Where did it go wrong?

2015: 19th, 24.3 ppg
2014: 20th, 23.3 ppg
2013: 8th, 20.9 ppg
2012: 7th, 19.8 ppg
2011: 6th, 19.6 ppg

2011: Mike Nolan led 3-4 defense. We had Soliai on the nose, Starks and Langford at DE, Misi/JT on one side and Cam Wake on the other. Dansby and Burnett on the inside. Sean Smith, Vontae Davis, Yeremiah Bell and a not yet developed Reshad Jones at FS. We also had quality backups like Odrick, McDaniels, Will Allen, Nolan Carroll. They didn't get much help from an offense led by Chad Henne. That's a pretty darn good group right there. Teams were often not able to run on this 3rd ranked rush defense and were turned into a one dimensional offense.

This was also the year that Dansby reported 20 lbs overweight and didn't get back in form until mid-November.

How did Jeff Ireland handle this group? First and foremost, Sparano and Nolan were replaced by the Nod Squad, JP and Coyle.

2012:

He let Kendall Langford walk to STL. Not too bad. Understandable since we had Odrick to replace him. Problem was Odrick, a prototypical 3--4 DE is now switched over to a 43 DE. Starks made his first PB as a 34 DE also made the switch to 43 DT. Dansby, Burnett and Misi are now switching roles as well. Reshad Jones switched over to SS. Clemons moves to FS and Vontae Davis is traded away to Indy in favor of Richard friggin Marshall because Philbin is "queezy". Jason Taylor retires.

They manage to hold it together and only slip a little bit from 6th to 7th in points allowed.

2013: Jared Odrick moves inside to 43 DT. (We immediately get worse vs the run). Olivier Vernon starts at DE. Now for the biggest, bonehead move of the decade, Dansby and Burnett are traded out for Ellerbe and Wheeler. Sean Smith is replaced by Brent Grimes. We now drop one more spot in points to 8th even though we are 21st in yards allowed with 360 per game.

Dennis Hickey takes over

2014: Now here is where it really goes south. Soliai is swapped out for Earl friggin Mitchell. (Dimitri Patterson and Nolan Carroll are swapped out for Cortland Finnegan). Dropped from 8th to 20th.

Mike Tannenbaum takes over

2015: Starks and Odrick both walk. We have 1 outside CB, no FS, no MLB and 1 OLBer worth a damn.

Here we are 4 years later after multiple bad personnel decisions and we are 25th in yards allowed and 19th in points allowed.

Letting Dansby and Burnett go was the real killer. Misi goes from being our worst lb to our best.

I think it was losing the big man Soliai and not replacing him with someone who occupies multiple blockers. Look at the biggest drop off. It was when we lost him, not the LB's...even though they sucked.

We took a big down turn vs the run and it all went to hell. Even Ellerbe and Wheeler were protected behind the DT's.

Throughout the recent years, one thing can be relied on.

That is if there are two choices to choose between

if there are two roads to choose between

if there are two players to choose between

if there are two staff hires to choose between

if there are two schemes, offensive or defensive, to choose between

one thing is for sure......

We will make the wrong choice.

The best we seem to ever do is trade a future star for an average guy and we're lucky at that because we usually get rid of a great guy for a lousy guy.

Offense or defense.

and no, SamSam has not hacked my account. He's just right.

You didn't sat wet firecracker, I knew it wasn't him.

GO DOLPHINS!!!!

LOL TCPF....


Chren this is just the right place to relief frustrations.


Once everyone know you are a true phin fan they let you get away with throwing off some steam....

Seems like when some players we've had reach a level where they should get paid more this organization lets them walk when they become free agents.

Perfect example is Soliai & Odrick. Soliai was an all pro and Odrick was up and coming to be one.

To top things off this team moves up to draft Dion Jordan and that was an epic fail. Probably the worst draft decision this team has ever made that I can remember. That was even worse than wasting a 2nd round pick on Pat White.

Then if you look at the offense....

2015 27th, 19.4 ppg
2014 11th, 24.2 ppg
2013 26th, 19.8 ppg
2012 27th, 18.0 ppg
2011 20th, 20.6 ppg

The part that really irks me is the drop off from 2013 to 2014 on defense. The brand spankin new offense improved by leaps and bounds as our defense went in the shitter (from 8th to 20th). Had we stayed moderately close to the level of defense from 2013 in 2014, we are in the playoffs.

This is 100% pure, bad coaching.

We went from 24.9 rushing attempts in 2014 (ranked 22nd) to 21.5 rushing attempts (ranked 32) in 2015. Why reduce the attempts when you had success the year before?

The offense ranked 2nd in yards per attempt in 2014 so the coaches decided we needed to throw more? WTF? We ranked 9th in yards per attempt in 2015.

How can coaches overlook this? It's pathetic!

The good news is Adam Gase's offense was ranked 6th in rushing attempts last year and they didn't even come close to the success per carries that Miami achieved.

Give this offense AS IS, that level of attempts and we are a top 5 rushing offense, Tannehill doesn't have to work as hard, and the defense is on the field much less. We HAVE to re-sign Lamar Miller!

This all started when we decided to switch to a 4-3 utilizing our existing roster (that was built for a 3-4). Jimmy Johnson implemented a 4-3, but he revamped our entire roster (most of the D-Line and all the LBers). Fact is these are 2 VERY different systems requiring different personnel. Thinking you can just plug-and-play between them is ludicrous.

Throughout those 4 years we NEVER HAD A TRUE MLB!! The 4-3 is predicated on having a solid MLB, just like the 3-4 is predicated on having a solid NT. Just about all the FA signings we had in those 4 years were also players that were built for a 3-4.

I'm anxious to see what kind of defensive alignment we'll be "attempting" to run this coming season and whether it will fit our personnel.

We are running a 4-3 defense this year.

JoeFootball Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> We are running a 4-3 defense this year.

...and we still don't have the proper personnel...

montequi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> JoeFootball Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > We are running a 4-3 defense this year.
>
> ...and we still don't have the proper personnel...

FA considered, we don't have the personnel RIGHT NOW to run either scheme. However, we are closer to being 4-3 ready than we are 3-4 ready.

JoeFootball Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> montequi Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > JoeFootball Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > We are running a 4-3 defense this year.
> >
> > ...and we still don't have the proper
> personnel...
>
> FA considered, we don't have the personnel RIGHT
> NOW to run either scheme. However, we are closer
> to being 4-3 ready than we are 3-4 ready.

Until we acquire a Pro-Bowl-Caliber MLB, we won't be able to run an effective 4-3.