Miami Dolphins fans have higher expectations but need patience

The Miami Dolphins are once again below .500 and that has the social media fans screaming for someone’s head. They need only a little bit of patience.

When the 2019 season kicks off Adam Gase will still be the Dolphins head coach barring a complete meltdown to end the season and Stephen Ross throwing in the towel. Gase deserves another season and Miami should keep him around at least one more.

There is nothing easy in the NFL and players and coaches can find themselves out of work just as quickly as they found work. It is a what are you doing for now league and not a what did you do for me last week league.

For the Dolphins and Adam Gase it can’t be about what “now” but instead what “will”. Gase is 2.5 years into his coaching career. One year was spent with a slew of injuries and Jay Cutler the half a year was spent with a slew of injuries and Brock Osweiler for five games. His one season where most of the players were healthy and Ryan Tannehill played all but the final month, the team went to the playoffs.

This obviously falls under the not what you did for me category. Gase is being judged on the now. A commitment to a quarterback that most believe is not an NFL starting caliber QB. A commitment to Frank Gore over Kenyan Drake. A commitment to Matt Burke over anyone else.

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Reality is however that this is a coach who is still learning the nuances of the game and frankly there is improvement despite the injuries. Would we be having this question is the injuries were far less demoralizing?

One thing that has been brought up is the fact that when Sunday’s game came down to the final minutes Adam Gase chose to run instead of pass thus setting up a late game heroic win by Andrew Luck. The common thought is that he didn’t have faith in Ryan Tannehill. Maybe, maybe not. Gase defended his decision in the post-game press conference.

Gase very well can succeed in Miami but there are changes he needs to make. He needs to be far less cautious because as Dolphins fans know from years of watching Cam Cameron and Joe Philbin, caution wins you nothing.

He also needs to get rid of Matt Burke. Maybe this off-season provides some solid solutions at the defensive coordinator spot. Burke is over his head and Gase needs to see this. Adam Gase also needs to separate himself from Ryan Tannehill.

Tannehill is an average quarterback who is at his best when everything around him is working. When it is not Tannehill’s success drops significantly. Gase must find “his” quarterback instead of trying to convince everyone else that Tannehill is in fact his guy.

Ryan Tannehill will be a suitable quarterback in 2019 while a rookie learns from the sideline but Gase needs to get that rookie first because if he is tying himself to Tannehill, he is tying himself to the unemployment line.

None of this is ideal but removing Adam Gase this year creates a potential rebuild and some of the talent that Miami does have suddenly may not fit another system. It almost seems cliche to say it but we can’t forget that even Bill Belichick was fired from the Browns. He was 45-45 in his five seasons with Cleveland. Adam Gase is 21-22 in his 2.5.

All of that being said, without changes this team has little chance of moving forward and Gase has to be the one to make and demand some if not all of them.