Not too long ago the Miami Dolphins were faced with the prospects of signing their running back and former 2005 first round pick, Ronnie Brown. 

Forced to fill a void that was inevitable with the lack of productivity in Brown’s final season, the Dolphins got overly aggressive at the start of the offseason after the lockout with a trade for Reggie Bush.  A name that would sell jerseys and someone that could be considered the face of the franchise.

Reggie Bush has been known for being an all-purpose back: a do it all back running the ball for yards and catching the ball to move the sticks.  Not to mention, Bush’s value as a returner, has him sadly on Madden 13 as 99 rating as the best returner on the Dolphins in the video game.

However, this season Reggie Bush has followed up a season of 15 games started and 1086 yards rushed on 6 TDs with 575 yards rushing and 4 touchdowns through 10 games. 

These numbers are quite deceiving in that even though Reggie Bush is tied for 21^st in rushing, hardly evidence of feature back status, Reggie succumbed to a knee injury versus the Jets in week three. 

When the Miami Dolphins front office and brass look to re-sign Reggie Bush there are compelling arguments as to why the Dolphins should either sign him or let him hit the market.

The argument for signing Bush:

Reggie Bush is a play maker on the Dolphins.  He has shown signs of taking over games and leading the Dolphins in victories.  When the Dolphins win, it’s because Reggie Bush has done work in those games.  From the first win of 2011 season versus the Chiefs, Reggie Bush began to show that he is the force that most teams cannot stop in the open field.  Reggie one on one is going to win most of the time.  In Dolphins wins this season, Reggie Bush has rushed for 296 yards and 3 touchdowns.  In losses, Reggie has rushed for 279 yards and one touchdown. With Reggie Bush, despite the setbacks, he has been out there contributing where he has been able to.

Bush should not be signed:

While Reggie Bush has been balanced, he has not been effective after failing to rush for over 100 yards since the game versus the Raiders where he rushed for 172 and 2 touchdowns.  Reggie Bush, while he has shown glimpses of greatness as a feature back, has one major flaw: holding onto the football.  The Dolphins are a team that is feast or famine this season when it comes to turnovers.  The Dolphins have won 4 games when they have no turnovers and zero when they turn the ball over.  Reggie Bush set the tone with a critical fumble versus a very bad team versus the run, the Tennessee Titans.  When Bush fumbled, the team looked defeated after the defense allowed a red zone touchdown.  In addition, Reggie Bush has run his mouth with the media in a negative fashion and has cast a negative pall on the Dolphins franchise from everything to accusing LaRon Landry of personally looking to injure him and the women of Buffalo.  While, some of this banter is done in a playful manner, the commentary that surrounds Reggie Bush is enough to startle those who look up to Reggie Bush and those who want to give him a new contract. I don't believe some of the powers that be are laughing anymore.  A player like Reggie Bush should be able to back up his trash talk with big time performances on the field.  Bush has yet to do that and shown he can disappear into his pads and helmet on the sideline.

Bottom line, signing Reggie Bush is more of a negative at this point because he has failed to be the leader that he showed he is capable of being.  While he has backed Ryan Tannehill as the rookie QB, he’s even done his best to take the criticism for losses and take the story lines another direction so the rookie doesn't’t have to feel the brunt of the South Florida media for Tannehill’s poor play.

Unfortunately, doing all the little things in practice are not translating on the field and Bush is starting to remove any optimism that Dolfans had in him and expected him to have a monster season!

As a fan and blogger, critical of the Miami Dolphins, one has to wonder who’s doghouse Bush is in: Is it Jeff Ireland’s or coach Joe Philbin’s?  Even more startling is the fact that Bush is in a contract year.  Which brings me back to the idea that his poor play seems to get worse as the season wears on as Bush has bounced around in yards per carry per game to level off at a 4.2 average yards for the season.

 Signing Reggie Bush would be a mistake because the money could be used to lure other free agents to Miami, but one has to wonder if it’s the Dolphins who don’t want to sign Reggie Bush because he might be overpriced at this point. Or is it Reggie Bush himself who’d rather enjoy another town’s sunshine than Miami sunshine. 

Let’s not forget what happened a couple of years ago with Ronnie Brown, working toward a bonus, the Dolphins refused to call his name in the huddle for a touchdown inside the 5.  Maybe the same can be said about Reggie Bush, except someone on the Dolphins is refusing to play him so they don’t have to pay him.

It seems like ages ago, but the Miami Dolphins haven't won comeback game in the 4^th quarter this season.  Last night, Ryan Tannehill held the spotlight with two chances, more than most quarterbacks get,  to conduct a flawless 2 minute drill and send the Dolphins back to .500 and steal a game up in cold Buffalo.  A game that it appeared seemed winnable from the outset facing a 30^th ranked defense versus the run and a disappointment amongst all Bills fans.

However, given these two chances, the Dolphins failed to come back and win this game.  Ryan Tannehill failed to win the game, by throwing two interceptions on poorly executed plays. Never mind receivers not being fast or elusive enough, but the blame lands directly on the man with the keys to the offense, Ryan Tannehill, the so-called franchise quarterback. 

So when exactly was the last comeback win for Miami? 

Just last season in meaningless week 17 contest, quarterback Matt Moore drove 97 yards versus the New York Jets to knock them out of the playoff race.  He capped it with a touchdown to tight end Charles Clay.  Does this mean Matt Moore should get a chance to start?  Who knows!  However, Tannehill is the quarterback despite his combined total of 10 turnovers.  Certainly, coach Joe Philbin might have a number in mind as far as how much this rookie quarterback can handle.  Surely, Joe Philbin knows what he can do, but without this litmus test of his failings, it's up to Tannehill to show he can be the man in Miami for years to come.

Even with last night, things appeared to begin clicking in the 4^th quarter.  The rythm that Ryan Tannehill seemed to have in earlier season victories seemed to be flowing and the Dolphins seemed to make big play after play. 

However, after the defense busted their behinds stopping the Bills offense cold, the Dolphins had to drive 99 yards to win the game. 

In the end it proved too much.  In the end asking Tannehill to win proved to overwhelming for the rookie.

This season, as it appears has proved way too much for Ryan Tannehill.  Not from a play calling standpoint, but more so from a trust and execution standpoint.  He doesn't show much conviction on his throws to his teammates and often falls off the mark in his accuracy.

He has been given opportunities to lead the Dolphins back against Buffalo, versus the Jets at home, versus the Cardinals in overtime, and against the Colts.

Thus far, there seems to be absence of the clutch or “kill” gene that so many South Florida sports writers have alluded to.  Tannehill has yet to prove he can be like the Miami QB who played 17 seasons for the Dolphins, in Dan Marino.

If Tannehill is given the opportunity to show he can be clutch, he better be clutch and show why this franchise drafted him 8^th instead of taking a quarterback later.

The honeymoon is over and the praising is over until Tannehill gets his act together and brings back the essence of a Marino type player and leads the Dolphins to clutch victories.  In the NFL, anything can happen in the 4th quarter, but last night, Tannehill and the Dolphins fell short.

For fans, it’s the adage of “Same Ole’ Dolphins,” which was certainly heard from all parts of the world...especially on Twitter.

Frustration, aggravation, embarrassment are just some of the feelings that are spreading throughout the Dolphins fan base.

After a promising 4-3 start including 3 straight wins the Dolphins have plummeted to 3 straight losses leading to a now 4-6 record, essentially halting all playoff talk.  While there is no one that individually that can take the blame as each loss has featured too many to point the finger at, however at the end of the day coach Philbin is responsible for his team and the past few performances have not been acceptable.

The Dolphins have come out 3 straight games flat and unprepared. Despite the fact you would like to see your coach rally the troops and have them motivated to go, it seems Philbin has failed to do so recently as the team has played with no urgency or fire despite having had a shot at the playoffs. Coordinators on both side of the ball have underwhelmed as Kevin Coyle’s secondary looks like one of the of the weakest units in the league (for expectation of R Jones) and the pass rush has all but disappeared. Mike Sherman, well don’t get me started. The offense has struggled against 2 of the worst defenses in the league and has seen the running game become all but futile. Sherman and Philbin have struggled to get Tannehill back on track and set him up with opportunities to make plays. The lack of a deep threat has hindered the play calling for sure but this league wasn’t made for excuses. A team that appeared aggressive at early stages of the season now dare I say resembles a Tony Sprano/ Chad Henne offense.

Where do the Dolphins go from here? Well it’s tough to say to be honest.  The key for this team is no longer wins and losses, the priority has to be to develop Ryan Tannehill and evaluate your upcoming free agents and young players.  

In terms of how the team operates, I don’t think the obvious needs to be said but it is quite clear the person who built this consistent non contender with a lack of talent has to be held responsible.

The even bigger glaring issues with the Dolphins past 2 losses is that it puts doubt in the minds of fans on Ryan Tannehill and Joe Philbin. While it’s silly to make any bold statements and come to any quick decisions, there certainly is reason for concern. Time will tell and hopefully next year will be the year to really evaluate Tannehill as hopefully the team can surround him with more talent.

The Miami Dolphins of 2011 are back and in full force. 

The Dolphins were victim of a good ole fashion butt Whooping this week. If you're looking for positives from this game well without being too cynical there really weren't any. The Dolphins fell victim of Murphy's Law this Sunday as everything went wrong.

Whether it was a lack of discipline and preparation by the coaching staff, a bad fumble by Reggie Bush, bad interceptions by Ryan Tannehill, complete meltdown by the Dolphins defense, the list goes on and on. There were no good individual performance and the Dolphins were out coached, outplayed and outclassed by a very average Titans team.

Reggie Bush ‏@reggie_bush

I have to apologize to Dolphin Nation my performance these past few weeks has been poor & I'm embarrassed right now! You guys deserve better

Shit f*lm dnt lie, I been trippin past couple of games, gotta show up big thursday!!

Cameron Wake: "It was an embarrassment all around. What more can you say?"

Bush along with many others had no excuses or reasons for their performance this week but everyone knows that the product this Sunday on the field was unacceptable.

The Dolphins don't get much time to rebound as they are back in action this Thursday against Buffalo. The Dolphins have now dug themselves in quite the hole in the AFC playoff race as now it seems that they are falling too far behind to catch up. That being said it is only week 9 so let's not go overboard.

Coaching was as concerning as everything else this Sunday as not only did the Dolphins come out this week flat, they were perhaps even worse coming out of the 2nd half making no adjustments and clearly not buying what Philbin was selling to them in the locker room.

While it's clear this roster clearly lacks the talent required to be an elite NFL teams, week after week it is even more scary watching some of the obvious holes.

Erase the game tape, move on and get back to work. That's the only thing you can do at this point. 

Ireland “We’ll find out who we are and what we’re made of on a short week."