TMQB

After another disappointing performance, Miami not only finds themselves sitting at the bottom of the AFC East, they find themselves at the bottom of the NFL.  Miami enters their bye week winless at 0-4, officially joining the Minnesota Vikings, Indianapolis Colts, and St. Louis Rams, as the other winless teams in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes.

The New England Patriots were the lone AFC East team to record a win this past weekend.  They took care of the Oakland Raiders in Oakland, in a typical bounce back performance following their loss to the Buffalo Bills.  The Bills suffered a bit of a let down following their dramatic win over New England, falling to Cincinnati on the road.  The Jets suffered a beat down at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens last Sunday night, putting them 3rd in the AFC East.

The Miami Dolphins once again managed to hang in there in the first half like they have all 4 games thus far, and managed to not get it done in the 4th quarter, like they have in all 4 games this year.  After losing starting quarterback Chad Henne, who became the second Dolphin quarterback named Chad to go down in San Diego with a shoulder injury in consecutive trips to San Diego, Miami only trailed the Chargers by 3 points going into halftime.  Like so many times this season, the hope and optimism for the Dolphins was there.  Matt Moore was going to rally the troops and get a win in the second half.  The defense was finally going to put together a good second half and show glimpses of why the expectations were so high for them this season.  This was the time, it was going to happen.  Well the short halftime break soon ended, and with it went the hope and optimism.

The Dolphins only managed to score 2 field goals in the second half, the second pulling Miami to within a touch down with over 11 minutes still to go in the 4th quarter.  Then it seemed like San Diego decided it was time to end the game, and put together a 13 play 65 yard drive that ate up over 7 minutes off the clock.  The drive ended in a field goal to extend their lead to 10 with a little over 4 minutes to play.  Once again, the defense needed a stop, and didn’t come through.  Once again, the offense failed to answer that drive, following up with a 4 play drive that ended with an interception.  We’ve all seen this before, we’re all getting used to it, and we are all tired of it.

This offense was supposed to be more explosive, it was supposed to produce more big plays and gain ‘chunk’ yardage.  We haven’t witnessed that yet.  This defense was supposed to be one of the top units in the NFL, haven’t seen that either.  I’m not an expert, I can’t tell you what is wrong with this team.  I can’t tell you what the fix is for this team, I can only tell you what I see.  I see a team that seems to play hard for the first half, then lays down in the second half, when the game is on the line.  I see a team with Pro Bowlers at offensive line, wide receiver, linebacker, defensive line, and strong safety, that is flat out not playing like it.  I see a team with a bunch of former team captains and leaders on the college level, failing to put things on their shoulders and get the job done when it counts.  I see a team that says all the right things off the field, but doesn’t do all the right things on it, that’s what I see.

The fate of head coach Tony Sparano has pretty much been set.  He will be replaced before next season, whether he makes it through this season or not is the only question that is up in the air right now.  I’m not sure what the right move is at this point.  Would firing him now be enough to rally the troops to push for a playoff spot?  Probably not.  Would keeping him around for the remainder of the season fire this team up to keep his job?  I doubt that too.  They don’t have a rookie QB to throw in there to ‘see what he can do,’ as so many other teams turn to at this point in the season.  Matt Moore hasn’t been regarded as the future of this team at any point in time, and isn’t going to be thought of as that future now.

This team is a mess right now, resembling what many think is the 2007 team that managed a 1-15 record.  Some fans have launched themselves onto the “Suck for Luck” bandwagon, and who can blame them?  It’s been almost 40 years since Miami has won the Super Bowl, and the biggest hope since Dan Marino isn’t on the roster right now, he’s playing college ball at Stanford.  Would any of you sign up for this horrendous season to continue if it ended with a chance to draft him?  I would.  Would that mean I wasn’t a ‘true fan?’  I don’t think so.  The leader this team needs is not on the roster.  You’d be foolish if you wouldn’t trade Henne for Matthew Stafford or Sam Bradford or heck, even Cam Newton.  I’m sure Henne is a great person, but he’s not the guy, Sparano isn’t the coach, and Ireland is probably not the GM that is going to bring a title to Miami.

On to the rankings…….

32 Minnesota Vikings (29) Who’s glad Miami didn’t go after McNaab?

31 St. Louis Rams (28) At least Stephen Jackson is back.

30 Miami Dolphins (30) Thank goodness for the bye week.

29 Indianapolis Colts (31) Painter showed hope for 4 wins.

28 Kansas City Chiefs (32) I can’t believe they won a game.

27 Seattle Seahawks (25) Can’t play every game in Seattle.

26 Jacksonville Jaguars (26) Could soon be flying from JAX to LAX.

25 Denver Broncos (24) Looking forward to the Gator celebration in Miami.

24 Carolina Panthers (22) Can Cam make plays or what?

23 Cleveland Browns (21) Worst 2-2 team in the NFL.

22 Cincinnati Bengals (27) Dalton to Green = more TD’s than Henne to Marshall.

21 Philadelphia Eagles (14) Dream team keeps on dreamin’.

20 Arizona Cardinals (20) Let one get away.

19 Oakland Raiders (17) Guess they can’t run all over everyone.

18 Washington Redskins (19) Will be a pest in the NFC East.

17 Tennessee Titans (18) Miami should have went after Hasselback.

16 San Francisco 49ers (23) Are they really 3-1?

15 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (15) I thought they were too young.

14 Chicago Bears (16) Aren’t their special teams really special?

13 Atlanta Falcons (12) Uh oh, Green Bay is coming to town.

12 Dallas Cowboys (11) Snatched two victories up, gave two victories away.

11 Pittsburgh Steelers (10) If Johnson doesn’t go down they get blown out.

10 New York Jets (9) Built to beat New England, too bad they only play them twice.

9 Buffalo Bills (8) Could be 70 points scored in Buffalo Sunday with the Eagles coming to town.

8 New York Giants (13) They play great when you don’t expect them to.

7 Houston Texans (7) Everyone in Houston is working on Andre’s hamstring.

6 San Diego Chargers (4) Will challenge for home field in the AFC.

5 Baltimore Ravens (5) 34 points, 1 offensive touchdown!

4 New England Patriots (3) I almost forgot the names of the running backs they drafted until this past Sunday.

3 New Orleans Saints (2) 2 fourth down conversions away from being #1 on this list.

2 Detroit Lions (6) Calvin Johnson is the true “Beast.”

1 Green Bay Packers (1) Wow……just wow.

Phins Up!

BEL