The poet Dante has a line about games/sports. To paraphrase, he says that when the game of dice (i.e., shooting craps) is over, the crowd walks away with the winner. The loser sits there alone and ponders every roll, and reliving what went wrong and stewing all the “what ifs.”
Thus our week.
It’s already Wednesday, and I’m still too sick to study for the upcoming Bears game and start writing about it. Instead, I find myself replaying all of the mistakes from the Bengals game. Hard to sleep at night when all you can picture is a dozen plays that Adam Gase called wrong, and a few that Ryan Tannehill played wrong.
I’m not gonna drink the “it’s the linemen’s fault” Kool-Aid that Gase wants us to swallow. To swallow that mixture, you have to believe that the line was at fault for the past 7 years. Yes, the line played bad in the 4th quarter. But those are not marquee players. They are not the so-called skilled positions. A QB is paid to make plays.
Sometimes, the play goes perfectly. At other times, the QB must adjust to the mistakes of others.
For example, if a lineman misses a block, the QB must spot that and immediately go to plan B. It’s his job. But if the center notices the left guard get beat, he can’t abandon his own man to go help block the guard’s man. Linemen do not adapt. QBs must. Our QB doesn’t He hasn’t for 7 long years now.
I’m done cutting slack for Ryan Tannehill, but I do have one remaining, consistent defense for him. Adam Gase puts him in a position to do bad things. To make bad plays. To lose games.
I know I complain a lot about Gase calling for long passes from a 5-WR set on almost all our third-and-short plays. But I went back through my archives and found a lot more instances of it than even I imagined. I also found many archived blogs where I mentioned how Gase used Damien Williams as a third-down back all the time. Gase, would sit Jay Ajayi on the bench and insert Damien Williams on crucial 3rd and 4th-down plays with the game on the line. I dug back further, and saw these same complaints with the play calling from the Philbin era. I have dozens of blog entries lamenting failed drives due to pass pass pass pass pass every time we had a third down. Mike Sherman called them. Bill Lazor. Dan Campbell. They all failed.
When Gase called for that awful long pass on third-and-inches, we were up by 14 points. More points is always good, but sometimes you don’t need them immediately. A slow sustained drive would have sucked the life out of the Bengals, if only Adam Gase was smart enough to realize that.
We invested a lot of deals this off-season to acquire two dynamic playmakers in Albert Wilson and Danny Amendola. Obviously, they both stink, because if they were any good, then Adam Gase would get them more involved in the offense. Right? Uh, no. These guys ARE still dynamic. When we toss the ball their way, good things happen. But we have to toss the ball their way.
Gase will ignorantly and arrogantly claim that he TRIED to call plays for these guys, but the linemen failed him. I call bullshit on that. It takes Danny Amendola 1 second to run a slant across the middle. It is an unstoppable play. He did it once or twice in New England, but I guess Adam Gase didn’t see that footage. Ever.
The Miami Herald broke down a lot of Tannehill’s mistakes and bad passes, and each video was more upsetting than the last. He missed open men. Wide open. He didn’t recognize gigantic holes that he could have waltzed through, and instead he tried to squeeze passes in. He took his time and seemed to think that the defense was allowed to rush him. Poor ball security. You name it, Tannehill did it.
I don’t think the help for Tannehill needs to come from his linemen. It needs to come from his play caller.
Tanny and Gase aren’t perfect we know this but the team in general is still growing especially the D. I asked the question on the last article how on earth are they 10-13 in their last game’s together? It’s a great record. I honestly think if they’ve done that under the past circumstances can they not sustain this or even get better if they fix some of this BS up? The D also seems to be heading in the right direction although the oline is important and is devastated right now by injuries…
I call BS.How many of those wins were against quality opponents.?Whats the record when the big boys(pats,raven,steelers,etc…Tannehill is a mediocre qb with a clueless HC who’s in over his head
It is what it is and yes he’s beaten the patsies as they normally win at home. I don’t have the time to see who’ve they’ve beaten in the last 13 together but wins are wins in the NFL. Mediocre or not I go by end result I don’t care how they win just win. Imagine if their oline were healthy and their coach didn’t call 40 yard pass plays on 3rd and 1 every time. Even through this 10-3 is even more impressive…
The problem is Miami is not 10-3 in those games because of Ryan Tannehill. In 2 of them Ajayi ran for 200 yards, 3 others were against the jets, 49ers and cardinals all which suck. The games against decent teams like the rams Miami won 14-10 that’s a defensive win. And the 3-0 start this year you could argue was almost in spite of Tannehill (interceptions at horrible times against the titans, fumbling inside the 10 against the jets). Yes he makes great plays at times but so do all NFL quarterbacks. Look at the chiefs, replaced Alex Smith who is way better than Tannehill and now are better.
So when the Fins lose it’s Tanny’s fault but when they win it’s despite him? Sounds fair. I’ve seen Brady fumble and throw ints but when they win no one cares. A wins a win and despite how awful you believe he is he still has a 10-3 record which seems impossible but it’s fact. If Gase only ran the ball last week after they were up and having success he’d be 11-2! I’m not a Tanny nut hugger by any means but you have to look at both sides when debating….
When he basically throws 2 pick 6s yea it’s his fault the team lost. And brady hasn’t fumbled or thrown ints anywhere near as close to Tannehill. Brady hasn’t throw double digit picks in 5 years and hasn’t had a season with a TD to INT ratio of less than 2:1 since 2003. Tannehill hasn’t had a single season with less than double digit picks, and only one year has he had a TD to INT ratio better than 2:1.
What about the last 13 games he’s played I believe it shown tremendous growth. It’s also comical that you want to compare Tanny to Brady who’s considered by some as the greatest of all time. Don’t you think that your expectations are a little high? Brady also has belicheat while Tanny had philbum and Gase yep that’s fair.. Tanny hasn’t been bad just as long as his oline is decent that’s a fact…
But your the one who said I’ve seen brady fumble and throw picks. I’m answering that point by saying brady has made more than enough great plays to make up for it, while Tannehill has not. You can’t first compare his mistakes to brady than say it’s foul to point out how many more plays brady has made.
I was just trying to get through to you that every QB has their bad moments even Brady. Either way in the past 13 his record stands for itself. The scary thing is that it could be better so why not see how it plays out before we shit on the guys head. He’s obviously not good enough to overcome a bad oline but a lot of QB’s don’t look good in that situation. Brady has looked bad when his oline went to shit but the patsies always fix it eventually whereas the Fins seem to struggle every year with lack of depth.
Gase and his bullshit play calling is the problem. 3rd and 1 and you call for a damn pass play when cincy is on the ropes. You run the ball and if you don’t make it youn run it again on 4th down. You instill that getter done attitude. Impose your will on your opponent. That’s how tough teams are developed, give them that mindset and identity. But Gase wants to be cute and soft on 3rd down in a game that you had control of late in the third quarter. Gase cost the fins a win. He sucks and needs to go!!!!!!!
10-3 is certainly an outstanding record, and sometimes we need to take a step back and consider that.
That’s why I’m always 50-50 on Tannehill, because he does enough to get us into a beautiful 10-3 streak, but then he throws some of the ugliest interceptions in NFL history.
Admin you and everyone that has been here for a while know that I have stood behind Tannehill and at times I was the only one. Here is the bad new first, and there is a bunch of it. Ross will keep Gase at lest two more years and we will be stuck with Tannehill for at lest two more years. I don’t think everything is the kids fault. He has a lot of the tolls but they were never developed at the college level. Hell he only really played one season and they sure were never developed in the NFL and with this ludicrous coaching staff never will be. Here is the worst news, he is 30. Buy the time Gase is gone he is almost 33. Gase can’t coach. Gase won’t hire guys who can coach or who have any experience because the will know he is a fraud day 1. So were doomed with Tannehill. This is what you get, a poorly trained QB with all the talent and that talent will flash and a HC who dosn’t know the game calling bad plays.
I think the point been made this week is that we are now on year 7. The good parts of Tanny have not deteriorated in the past 7 years. And the bad parts have not gotten any better. He gives you what he gives you and is consistently inconsistent. Not a recipe for success
But how is he inconsistent when he’s 10-3 in his last 13. Are we just magnifying his weak points more than other QB’s out there? After all his coaches haven’t put him in the best position to win have they? Favre would throw 3 ints win the game last second still and he’s a hero. Tanny looking like he does wins 10 of 13 I’ll repeat 10 of 13 and he’s horrific. Something doesn’t jive…he definitely needs more help than the Brady’s and Montana’s out there but most do!
Flyer, here’s what I’ve noticed. He’s played really poorly in some of those wins. But he’s never played great in any Dolphin loss. Except for a game in Denver 4 years ago when we scored 36 AND LOST, I can’t think of a game where the defense was to blame. (And even in that game, Tanny threw a pick at the very end while we were driving for a game-tying FG or more).
So, yes. I give him credit for playing a part in those 13 wins, but perhaps not as much credit as you’re giving him.
No credit as I take more of an overall team approach to be honest. Some people give all of the credit to the QB for a win or loss. Sure it’s an important position no doubt but if his record which is the only thing that matters is 10-3 I’m OK with the guy right now. Does it mean I don’t want them to improve of course not. But when the oline falls apart and he has dline all over him with no coaching help it’s ridiculous to blame him. You are supposed to put players in a position to succeed. BB does that Gase not so much… but if they win why rip him a new ahole every week?
Why rip him? Becasue in 5 games this year, Tannehill has given the ball away IN UGLY UGLY FASHION 4 different times. Those are just his ugly turnovers, not his basic additional turnovers.
1. The crucial fumble to ice the Bengal game. He was running with no ball security.
2. The famous interception where he admits he was aiming at the ground but instead hit a guy in the head.
3. The shotgun snap fumble when he simply whiffed on trying to catch a decent snap.
4. The play vs. Oakland I think, where a blitzer got in his face and he fumbled untouched…THEN he tried to jump on the ball and his shoulder hit the ball, causing the defense to recover. Two fumbles on one play.
Sorry, but even with a defender in your face, you need to make smart decisions and live to fight another down.
A few years back when Miami played GB, Det., and I believe KC was on the schedule Tannehill had them with the lead with under 5 minutes and the defense let these teams roll down the field a score game winning touch downs. These mentioned teams had good records that year. And then there was the opening day game in Seattle. Once again the fins had them beat and the defense allows a game winning TD with no time on the clock. They never play complete games and Gase sucks with his play calling
Larry, You don’t have to remind any of us about that Packer game 4 years ago. Here are a few blog entries at the time:
http://dolphinstruth.com/joe-philbin-hands-a-free-victory-to-his-pals-in-green-bay/
http://dolphinstruth.com/philbin-makes-the-same-exact-error-3-years-in-a-row-and-causes-the-miami-dolphins-to-lose/
That is such revisionist history. First of all Miami lost 34-15 to the chiefs that year. Second off in the other games Tannehill and the dolphin offense had a chance to seal it and went 3 and out punting right back to Aaron Rodgers and Matt Stafford. Saying Tannehill did enough to win those games when Miami scored 24 point and 16 points is just mind boggling.
Oh and that 24 point game was against the 32nd ranked scoring defense that year. That’s right Tannehill could only muster 24 points against the worst defense in football and you want to blame the defense?
I don’t care how many points you score. A win is a win. And when you come off the field with less than 5 minutes to go in the game and the opponent needs a TD to beat you and they do it that is bullshit. None of those teams scored a TD in under five minutes all game long, but when it came to crunch time they did. A defensive stop has to be made. That is not on the QB. Just like in baseball the closer comes in with a 3 run lead and blows it.
The offensive had the ball with 5 mins to go up 4 against Aaron Rodgers and went 3 and out. Sure if your crazy you expect the defense to win that game. Good quarterbacks end the game in that sitauon. Bad ones lose. It’s so simple
Watching Carson Wentz, who also had knee surgery as Tannehill did, and his body movements, his stature in the pocket, he did not appear to be hesitant with his legs, all that to me was quite evident in last night’s game…he hasn’t played in NFL as long as RT has, so you can put one of the all time top head coaches on the Dolphins and you know what he would do with Tannehill?….Replace him! He doesn’t have it, never had it, and never WILL have it! He can’t figure out what’s in front of him!
We wouldn’t be going down that road if we ran the ball on 3rd and 1 in Cincy. They would have gotten it and the game would have ended differently. But Thanks Gase you friggn bum.
Agree 100% with Larry. I said it in the Bengal game and so many over the years. Gase’s pass-happy attack costs us games.