Heat On Henne Unwarranted

The Miami Dolphins staged and epic meltdown on Monday night and everyone from the media to the coaches to the fans want answers and they all want someone to pin it on.  With Special Teams coach John Bonamego gone the finger pointing takes a quick unwarranted turn to starting QB Chad Henne.

Fans are emailing “why isn’t Chad Pennington starting” to the local media.  Chad Pennington himself is deflecting the questions from the media as to when he will start instead saying the Henne and not Penny is the teams starting QB.  Fans want a change and they want a change now.  If for no other reason than self-gratification that a change for the sake of change was made.

I will make this very clear.  Chad Henne is not responsible for the loss against New England and should not be pulled from his starting job in favor of anyone.  Including Chad Pennington.

Yes, the facts are very simple.  Henne tossed two first half picks that shut down drives and in both cases were clearly a result of him not looking over the field and seeing a LB, the same LB, in position to make a play.  Both of those picks led to six New England points.  Good teams overcome bad mistakes and the Miami Dolphins defense did just that on Monday night.  In the first half.

The pick six that was recorded against Henne in the second half was hardly his fault.  The failure of Brandon Marshall to continue his route caused that pick.  The problem in the 2nd half was hardly a Miami offensive issue considering that in a span of just three minutes the Dolphins watched a one point half-time lead evaporate into a 20 to 7 deficit thanks to the play of the special teams.

The Dolphins have bigger issues than Chad Henne’s two first half picks or the three other passes that could have been picked.  Their lack of a consistent running game is the reason teams no longer stack the box and the “nothing surprising” offensive play calling by Dan Henning isn’t helping the team either.

Fans are dejected and upset right now.  One site took to a four letter word article that ranted against the team, it’s owners, and it’s coaches.  Fans want a winner, they want an attitude and an identity and right now they have none of those things.  What they do have is a young QB who will make mistakes and play not to lose as long as he is coached not to lose instead of being coached to go out and win.

Fingers can be pointed in any direction the fans want, but Chad Henne has not lost his right to be the starter of this team and in fact, this entire conversation of him losing his job isn’t warranted.  Until the coaches allow Henne to play Chad Henne football and not Chad Pennington football, this offense is going to suffer.  So point your fingers at them instead.