Dolphins Truth

In the worst-kept secret in sports history, the Miami Dolphins officially named Brian Flores as head coach. As has been reported for about a month, the Dolphins chose Flores early on but had to wait to make it official because of league rules.  I will point out one last time that I question this decision.  Flores came up as an administrative office assistant in the scouting department just a few short years ago, and I question his experience.   I also question his role in the Patriots defense.   Just ask Matt Patricia, Steve Sidwell, Romeo Crenell, Dean Pees…they will tell you how easy it is toRead More →

The Rams tried 10 different long passes on 10 different third-and-shorts.    Jared Goff sits straight back in the pocket and allows himself to be sacked. He was simply Gawful. I swear, it was like watching the Dolphins’ offense. The Rams put a man in motion, sprinting behind the QB, on 90% of their plays, but never once handed it to him.  Because the passing game was going so well. If you try a low-percentage long fade route and it almost gets picked off on first down, by all means try it again on second down. Sean McVay didn’t even try.  The exact same 8-stepRead More →

We’ll have a Super Bowl live chat during the game, and you can join any time:   http://dolphinstruth.com/chat/ Most of the commercials are on Youtube already, so the buzz about the new commercials is already lost. I predict there will be a commercial about a new super hero movie. I predict Pepsi and Doritos and Budweiser will advertise. I also predict New England will put this game away very early, and I hope like hell to be wrong. Dolphins Truth Chat Room  Read More →

I’ve been meaning to share this one for a while, and it’s better late than never. When we beat the Chicago Bears, we trailed by 7 late in the game, and things didn’t look promising.   But then Brock Osweiler hit Albert Wilson on a short pass, which Wilson then took the rest of the way for an exciting, game-tying touchdown.   It woulda/shoulda/coulda been the Play of the Year if not for the Miami Miracle two months later. Anyway, our regular readers know I’m a fan of Nick O’Leary, as he certainly proved himself to be our best tight end all year long.   Never mind theRead More →

On Sunday, I’ll have a Super Bowl chat open for everyone.   All are welcome, even Patriot fans. So I assume most of us hate the Patriots and want the Rams to win?   The Patriots are aiming to become only the second team in NFL history to lose 2 straight Super Bowls (Buffalo Bills lost two in a row…TWICE), and I hope the Rams send them there. My biggest fear is that the Rams defense will follow the same flawed game plan that the Chiefs and Chargers tried.   They rushed 3 men (sometimes 4 at the most) so that they could drop 8 men back intoRead More →

Xavien Howard had a great-looking interception against Dak Prescott today as the AFC rolled to an easy Pro Bowl win.   Good job, X Now let’s hope the Dolphins lock you up with a great contract deal. He’s one of our more talented defenders, and one we need to keep.  Of course, in the Gase era, as soon as a Dolphin made the Pro Bowl, they were sent packing.   Hopefully those days are behind us…Read More →

I was among the last of a dying breed.   I really enjoyed the Pro Bowls.   I watched them when they were in Prime Time Television, on real networks, not cable. I liked when the game was played after the Super Bowl, so you could see the very best players participate.   Nowadays, it’s a farce. The players barely care, and their effort shows this. There will be no Tom Brady.   No Ndomakong Suh.   And No Effort from anyone who’s out on the field. The rules are there for safety, but the no blitzing rule has pretty much evolved into No Pass Rushing at all.  Contact isRead More →

I’m too angry–and perhaps too lazy–to look up the guy’s name again, but the Dolphins have raided that Patriot Coaching Tree for the second time. They’re taking a man who’s never called a play in his life and thrusting him into an enormous role that he is unprepared for.   He has zero experience with designing offenses and calling plays. Much like our new head coach has never advanced further than being a linebacker coach. You’d think Stephen Ross would have learned his lesson about hiring inexperienced assistants and promoting them to the top job.  You’d think he learned a lesson from watching all the failuresRead More →

Let’s give the Patriots credit begrudgingly; they are obviously a strong team.  But when the refs help, combined with ludicrous coaching strategies that Andy Reid tried, the result was easy to predict. I know the non-call in the Saints-Rams game was bad, but I feel the blown call on the Tom Brady “roughing the passer” was an even worse call.  Here’s a quick review:  https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/for-petes-sake/article224848750.html When CBS brought in their former ref/rules analyst, he clearly stated this was the wrong call.   The referee, who was standing 10 yards BEHIND Brady, “assumed” the defender hit him in the head.  He threw the flag, and that was prettyRead More →

Live chat open!  Join us to root for the Chiefs! The NFC game is in OT.   Two excellent defensive coordinators (both are experienced head coaches), have stymied two outstanding offenses. Yet neither of those defensive coordinators will coach the Dolphins next year, because Stephen Ross has tunnel vision and already decided on giving the job to an assistant linebacker coach who was a backup regional scout just a few years ago.  Brian Flores does NOT have a lot of experience calling plays.  Zero experience making decisions.  He’s utterly unqualified.  He is NOT even a coordinator. When news of Flores started to surface, I refused toRead More →

Well, the worst-kept secret in NFL history lingered on for another week, with the Dolphins unable to hire–let alone discuss–new coach Brian Flores. Most of the good assistants and coordinators are already taken, meaning Flores will have slim pickings to join his staff.  Meaning, we’ll get his friends and inexperienced buddies, a la Adam Gase,  This is unwise on many levels.   Oh, and here’s a great article that takes an in-depth look at Brian Flores’ defenses, his play designs, his football I.Q.    Take a second to read this article.   It gives you a really great idea about why Chris Grier hired him:   https://sports.yahoo.com/rise-brian-flores-042515678.html  Read More →

For many years, I have described the Dolphins’ bullying fiasco as “two best friends teasing each other” and I’ve taken a lot of grief for it. A lot of folks wrote to me and commented on our boards about how bullying is a real thing and a national epidemic.  I’m sure it is; however, that’s not what happened to Jonathan Martin.  No, Martin and Richie Ingnotio were immature men who often used vile language when speaking and texting to one another.  BOTH men used the same language.  BOTH. It continues to play out today, as authorities have declared that Martin will stand trial for threateningRead More →

Well, let’s open it up for discussion. Ryan Tannehill is under contract and he is a Miami Dolphin.   Do we keep him?  Keep Osweiler?  Fales?  Luke Falk? What about Kyler Murray?   It appears that Stephen Ross is enamored with him, but he is 5 ft 9.   That simply won’t cut it in the NFL, and the kid should play baseball instead!  There are plenty of reasons to AVOID this guy, which means Ross will be more drawn to him. Do we tank on purpose and HOPE that one of the 2020 quarterbacks is available and we pick them and they have a long stellar career? Read More →

So Brain Flores remains the assistant Linebackers Coach for the Patriots, meaning while other teams and their new coaches are already preparing their staffs, the Dolphins wait. Welcome to the logic of Chris Grier and Stephen Ross. Flores, an old friend of Grier from their days as scouting assistants together, is the likely man to take over as Dolphins’ head coach, despite his utter lack of credentials.  Despite better candidates. I’m not saying we should rush to a decision. I don’t think we needed to hire a coach the moment we got rid of Gase.   But if we ARE going to wait, we certainly haveRead More →

It seems like Brian Flores will be our next head coach, and we’ll go in with an open mind.   But the more I read about this whole hiring process, the more I’m wondering… I’ve cut Stephen Ross a lot of slack the last few weeks.   Instead of pointing out my usual list of items that Ross does to hurt the Dolphins, I took it easy on him and enjoyed the brilliant afterglow of Ross’s best decision to date:  he fired Arrogant Adam.   Ross said the right things and made the right decision.  It was a pleasure to be a Dolphin fan.   The coaching search wasRead More →

While we await head coaching news, we still have some time to lament about the Adam Gase era. Specifically today, I’d like to point out that my criticisms of Gase are not unique. Many other people saw what I saw, and their comments speak volumes. The people I’m talking about are the TV announcers, including several well-respected Hall of Famers. There were about six instances this year when an announcer said something along the lines of “I’m surprised that Adam Gase called that play right there.” They were right to question Gase’s play-calling. But I’m a little disappointed that they were surprised over it. Here’sRead More →