Miami Dolphins Thread of Despair

He looks lost. He makes bizzare play calls at one crucial point in every game. His units have gotten progressively worse through the year (although, admittedly, the team has had a terrible rash of injuries). His choice of John Beck isn't looking too inspired to me now.

Absent a miracle turnaround in the last three games, I think it's time for Miami to cut and run (especially if a great alternative is available).

King and Costas tonight were talking about how Heizinger has never fired one of his coaches. They just resign. Would he fire Cam at the end of an 0-16 season? I certainly would, but I don't run the Dolphins.

im still a pretty big believer in beck. i hasten to support his firing, but idk i can't really imagine "He was once the coach of an 0-16 team, but now Cam Cameron has the Dolphins poised for the playoffs after a grueling 20-17 victory over the New England Patriots put the Dolphins one-game up in the AFC East" being the lede to a story 2 or 3 years down the road.

but then i look at someone like romeo crennel. so who knows.

It's hard to decide who is the most awful: the GM, the coach, or the players.

It's really hard to judge Beck. For one, he has a depleted WR unit to throw to, terrible protection from the oline, no quality tight ends, and....wait for it....he's a GODDAMN ROOKIE!

Dan Fouts was terrible for about 5 seasons before he took off. Elway struggled a bit his first few seasons. Steve young was awful on a bad Bucaneers team.

There is still plenty you CAN evaluate, but giving up on him would be silly. I thought he made some solid throws in the Pittsburgh game but had no kicking or running game to help him out. He did play badly against the Jets but no worse than a typical rookie does in those type of situations.

I think j0rdan put it best. the Green/Brown version of the team was loads better than this one. Had neither or just one of the two players sustained an injury, I think we may have started to make some progress and won a few games.

But I have to wonder what's going on. They didn't look mentally prepared today at all. Sloppy play, mental idiocy and stupid penalties...

also I don't think a team's fanbase needs to be saddled with a near winless season to gain some perspective on things. I think the 4-12 debacle of 2004 and the 6-10 mediocrity of last year has done that.

Besides, a large portion of the Dolphins fanbase are fairweather anyway so it won't matter, they won't learn anything.

yeah no one should feel bad for miami's general fanbase, tbh.

I'm losing faith in Beck. Yes, he's a rookie and yes, he's surrounded by very subpar talent. But Buffalo has, according to the AP Wire story after the game, a "popgun offense," which is also being run by a rookie quarterback. And Buffalo's rookie QB looked a lot better than ours.

It's too early to make a full judgment. But the reason fans demanded Beck at midseason is to see how he would perform in the NFL; to see if we had the answer at quarterback. Fans and the team should, therefore, be judging Beck's performance, even if he's given leeway.

Trent Edwards had thrown one touchdown to five interceptions coming into the Miami game.

Miami made Kellen Clemens look good. Most of Trent Edwards big plays came when he had all day to throw, too. I mean, he isn't really THAT impressive. Anybody looks impressive against our defense.

But I saw him in that Cowboys game and he is not going to be their answer.

With Beck, I think it's hard because it's difficult to tell what are his actual failings and what might be the failings of the team that are impacting his play.

For one, he does tend to rifle the ball too hard at short distance, but when he's patient, he actually throws nice passes.

Yesterday, other than the Keystone Kops move he did that led to a touchdown, he wasn't given much of a chance. Granted there were some blitzes he may have been able to beat if he was quicker, but there was one sack where he was literally touched by defenders less than a second after the ball was snapped. What in the world could he have done then?

I mean, I just think back to Alex Smith's first season and how horrible he was. I knew he wasn't THAT bad a quarterback, and sure enough he improved leaps and bounds his second season--granted he's still not 'there' yet but in the NFL, it used to be that you gave your quarterback 3-4 years to develop. Not anymore. Because of free agency QBs aren't given the time needed to develop.

I have to wonder if QBs like Terry Bradshaw, Dan Fouts, and other late bloomers would have ever made it big in the current version of the NFL.

(Note I'm not saying Beck IS our answer, but I don't know that we have enough game evidence to suggest otherwise yet.)

it used to be that you gave your quarterback 3-4 years to develop

Beck isn't a very "young" rookie. If he takes 3 -- 4 years to develop, he'll be near 30, which is the age Tom Brady is at now. Maybe age and the need for developmental time should have factored into Cameron's draft decision as to which quarterback to select.

it used to be that you gave your quarterback 3-4 years to develop

i think teams still will if the qb shows them something. look at tim couch, they gave him ample time because he showed just enough to make them believe there was something there. on the other hand there's ryan leaf who could not make a correct decision even if he only had one option.

I'm just here to confirm that Buffalo has a popgun offense and that I seriously could not believe Edwards threw 4 TDs. I think he had only thrown 1 all season. sorry guys.

Buffalo always punches above their weight when they wear the throwbacks, but two hundred-yard rushers and 1 passing TD per 40 passing yards... yikes.

Buffalo always punches above their weight when they wear the throwbacks

I KNOW WHY DON'T THEY DO THIS EVERY WEEK!!!

(lol i make the dolphins thread about the bills)

those buffalo throwbacks are THE BEST! why don't they always wear them...sweet unis

lol and i luv u for it horses

Beck isn't a very "young" rookie. If he takes 3 -- 4 years to develop, he'll be near 30, which is the age Tom Brady is at now. Maybe age and the need for developmental time should have factored into Cameron's draft decision as to which quarterback to select.

yea but quarterbacks can play into their late 30s, look at Favre, Marino, Elway, Green, Testaverde....they don't have the same longevity issues other positions have (ie, running back)

i think teams still will if the qb shows them something. look at tim couch, they gave him ample time because he showed just enough to make them believe there was something there. on the other hand there's ryan leaf who could not make a correct decision even if he only had one option.

I don't know that I fully agree, I tend to think teams make up their minds too quickly nowadays on QBs. They had written off Drew Brees before he had his first pro bowl season after all, and I had never thought he was that bad.

I mean they don't really have a choice, because it's a different game nowadays....but I still wonder.

And yet the one guy who I think the book WAS pretty much written on, Michael Vick, continued to get passes from announcers. People would say things like "he's still learning the game" in his sixth season. By then, I gotta wonder.

course now he's gonna be someone's bitch in prison!

Speaking of, I'd love to see an old timers NFL game like they do in MLB. Seeing Lawrence Taylor put a hit on Joe Montana would be AWESOME! xp

that is weird that they don't do shit like that. I guess maybe because so many ex-football players suffer from dementia and extremely bad limbs. maybe if they did flag football?

Terry Bradshaw could play without a helmet then.

I love that he doesn't even try to shy himself away from those stereotypes anymore but plays into them on his commercials

An NFL oldtimers game would look like a cerebral palsy telethon.

oh man that was so wrong but that made me fucking laugh

WIN!!

WE'RE NOT HISTORICALLY BAD!

m really serious about the dolphins beating the ravens. remember i'm saying this. the ravens are really, really awful. this year, they've beat the jets by 7, the cards by 3, san fran by 2 and st. louis before they were healthy by 19. we really could win the game (it's at home btw).

-- J0rdan S., Tuesday, 27 November 2007 04:54 (2 weeks ago) Link

welp

this pretty much ruins next week's game

cleo looked good, hagan looked good, ginn made some plays...

the one win of the year and I'm on a cruise boat and miss the entire game!

not that I'm complainign, I had a great time, but it figures!

Dolphins Hire Parcells! Dolphins Hire Parcells!

He'll be running the team's football operations (not GM or Coach, tho).

He'll be running the team's football operations (not GM or Coach, tho yet).

fixed

Yeah, then he'll leave in two years and string the Falcons or the Bucs along for the third time.

Can't worry about that now. Look, Parcells may turn out to be an unmotivated or befuddled bust, but I doubt it. He isn't just another NFL retread. He's been a success wherever he goes, and he left the Cowboys' organization (which was in disarray when he arrived) in very good shape when he stepped down last offseason.

It's better than what you have, that's true. he's an NFL guy, unlike Saban and Cameron who are at heart college guys and can't handle the pros. Query whether he keeps Cam, smart money says he makes him walk the plank.

Well, he couldn't do WORSE.

He's been a success wherever he goes,

not as much of a success in the front office as he was on the sidelines but still a definite upgrade over what's there now. fact remains that the guy's a snake who always looks out for #1. ask the pats, bucs, falcons, etc.

this is FANTASTIC news for the testaverde family as, if history is any indicator, vinny will be quarterbacking the fins next year.

if history is any indicator, vinny will be quarterbacking the fins next year.

Well, he couldn't do WORSE.

^^^ True.

Is Parcells a snake? I mean, he obviously jumps teams often, and he has no regard for one franchise's feelings when he moves to another (e.g., Pats/Jets, Giants/Dallas (who hate each other)). But I'm not sure any of that should bring him so low in people's minds.

Mind you, I'm not looking to defend him (nor does he need it). I'm just asking/wondering aloud. Saban -- by contrast -- is a snake, by the way he handled his exit from the Dolphins. The Falcons coach, too.

But I'm not sure any of that should bring him so low in people's minds.

negotiating with the jets before the pats season was over was a dogshit move. i mean, they were only playing in the fucking superbowl for christ's sake. flying home on a separate flight from the team was a dogshit move. circumventing the clause in his contract with the pats prohibiting him from coaching was kind of a shitty thing. playing teams off each other to drive up his price is exactly the kind of me first bullshit i expect from him.

In Saban's defense, he left a lackluster team after the season was over. As a Tide fan, I'm happy to have him. Don't think, though, that I'm not expecting him to jet for a more prestigious offer in a season or two should one arrive on his desk.

You're happy to have him as a Tide fan? His agent has contacted WV about that job. Even if he doesn't take it, how long do you think it will be until he fucks Alabama just like he's fucked every other team??

Looks like chicago kev won't be invited to the Parcells holiday feast. I agree with you ck, he's a piece of shit, the mentor of chumps like Saban and Petrino.

Ha! That WV thing was a prank started by a blogger that got spread around.

If true, I fell for it. I give Saban two more years at Alabama.

Bleh, I hate Saban. The way he handled his exit from the Dolphins was so crass. Hectoring reporters about questioning his intentions while simultaneously (and quietly) flirting with Alabama, and telling reporters afterwards that he would have stayed if Wayne Hizinga asked him to, when -- in reality -- he told Hizinga, "Look, I want to go. I don't want to stay. But if you insist on it, I'll honor my contract and stay." Stay classy, Nick Saban.

I'd forgotten about that Parcells tidbit, Kevin. You're right. It doesn't reflect well on him. Well, I'm happy about his arrival; for now.

I don't understand why coaches have some holy responsibility to be loyal to their bosses like this is fucking old skool Japan or some such shit

If somebody offered me a 75% raise and full relocation expenses to do the same work I'm doing now you'd bet I'd bolt, you would too, and really, that's how the world goes around

I don't understand why coaches have some holy responsibility to be loyal to their bosses like this is fucking old skool Japan or some such shit

They don't, Tom. I don't begrudge Saban for leaving. It way the way he left that was tasteless and undignified. He didn't have to admit he was considering leaving -- nor should he have -- but he also didn't have to treat reporters, who were clearly onto something, like schoolchildren, and he didn't have to repeatedly lie about his situation, even after he was gone and his lies were clearly exposed.

i didn't really have a problem with they way he left. if he said "i'm taking the job" he would have been skewered a la petrino for doing it in the middle of the season. if he said "well i'm considering it" he would have been constantly pestered with questions abt whether or not he is distracted. i think he handled it about as well as a type of thing like that could be handled tbh. ppl here trash talk saban out of bitterness (understandable i guess) and bcuz they find it appropriate to deal with the shittiness of our team by mocking saban. it's very playgroundy and really tiresome, which is one of about 652 reasons why i can't stomach to listen to sports radio in this town.