January 2017

The only good thing about the Pro Bowl was seeing All Pro guard Richie Incognito team up once again with his friends Cameron Wake and Jarvis Landry. You remember Richie, right?   The All pro guard who the Dolphins threw away because he teased his friend. Imagine if the Dolphins simply benched him for a series, or even a game or tow, instead of over-reacting and feeding into this false bullying culture.   We’d still have a perennial All Pro lineman on our team and one of the best lines in the league.   Instead, we kept Dallas Thomas, Billy Turner, and Mike Pouncey.  Wonderful.Read More →

Edwin Pope was among the few Dolphins writers who, most of the time, told it like it is.   The current beat writers still walk on eggshells when it’s time to critique Adam Gase and Clueless Joey Philbin.   Pope was a little more outspoken, and a lot more brave.   He even questioned the great Don Shula, a man 10 times more powerful than Gase and Philbin put together. Here’s a link to Pope’s coverage of the last Dolphins’ Super Bowl, a blowout loss to the 49ers.  I admire him for bringing up the hard questions.   http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nfl/super-bowl/article129557229.html You’ll note that his writing style wasRead More →

I used to like the Pro Bowl more than most people.   But the past few years, even I have changed my tune and now think like the rest of you…that it’s a boring, tedious affair. Making matters worse is the NFL’s insistence on using tired old retirees to act as team captains and select players.   But WORSE, is allowing guys like Ray Lewis and Michael Irvin to still be involved. How many arrests does it take before the NFL turn its back on these thugs? What do you guys think of the Pro Bowl??Read More →

Pittsburgh had third and short twice already, and BOTH times, they called a long bomb.  Both incomplete.  Horrendous play calling and NOT the way to eat away at New England. Apparently, Adam Gase is the play caller today, because he too refuses to rush for a first down.  Ever.Read More →

Right off the bat, let me state that I don’t know Matt Burke personally.   I also don’t know much about his body of work and accomplishments, mostly because he’s never had a prominent role that can be assessed.    But just because we know so little about the man and what he brings to the table, doesn’t mean we can’t question certain aspects of his hiring. My first concern is the hiring process.  I’m a huge believer in taking your time and hiring the very best person available.  Not just the best person on your 30th-ranked defensive staff, but the best person in theRead More →

I have a good friend who’s a lifelong Steeler fan and blogger, and in talking to him over the weekend, you really get a sense of what the Steelers are all about and how their fans buy into it. He said that Bud Dupree is going to hit Tom Brady harder than he hit Matt Moore.   I said, Oh you mean that illegal hit.  He said Yup, he loves that stuff. Now we all talk shit about opponents and it’s part of being a sports fan, but Steeler and Patriot fans have this blind obsession that goes beyond being a basic fan.   AndRead More →

Rooting for a team in the New England-Pittsburgh game is like rooting for someone in a Hitler vs. Bin Laden matchup.   BOTH teams are easy to despise, with their cheating, dirty play, whining, and overall way they each get all the calls.   Roger Goodell might have to flip a coin on which of his two favorite teams he tells the refs to favor next week. The Chiefs committed a lot of bad penalties on Sunday night, but it was the same penalties that Pitt was committing and that weren’t called.   And don’t get me started on the way the Patriots abused theRead More →

After watching Little Julie Edelmann push off twice on the same “catch” and then watching the referees literally turn their heads away from the play, I turned off the TV because we already know the outcome. This was already after I suffered through watching Brady throw up high-arching, non-spiraling, lame ducks for the entire first half.   The Texan DBs have about 10 full seconds of the ball up in the air to make a play, but instead they decide to trip on those pesky blades of fake grass.  Not to mention the brilliance of the Texan special teamers.   Talk about handing the gameRead More →

With Vance Jospeh gone now, it’s time for Adam Gase to focus on hiring a strong defensive coordinator.  It appears likely that Gase will give the job to current LB coach Matt Burke. No one disputes that the Dolphins 2016 defense was inadequate.   But there are debates as to who bears the most of the blame.    And there’s a lot of blame to go around. Aside from a few stars, almost every one of the starting 11 was an average player.  We had no beasts.  That blame falls on the front office.   They’ve missed the boat in the recent past, and draftedRead More →

A belated thanks to the Denver Broncos for tanking on Christmas night to vault us into the playoffs. A new thanks to the Denver Broncos for taking Vance Joseph off our hands.   The Dolphins defense was miserable this season, and Vance Joseph had no answers.  Why on earth would a team want him to be the leader is beyond me, but I’m glad it happened. And now we can look forward with some optimism to a new DC coming in.   Word is that current LB coach Matt Burke will get the job.  Hope he’s smart enough to give Mike Hull and Trevor ReillyRead More →

There isn’t much good to discuss here today as I sat down to torture myself by re-watching the game for my analysis. Atlanta has Matty Ice, and the Dolphins have Icy Matt, because Matt Moore played like he had icy hands, legs, and brains. However, I will say that the one area where we outplayed the Steelers was on special teams.   We kept pinning them back inside their own 10 or 15-yardline consistently.   We pulled off a fake punt for the first time since I can remember.   Kenyan Drake had some outstanding returns. The brightest spot of the day belonged to Andrew Franks.Read More →

As the first half wound down, the Miami Dolphins were in prime position to get back int he game.  They had a chance to overcome the atrocious game plan of Vance Joseph and make a game of it.  A chance to get within 7, with us receiving the second half kickoff.  Everything was in place. Until Matt Moore gave the game away. Matt Moore watched James Harrison come around the left end.  He watched a little longer.  He now had some choices.  It was only first down, so Moore could have thrown the ball away.   He could have taken a knee.  He could have ranRead More →

Boy, it’s been a long time since I was able to write about a Dolphin playoff game.  And although the Dolphins have little chance of winning 4 games in a row against elite opponents, it certainly can be done. How? I see the Dolphins’ path to playoff success as pretty simple actually.  The main thing is for the offense to show up and play consistently.  The playmakers are there.  They are healthy.  The offensive side of the ball was not decimated by injury like the defense was.  Jarvis Landry, Kenny Stills, Jay Ajayi and others have all contributed from key positions, to the point whereRead More →

Adam Gase wore a t-shirt and sweat pants to coach the game Sunday, and his team looked just as bum-like as their coach.   I am trying not to make a big deal out of the man’s attire, but It looked like he just rolled out of bed and grabbed the first thing laying on the floor. A few good plays from a few good players, but nothing was enough. Excruciatingly, Gase continues to bench Jay Ajayi on every single third down.    Name one other coach who benches his best  player on the crucial downs. Damien Williams continued his streak of trying to costRead More →

here we go.   I am live at Hard Rock.    Warmups looking good.    AJayi walking around with some kind of portable oxygen mask looking thingRead More →