There's a New Face in Town

So, I guess I should introduce myself. My name’s Dave and I’ll be posting along with Brian here on Phin Phanatic from now on. I’m the writer over at Blown Coverage and you can also find me over at the Epic Carnival and also at the Hokies and ‘Canes.

I hope to be writing posts that include awesome things like puppies and leprechauns and how Miami dominated its latest opponent, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to be happening anytime soon. I hate to say it, but this is as low as I’ve ever been with this Dolphins team.

Dan Marino’s last game sucked. Ricky Williams walking out on this team sucked. The failed Daunte Culpepper experiment last year sucked. Some of those late December collapses from years past sucked. But this season is adding a whole new dimension to my suffering and we’ve just hit October.

I don’t want to sound all negative and all doom & gloom, but I’m legitimately concerned that this team could go winless. I knew that we would struggle this year. Everyone knew that. There’s a rookie head coach, a very tough schedule, a team that’s rebuilding and a 37-year old quarterback at the helm behind a sub-par offensive line. Add those variables together and you’re going to have a very long season.

But still. There’s something morbid about lowering your expectations and still getting disappointed. During the pre-season I hoped for a 6-10 year. After the Jets game I lowered it to 3-13. After last Sunday, I’d be happy with just 1 win. It’s a very sad thing when 1 win looks almost impossible.

I had set some goals that I wanted to see this team achieve. I wanted the rookies(Satele, Mormino, Soliai, Mauia, Ginn) to get playing time and to contribute. I wanted to see Jason Allen get some significant action on the field. I wanted to see the o-line continue to improve under Hudson Houck. I wanted our defense to remain one of the league’s best..

So far, none of that has really happened. Satele is getting pushed around, Mormino is out for the year and Ginn hasn’t shown anything yet that convinces me that he should have been a top 10 pick. I’m starting to question Cam Cameron’s decisions a bit, which I shouldn’t be doing and the worst part of all is seeing our defense being reduced to cat vomit.

This unit used to be the heart and soul of this team. They were fierce against the run, they would make any opposing quarterback very uncomfortable. They were fast, they were swarming, they would get turnovers and they would basically carry this team.

I guess I never expected to see the day when a struggling Raiders team could come into our house and run for 299 yards on us. Maybe I knew that that day would eventually come, but I just didn’t expect it to be this year. Not after we supposedly “improved” that unit by adding Joey Porter.

So that’s what we’ve been reduced to. Seeing Zach Thomas on the sideline with a concussion. Seeing Jason Taylor frustrated because he’s not making a difference. Seeing our secondary get burned…and seeing Joey Porter guarantee a victory against Oakland and then follow that by letting Justin Fargas run for over 100 yards in the 4th quarter alone.

I could go on why this year has been such a punch to the testicles, but you all have seen it. You all feel it too. I’m not giving up on this team so don’t get me wrong. I’ll keep rooting and cheering as hard as always, but the reality is that it has sucked like Anna Benson so far.

There’s 12 games left, so hopefully we’ll be able to find the little silver linings as we go along. Baby steps, that’s all I’m asking for right now. Baby steps…