Raise Your Hand If You Have Seen This Before
I have kept my mouth shut up until this point. Why? Well, it’s really quite simple. The Dolphins faced two very difficult opponents in their first two matchups. So while I wasn’t happy about starting the season 0-2, I understood it. After the game with the Patriots, I actually had some hope for this season. The offense played pretty well in the opener, and I figured the defense would come around, and that that performance was just a fluke. But now, after seeing two other teams carve up the Patriots D and after watching the Miami offense struggle the past two weeks, I am getting comfortable in my chair with my beer, getting ready to watch another mediocre Dolphins season.
I was on my friend’s radio show just before the Dolphins-Patriots season opener, and I said, on live radio, that the Dolphins could surprise some teams this year and could definitely be a sleeper in the AFC East. All I can say is that I am glad that it was radio and not television, so nobody in the area knows my face. The Dolphins have made me look pretty stupid. Instead of being a sleeper to win the division, the only thing the Dolphins are a sleeper right now is in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes.
It’s been discussed, and will continue to be discussed, but all eyes on Tony Sparano right now. My opinion? Very simple: fire him. I like Sparano. I honestly do. I’ve been in his corner since the beginning, but this organization needs a change. Here are a few reasons why:
*There will be no stats to back any of this up, this is just my own personal rant.
1) This team has comparable talent to other contenders, so why aren’t they contending? I look specfically at a team like the Jets. Up and down both rosters, you can compare positions and I believe the Dolphins are either equal, or hold the edge at many positions. So why have the Jets gone to back-to-back AFC Championship games while the Dolphins have been sitting at home? I refuse to believe it is all the quarterback play. Mark Sanchez is not that great. He isn’t. That is just a fact. He is a little better than serviceable. Both defenses were top 6 last year. The Dolphins have better recievers, and at least equal backs. Where do you look? On the sideline. The Jets look at Rex Ryan and see a winner. I don’t believe the Dolphins look at Sparano and see a winner. Rex will not settle for second-best. Yet, we still have a coach who gets overly excited when his team kicks a field goal.
2) Sparano is supposed to be an offensive line guru, right? This has been beaten like a dead horse, but to say the offensive line has been atrocious would be a dramatic understatement. I could do a better job at right tackle than Marc Columbo is doing. Jake Long is not playing like his pro-bowl caliber self, and there is exactly zero depth behind any of these players to cover injury. I could forgive Sparano is there were other parts of the team struggling that he is not so apt in coaching, but the offensive line is supposed to be his speciality. He has had a few years now to fix this mess, and all he has done is made it worse. Unacceptable.
3) Is the staff really that bad? I just see questionable calls every week, and I wonder if it’s coming from the coordinators or from Sparano himself? I won’t completely blame Sparano for Dan Henning, as I’m pretty Parcells had a say in that. But you have to question why Sparano allowed the Wildcat so often the past two years? I honestly believe the Wildcat was a huge distraction for the development of Chad Henne. Taking him off the field in critical situations. Why? You can get away with that when you have a seasoned veteran, but not someone like Henne. We all wonder why Henne is so inconsistent. Maybe because he was never on the field in critical situation. Sparano should have stepped in earlier. Red zone struggles? Why? This should not be happening. And what the hell has happened to this defense? Same coordinator as last year. Same head coach. Sorry, but I have to place most of the blame on the guy at the top. And let’s not even get into the special teams unit. The overlooked reason for this team’s struggles. Again, maybe we can blame the individual position coaches, maybe blame the coordinators. But this is Sparano’s staff, bottom line.
This is becoming a serious situation. I know people want to wait until the end of the season to give Sparano his walking papers, but I don’t see the point. Get rid of him, let the new coach come in and get a feel for this team, before the draft, before free agency. Let him win over this locker room and inject some life into this lifeless franchise. Please. I can’t take much more of this. I am a Mets fan and Dolphins fan and I am tired of following mediocre teams. This season is already a lost-cause, but no reason we have to morgage the future as well.
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