Mid-Week Markdowns

Everything must GO!  All sales FINAL!

After the loss to the Patriots, I can't help but understand that faction of Dolfans that want to cut/release/trade/fire everyone on the team.  I get it, losses sting, and when you get stung, you want to swat the wasp.  That makes sense.  It even makes sense to gauge the risk of the wasp stinging you before it happens, and deciding whether or not to swat it before any sting actually occurs.  

So when facing a losing record, and a team that under-performs (I won't listen to any arguments that we 'hung in there' with an elite team - the truth is the DOLPHINS lost that game, the Patriots didn't overpower us in any elite fashion.  The dropped passes and bad personnel choices by the coaching staff is what handed the game to the Patriots) it makes sense to want to dump the excess cargo that won't bring any value on the other side.  But that's what those crappy teams out there do (Kansas City - Larry Johnson/Tyler Thigpen - for example).  Most teams are content to get their team together during the offseason and only make these kinds of team-changing transactions due to major injury or the possibility of a big time player being available (NYJ- Braylon Edwards, for example).

So keep in mind, as we head into the Tampa Bay game, that nothing major is going to change with this team roster until the end of the season, so there's no point in dwelling on it too much. 

I think there's no doubt that we need wide receiver to be a focus of the 2010 off-season, along with a few tweaks here and there.  Overall I think the roster is solid.  I take the stand that the coaching staff is more responsible for the Dolphins 3-5 record than the players are.  The players are out there playing hard.  Anyone can see that.  There have been mistakes on the field, but they are decreasing week by week (turnovers have gone down considerably).  The dropped passes are as much a coaching issue as a receiver issue.   After Ted Ginn dropped some big play balls, he was benched.  But nothing ever happened to Anthony 'Olive Oil' Fasano, (Olive Oil because he has slippery hands, and when the ball is thrown to him I stand up and go "Oh....Oh...." in anticipation of a drop or fumble) and Davone Bess is still starting both at WR and at punt returner, both of which he's failing miserably at. 

The failure of the coaches to reprimand these players, or give more snaps to Hartline, Camarillo, and Turner (who has been inactive all season despite the receiving corps actually LOSING games for us) is what they call 'beating a dead horse'.  The inability of the passing game to get going is not Henne's fault.  He played very well vs the Patriots.  Henne was 19 of 34 (56%) for 217 yards (11.4 ypa).  I counted 12 dropped passes by 7 different receivers.  Not all the passes would have made for easy catches but they were all catchable.  Had they been caught, Henne would've had 31 completions for an estimated 354 yards and would likely have been the FedEx Air Player of the Week also known as the Peyton Manning Trophy.

Our receivers and coaches are hurting Henne right now.  How much longer before he loses confidence in his team?  Last year the Dolphins preached again and again about accountability and no one being safe.  This year they seem to have dropped that mantra almost altogether.  They need to learn by the example they set themselves last year.

I will continue to cover this team with the hopes that they somehow squeeze into the playoffs but at the moment it looks like they cannot lose another game for the rest of the season in order to do so.  

Keep in mind, that I am fully ready for the 2010 draft and free agency.  I have several wide receivers on my radar from the draft, as well as the key free agency player the Dolphins should pursue, San Diego WR, Vincent Jackson.  I know what you're thinking, but if we can blow $28 million on Gibril Wilson, we can pay out to Mr. Jackson.