Henne’s strong arm didn’t help him in the long ball regard: He completed just 10 of 40 passes of at least 20 yards, tied with Alex Smith for the second-worst among starters, behind Matt Cassel (.245 percent). By comparison, Young was at 45 percent (16 for 35), Orton at 37 percent (27 for 73) and McNabb at 33 percent (20 for 60). FYI: Henne also was second-to-worst in passes batted down (16), one fewer than Sam Bradford.
http://www.miamiherald.com/201...i-dolphins.htmlThis is how I feel and I've never been a big Chad Henne fan. And this is why I think drafting another QB with the same coaching staff we have is a waste of money, time and people.
By Dan Le Batard
dlebatard@MiamiHerald.comThis is not fake magic with smoke and numbers. This is not statistics lying. This is the black-and-white truth measured in the only empirical way we do measurements in this sport:
In his first two years, the Dolphins’ Chad Henne has been a more accurate passer who has thrown for more yards and been statistically better than the New York Jets’ Mark Sanchez.
Sanchez has completed 54.4 percent of his passes for 5,735 yards, 29 touchdowns, 33 interceptions and a 70.2 passer rating. Henne has completed 61.1 percent of his passes for 6,246 yards, 27 touchdowns, 33 interceptions and a 75.3 passer rating.
One of them is viewed as a Sexy Winner; the other is viewed as a Boring Failure.
How?
Why?
Let’s rewind for a moment. There was another University of Michigan quarterback who was once unproven and drafted outside of the first round. But his coach trusted him in an uncommon way. The team got a lucky bounce on a rule that has since been fixed and stumbled to the Super Bowl, where it found itself tied late against the heavily favored Rams. Up in the broadcast booth, an old champion coach named John Madden implored Bill Belichick to run out the clock and play for overtime. This was wise with a young quarterback, he told the nation.
But that’s not how Belichick does business. On the biggest stage, in the biggest moment, Belichick trusted a quarterback who had thrown only one touchdown pass the entire postseason. One. And that’s the moment that Tom Brady became Tom Brady and Belichick became Belichick and the Patriots became the Patriots.
Quarterbacks, not unlike children, are products of their environment, their upbringing. They need to be nurtured when young and surrounded by support (running game, solid receivers, protection, faith). This is how confidence is built in just about any workplace, by having bosses who trust you and help you and groom you before you are ready. You have people who believe in you before you believe. Then you start stacking successes atop each other. Then you start to believe for yourself.
Compare that with how Henne has been raised here. First, just before Bill Parcells fled the scene of the crime, a couple of reporters close to Parcells reported that Parcells was very disappointed with Henne.
It wasn’t Parcells’ fault, see? The legendary Parcells, who hasn’t won a playoff game in more than a decade, obviously did his job before quitting. It isn’t his fault that the most important position in sports hadn’t been filled. It is Henne’s fault for not growing, for not being what the genius knew he should and would be. This had to make Henne feel very good, very supported, as Parcells fled the premises out the back door.
Once Parcells left, so too did the idea of job security among Dolphins management types. So what did his left-behind friends do? Ran for cover. They tried to save their own jobs by putting in Chad Pennington. This made Henne cry.
His bosses, rather obviously, rather publicly, didn’t believe in him. Gave up on him. This is the kind of thing that happens when people work like they are afraid to lose their jobs. It is hard to see clearly when scared, and it is hard to exhibit vision when you aren’t seeing clearly. The blueprint doesn’t get followed when it is in shaking hands.
The Dolphins then played scared from the top down – coaches infecting players with a conservative approach, everyone terrified to turn the ball over, celebrating field goals like Mardis Gras. The Dolphins, the last month of the season, playing at home against bad teams, led the league in whatever the opposite of swagger is. The handcuffed offense was being run in a gas station bathroom and producing a similar stench. A lonely Henne couldn’t have felt like he had a single ally.
Compare this with what was happening with the Jets. Sanchez, like most young quarterbacks, was struggling and learning. He had some very bad games. But his bosses didn’t fear for their own jobs. They didn’t go to the 18-year veteran backup after losing, 45-3.
They didn’t tighten up. They kept faking punts and going for it on fourth and short and opening up the offense late in tight games, asking their quarterback to win it for them. This management team invited pressure from the moment it talked loud on HBO’S Hard Knocks, figuring it would help the kid grow. There were reasons to doubt Sanchez as he threw interceptions in some very important games, as his boss was swallowed by a tabloid feeding frenzy, but Rex Ryan stayed with his guy and his belief.
You think Henne was bad down the stretch in the regular season? He wasn’t as bad as Sanchez. Henne threw seven touchdowns, four interception and fumbled three times in his last five games; Sanchez threw two touchdowns, six interceptions and fumbled five times in his last five games.
The difference?
Sanchez had more help surrounding him – from the top on down.
And the result?
He just had his best game of the season, beating the 14-2 Patriots on the road with three touchdowns, 194 yards and a season-high 127.3 passer rating. He now has as many road playoff victories as any quarterback ever – a young man stacking successes atop each other at an impressionable age.
This while Henne wonders if he still has a career here. In his last game against those Patriots, Henne lost, 38-7, and was yanked in and out of the game.
Sanchez doesn’t have a magical ability to win important games or key moments; no quarterback does, though too many of them get credit for that. Too many variables go into winning. As footballoutsiders.com points out, Peyton Manning is 6-5 in playoff games since 2005 and Brady is 5-5. Either Aaron Rodgers or Jay Cutler, questioned about winning when it matters, is about to play in a Super Bowl.
But Sanchez is getting faith and wins at a crucial time in his development while Henne gets yet another offensive coordinator and an extension for a shamed coach who doesn’t believe in him.
There isn’t much of a difference between the teams in a league that legislates parity. Every week, one-score games are decided by a bounce or a replay. Heck, the only game Henne won toward the end of the season was in New York over Sanchez.
Yet the Jets are having maybe their most exciting and interesting season ever while the Dolphins appear to be in disarray.
You can yell and scream at the robot at quarterback if it makes you feel better.
Or you can wonder about the short-circuiting program around which he has been built.
I'm a big believer in that all decisions come from the top. Almost all the credit and the blame goes to the Head Coach. Chad Henne could become a "winning" QB for us but it would take a sea change in Sparano.
Hopefully the new OC will adjust the foolish calling of play action passes and the lack of a running game and will put Chad Henne into situations where he can do well.
My level of hope is at almost a all time low.
We should use Thigpen and Henne to limp to another 7-9 season and then turn over a young team to a new coaching staff.
I do think Sparano knows very well that he is coaching for his job this year. The question is will he loosen up or squeeze even tighter?
He and Ross needs to get together and decide to spend whatever it takes to get as many good players here as possible.
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