did his job as a backup QB and did it better than the starting QB at the time with much less preparation and practice. The thing that stands out to me is that starting Tannehill too early will probably get him injured at some point and then we are gonna have Moore playing as a back up again. We are in a rebuilding phase whether you like it or not. We're not going anywhere or winning anything this year, so what's the point ? To win a couple extra games at the expense of the rebuilding process. I hope we aren't creating Henne 2.0 with this move.

[MikeO]

I fail to understand how your QB hands the defense a 2 TD lead in the 4th quarter, and its HIS fault for it not being a 3 or 4 TD lead?  its HIS fault they blew it?  Its HIS fault they couldn't recover an onside kick?

You can blame the QB for a lot of things but be reasonable.  Blowing leads in the 4th quarter isn't one of them.

If its nothing but 3 and outs the ENTIRE 4th quarter and a turnover or two (like the Giants game) then yeah its on the QB, sorry. He didn't even have to score, just eat some clock up and get a couple first downs to keep Eli on the sideline. He couldn't even do that.  Put the defense in a position to fail enough times and eventually it will fail.

Giving the Cowboys the ball on the 5 yard line and expecting the Defense to hold a quality team like that to a FG is unrealistic and silly. Moore handed them a TD. Period. Any sort of spin on that is foolish.

Nobody asked Matt Moore to win games by himself, just DON'T do anything foolish to lose them. He made the foolish mistake over and over again that LOST this team games. WHen you have the #6 scoring defense in the league, its tough to blame losses on them when only 5 teams gave up less points in the entire league. Nobody is claiming them to be the 85' Bears but if Moore didn't make the BIG mistake this team wins more games.

Doesn't matter now anyway, new year, new coaches, new schemes, and Matt Moore has a new baseball cap to wear instead of a helmet! He can assume his old position. 

[EKnight]

Again with the #6 scoring defense? Seriously? Why do you never mention they were the 27th scoring D in the 4th or that they were the 15th over defense in the league? The "6th best scoring defense" is as misleading about them as you can get. They were an average- at best- defense, and nothing about them last year or now is making anyone afraid. Every team they played knew the formula to beat them- double Wake and there's no pass rush, then keep it close and the secondary will fall apart late. It happened when Henne was there, just like it happened with Moore. The defense gave up 24 fourth quarter points through the first three games when Moore wasn't even on the field. Suppose that was his fault too? All season long, the defense gave up over a TD a game in the fourth, irrespective of who was under center. Nothing about them indicates 6th ranked anything. -EK