Mr. Ross … The Time Has Come!

The dust has almost settled on the Dolphins Monday Night Football loss to the Jets.  But, the hangover seems to continue with anger, frustration, and depression of fans and players alike.  In hindsight, it is hard to believe how flat and unmotivated the Dolphins were in the game.  What could have caused such a horrible performance?  Maybe, one of the worst many Dolphans have had to endure?  And, against the Jets of all teams!

Consider how the game started.  The Jets got the ball first.  They could only muster a mere 2 yards on a three and out series.  The Dolphins then got the ball on their own twelve yard line after a Jets punt.  First play was an exciting Reggie Bush 36 yard run — finally, the Reggie we all wanted to see.  Second play, Daniel Thomas rushes for one yard.  Third play, Matt Moore completes a short pass to Brandon Marshall, who runs over Darelle Revis for 8 yards — finally, the Beast we all wanted to see.  Fourth play, Matt Moore throws an incomplete pass to Clyde Gates.  Now, the Dolphins have a fourth and inches from the Jets 40 yard line.  The question is to attempt a 57 yard field goal or go for it to continue the drive.  So, fifth play of the drive, Dolphins punt.  PUNT?  WHAT?  Dolphins are 0 – 4, stopped the Jets on a three and out, got a 36 yard run from Reggie, Marshall runs over Revis, and Coach Tony Sparano decides to punt?  The decision showed no confidence in the offense to pick up inches.  The decision took the sails out of the momentum wind.  The coaching decision was gutless — shame on you Tony Sparano.  Why not send in Lou Polite to do his stuff?  Right?  Oh no, that’s not right!  We released Lou Polite before the season started.  The player personnel decision not to have Lou Polite on the roster to pick up the short yardage was stupid — shame on you Jeff Ireland.

That single gutless coaching decision seemed set the tone for the remainder of the game.  From then on, the players were flat and unmotivated.  Moore didn’t see two wide open receivers — one for a critical first down and one for a touchdown.  Marshall dropped a TD pass (again) and stumbled out of bounds on what should have been another TD.  The normally sure handed Brian Hartline dropped two passes.  The normally sure handed Devone Bess dropped one pass and fumbled another.  Five fumbles in total.  All this following the gutless coaching decision.  Think about this, would the Hooded Wonder of the North punted on fourth and inches from the opponents 40 yard line on the first drive of the game?  If he had, Brady might have drilled his next pass at the hood to send a message!

And, the poor coaching decisions did not stop there.