Too many mistakes against a good team, but they hung in there. I thought this was the year, now I think its the year before. We have a LOT of picks in next year's draft and some good young talent. Ireland has proved his ability to pick talent, so I have great optimism for next year.
This year, however is NOT over. We may not win the AFC East, maybe not even make the playoffs, but the rest of this year should be fun to watch as our young players work into the rotation.

Rick

I still believe if the coach had started Moore this year then the Dolphins would be in playoffs.

This season IS over

dolphin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I still believe if the coach had started Moore
> this year then the Dolphins would be in playoffs.
>
> This season IS over

One could argue that with the one loss to Houston and the next games in which we either won or lost in overtime that the first six or seven games were among the best we played.

To me STARTING Tannehill at the beginning of the season was not a problem.

Now after he went OUT with an injury and Philbin decides to keep playing him the next game again INdy and for the next few games .....maybe.

Agree. If Moore starts after Tannehill injury, I do believe we're a playoff team. But Ireland hitched his wagon to RT and needs to showcase his ability, not take a chance on getting to the playoffs with someone else.

Think about it, if we didnt make the playoffs with Moore, tannehill's lost all that game experience. If we did make the playoffs with Moore, what happens next year? Stay with Moore? QB controversy? Start RT for his higher upside? (ahem....SF lost btw)

It all comes down to Ireland's job. That's why RT started.

The season ended when the FO decided it would be best to go into the season with a rookie QB as the undisputed starter.

------------------------------------------------------------

Miami Dolphins. Always Perfect.

The second-guessing is weak!

Look at Seattle, they went with a rookie over their high-priced FA acquisition. There are rookies starting all over the place.

The thing that Tannehill needed most to get better at QB was STARTS.
He already knew the system, even better than Moore. So it only made sense to start him from the beginning.

socalphin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The second-guessing is weak!
>
> Look at Seattle, they went with a rookie over
> their high-priced FA acquisition. There are
> rookies starting all over the place.
>
> The thing that Tannehill needed most to get better
> at QB was STARTS.
> He already knew the system, even better than
> Moore. So it only made sense to start him from the
> beginning.

Seattle isn't going to the playoffs either.

------------------------------------------------------------

Miami Dolphins. Always Perfect.

season is over
lets see if MArtin is future at LT
and Lamar Thomas is future at RB
and if Egnew is anything but the collassal bust he seems (no more inactive pls)
and if R Matthews is a player
and if O Vernon can be a stud

that's all that's left of this season. Nothing more to see here.

________________________________________________________
The beatings will continue until morale improves.

>
> It all comes down to Ireland's job. That's why RT
> started.


Yeah, well in this game it wasn't RT that was disappointing but rather the coaches.

1. Sherman's terrible play calling and insistence on trying to run "no as$" Reggie Bush up the middle on almost every 1st down against 325lb Vince Wilfork, (one of the single best run stoppers in the league).

2. Philbin's decision to sit, (sit on the pine, mind you) our best two defensive ends (Odrick & Wake) during New England's fourth quarter drive that burned up more than seven minutes of clock time.

I hope Philbin's as$ is grilled hard tomorrow by the press, if this horse $hit is part of the grand so called plan to get better draft picks next year....then the fans need to be refunded their money.

The attendance yesterday was over 72,000, highest this year.

The coaching staff, their lack of ability of how to utilize play makers, overall play calling, and game management this year (starting with the blocked kick by Miami in the Jets game and Philbin's unexpected time out)... has been mostly disgusting and hard to digest.

The topic is pretty moot, but I will bite for the purposes of discussion.

Starting Matt Moore at the beginning of the season may have led to a few more wins. Let's make that assumption fact for the purposes of this discussion. Tannehill would have been on the sidelines watching play, not getting snaps, not working with the first team on the field or that much during practice sessions. Starting Matt Moore may have earned a 9-7 season.

Next year, what would the team do? Start Tannehill in his second year to see the team drop to 8-8 or 7-9 or 6-10?

Such an out come would be disappointing, to say the least.

Meanwhile the rookie QBs such as Luck, RGIII, Wilson and sophomore QBs like Dalton, Cameron gain more valuable experience.

All and all, the decision to start RT this season is water under the bridge, and the right business decision. Our losses this year may turn into more victories next year and with another draft coming, along with FA, there is a good possibility that upgrades will occur, making the team stronger, better, wiser, next year.

I'm not disappointed that the Dolphins aren't capable of unseating NE as the top AFC East champion this year. Next year I expect them to be far more competitive and hopefully, take two games from NE. When that happens, all Dolphins fans will be celebrating.

====
I need to address Chrisnnavarre's comments above.

Reggie Bush is a treat to watch in the open field. He's fast, elusive, and electric. He's 240 volts in that situation. When plays call for him to run between the tackles, he is converted to 12 volts. He lacks the power, the strength to power throuhg huge defensive linemen. Using Bush repeatedly, just to get stuffed, is not only demoralizing, it doesn't make sense. It's just as foolish as having a 40 homer a year slugger, bunt his way on to base. Duhhhh! SO, I concur with you assessment that Sherman /Philbin continues to use Bush in the wrong manner. Swing passes, slot receiver, etc...better use IMO.

As to Odrick, I though he was injured and temporarily pulled from the game. Wake, I thought played but was exhausted from 3 quarters of constant effort to run down Brady. Am I wrong here? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Finally, I concur with your assessment overall on play calling and game management. We seem to have checker players calling plays when we need chess players who see the entire board, have vision for ultimate moves and know when to castle. At times it appears play calling for us is done by consensus voting by the opposing coaches. I will say it now, I've been holding my tongue...Mike Sherman is not a good situation play caller. I'd give him a D at this point. He has to realize he's trying to put a square peg into a triangle hole. Using Clay and Bush to use their open field and receiving skills would be a positive step, in my opinion. Player use is poor and play calling is a D.

Reggie is constantly running into block walls and having to bounce back and re-route. He is also not hitting the hole as well as Thomas (too hesitant). Our line needs to be better. Several times there was nowhere to run. I agree in that instance Sherman needs to adapt. I like what I am seeing from Daniels but even he needs a glimpse of daylight.

With Martin at LT (and subpar play from Long), we are no longer a left side dominant running team. Nate Garner was starting at RT yesterday. The NE front 7 is not as good as we made them look. Wilford is the only stud and they had two starting DE out of the game.

I think Long is history and Martin is the future at LT. With an off season under his belt (to add strength), he will be a decent starter. Kudos to Ireland for noticing Long's drop in ability and drafting Martin high.

Incognito is too inconsistent. I don't see Jerry blasting open holes either for a guy his size. Maybe he is compensating for weak play at RT?

We have holes to fill everywhere.

.....................................................................................
“I'm here" You're welcome!" - Kenny Powers

Season Over.


On to the draft.