Phin Phanatic » Brian Hartline

Miami Dolphins Players Talking The Talk…But Can They Walk?

Brian Miller — Tue, 14 May 2013 20:31:36 +0000

Nov. 15, 2012; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Miami Dolphins center Mike Pouncey (51) during the second half against the Buffalo Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Buffalo defeats Miami 19 to 14. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

Mike Pouncey is the latest Miami Dolphins player to make a bold statement regarding the teams offense. “I think the Dolphins offense can be ‘great”, he told NFL Total Access. This comes on the heels of Brian Hartline‘s statement that the Dolphins have the best WR corp in the AFC East. While some in the media want to blow this up as overconfidence, to put each comment into real prospective you have to look at the context. In both cases the players were asked about the teams offensive potential.

You can’t ask a player what he thinks about new additions to his team and expect them to say “yeah, we still suck”. Doesn’t work that way. It would have been more of a news story had Pouncey said, “you know, our offense really is going to be fantastically mediocre”. Ummmm, yeah. The reality is that the season doesn’t begin until September but there are players who are opening up their mouths now, or so it would seem.

The reality is that it’s actually a nice change of pace for a team that hasn’t been to the playoffs since Tony Sparano’s “Wild” rookie season as a head coach. In fact the team hasn’t been above .500 in that span either. There hasn’t been a whole lot of positives in Miami outside of “hope”. Miami fans lauded the Nick Saban hiring. See how that turned out. They lauded the addition of a top offensive minded HC. Yeah, Cam Cameron couldn’t. Parcells? Please. There are a lot bigger fish off the Florida coast.

This is not to say that Joe Philbin is the next savior of the Dolphins. He wasn’t however receiving standing ovations from fans when he was chosen. For one he was chosen by Jeff Ireland and Stephen Ross. Two team members not exactly gleaming with fan support at the time. Philbin was viewed more as the fallback option to not landing Jeff Fisher. Yet for some reason, last years sub-.500 season has won him more fans. Philbin is becoming the Dolphins most popular head coach in almost a decade. He will if he turns the team into a winning product.

The pieces have been put into place to make a run. It’s an uphill run but at least it’s a run. Philbin will have to lead these new players and see to them coming together as a team. Positive thinking and positive attitudes are the first steps. While it’s too early to “toot any horns” the reality is that the players are seeing the same thing that the fans are. That the Dolphins want to win and need to win. They are not simply going through the motions and accepting that as a reality. They are talking and more importantly they are believing. They are actually expecting this team to be better.

They will need to do more than believe it come September. They will need to prove it.

Some fans see these comments as bulletin board material for their opponents but it’s not like the games will be played next week. Time has a way. The reality is that they need something to rally behind. If opening their mouth gives them the incentives to go out and play harder and not accept losing as part of the game, then the gap between ready and hoping to be ready has gotten smaller. Let’s also realize this. For the first time, there are monumental changes on both sides of the ball and that alone should get you jacked up. If the fans can be excited about the additional changes and increase in talent, then surely the players should be excited as well. Apparently they are.

Miami Dolphins 53 Man Roster Projections 1.0

Tyler McMullen — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:21:25 +0000

Dec. 23, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill (17) throws a pass against the Buffalo Bills during the first half at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

While the NFL Draft and the free agency frenzy gave Miami Dolphin fans a jolt of adrenaline, the long and seemingly boring off-season is now in full effect.

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Three Key Areas of Improvement for the 2013 Miami Dolphins

jmendel31 — Thu, 02 May 2013 13:36:52 +0000

Nov. 15, 2012; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Miami Dolphins defensive end Cameron Wake (91) celebrates a sack during the second half against the Buffalo Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Buffalo defeats the Dolphins 19 to 14. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

Espn has released its yearly post draft power rankings, and Miami is ranked right about where they were at the end of last season, 18 out of 32. Basically saying they are competitive but not a playoff team yet. This ranking seems pretty fair because Miami hasn’t played a single snap yet. If the Dolphins play the way they should, after becoming a far more talented team this offseason then they could easily be floating around the top ten when the season comes to an end.

There are three areas that Miami must improve this season to become a playoff team and a team others do not want to face.

Playmaking on defense. Other then Cameron Wake and Rashad Jones no one on the Dolphins defense could make a play. This resulted in many third down conversions by opposing teams. I look at the game against the Colts as a perfect example. Too many times throughout the game the Dolphins were able to get Andrew Luck into a third and long situation, (at times being more then 10 yards) but Luck was able to sit in the pocket and find Reggie Wayne or Donnie Avery for a huge gain, at least 15 yards or more.

With the Additions of players like Dion Jordan and Brent Grimes, Joe Philbin hopes he has found the pieces to be able to make the big play or stop on third down to get their team off the field.

Another big key is explosive plays down the field. This one will mostly rely on Ryan Tannehill, he has to be able to improve his accuracy down the field. Brian Hartline was able to sneak by the secondary a few times last year, only one resulted in one touchdown. Most of the time it was either over or under thrown, but not by much. With the addition of mike Wallace I expect that to happen even more this year. If Tannehill can make the throws, this team will have a very scary offense.

The third may be the biggest of them all. Do your job. More specifically Carpenter make the simple field goals, and Daniel Thomas, protect the ball better. The Dolphins went out and drafted another ground and pound runner in Mike Gillislee from Florida. Thomas may be on his way out if he can’t stop losing the ball, and he needs to start being that short yardage back that the Dolphins needed. Carpenter,who had the chance to win a couple of games for the Dolphins in 2012, He missed three field goals that are very makable early on in the season in clutch situations. The Dolphins picked a kicker in the 5th round to compete with Carpenter, if he can’t make the plays he needs to, his days in Miami are also numbered.