Little playing time in the preseason not the issue
I'm already starting hear grumblings from e-mails and radio callers that the Dolphins lost Sunday's game because they were out of shape.
I'm hearing fans say that because Zach Thomas, Jason Taylor, Keith Traylor and Joey Porter didn't play very much in the preseason, they got tired late in the fourth quarter and in overtime against Washington. I'm hearing them blame Cam Cameron for not working his stars harder during this training camp.
I cannot believe what I'm hearing.
While it is true, the Miami defense indeed wilted in the second half against Washington, it is not because the players were out of shape.
"I'm not tired," Taylor said afterward. "I can play for another hour. I wish we could go right back out there and start over again."
The folks making the points about guys not playing enough in the preseason obviously don't want to think about Randy Moss. He played zero plays in the preseason. He caught nine passes for 183 yards Sunday.
So give me a break on the preseason stuff. These guys were practicing, some of them twice a day. They ran, they biked. They are in shape.
Were the Dolphins tired late Sunday? Sure. Was it because they're out of shape? No, it was because they were overmatched by a bigger, better bunch of players.
Guess what? Traylor was giving ground in the fourth quarter, but he was giving ground in the first, second and third quarters also. He didn't plug the middle as he usually does, but that can have something to do with him being 37-years-old and not that he's out of shape.
Joey Porter didn't make a bunch of plays. It wasn't because he was tired or out of shape. He simply didn't factor as much as one would expect. Even Taylor, whose motor revs high throughout a game, didn't make big plays in the first half ...
... When he supposedly wasn't tired.
I'm hearing fans say that because Zach Thomas, Jason Taylor, Keith Traylor and Joey Porter didn't play very much in the preseason, they got tired late in the fourth quarter and in overtime against Washington. I'm hearing them blame Cam Cameron for not working his stars harder during this training camp.
I cannot believe what I'm hearing.
While it is true, the Miami defense indeed wilted in the second half against Washington, it is not because the players were out of shape.
"I'm not tired," Taylor said afterward. "I can play for another hour. I wish we could go right back out there and start over again."
The folks making the points about guys not playing enough in the preseason obviously don't want to think about Randy Moss. He played zero plays in the preseason. He caught nine passes for 183 yards Sunday.
So give me a break on the preseason stuff. These guys were practicing, some of them twice a day. They ran, they biked. They are in shape.
Were the Dolphins tired late Sunday? Sure. Was it because they're out of shape? No, it was because they were overmatched by a bigger, better bunch of players.
Guess what? Traylor was giving ground in the fourth quarter, but he was giving ground in the first, second and third quarters also. He didn't plug the middle as he usually does, but that can have something to do with him being 37-years-old and not that he's out of shape.
Joey Porter didn't make a bunch of plays. It wasn't because he was tired or out of shape. He simply didn't factor as much as one would expect. Even Taylor, whose motor revs high throughout a game, didn't make big plays in the first half ...
... When he supposedly wasn't tired.
posted by Armando Salguero at 11:25 PM
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i just got done watching the cowboys beat the giants and both of these teams are definitely worse than we are. if the giants can score 35 against that horrible looking cowboys defense, then we should be able to score at least 28 and hold them under that. i don't really have a response to the actual topic because everybody is just looking for an excuse without blaming the more popular players. we didn't play well end of story lets play better next week.
Well... they looked tired for me, Washington ran the ball all day without contest. But in the end I think the offense had a bigger fault, specially in that last drive in 4th quarter. They can rebound, but the offense need to respond big, you cannot depend in Taylor and Co. for a full game anymore.
game shape is a totally different type of condition than what you get in practice. Just as running long distances and doing sprints are different. You may be able to jog really far, but how far can you actually sprint? The dolphins' stars need better sprint conditioning.
That is why I think we will get better as the season progresses. I'm not worried because our defense will become dominate once again. They only scored 16 against us. Our offense has to do much better.
The redskins do have a great O-Line which didn't help. Not to mention that both Portis and Betts are great backs and were playing on fresh legs the whole game.
The Pass coverage needs to improve. The Dolphins D got bailed out by a ton of drops and bad throws by campbell. They did have two nice picks but there were quite a few open skins player throughout the game.
Cameron really needs to work on his game management skills. The announcers said cam made a gutsy call going for it on 3rd down. But what they failed to point out is that Cameron screwed up and should never have had to make that decision.
On that last 1st down set before the half we ran the ball with chatman with 42 second left on the clock (1st down). We then ran the ball again with 10 second on the clock(2nd down). We then called our 2ND timeout with 4 seconds left. We scored a TD on that 3rd down play. Why in the world didn't we call a timeout after the first play? We should have never had to decide between a FG or going for a TD on 3rd down. It didn't kill us this time but game management/time out usage is a very important part of the game.
As for the Cowboys. They have a great offense.. Their pass D is awful... The key will be keeping Ware and Spencer off Green and i'm not sure our o-line is capable of that. yes the Redskins didn't get too much pressure on Green but their pass rush is as bad as our offensive line.
Seems to me there was a lot of blame to go around. Jason Taylor, the MVP, was nearly invisible all game. The Skins' big ol' OL manhandled the smaller Fins' defensive front. Whoever was assigned to stop Randel-El sure didn't do a good job.
This game went to overtime. If the dolphins play just a little better they probably win it.
Probably the most glaring bad play was (once again) all the drops by the receivers. Talk about hands of stone! Trent Green started out hot, but the receiving corps.
Call me crazy, but I expect a receiver (or TE) to be able to pull in a ball if he can get both hands on it and has time to pull it in (good receivers don't bobble) before contact is made.
Forget route running, forget blocking, forget speed. We need receivers with hands.
--funkyj
Clinton Portis didnt play in the preseason and only practiced a few times. How tired did he look??
We couldnt cover and we blew a 1st and goal at the 8 with back to back penalties. Martins drop on 3rd down killed a good drive.Nothing to do with anyone being tired OR Cams game management.
Give Daniels safety help and stop shooting ourselves in the foot.
Wow!
Shades of (drop)
last (drop)
year (drop)
I really meant 16-13 Redskins (In my pregame fantasy, Chris Chambers was actually an NFL receiver). Pass the stick'um.
Defense looked good in spurts. Not enough upfield pressure from the heavy hitters. Waa-a-y too much time to throw for the 'Skins QB. Secondary giving up the big play.
Three glaring weaknesses:
1. Receivers dropping passes
2. Giving up the big plays too often by the D (on the ground now too. Sigh!)
3. Run blocking.
Look for improvement next week. I think we'll score at least 16. At least we competed.
Go 'Fins!
Dropped passes killed us. Thats all there is to say. Drives stalled because of it and there's no excuse.
"One hopes Sunday was an aberration" -- Armando Salgeruo
Or alternatively, one hopes that this year's defensive until is merely following the trajectory of last year's unit.
In the 2006 opener, the Dolphins defense ceded 342 total yards to the Steelers, including 146 Rushing yards. The Dolphins defense then rebounded to hold the Buffalo Bills to 171 yds the following week.
Cause nonetheless to worry:
1) The Dolphins lost David Bowens, Kevin Carter, Jeff Zgonia this off-season: 3 contriubtors a season ago.
2) The median age of their starting DL is now 32. Traylor is 38, Taylor is 33, and Vonnie is 31. (Only Roth is in his 20's) Do the Dolphins have enough depth this season on the defensive line to spell these guys during a game? If not necessarily to avoid physical fatigue, but to secure the best matchup.
The only non-starting defensive lineman to register a tackle yesterday was Chase Page, with 2 tackles. Not a good sign.
In contrast, last year non-starting DL, Roth, Bowens, Zgonia, and Wilkinson averaged over 6 tackles per game.
Yesterday's sacks totals, 2, weren't exactly awe-inspiring either.
Let's hope the South Florida heat next week will sap the energy, endurance, and resiliency of Dallas' offense. They looked pretty prolific last night agains the Giants.
What a load of crap. Yet another savior comes in, makes a bunch of personnel changes, drafts a bunch of "playmakers" and then tells the media how proud he is of his losing team each week. The majority of fans already knew Cam was heading down the same path as the previous coaching "gurus" we have had here.
A caretaker QB not good enough to shoulder the game, a fake at RB, an offensive line which couldn't over-run a college team and a defense whose reputation far exceeds the reality. Miami CANT stop the run and never could. The only reason a team doesn't run on Miami is because it is faster and more exciting to throw on them.
The dream is over. Lets be real. Miami is only a feed team for the rest of the NFL. The only thing Miami is good at is proving the latest "coaching genius" is a fraud and sending him back to the college ranks if not into obscurity.
Did I hear someone say the 'skins have a 'great OL'? Are you kidding? They played this game with Kendall who was cut just a few weeks ago by the Jets and their best OLmen left in the 2nd quarter and was replaced with an undrafted rookie!!! You mean to tell me that they can help protect the rookie RT AND stop Porter and Taylor? Once Jansen went out Washington shouldn't have scored - it's that simple. HORRIBLE game by our defense.
Yes -- our guys are in shape; but, not game shape. It was obvious that resting the entire preseason wasn't a good idea. Thank God this game wasn't in South Florida, Washington might have run for 300 yards instead of only 210.
No - Washington didn't run all day. If you recall, they only ran for 46 yards in the first half. Miami got worse as the game progressed.
Agreed - time management was aweful. I was sitting there watching the clock run towards half-time and couldn't believe he left that TO in his pocket. I thought this guy was an offensive genius?
Here's my take:
1) The offense is good enough and needs to gell. If Washington can mask an undrafted rookie RT against our dominant rush - why can't our offensive gurus (Cam and Hudson) get our OL to be servicable. The coaches MUST do a better job coaching.
2) Our secondary needs help - and lots of it. We are weak at safety and CB (#32 flopping doesn't help).
3) Be paitent. One more draft and off season of FA; 16 games and another off season for the OL; and improvement of the bottom third of the roster. Miami is going in the right direction. They'll finish 6-10 or 7-9 this year -- and they'll make the playoffs next year.
If Washington was one of those "winnable" Games, God help us, its going to be another long season.. Out of the 1st 6 games, I think I read where Armando said we 'could' be 4/2. After Sundays Game, could it be possible that we are 2/4? Offense still looks dull. Loosing Faith in NC
Unfortunately for me, I have been a huge dolphins fan since I was a kid in the early eighties and haven't missed a game in at least 18 years now. Those great years are such a distant memory now.
Cameron seems to be another lunatic, in the mold of his recent predecessors. None could judge personnel. None could draft (except for JJ, who is a genius at judging College Talent-Unfortunately our best players are the ones he drafted overt ten years ago!!!). Most importantly, however, is none could manage an NFL game.
It was the same-old same-old yesterday. Miami had the ball with a full minute left and three timeouts. Cameron makes no effort to push the ball down the field, electing to go into OT. Choosing to rely on a coin toss rather than the ability of your offense shows either a.) absolutley no confidence in your offense to move the ball 35-40 yards with a minute left and three TOs or b.) extreme mismanagement.
At one point after the loss I thought, well, great, we'll have a great pick after winning 4-5 games this year. Then I remebered that Cameron will be picking again. The vicious cycle countinues.
Time to blow the whole thing up. Wayne H should sell the team. He is a terrible judge of coaching talent. And without coaches, everything falls apart from there.
WHY AREN'T ANY MIAMI HERALD REPORTERS QUESTIONING CAMERON'S DECISION NOT TO DRIVE THE BALL DOWNFIELD??????????????
wow..you lost faith after one game? You suck as a fan. Cameron said the offense will be a work in progress..you shoulda believed him.
Anyone who thought our oLine was gonna come into this season looking good simply has not been paying attention.
Cam's on the right track and even in our offensive suckage we still got it done and could have won the game before we killed ourselves in penalties. When the offense had momentum they looked pretty good all things considered.
HELLLOOOOO, WHEN YOU HAVE 1 FULL MINUTE AND 3 TIMESOUTS LEFT, AND YOU NEED A FIELD GOAL TO WIN THE GAME, AND YOU RUN THE BALL?!?! WTF CAMERON???!!!!
REPORT IT HERALD!!! WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT THIS WITH THE EXCEPTION OF A FEW ON MESSAGE BOARDS, IT WAS SUPER CONSERVATISM.. EVEN WANNY WOULD HAVE TRIED!!!!
This game was lost in the trenches. Holiday and Traylor were manhandled. Zack had a guard in his face most of the game and it got worse in OT. Samuels played a great game against Jason Taylor. Roth did not live up to expectations against a FA rookie who took over after their starter went down with a broken ankle. Campbell had all day on many of his attempts and they ran through us like a hot knife through butter. The score should have been much worse.
On offense there were no holes for the running backs and Green was having to step up through all kinds of traffic. Green played a great game considering we were turned one dimensional.
The line play on both sides of the ball was pathetic. The 5 drops aside, we have to get better on the lines on it will be a long season.
Dinky pass Trent Green was the highlight of the offense -- and that says tons about how bad the offense is...Like I have said all along, Cam was riding Ladanian's coattails out in San Diego. He is overrated as a coach.
The defense, the problem there seems to be the defensive line. I wonder if losing Kevin Carter had a factor in that..Whatever the case, the defensive line, the defensive line, the defensive line must get better.
Here is why Cam didnt not throw to win the game yesterday.
#1: He knows Trent can't throw like that and neither can Lemon. Which screams, where is Beck? Its obvious this team has nothing, absolutely nothing to lose by turning Beck and Ginn lose.
#2: He either has zero faith in Tedd Ginn Jr to spread the offense, despite drafting the kid #9 overall. What did he say about Ronnie Brown, "Ronnie didnt make himself a 2nd overall pick, somebody else did. Well that shoe fits Cam as well. Tedd Ginn didnt make himself the 9th overall pick, CAM DID. Why? If you are not going to use your weapon..Adrian Peterson, Calvin Johnson, M Lynch....and Ginn was in 100% of training camp!!! or he just is a plain bad coach.
#3: Cam is too loyal to "his" guys. Chatman, Peele, etc. Those guys are not playmakers. Those are role players.
Did you just watch the game on TV, or were you AT the game like I was? If you were AT the game, then you MUST have seen what I saw: Dolphin defenders bent over after almost every play and at TV timeouts with hands on hips and knees the entire second half . . . including Jason Taylor and ESPECIALLY Zach Thomas. The Redskins defenders did NOT do that. I don't care what Taylor **says** today because my eyes did not lie yesterday. They were gassed coming out of the locker room to start the second half. It was obvious.
fire cameron u don't go to overtime with 1 minute left and 3 timoe outs at your own 25 fire his azz! u suck we lost too bad coaching point blank let's go for 0-16 guys so we can have a #1 pick and draft a guy that i never herd of just because cameron likes the guys family!!!!!!!!!!!!! what a bull crap artist fire his azz!!!!!!!!!
I agree Cam should've attempted to win the game in the last minute!!! But I don't think we want to throw Beck to the wolves just yet, it could CRUSH any confidence he has!!
I'm not a Cam lover, but I'm still going to hold my judgement on him a little longer. I did see a pretty good looking Trent Green on the field, and I didn't think that would be the case. Hopefully we get better next week.Our secondary will have there hands full with T.O!!!
Tired? Are you kidding me? This had nothing to do with the defense getting tired. When your team goes on the road and holds the opposition to 16 points(actually 13 points before OT), you should be able to win the game. Lets focus blame on our inept offense and their lame 13 point showing. Same old Dolphins.
I do believe that Cameron will get this thing turned around. However, I want to see it THIS year and not NEXT year. I'm tired of seeing this team get their a$$ES kicked every week. If this team is to have any shot at making a playoff run this year, the Dallas game is a must-win. Going to the Meadowlands at 0-2 would not be a good scenario.
I believed in Saban until that nightmare in Houston last year. I think that Cameron is better.
whiner said "Yet another savior comes in, blah blah blah".
Cameron's Dolphins lose their very first game in OT and now Cameron is a failure? Gimme a break! What was Belichick's record his first season with NE? 5-11. What was Jimmy Johnson's record his first season with Dallas? 1-15.
I'm not saying Cameron will be successful but to claim the sky is falling after having seen one game, much less one season, is ridiculous! Give Cameron a chance.
--funkyj
Lots of "pitch and catch" drills this week. PLEASE.
Armando, they are out of shape. The sight of them at the end of the game, on their knees, was all the evidence you need. Even Joe Bugel said it after the game.
Looks like that air conditioned bubble is coming back to bite them.
During the second half and overtime, we knew they were going to run...and they ran right over us. I hope it was because we were tired. The Skins played very conservative after the first INT by Campbell. (with the exception of a few long hookups to Randle El when he was wide open)
I thought given the circumstance Trent Green played very well. His only glaring blunder didn't cost us because the CB dropped the ball. I noticed a big difference in the quick decisions of Green compared to all the other QBs we've had since Marino. The only problem was that I don't think the line gave enough protection to take any shots deep.
The sad reality is that our offensive line can't open holes, we still had too many drops(although I thought Chambers had a decent game), Cameron had a shaky coaching debut, and our defense which we are supposed to be able to lean on while our new offense works on its kinks, was manhandled in the second half and OT when we knew they were going to run right at us. Hopefully we get our act together soon. After the Cowboys we have 4 of our easier opponents, and the second half of our schedule is brutal. I think 7-9 or better would be okay for year 1 of Coach Cam...and year 2 we should contend for the playoffs.
"the sky did not fall","it's not a shame to punt","i thought we played well out there",sound familiar?this team and it's bible thumping,family drafting coach are a fu#king joke!there's no depth or talent on the front seven except for jt and zt!holliday is a 280 pounder clearly outmusculled by bigger players inside,matt roth is a pumped up weightlifter with no quickness whatsoever,porter doesn't give a shit anymore(why should he with all that quaranteed money!)holy god damn christ!
so is Bell out for the season?
My take on the loss to the 'Skins:the receivers couldn't catch a cold(just like last year),the offensive line was awful(just like last year),the Fins continued to try to run up the middle-with no luck(just like last year),just when the passing game was clicking-they stopped(just like last year).So,what's so different this year?The all-pro defense looked old and tired and gave-up too many rushing yards.
How does a guy like Ronnie Brown only have 11 carries the entire game? No disrespect to Chatman, but Brown needs to be in there pounding the ball in crucial parts of the game. Not Jesse Chatman. Offense looked even more vanilla than when Mike "bull" Mularky was calling plays. Come on, Cam. Lets open it up a bit.
To Mike; I said I was loosing faith, not lost Faith, so the only thing that SUX is your mouth!!!! I've been a Dolphins fan for 34 years, Faithfully, so i guess your comment makes you SUCK as a person. Read what is written next time, and TRY to Comprehend!!! NCFINFAN
WE LOST THE GAME BECAUSE THE COACHING SUCKED....WHY DID NOT RONNY RUN THE BALL MORE??? (EVEN AFTER THE FUMBLE CHATMAN WAS STILL RUNING THE BALL)STUPID...WHY DID NOT MAUIA RUN THE BALL IN SHORT YARDS??? WHO DOES THIS COACHING STAFF PRETEND TO WIN A GAME WITH THE GAME MANAGMENT THEY USED???
YOU BETTER LAERN QUICK TO FAIL, FAST, FOWARD COACH CAM
GOOD LUCK NEXT WEEK YOU ARE GOING TO NEED
GOOD BY BELL THE TEAM IS GOING TO MISS YOU
There is no doubt in my mind that some of the guys were not in " game shape ". I am not buying that they just aren't good enough and got out played. Also why aren't we blaming Trent for the drops? Last year Joey was blamed for the drops!
We got rid of the only receiver that was guaranteed to catch balls thrown his way. Welker is busy catching touchdowns for the patriots.
Not only did Wanny's bad trades hurt this team still, but Saban's awful drafting hurt this team also. Ronnie Brown is on the verge of being a huge BUST (2nd overall pick) getting outplayed by a guy that was out of the league for two years. Jason Allen who is this guy? He gets paid millons and does not even play in games! Wanny gave away draft picks and Saban didn't know how to draft. One draft by Cam has more players helping this team than two by Saban that says alot. Roth? He has not done anything. Ronnie a big bust. Allen a big bust. Only person I think that has been productive from Saban is Crowder.
The TRUTH is that the Vegas Over/Under for the Dolphins is 6 & the Dolphins showed its true, & wise to take the UNDER.
We'll win a few games & draft top 10, hopefully top 5. Need some beefy linemen.
ceed, I watched the cowboy game as well. I didn't think they were worse than us. I'm not sure we have anyone who can cover TO. They may naot have a very good defensive back field either but our line won't hold up long enough to complete deep passes. The reason for this loss, more than anything else, hase been the years of poor draft picks and bad free agent moves. We have negelected this O-line far too long. Houck is no genius. when he was at LA or SD he had good lineman so he was a good coach...when he came here with ZERO talent on the O-line he does nothing. Drafting guys like Ronnie Brown or Ginn are a waste if you don't have a line that can open holes or let longer pass plays develop. Of the 5 guys on our O-line maybe one would start on some other teams. leaving out TE in to help is worthless, those guys couldn't block my 7 year old daughter. rewatch the game. Both Peele and Martin are just horrible. Why did we get rid of McMike? I guess Cameron didn't like his family (understandable...I don't think Radny likes his family much either...)
People this was a 5-11 team before the season started and now after losing one of the games I had them winning to make the 5 means there a 4-12 team now. We don't have a good offensive line, we don't have a good secondary, our offense is enept at best and our stud defensive guys are aging by the minute. Catch a dose of reality and realize it's going to be a few years of drafting/free agency before we make the playoffs again. Every year I see these 10 plus win predictions and every year I laugh because I've seen no improvements to justify that high of a number.
So is Cameron a miracle worker? Because he has a reputaion as an offensive genius, is he supposed to add a few players to the mess he inherits and BAM! Everything is solved? GIVE ME A BREAK! I am as frustrated as anyone here, but GIVE THE MAN MORE THAN 1 GAME! I bad mouthed the Trent Green move/ cutting of C-pep... But Green looked much better than I expected. Maybe some of Cams other moves will prove some of the naysayers wrong... In time.
Dear Jason Taylor,
You were on the biggest scumbag's show of ALL TIMES today.
I hope this letter finds you well. You were speaking to satan today. satan only tries to confuse you and put doubt in your mind.
In Jesus's name, cast away satan and do what's truly in your heart. What's in your heart is getting better as a team. What's in your teamates heart is winning. Distance yourself from the evil forces that you dealt with today and charge ahead.
In Jesus's name, satan, we rebuke you. Go Dolphins. Go Taylor. Stop that feeling of doubt and rise. RISE!
Dan LebeRetard will burn in hell! Go the other direction.
God Bless!
Truth
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