Vance Joseph really is the truth. He and Gase can mask a lot of deficiencies in Miami's personnel.
You have to put a lot of that on the offense, though. Seattle completely owned the time of possession. Miami's D was out there for a long time. They had them in a few critical third and fourth downs but couldn't hold.I guess. Tough to watch a defense that put together a very strong effort just melt away at the end. We've all seen that movie before. What galls me most is that the Dolphins should have been up 13 - 3 at the half. Bad decision to go for it in the first half, squandering a chance to get on the board, and then the inexcusable Stills drop. Also, the two Camerons had there own critical shit-the-bed moments.
Fun start to the season. At least the Jets & Bills lost.
That's an electric take, except:This article is a bit less glowing in their praise for Tannehill.
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/quick-reads/2016/week-1-quick-reads
Sunday's game against Seattle was not a stellar one for the Miami offense. The Dolphins' first ten drives resulted in 46 plays, seven punts, five three-and-outs, six first downs, and only 145 yards of offense. And that total is grossly skewed by one 50-yard reception -- Miami averaged 2.1 yards on their other 45 plays in that stretch. The 11th drive was much better, gaining 86 yards and a touchdown that actually put the Dolphins ahead because Seattle's offense was hardly doing any better.
How bad was it for Miami? Ryan Tannehill had the worst DYAR of any quarterback on Sunday, while Arian Foster had the third-worst DYAR among any running backs.
I'm gonna go with Fahey's thoughts on the proceedings.Even if they don't, though, keep in mind that this is Week 1, and opponent adjustments are not included. It's safe to assume that Seattle will have one of the league's best defenses when all is said and done, which means if we go back and revisit this game at the end of the year, the numbers for Tannehill and Foster will look a lot better.
Full article here: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2663202-nfl1000-ranking-the-top-1000-players-from-week-1/page/3Maybe the most surprising performance of Week 1 was that of Ryan Tannehill. Tannehill lost a huge touchdown throw to a Kenny Stills drop early in the game but later ran for a touchdown. His offense didn't score many points. That wasn't Tannehill's fault, though. What made Tannehill's performance so impressive was his consistency throwing with accuracy against impending hits while making good decisions. He felt pressure well, recognizing when the Seahawks blitzed and when they rushed three. Against the toughest defense in the league, Tannehill might have had the best performance of his career.
In the same game, Wilson struggled massively. He was responsible for two turnovers, both awful decisions on his part. The first was a wildly overthrown interception when Mario Williams wouldn't let him escape the pocket, the second a fumble on a running play where he pitched the ball to his running back while being tackled. Wilson got it to his running back, but the RB was expecting the ball to be placed in his chest, so he never grasped it. Those two rash decisions, combined with being limited with an ankle injury, meant Wilson was the biggest faller from our preseason rankings last week.
In fairness to me, it's not like I predicted a Miami win. That's gotta count for something.what a run of consecutive posts by dwainw
This team isn't winning on a short week in Cincinnati and they're not recovering from a 1-3 start. Let's be realistic, their ceiling is a 3rd place finish in the AFC East. And that assumes they find a way to beat a Buffalo team that has owned them recently. Is it too early in Tannenbaum's tenure to consider him the next organizational scapegoat?I don't want to be overly dramatic, but next week home against Cleveland is as close to a must win in Week 3 as there is. If Miami can win, I think they can hang with Cincy on a short week, and then they have 4 straight at home.
I mean they're literally two weeks into a complete offensive and defensive overhaul. I expect them to have highs and lows and growing pains for the first few weeks, but they've played some pretty stiff competition these first two weeks, and I think that has made their lows look very low. They literally just played the two teams that may well end up in the Super Bowl, on the road, in consecutive weeks.This team isn't winning on a short week in Cincinnati and they're not recovering from a 1-3 start. Let's be realistic, their ceiling is a 3rd place finish in the AFC East. And that assumes they find a way to beat a Buffalo team that has owned them recently. Is it too early in Tannenbaum's tenure to consider him the next organizational scapegoat?
My earlier rant and limited credibility aside, and with all due respect, you may need to have your rose-tinted glasses checked. They lost game 1 to a team that just scored 3 points in their second game (to add to the whopping 12 they scored v. us). In game 2 they played their worst half of football in recent memory (and that's saying something) and lost to a team forced to use their #'s 2 and 3 QBs, and which was missing its best offensive weapon. I'm not giving up on the season yet--because football--but I'm not buying the "they've looked worse because of the stiff competition" argument either.I mean they're literally two weeks into a complete offensive and defensive overhaul. I expect them to have highs and lows and growing pains for the first few weeks, but they've played some pretty stiff competition these first two weeks, and I think that has made their lows look very low. They literally just played the two teams that may well end up in the Super Bowl, on the road, in consecutive weeks.
Point of order: Would they not be AQUA-tinted?rose-tinted glasses.
Eh, I think you have to give them time to get their feet under them. Seattle's defense is still elite and it's still and extremely hostile environment to try and run an offense in.My earlier rant and limited credibility aside, and with all due respect, you may need to have your rose-tinted glasses checked. They lost game 1 to a team that just scored 3 points in their second game (to add to the whopping 12 they scored v. us). In game 2 they played their worst half of football in recent memory (and that's saying something) and lost to a team forced to use their #'s 2 and 3 QBs, and which was missing its best offensive weapon. I'm not giving up on the season yet--because football--but I'm not buying the "they've looked worse because of the stiff competition" argument either.
It's funny, too, because Tanny is showing some flashes of improvement, as is the O-line. Funny in a sad, pathetic, here-we-go-again sort of way.
Sure, I expect some incremental improvement in execution across the board, both offensively and defensively. But how is this unique to Miami? I would expect that for just about every other team in the league. Even if you're expecting a higher-uptick than the league average (due to the coaching and scheme changes), its fair to question: exactly how high are these highs you're envisioning? I mean they just got absolutely steamrolled by the Patriots JV offense.Eh, I think you have to give them time to get their feet under them. Seattle's defense is still elite and it's still and extremely hostile environment to try and run an offense in.
NE still has BB and McDaniels and you know that they are absolute masters at taking away your biggest strength and exploiting your weaknesses. Miami didn't counter fast enough and was down 21-0 before anyone could blink. Obviously a terrible situation, but I do have faith that Gase is taking all of this in and learning and adapting on the fly.
With the emotions of yesterday's loss subsiding, I agree with and appreciate the effort your making to provide some perspective. Upon looking at the brutal 1st quarter of the schedule, expecting anything better than 2 - 2 would have been silly, and 1 - 3 was a reasonable prediction. And who could reasonably expect them to go better than 7 - 5 beyond that? If that's how the season ultimately played out (and it still could), you could make a case that progress was made. Obviously, many variables would warrant scrutiny before proclaiming "success," starting with the points above about Gase's growth as head coach, but that's a scenario we could presumably live with.1) When Miami's '16 schedule became public, did any sane Miami fan see this team beginning the year anything other than 0-2? There isn't, literally, a more difficult start for a team than beginning the year on the road versus Seattle and New England.
The only reason why we're bitching and moaning is because we were actually in a position to steal both games. In Seattle, it was the Stills' drop and the Franks missed chip-shot. And yesterday, Garappolo gets injured after picking the secondary to pieces; but Ajayi fumbles, facilitating New England's lone TD of the 2nd Half. I seriously believe that if it wasn't for that fumble, Miami comes back and wins that game. They merely ran out of time.
So, yeah, it's frustrating. Miami should at least be 1-1 right now.
2) This isn't Gase and VJ's team yet. We're very flawed.
Sure, we have some play-makers -- Suh, Jones, Wake, etc. -- but we're still extremely thin at LB, CB, DT. On offense, Foster's a quality back when healthy (which isn't often), but on what other team is Ajayi and Pead getting carries? Losing CJ to the Broncos has proven to be very painful.
3) If it wasn't for bad luck ...
Mario was knocked out of game 1. DeVante finally saw the field yesterday after a 4-month long hamstring injury. Pouncey's on the shelf. Foster already missed a game. Earl Mitchell's on the DL.
Combined with a new coaching staff and limited depth, this type of shit really makes it difficult for a team to start off fast. I know many of us live in NE and are used to seeing the well-oiled, "next man up" BB machine, but that of team/culture takes time to build.
As was mentioned already, I want to see growth, week to week.
PFF's top 10 rookies so far:Tunsil graded out as worst lineman? Is that correct? The inability to run the ball is because four of the linemen are finesse tackles. It's just a bad combination. Next year they'll again need two new guards.
I was basically trying to emphasize that winning in Gillette is damn hard and losing by one possession isn't an indicator that your season is over as some thought in this thread. The Texans might be a playoff team and they just had their ass handed to them.Too bad I don't have the photoshop skills to do a banner saying "lost by one possession with a chance to win it at the end."
But seriously, division opponents don't have that same intimidation factor heading to Gillette. Those games always have more potential to go off the rails.
No, I don't feel better about it. It was a 30 minute effort against a divisional opponent. For someone touting 'improvement,' this performance in particular should be grating. Ultimately, it was the same old shit we've seen for the last 15 years.I was basically trying to emphasize that winning in Gillette is damn hard and losing by one possession isn't an indicator that your season is over as some thought in this thread. The Texans might be a playoff team and they just had their ass handed to them.
Also, Bill O'B has been out scored 54-6 his last two meetings against the Patriots.
Cleveland missed a last second Fg to win it in regulationJesus Christ they got taken to OT? Yikes. I took Miami in my survivor pool and thought that was a lead pipe lock.