Miami Dolphins’ Joe Philbin “Queasy” About Passing Late

The Miami Dolphins have a larger problem than the fact they are 2-3 and they have a bigger problem than the fact that their quarterback can’t throw a deep ball. They have a big coaching problem and it’s a problem that needs to be fixed. Joe Philbin is not the man to lead this team, not this week, not next week, not the rest of the season. Local media is not being very nice to the coach and the national media isn’t giving him any comfort either. Fan message boards want his head and most of our earlier poll responders think he should go.

If you weren’t one of those who believed he should be fired now, I am one of those, this might change your mind…it did me.

Answering media questions today Joe Philbin was asked about the decision to call a running play on 3rd and nine at the end of Sunday’s game.

"“I got a little antsy. I didn’t want to see us fumble the football or do something potentially devastating, i.e. Buffalo 2013 when we fumbled the ball and set up a field goal for them. That was second-and-eight.“Yeah, I was the one who told (offensive coordinator) Bill (Lazor) to run the ball on third-and-nine. Absolutely, I certainly did. I got a little queasy when I saw those guys running free with the quarterback running for his life , so we punted the ball. That was that decision, but absolutely, that was totally on me.” From the Sun-Sentinel."

There is no place for coaching scared in the NFL and Joe Philbin’s admission to being “queasy” and “antsy” is the icing on that proverbial cake that says Joe Philbin coaches not to lose instead of coaching to win. Joe Philbin should be fired. If the above is correct from the Sun-Sentinel then we are looking at a coach making a decision on a play and a situation based on an instance a full season ago against a completely different team with new lineman and new personnel, and a different offensive coordinator, and saying, “I don’t have faith in this offense”.

That is absurd and ridiculous and frankly Stephen Ross, Ryan Tannehill, the entire Miami Dolphins organization, and every Dolphins fan deserves better. Immediately. Not at the end of the season and not in the final mont of the season. They need to make the change now while the team still has life and a will and desire to play. Joe Philbin is closing in on losing that faith, he already has from many of the fans.

The fact that Philbin took to calling crucial plays late in the game says a lot of his belief in Bill Lazor whom he was forced to hire after Mike Sherman was let against Philbin’s will. It speaks volumes that during the game DC Kevin Coyle and Joe Philbin were exchanging words over Philbin’s apparently opting to change something defensively leading up to a punt. These are the kinds of issues that will tear apart a football team and it appears that is the direction they are heading.

If Joe Philbin had won any reprieves with Stephen Ross in London, then surely Ross should take them away after this. Philbin is left defending actions that first year head coaches rarely make, he is calling time outs with 06 seconds left while on defense and it’s a trend that has reared it’s head throughout the young season. It’s this fear that Philbin opted to sit on two minutes of clock and three time outs to end the first half in Buffalo and the Miami Dolphins are losing because of it.

So are the Miami Dolphins fans and if it continues, Stephen Ross is going to have a big problem finding a way to convince them to come back.