Okay. so enough of this nonsense about Dan Campbell being a rookie interim coach and still learning and…

Nonsense.

The man has been in football his entire life.  He has played in the NFL and was a Super Bowl champion.

He should know that when your defense has just stuffed the opponent on third down, and you’re about to get the ball back…you let those cards fall.  Period.

Period.   Instead, Dan Campbell decided to give the Bills ANOTHER third down.

We don’t have to get into the details, the down and distance, the score, or anything else.  Dan Campbell gave the Bills an additional third down.  And that blew a close game wide open.  Campbell’s fault.

Right before halftime, there was horrendous clock management.  Alleged genius Darren Rizzi might be to blame for this, but it falls under Campbell’s watch, so Campbell must own it.  And that play call to end the half?  When Miller was doing well?  When Jay Ajayi was on fire?  When Tannehill rollouts or keepers have been effective all year?  Bill Lazor (and the man who lets him call plays) need to own up too.

Brent Grimes falling down every other play hurt.   Jason Fox playing like he was in  8th-grade j.v.  didn’t help.  Jamar Taylor being invisible for the EIGHTH straight week added to things.

But two things I will say, as facts, are that Ryan Tannehill did not cause this loss.   A couple of awful decisions from Dan Campbell, combined with another lethargic defensive showing, caused the loss.

23 Comments

  1. Author

    I just watched and rewatched Dan Campbell’s interviews after the game, and while I still think he made some wrong calls, at least his explanations made sense. That’s something I NEVER said under Philbin. Right before halftime, Campbell recognized that we had Buffalo back on their heels. They were tired and confused. Lazor had a play in place that the Dolphins were very familiar with and had practiced a million times. Campbell decided to hurry up and run it. Given all those circumstances, maybe a timeout would have favored the Bills more than it would have favored us. It didn’t work out that way, but at least Campbell’s thinking was logical. We had the Bills on the ropes and we had a play ready to go. Why not take a chance like he did? Like I said, I still think Campbell made the wrong choice, but at least he gave us an honest assessment of what he thought, and then admitted he was wrong in hindsight.

    1. Did you read his response to accepting the penalty on that 3rd down play? Similar to what you said here, it may not have been the right choice, but he certainly backed it up with logical reasoning. Knowing the Bills are not a good 3rd and long team, knowing that 52 yards was within Carpenters range, and that the wind was at his back all convinced him the odds would be better to accept a penalty and take the chance that his defense could stop them for at least 10 yards than to decline and feel like he was giving the Bills the 3 points. Difference here is he stands behind this call, behind the statistics. What do you think?

      1. Author

        Brandon, good question.
        I respect that he explained it and accepted the responsibility. But a 50+ yard field goal is still tough, even for Dan Carpenter. I think giving up 3 points there would have been a Dolphins moral victory. An 8-point deficit early in the 3rd quarter (with our offense moving the ball the previous three drives) would not have been bad.
        The worst part of this call is that I don’t think Campbell considered the mental state of the defense. It is a hard thing in the NFL to stop an opponent on third down and end a drive, and Miami did that. Mission accomplished.
        The defense walked off the field happy and successful The offense got their helmets ready. That was a win for the Dolphins, even if Carpenter made the field goal.
        But in one single decision, Dan Campbell took ALL of that away to play a percentage, and I have to fault him for that. He made his exhausted D go out there for another play that was not necessary.

        1. Good point. It’s funny that we are sitting here talking about playing the statistics because that was one of the biggest complaints about Philbin. He had no pulse on the team. He read the team like a stats sheet and was about as exciting as one in interviews. Campbell seems different. He gave the team a lot of energy but may have outsmarted himself on that one. Having a defensive coordinator who could understand the success of the defensive moral victory and make that point to him may have helped him make a different or better decision. I think for the most part Campbell has had a relatively good pulse on the emotion of the team. I liked him putting Ajayi in there and providing a much needed spark instead of going with Gray or Williams. I thought that was a well timed decision. I think he has a lot of room to grow but i’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for at least the rest of this season. The more I think about it though the more I think he outsmarted himself on that one and pulled a Philbin.

        2. In all fairness if you watch that play the bills had about 7.5 seconds to throw that ball. The Dolphins knew it was a pass and had the QB dead to rights. He would have been sacked in 3 seconds if not for the horrendous mugging of SHU that even the Bill Loving announcers HAD to point out because it was SOOOOOO blatant and to pour salt all over that the replay shows the ref standing 6 yards away watching the whole thing.

          So I don’t know the defense was up to stopping them but when the other team gets away with that crap not even the good teams can compete.

  2. Philbin was a much better head coach than Dan Campbell. Ross keeps hiring worse personnel.

    1. Author

      LMAO. Mike has just given himself away as a Jet troll. Mike is the only man in history to begin a sentence with, “Philbin was a much better head coach than…”

  3. Wonder why the Fins stink?
    Just look below at who is the worst QB in football

    2015 Regular Season NFL Leaders

    RK PLAYER PASS EPA RUN EPA SACK EPA PEN EPA TOTAL EPA ACT PLAYS QB PAR QB PAA TOTAL QBR
    1 Carson Palmer, ARI 48.8 -0.2 -6.2 7.9 50.4 308 63.6 38.8 84.8
    2 Andy Dalton, CIN 54.1 -1.8 -5.9 2.4 48.8 339 58.3 31.0 77.6
    3 Ryan Fitzpatrick, NYJ 32.0 9.2 -3.0 2.3 40.5 306 51.5 26.8 76.7
    4 Aaron Rodgers, GB 36.4 10.0 -7.9 4.1 42.6 356 56.4 27.7 74.3
    5 Tom Brady, NE 52.0 1.2 -9.4 1.7 45.5 401 63.0 30.6 73.9
    6 Tyrod Taylor, BUF 20.6 9.7 -7.2 0.5 23.5 226 34.4 16.2 72.6
    7 Drew Brees, NO 59.6 -0.1 -13.4 2.5 48.7 407 59.8 27.0 71.2
    8 Eli Manning, NYG 49.6 2.0 -7.4 4.4 48.6 404 57.8 25.2 70.1
    9 Brian Hoyer, HOU 25.9 0.8 -4.2 0.2 22.6 252 35.5 15.1 69.4
    10 Ben Roethlisberger, PIT 25.2 0.0 -3.6 3.1 24.7 217 29.8 12.3 68.4
    11 Derek Carr, OAK 38.7 -1.5 -5.2 3.0 35.0 321 42.2 16.3 66.6
    12 Philip Rivers, SD 52.7 -1.0 -11.1 2.6 43.2 414 54.0 20.6 66.3
    13 Matt Ryan, ATL 56.1 0.6 -10.5 0.1 46.3 434 54.9 19.9 65.1
    14 Jay Cutler, CHI 24.6 5.9 -5.5 3.9 28.9 259 32.3 11.4 64.6
    15 Russell Wilson, SEA 36.0 10.6 -12.5 -0.8 33.3 337 40.8 13.7 63.5
    16 Teddy Bridgewater, MIN 29.7 6.3 -11.2 4.8 29.5 304 35.7 11.2 62.3
    17 Jameis Winston, TB 24.1 6.5 -6.7 3.7 27.6 337 36.9 9.7 59.7
    18 Blake Bortles, JAX 34.7 11.4 -15.5 4.0 34.6 391 42.5 11.0 59.4
    19 Marcus Mariota, TEN 24.8 3.2 -10.5 3.4 20.8 262 27.7 6.6 58.5
    20 Kirk Cousins, WSH 28.7 -1.1 -4.1 3.3 26.8 369 36.5 6.8 56.2
    21 Peyton Manning, DEN 32.1 0.0 -6.2 2.2 28.1 348 32.3 4.3 54.2
    22 Josh McCown, CLE 36.0 1.2 -15.2 3.3 25.3 343 30.5 2.8 52.8
    23 Ryan Mallett, HOU 7.8 1.8 -1.2 2.6 11.0 172 14.6 0.8 51.5
    24 Cam Newton, CAR 21.1 7.7 -6.0 1.0 23.9 353 29.2 0.7 50.7
    25 Matthew Stafford, DET 25.6 1.0 -10.3 5.4 21.7 369 29.9 0.1 50.1
    26 Alex Smith, KC 22.5 6.8 -10.9 0.4 18.8 353 27.9 -0.5 49.5
    27 Andrew Luck, IND 15.9 8.5 -5.1 -0.7 18.7 368 27.0 -2.6 47.6
    28 Colin Kaepernick, SF 14.7 8.5 -7.9 1.4 16.8 347 25.1 -2.9 47.1
    29 Joe Flacco, BAL 30.6 -3.4 -9.2 2.4 20.5 381 24.5 -6.2 44.5
    30 Nick Foles, STL 14.0 -0.1 -7.1 2.6 9.3 273 12.1 -9.9 37.9
    31 Sam Bradford, PHI 12.4 -0.1 -6.3 3.8 9.8 380 13.7 -16.9 35.3
    32 Ryan Tannehill, MIA 22.4 -4.5 -13.7 2.5 6.8 378 11.6 -18.9 33.6

    1. Author

      LMAO at Silly Jay. Anyone who relies upon a list that ranks Ryan Fitzpatrick ahead of Tom Brady is using a silly, silly list.

      1. Even if you were to go by this list only what does it tell you that the 8-0 Panthers with QB Cam Newton @ #24 are one of the best teams in the league and that 3 win Houston Texans with Brian Hoyer @ #9 are one of the worst?
        1. A good football team is more than just the play of the quarterback.
        2. You’re a fool if you take statistics at face value.

  4. Author

    No excuse, but the NFL certainly screwed the Dolphins with the bizarre schedule we were dealt this year. We are STILL in the midst of a month-long road trip. We last played at home on Oct 25 and don’t return again until Nov 22. That is just brutal to do to us.

    I mean, it’s only November 9, and we have to wait until the 22nd to play a home game. Seems like a long time from now. But then add in the fact that our previous home game was well before Halloween, and the time expanse is even greater.

    Three other teams have 3-game road trips. The Falcons and Bills have their three-game road trips upcoming still. The Dolphins are still in the middle of theirs. The Jags already had theirs and lost all 3. It is physically and mentally draining to be away from home for a month in an NFL season.

    Additionally, we already went a month without a home game earlier this season, Sep 27 to Oct 25.
    That is a lot of wear and tear and travel on these players. Not to mention, TWICE this season the Dolphins have to wait a month at a time before they hear their home fans cheering for them. There is no “Ok, that was a tough loss, but now we get to go home.” No other team in the league has to wait a month to say that…and we had to endure this TWICE.

  5. Admin you can call the NFL if you want but really the blame goes on Ross he was the one that requested a schedule like this so the stadium upgrades could proceed without being interrupted by home games until the end of the season

    1. Author

      Yeah, I’ve heard that before. But I also heard Ross deny it and deny he wanted the London game.
      There is probably some truth to both sides.
      In general, I doubt teams can just say stuff like “We want our final two games at home, and no cold weather games in the winter, and…” etc etc. Scehduling usually doesn’t bother me, but this year it sucks to be away from home for a month…twice!!

      1. I believe I read the article by the Miami Herald shortly before the season began I’m not 100% sure about that but it makes sense you can’t have home games if you’re trying to upgrade the stadium. One thing is for sure Ross shows his stadium upgrades to increase his chances of getting large events over the coveted 50th Anniversary of our teams franchise.

  6. But I did want to recognize the fact that this schedule is definitely hurting the team. And so far has been snubbed on getting any major events football wise in his new upgraded Stadium.

  7. The schedule cant get any easier. 10-12 games against losing teams.

    1. @Mike

      I think that common core math is getting to you son we play the Bills, Jets and Patriots 2x each so thats 6 games right there against wining football teams

      How many games are in a year MIKE?

      You and Jay just can’t help but add stupid after your names

      1. @Brian M

        The Bills are NOT a winning team duffus!!!!!
        Do some homework before you spew your nonsense!

      2. Talking about stupid ……winning is spelled like that. If you are older than 12 ask your mom to get you spellcheck for Christmas.

  8. @Mike

    They kicked the crap out of us twice and they arn’t a losing team at 4-4! There even at .500

    Guess I did a little research and the conclusion is still the same isn’t it?????

  9. @ Brian M.
    “we play the Bills, Jets and Patriots 2x each so thats 6 games right there against wining football teams”

    those are your words…..AGAIN, the Bills are NOT a winning team!! 4-4 is NOT winning! Do some homework, Duuuh!

    And the only reason the Bills are even 4-4 is THEY PLAYED US TWICE!

    Kicking the crap out of us does not make anyone a good team. Heck, the Jaquars did it. LOL

  10. Author

    Thad Lewis has two lifetime wins as a QB.

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