MIAMI DOLPHINS


The Dolphins admit their play during Sunday’s game was sloppy, and ‘experts’ such as ESPN’s Merril Hoge are piling on.

It took all of five passes for the questions to begin about Ryan Tannehill.

Five preseason passes, mind you.

Tannehill’s lackluster start to the 2013 exhibition slate — he completed two of his throws, was wild on two others and chucked the fifth into the turf to avoid a sack — is a ridiculously small sample size to make any sort of meaningful evaluation.

But that didn’t stop pundits such as ESPN’s Merril Hoge, who was already hitting the panic button on the

1 a.m. SportsCenter early Monday.

“He looked awful; the offense looked awful,” Hoge said. “What I saw early on, I would be bothered if I were a coach of the Miami Dolphins.”

...



“It definitely felt sloppy,” Tannehill said. “When you start off with a turnover, first snap, obviously, that’s not the way you want to go into a game. It took us a little while to get going.

“That’s not the way you want to play football.”

...

Josh Samuda, who started at right guard and appeared to play well, put it bluntly Sunday: “You can’t really judge what we did tonight.”

Added Philbin: “Not a great gauge. I think sometimes games take on their own story line, so it’s hard to get a real good gauge. Obviously, I don’t think we had a fast start to the football game.”

Tannehill had hoped to build success on success. Instead, he said, he has to build success on failure, a process that begins in earnest Tuesday when the Dolphins return to practice. They have a quick turnaround; Miami next plays Friday in Jacksonville.

Which means the pundits won’t have to wait long to make another snap judgment.



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MIAMI DOLPHINS


1 a.m. SportsCenter early Monday.

“He looked awful; the offense looked awful,” Hoge said. “What I saw early on, I would be bothered if I were a coach of the Miami Dolphins.”

We will quiet everyone with 11 -13 wins.

Nine of our games this year are against opponents that were sub 500 last year.........of course so were we.........but I'd like to think we'll be significantly better. Twelve wins is not out of the question...........but we'll have to take care of the teams we should beat.

Twelve wins for a team that just had a massive new player infusion this offseason? They completely re-vamped the WR, LB, TE, and CB units. The O-line is still in flux.

I'd be happy with 8-9 wins. Talking about 12 is nuts at this stage. Gonna require some serious chemistry building before we're talking about those kinds of numbers.

I am not going to feel good about a coaching staff taking over a 7 win team and 2 years later having an 8-9 win team.

Quite a few folks around the NFL see the Miami Dolphins as the team that will take a giant leap forward this season.

But one of those people is not NFL Network analyst and former head coach Dennis Green.

Green joined "Inside Training Camp Live" on Tuesday to discuss what he believes is the biggest flaw in the Dolphins’ plan to compete with the New England Patriots for the top spot in the AFC East.

For starters, the former coach hardly is sold on second-year player Ryan Tannehill, and that's only half of it.

"I don't think Ryan's (Tannehill) a great quarterback," Green said. "So, the key is going to be, how can they overcome losing two great players."

...

"I like him, I think he's a fast player. He can make plays down the field, but I think you always start with keeping your own good players, because they don't have that physiological negative effect when you lose one of your better players. ... I'm just saying why I think they're going to struggle offensively."

So there you have it, just don't tell the guys at Around The League.

9-7 is a successful season for this team, you're being ridiculous if you think otherwise. We're no worldbeater.

Disagree. With the moves we made in the offseason, missing the playoffs isn't a success, and I don't think 9 wins will get us there.

Most of the players were not Philbin/Sherman/Coyle guys.

Then Ireland hired the wrong coaches.

They team hardly played their starters and it was the FIRST preseason game! Everyone needs to chill out. A fumble inside the ten yard line gave the Cowboys a TD and they also got another free TD a dropped pass from our 5 team WR that turned into a pick six. That is the difference in the game right there. No one should get too high or low after preseason game one.

The one thing I like reading here is all the excuses for losses & no matter what our record is at the end of the season , why we are better than that record & that we are close. None of that will cut it anymore. The talent is here.

This team has been put together to go way better than 9-7 this season especially if that record fails to get us in the playoffs. Coaches basically have a 3 year window & this is year 2. Unrealistic or not that is how it is. By most opinion here Philbin did not take over a terrible team. Spending like we did to win 3 more games than the last season of his predecessor 2 years later will not cut it , especially for Ireland who I wouldnt be surprised to be gone if we fail to reach the playoffs & might still be gone if we reach & dont win a game.
This is a better team than 9-7. Predicting 9-7 and being satisfied with it is foolish & I suspect having that opinion is only for the reason of if we fail we have the excuse of all the new players & if we do better of saying how great we are to be able to mend all these new guys so quickly.
Opinions vary whether this team was built or bought but regardless it was "put together" to win this season. And lets face it ... the division is not very good. Bills & Jets are just awful & the Patriots are the most vulnerable since Brady has been a member of that team.
The one thing I like reading here is all the excuses for losses & no matter what our record is at the end of the season , why we are better than that record & that we are close. None of that will cut it anymore. The talent is here.

We will quiet everyone with 11 -13 wins.

No excuse making going on from me. I acknowledged the influx of talent this offseason between the draft and free agency. But again the "reality" is that it takes time to build chemistry and for all these guys to get on the same page. They are nowhere near regular season battle tested as a whole. This wasn't a team on the verge of the playoffs with a franchise QB already at the helm who just needed one or two pieces. They needed playmaking LB's, CB's, WR's, and TE's. It remains to be seen what we'll get out of the O-line and there is legitimate concerned for the man watching Tanny's blindside. Then we potentially have a first year starter in Lamar Miller.

I've accepted the direction this franchise decided to take and to really see how these moves bare out, I'm not expecting a bigger stride being taken until next season. If we don't make the playoffs next year, I will not accept any reasons barring an unforeseen barrage of injuries.

like Rock said, too many new pieces. Tannehill is still way too green IMO, the offensive line is a total mystery, the schedule is brutal...

in the NFL it is very difficult to cross that 7 win to 9 or 10 win zone....just ask Jeff Fischer during his tenure with the Titans, he lived at .500 for years before getting over the hump.

I am confident in our defense so I think 9 or 10 wins is possible because of that unit.
But we will more than likely stumble through the first 5 or 6 weeks.

It's not fair to Philbin or Tannehill to demand 10 wins in their 2nd season.
If it happens, it's gravy...but I will be satisfied with 9 this year.

While their job is to win games, true. However, it is the restless fan base and media that has no patience to build a team that can win. We chase one coach after another out of town after 1 or two seasons. Remember Wannstedt was fired after a 10-6 season. Except for the 2008 season, we've not matched that once

While their job is to win games, true. However, it is the restless fan base and media that has no patience to build a team that can win. We chase one coach after another out of town after 1 or two seasons. Remember Wannstedt was fired after a 10-6 season. Except for the 2008 season, we've not matched that once

It's not fair to Philbin and Tannehill?

Last time I checked, their JOBS are to win games and get to the Superbowl.