It’s easy to let frustration get the best of us. In the moments following the Dolphins’ disastrous fourth quarter collapse against the Lions on Sunday, the majority of a frustrated fan base was ready to call for Tony Sparano’s head. A knee-jerk reaction to the emotions that come with such a humiliating loss.

Shortly after the game, I tweeted that I thought it was time for Stephen Ross to clean house. But after having time to step back and think about the situation rationally, I have since changed my mind.

Has this 2010 season been a complete failure? Absolutely, considering most fans had playoff expectations, and owner Stephen Ross had Super Bowl aspirations. This team was 7-9 a year ago with a below average defense and a first-year starting quarterback who didn’t have a legitimate go-to receiver to work with. Well, a loss this Sunday in Foxboro and the Dolphins would have themselves back-to-back below 500. seasons despite getting their alpha receiver in the offseason and improving to currently the league’s third ranked defense in total yards surrendered.

That obviously isn’t acceptable, but is it fair to blame Tony Sparano for the Dolphins’ inability to emerge as a playoff caliber team? I will admit, Sparano has done some things that I haven’t necessarily agreed with. Benching Sean Smith in favor of Jason Allen for the first seven games of the season was one. Shuffling the offensive line all preseason and essentially preventing any cohesiveness to take place was another.

But can you really blame Sparano for Chad Henne’s implosion? Is it Sparano’s fault that Dan Henning left countless points on the board throughout the season by being content to just settle for field-goals?

The lack of consistent play from the quarterback position is what is holding the Dolphins back from being contenders. No, a new quarterback wouldn’t solve all of the Dolphins’ issues. They still could use more playmakers on offense and their interior offensive line needs a complete makeover, but there isn’t a team in this league that is perfect. Give a football team that should have a very good, if not elite defense for years to come some consistent play at quarterback, and you have yourself a winner.

For the second consecutive week, the Dolphins will play a football team who doesn’t look like much record wise, but in reality is capable of playing with and beating just about any team in this league. The Lions are fresh off their first road win since October of 2007, and based on how pathetic the Dolphins have been at home this season, Detroit suddenly looks very capable of coming down to South Florida and turning the Dolphins’ disappointing season into a nightmare.

Another home loss on Sunday would drop the Dolphins to a tie with the 2007 1-15 squad for the worst home record in franchise history. And losses to the Browns, Bills, and Lions in three out of four weeks could lead to a frustrated fan base calling for Tony Sparano’s head. Let’s see what the Dolphins have to do to avoid that fate in a “meaningless” football game.

Great coverage is only half the battle
Last week we saw Dolphin DB’s and linebackers in pretty solid coverage all afternoon, but that didn’t stop Ryan Fitzpatrick from riffling in completion after completion into double and triple coverage. Let’s be honest, Fitzpatrick had no business making some of those throws, but the Dolphins let him get away with it by not being able to make plays on footballs that were mere inches away. The Lions also possess a gunslinger mentality on offense, regardless of who lines up at quarterback. Whether it has been Matthew Stafford, Shaun Hill, or Drew Stanton the Lions have found success through the air this season by stretching the field vertically from start to finish.

They haven’t missed much of beat no matter who has lined up under center in large part thanks to Calvin Johnson. You could argue that Johnson is emerging as one of the top two or three receivers in all of football. The guy is big, strong, athletic and fast; the complete package. It should be interesting to see who the Dolphins stick on him. Vontae Davis is usually first in line to cover the opposition’s go-to threat, but Johnson would have a significant height advantage on Davis, which would put the Dolphins in a difficult position on jump balls. Sean Smith, on the other hand, has the height and length to go up and compete for the football in those situations, but I have my concerns if he is physical enough to handle a beast like Johnson.

The Dolphins will also have their hands full with tight end Brandon Pettigrew and running back Jahvid Best, who rank second and third in receptions for the Lions. The Dolphins have had difficulty covering tight ends and backs this season, and could be exploited even further with the possibility of Karlos Dansby, who has excelled in coverage all season long, being out of the lineup. The good news for the Dolphins is, Shaun Hill is questionable with an injured finger, so the least accomplished of the Lions’ three quarterbacks, Drew Stanton, could get the start.

These are difficult days for the Miami Dolphins and their fans. The team failed to meet the fan base’s playoff expectations, and now we are all stuck with two meaningless games to finish out the year.

The Dolphins’ fate of a disappointing 2010 may be sealed, but you can argue that there will be plenty to play for from an individual standpoint as several job statuses remain up in the air. With so many crucial decisions pending for Stephen Ross to make, these last two games could make or break tenures in Miami.

1. Chad Henne’s last chance?: With how inconsistent Chad has been this season, we may be on the verge of witnessing his final two games as the Dolphins’ starting quarterback. Fans have already begun to throw out possible replacements like Donovan McNabb in free agency or Cam Newton in the draft, but I still feel like Henne could save his job with back-to-back impressive showings.

Mostly, I’m just a little reluctant to give up on the kind of potential Henne has shown when I think we can all agree that he hasn’t been giving the best chance to succeed this season with Dan Henning calling the shots. To get a definite answer on whether or not they should bring Henne back for a fourth season, the Dolphins should really let him off the leash in these last two games. This football team doesn’t have a whole lot to lose, and conservative play-calling will only be a waste of everybody’s time. It’s time to see Henne air it out early and often.

2. Can Sparano afford to lose to the Lions?: Fans are pretty split on whether or not the Dolphins should fire Tony Sparano for such mediocre results this season. But it’s fairly obvious Sparano’s approval has dropped considerably after the losses to the Browns and Bills. The Patriots are the best team in football right now and if they play their starters I don’t think losing to them to close out the season is going to lead to any firings. But a lose this Sunday to the Lions, which would make three losses in four weeks to an inferior opponent and would drop the Dolphins to a tie with the putrid 07’ squad for a franchise-worst 1-7 at home, could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

Well another disappointing, heartbreaking season is just about in the books. What makes things even more sickening this time around is that we all know the Dolphins have the pieces to be much better than 500.

Their fourth overall defense tells us this team should be right in the thick of things. If you would have told me at the beginning of the season that the Dolphins would be 6-1 on the road with one trip to Foxboro remaining, I would have said it would be unfathomable for this team to already be eliminated from playoff contention.

Yet here we are. Wildly inconsistent quarterback play, horrendous play-calling on Dan Henning’s part, disastrous special-teams play at times, and the falloff of what was one of the league’s elite ground attacks has ultimately doomed the Dolphins. With more questions than answers, particularly on the offensive side of the ball, should the Dolphins stay the course, or is it time for change once again in Miami?

Chad Henne
I’m still very indifferent about Chad Henne. This Sunday’s loss against the Bills pretty much summed up his career so far. Did we see some good things? We saw a pretty solid fourth quarter, where Henne was in a great rhythm that was only interrupted by a mind boggling wildcat call and Dan Carpenter’s nightmare afternoon.

But we saw yet another costly mistake, where Henne tried to force in a dump off to Patrick Cobbs and was picked off on third and long. We also saw Henne look incapable of managing the football game with a wasted timeout late in the fourth quarter and a couple little dink and dunks with no timeouts and less than a minute left to play.

Part of me says that there is absolutely no way somebody who is on the verge of blossoming into a franchise quarterback would ever make some of those silly mistakes. The other part of me is still curious to see how Henne would perform with better coaching and an offensive coordinator who understands how the game of football is played these days.

I’ve said it before and I will say it again, though. The Dolphins would only be doing a disservice to their elite defense and solid receiving core if they put off replacing Henne and he never turns out to be the guy. Because if they give Henne another chance and 2011 goes the same way this year has gone, they would have only wasted another season with a defense that is capable of winning now.

Personally, even though these final two games are nauseatingly meaningless, I’m interested to see if Henne can put together a strong couple games. If he does just that, I think the Dolphins should consider giving him another chance with a credible offensive coordinator if a quality starter doesn’t become available in free agency and Ryan Mallet doesn’t fall to them in the draft.

A year ago, the Dolphins collapsed down the stretch by losing their final three games, but many fans pointed to their 31-14 embarrassing loss to the Bills in Week 12 as the game that killed their playoff push.

It's a·few weeks later·in the year this time around, and the Dolphins' playoff hopes are a little more bleak, but once again, the Bills have a great opportunity to play spoiler to their AFC East rival.

If you've paid attention to this Bills' team ever since their bye week, they·have been·playing pretty solid football and have unanimously earned the respect of being a better team than their 3-10 record suggest.

Having said that, the Dolphins are the favorite for good reason, and they should keep their season alive for at least one more week with a win tomorrow if they can avoid the kind of mistakes that cost them two weeks ago against the Browns.

Run, Run, Run
I don't think the game plan offensively has been this obvious all season long. Chad Henne is playing the worst football of his young career, the receiving core will continue to miss the presence of Brian Hartline, and the Bills have the league's 32nd ranked run defense.

If that doesn't scream run Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams all game long, maybe Dan Henning really has lost his mind. The Dolphins' ground attack has yet to return to form, largely because of the struggling interior offensive line, but I think we saw some positive signs last week against the Jets.

They averaged well below the four yards-per-carry benchmark last week, but Ronnie and Ricky combining for 89 yards against the league's third best run defense is certainly something to build off of.

The R&R Express' glory days are a thing of the past, but as long as the Dolphins' remain disciplined and committed to the run, this running game is going to begin to have some much needed success. It may serve as only fool's gold, but I see Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams looking like their old selves for one day tomorrow afternoon.

Protect the football
Two weeks ago against the Browns, we saw firsthand what can happen when a superior team turns the football over. No disrespect to Cleveland, a win is a win, but let's be honest, it was clear who the better football team was that day.

The Dolphins were dominate on defense and moved the ball enough to win the game on offense, but three Chad Henne interceptions later and the Dolphins had themselves another home loss.

At the beginning of the year, we all called for Chad Henne to come out of his shell a bit and for this offense to be less conservative. With how dominate this defense is playing now, how poor Chad Henne had been, and how productive the running game projects to be, it may be time to return to Henne's afraid to make a mistake ways.

If the Dolphins can protect the football and run it consistently, the defense should be able to carry them the rest of the way. Sure, Henne is going to have to make some plays here and there to keep drives alive and to remain somewhat balanced offensively, but priority number one should be protecting the football.

No time for a setback on defense
With how dominate this defense has been in recent weeks, the future of this football team is suddenly starting to look a little more promising. What a difference a week could make, though, if the defense takes a big step in the wrong direction against an injury depleted Bills' offense.

With no Lee Evans, the Dolphins' biggest responsibilities will be shutting down receiver Steve Johnson and running back Fred Jackson. Johnson has quickly emerged the Bills' go-to receiver as he is narrowing in on the 1,000 yard mark and has already contributed nine touchdowns.

Jackson on the other hand, has historically been a pain in the Dolphins' side, but with the way this run defense has been coming together lately, I personally don't see him continuing that trend.

Still though, consistency is what separates the good defenses from the truly elite. And although we've seen about three straight weeks of dominate defensive football, Mike Nolan's unit still has a lot to prove.