Players - not JUST coaching

[Thurman#1]

The Dolphins aren't any more talented than the Bills, yet they won four more games. Simply put, there are no more excuses for Jauron.

 

 

 

 

The Dolphins have a very experienced QB who makes very very few mistakes. Since they play in good weather, unlike the Jets, his arm is less of a negative. The Fins have a lot of very good young guys who are starting to come of age. They are benefitting from some really horrible finishes in the last few years, which got them some high draft choices and they did a good job with those picks.

 

Our QB is very young and inconsistent. Expect that to continue for another year or so at the least. It's the way these things usually run.

[Thurman#1]

Go back and read the posts from training camp.

Oh...way to go in missing the point of the post.

 

 

Who cares about the posts from training camp? The question is whether the Dolphins got a lot better players this year. The answer is yes. The other question is whether their personnel is better than the Bills. Again, the answer is yes, and QB and youth have a lot to do with that, but they're just better.

[Sisyphean Bills]

The Dolphins aren't any more talented than the Bills, yet they won four more games. Simply put, there are no more excuses for Jauron.

Quite literally, in fact. The third string QB is an unrestricted free agent.

[Beerball]

Unless I'm mistaken, the point of your post was that it was coaching and management, not Pennington that turned them around.

 

Funny you mention training camp. Flood control has been enabled, so I can't look up my own posts from that time period, so never mind. It was an "I-told-you-so-moment" anyways.

OK, how about San Fran?

[The Big Cat]

OK, how about San Fran?

 

Now I'm confused. What about them?

[Beerball]

Now I'm confused. What about them?

When did they start to play with urgency, passion, will to win?

[The Big Cat]

When did they start to play with urgency, passion, will to win?

 

You want me to answer "when they fired Nolan and promoted Singeltary."

 

Under Singeltary they finished 5-4

 

With wins over:

 

StL x2 (2-14)

NYJ (9-7)

Buf (7-9)

Was (8-8)

 

28-52 (.350)

 

And with losses to:

 

Seattle (4-12)

Arizona (9-7)

Dallas (9-7)

Miami (11-5)

 

33-31 (.516)

[Beerball]

You want me to answer "when they fired Nolan and promoted Singeltary."

 

Under Singeltary they finished 5-4

 

With wins over:

 

StL x2 (2-14)

NYJ (9-7)

Buf (7-9)

Was (8-8)

 

28-52 (.350)

 

And with losses to:

 

Seattle (4-12)

Arizona (9-7)

Dallas (9-7)

Miami (11-5)

 

33-31 (.516)

San Frans record before vs. San Frans record after is really the only stat that matters to me. Miamis record last year vs. this is the only stat that matters to me.

 

You believe that the Dolphins have superior talent to Buffalo. OK, run with that. You believe that coaching and management in Miami have little to do with their turn around. OK, run with that.

[DrFishfinder]

Ok, I understand we all hate the coach.

Can we put the Jerry Sullivan kool aid down for a second ?

Has anyone thought that maybe we just dont have the players to be successful? yes i know coaching has been awful.

For example our QBs have josh reed and robert royal as ..... weapons? roscoe parrish?? Lee evans does he still play for the bills?

I dont think DC are up all night thinking of ways to scheme against these guys. I think Mitchell brought this up this mroning, need to bring in more personnel, especially at DE and WR/TE.

Get a good, motivational coach in there and he will have the Bills playing a LOT better. Just look at what Sparano did with a 1-15 team and an unwanted, washed up, noodle armed quarterback.

[The Big Cat]

San Frans record before vs. San Frans record after is really the only stat that matters to me. Miamis record last year vs. this is the only stat that matters to me.

 

You believe that the Dolphins have superior talent to Buffalo. OK, run with that. You believe that coaching and management in Miami have little to do with their turn around. OK, run with that.

 

I never said that.

 

I've always cautioned against writing off ANY team that has a solid, savvy QB. Whether Buffalo fans want to admit it or not, Pennington is both of those things. Does that mean they have superior talent? They definitely do at QB, and IMHO, that makes a WORLD of difference. Last year, with them starting Beck/Lemon, the tables were turned in OUR favor (and in the favor of just about every other team in the league). This year, not so much.

 

EDIT: If you want an example of blind, unjustified Pennington bias, simply see the post above this one.

[Lurker]

our talent stacks up with any of the other teams in the AFC east.

Our lines don't. The Fin's and Jests D-line overpowered the Bills each time they played. The same thing happened on the other side of the ball as well.

[Big Turk]

Ok, I understand we all hate the coach.

Can we put the Jerry Sullivan kool aid down for a second ?

Has anyone thought that maybe we just dont have the players to be successful? yes i know coaching has been awful.

For example our QBs have josh reed and robert royal as ..... weapons? roscoe parrish?? Lee evans does he still play for the bills?

I dont think DC are up all night thinking of ways to scheme against these guys. I think Mitchell brought this up this mroning, need to bring in more personnel, especially at DE and WR/TE.

 

I just don't think that is the case. Here is why. Good coaches are able to get more from their players than the players can give themselves. They get fringe players to become average players, average players to become good players, good players to become great players and great players to become elite players. Now, will it happen for every single player? No, but it will happen for a lot of them. Can you honestly in your heart say that if we had Bill Bellichick's staff or Jeff Fisher's staff that this team would be sitting at home right now at 7-9? You honestly think these coaches who are able to plug in street free agents into their starting lineups when they are decimated by injuries(moreso Bellichick than Fisher) and not miss a beat, would have zero effect on the win loss record of this team? When Bellichick is using his 10th string CB who was driving for UPS last week and the opposition still can't pick on him because of the brilliant scheme he designs to protect that player, those type of things would have no effect on our record? Look at how many games basically came down to a few bad decisions by this coaching staff. 1st Dolphins game where they had a 9 point lead and all the momentum after scoring a TD in the 3rd quarter---they allow the Dolphins to get it all back by refusing to take McGee out of the game when he couldn't cover my grandmother in a wheelchair. Both Jets games---the first they get to within 6 points with a Greer interception return for a TD, have all the momentum going for them, then allow a 9 minute drive to basically run out the 4th quarter. The second Jets game, is one of the worst playcalls of the season---at least until the decision to run the ball with no timeouts left at the 10 yard line this past week---or perhaps the 3 runs by the Bills with plenty of time on the clock and the Browns taking TO's to settle for a 47 yard FG attempt in the Browns game. Or maybe it was the putrid performance and the dizzying array of mystifying calls during the San Fran game.

 

You see, this is the problem right here. No discussion of this coaching staff in any year is complete without talking about the multitude of games we have lost due directly to boneheaded decisions by this staff. 3 or 4 times a year at least, we are talking about WTF was that? Does that really happen to Fisher or Bellichick? Are critics lining up to question why Bellichick or Fisher made a call? No, because their calls usually make a lot of sense. Maybe once a year they make a horrible call at a crucial time. Jauron seems to do it every other week. That is the big difference. This team is in position to win week after week, with very few exceptions. Very few games do they get blown out when they lose. The coaching staff CAUSES them to lose games strictly by their actions in many cases. They put this team in a position to lose, or ask players to do things out of their comfort zone, which usually ends badly. Losman to feel backside pressure and a FB who has caught 2 passes all season for negative yardage. 3 runs into the line when you have a ton of time to get closer for a better FG chance. Jauron always seems to make the wrong calls at the worst time. That seemingly defines him. Get your team in a position to win for 55 minutes, then lose the game for them in 5 minutes or less.

 

Could the players be better? Sure, but how much better would they be if a coaching staff used them properly? That is obviously an unknown. I am pretty sure there would be a good number that would be improved. I am almost positive that if you take Bill Belichick's staff or Jeff Fisher's staff and place them with the Bills for the past 3 years, we wouldn't be looking at the same 7-9 finish all 3 years...