It's about time!  It's finally here Dolfans, the week we finally win.  Not only did the Dolphins win, they did it in Sparano stomping fashion 31-3 over the red-hot Chiefs sending Coach Haley for a shower and a shave!

Truly Sparano's Dolphin teams have never stomped an opponent since the Wild Cat ran over New England 38-13 in 2008.  Our missing tight end (Fasano) all over milk cartons sold at the local Publix, was found in time for the first half to catch two huge TDs. 

Our Diva Receiva fresh from teaching young corner Vontae "Drunk" Davis a lesson on professionalism played a Monster game. The Beast was alive with 5 catches in the first half and finished with 8.   In the second half he capped drive with a nice catch a sweet TD catch between two defenders! Matt Moore looked like the second coming of Jay Fiedler finding Fasano twice and Brandon Marshal once. 3 TDs and incredible accuracy. He was on fire and had all day to throw. (Jay Fiedler because he was a decent addition to the Dolphins after Marino left and had an aerial attack under Chan Gailey. )

Reggie Bush was a man on a mission and it almost seems that his 44 yd TD had Kim's influence all over it.

So, do the Dolphins reappear now out of the doldrums of losses and ineptitude?  You betcha! It's gonna happen.  A win next week? Oh yeah.  Who's up next? Washington.

Done.

Guaranteed, just not yet by Brandon Marshall. 

While the #SuckForLuck sweepstakes has been going strong now for 8 or so weeks, I have come to the sad realization that this team might be too good to finish 32^nd in the NFL.

 

The fact is that this team competes and if it weren’t for 3 big time 4rth quarter collapses then this team would have a win already. While it doesn’t appear other then the Redskins game that there are a lot of winnable games on the schedule, I also didn’t expect the Dolphins to come so close to beating the Giants.

The only thing that could potentially separate the Dolphins from Andrew Luck are the pathetic Indianapolis Colts.  Minus Peyton, the Colts are probably the only team that has looked even worse than the Dolphins.

While it still is possible the Dolphins get the first overall pick my money is on the Colts getting Luck.

Below is a link to the Andrew Luck Power Rankings from This Given Sunday

http://bloguin.com/thisgivensunday/2011-articles/november/andrew-luck-power-rankings-week-9.html

So the big question is….if Luck is off the board, do you trade an arm and a leg to get him or do you draft Landry Jones or Matt Barkley?

Right now I don’t have the answer but I do know that this team has a lot of holes and trading away Luck would cost A LOT. Dolphins have holes in the secondary and could use a talented young TE as well as just some overall help. You don't finish last or second to last in the league without reason. 

While I don’t think Barkley or Jones are as good as Luck, they both look like pretty solid NFL prospects. Barkley really impressed me in a one on one duo vs. Luck in primetime going throw for throw with Andrew.

 

Barkley has shined of late and has probably passes Jones but there is still plenty of football to be played. All 3 options seem like they would shift the Dolphins into the right direction. It’s been since 1983 since the Dolphins have drafted a QB in the first round, let’s all hope for our sake that streak ends this year.

 Okay Dolfans, we've braced ourselves what's upcoming the rest of the season, an almost astonishing photo finish to 0-16...only to not be the worst team.  The Colts are a bumbling and stumbling bunch that want to stink more.

How is any of this possible?  Bill Parcells preached that you are what your record says: or "You are what you are."

At the beginning of the offseason after Tony was not fired, but then given an extension: Steve Ross proclaimed that he wanted to see a "dynamic offense."

In reality, this Dolphins team is so exciting to watch! 

The last few seasons under Sparano, the Dolphins were playing boring running a 1980s version of the New York Giants ground and pound attack.  Playing to keep the games close, only to win more games in the closing two minutes of games.

 This year's team features excitement of a different kind: 

You can first look back to the New England game and there was a glimmer of hope until the 3rd quarter when Tom Brady engineered two big no-huddle drives and you saw, the best (and most of us were led to believe) well-conditioned cornerbacks Sean Smith and Vontae Davis, crawling and hunched over on the sidelines with severe cramping. 

Meanwhile, Henne and company was busy lighting up the stat sheet for 400 plus yards and some serious milelage from Reggie Bush. 

Then there was the Houston game:  Dolphins had a chance in the 3rd quarter to come back down 17-0.  Two huge Dan Carpenter field goals were missed and then there was the Daniel Thomas fumble to stall the drive at midfield.  Then Houston woke up from heat stroke and then Matt Schabb found Andre Johnson after he beat Will Carrol further icing the game.

Then came week 3, I was totally psyched about seeing Daniel Thomas run over the Browns.  Then came the 4th quarter...Colt McCoy stole Chad Henne's thunder with a stunner with a minute left. 

Week 4 saw Chad Henne play a game of deja vu with a run and fall on the concrete-like turf ending his season with a severe shoulder separation. (see Chad Pennington)

 In came Matt Moore and he threw two huge passes, one was lost in the sun or lights by Brandon Marshall, the other, Brandon Marshall failed to gain "positioning" on Gilchrist, a rookie and did not come up with the ball.

Week 5, was a bye so the Dolphins didn't win nor lose.  The headlines were dynamic with Sparano Watch 2011.

Week 6 v. The Jets, The Dolphins owned the ball the entire first half, then the Jets woke up and Mark Sanchez delivered a crushing blow with his pass to an open Santonio Holmes.  Dolphins lost 24-6.

Week 7, The Tebow game.  After the Dolphins owned the ball for the entire game and owned the game defensively helped by 2 missed Field Goals from generally accurate Matt Prater, the Dolphins found a way to squander and let Tebow part the waters and all of a sudden look like a left-handed John Elway. 

Week 8- Versus the Giants, the Dolphins went to the locker room in the 3rd quarter thinking they had the game won 17-13 over the Giants, only the Dolphins forgot that they had to play "hard" in the 4th quarter.  Dolphins lost by 3 and had two drives to come back. 

So, there you have it.  The Dolphins bring excitement every week in that they play hard and have been in 4 games out of 7. 

In my book they could be 4-3.  Just like the Chiefs! 

Another rough weekend for Dolphins fans

So Dolphin fans might wake up to beautiful sunny weather of Florida if they are fortunate to live in the state full of organs however no matter where you live you most likely have another frown on your face this morning.

The Dolphins dropped to 0-7 basically reliving play for play last weeks game in Denver. Once again the Dolphins came to play for 3 quarters but then disappeared in the 4rth only to lose another lead this time to the New York Giants.

I would however like to give props to Reggie Bush who ran for his second 100 yard game in his career. Reggie ran pretty hard and while has been used not effienctly all year, has certaintly had a winning work ethic.  

While many fans might be happy that #SuckForLuck is still alive the news isn’t all good for all crowds. It appears as though potential head coach candidate Bill Cowher and Tony Dungy both announced on their respective shows that they do not anticipate returning to coaching next year, I expect Jon Gruden to do the same tonight.

With Andy Reid brining back his Eagles team to success, I expect that the only big name head coach out there might be Jeff Fisher. It will be very interesting to see where this team will look to for its next head coach.

Stay in there Dolfans !

We’ve all seen it…it’s an exotic formation.  The Dolphins from 2008-2010 used this formation:

The Wild Cat!!! 

This formation proved successful in 2008 in taking out the New England Patriots and running them over on their field.  The next week after the bye it turned into a Flea flicker type play where Henne hit a waiting Patrick Cobbs and Cobbs was able to prance toward the endzone for the score.  We saw the Dolphins run this with Ronnie and Ricky in goal line situations and it proved successful in getting a game winning touchdown in 2009 in a comeback versus the Jets on Monday night football with incredible blocking over the top by Justin Smiley.

The Wild Cat formation forces teams into a mismatch because you don’t know if the Quarterback is going to be in the play or if the running back is going to throw or run.  It’s also a situation where the offense goes Tackle heavy on one side to bring in extra blockers.  The formation has about six different possibilities and the QB can be in the play as a decoy.  The defense is forced to put 9-10 in the box to stop it.  It becomes a guessing game for the defense.  The element of surprise can prove useful in game situations.

So my question to you is why not bring this formation back?  Why not use it to close out a game?

I could see a nice misdirection play with Reggie Bush and Steve Slaton to get “chunk” yardage.  Could you imagine Bush on a jet sweep or Slaton on an end around?    If Daniel Thomas was the QB of this formation at Kansas State, why not have him lead it?

Back in 2008-2009, everyone was wondering why no one could stop the Dolphins Wild Cat.  Now the Dolphins stopped using it after the departures of both Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown.  New coordinator had it in Cleveland.  Why not here?

Is it personnel?  Is it a lack of guys on the o-line?  Is it Jake Long’s balky knee?  Is it John Jerry’s inability to pull as a guard?  Or do the Dolphins have such confidence running out of the base formations to run the ball? I know the running game has improved, but not to the point that the Dolphins can close at a game with a run. 

I know that we all want to see this team win and some of us want to Suck for Luck, but in reality we are in need of a game changer/breaker and a way of closing out a game if we want to win.

So, let’s hope that this week in Kansas City that Sparano & Daboll figure out how to implement the Wild Cat for everyone’s enjoyment and a first win.  If they want to practice “hard” at it all week and then run it against the 3-4 that KC runs, 3-4 can’t stop the Wild Cat. 

If you like Xs and Os on this formation, then do two things: Watch how Andrew Luck successfully ran it on Saturday at USC in the 4^th quarter and how Nebraska ran it with an End around or Jet Sweep v. Michigan State.  If you can't do that then do this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYEmxO1xzF0
 

Happy Monday and Go Dolphins!

-Michael Serrania

Follow @DolphinMick

The Ball is in the air, dropped by Marshall.  Seam route to Hartline off the finger tips.  Deep to Marshall! Oh he should have had that one.  Maybe it was the sun in his eyes.

The Miami Dolphins are 0-6 and no one has to remind them of it. The players know and they work so hard in practice. It just doesn't translate to the games.  Dropped passes.  Constant miscommunication on the Offensive Line, wasted Timeouts in the first and third quarter.  Long Drives into the Deadzone.  FG fistpumps.  It's a constant reminder of what a difference the right decisions at draft time would have brought this team.

So, going into the draft I thought the Dolphins would get a QB in round 2.  Afterall, they had just made the trade.  Daniel Thomas was called by Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald.  I scoffed at that notion. 

They picked the Center in Mike Pouncey in round #1 and then as I was eating a meal at a local Wingstop I saw the Dolphins take the bait and move up into the 2nd round. Daniel Thomas! 

What? Why?  Who?  I was going berzerk.  Ireland bluffed and pulled a Randy Mueller on all of us by taking a big strong fast guy.  Mueller took Ginn in the first round much to everyone's dismay.  Dolfans were livid! 

I saw Daniel Thomas get run over by a black shirt D of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. A Defense without Suh.  He rushed 22 for 63 yards with his longest rush being 13 yards.  How and why Ireland would choose Thomas must be his bowl game stats v. Syracuse 22 for 90 and 3 TDs.  Syracuse!!!!

So, the Dolphins made a decision. Put trust in Henne. See what he can do and with the lockout a new QB Would not grasp a new offense.

Tell that to Minnesota, Jacksonville, and Cincinnati. They all have Rookie QBs starting. Post lockout, those guys had as much practice with their teams, those guys were unproven at the NFL level.  The speed of the game would affect them.  So far Andy Dalton has been the most successful with good weapons in AJ Green and a good running game. 

Didn't Peter King say Andy Dalton would land with the Dolphins?  Look it up.

So, what would Ryan Mallet look like as a Dolphin... We'll never know.  We would not be 0-6.  Would Marshall, Bess, Hartline, Bush, etc catch all his passes?

Do Sparano and Ireland wish they took a QB? Yes of course they do. 

As loyal Dolfans we should be thanking our "Luck"y stars for this much maligned and beat up talentless team.

-Michael Serrania

Follow @DolphinMick

 Numbness, thoughts of cheering for another team (I just don't like the Raiders or Forty Niners).  Constant heart palpitations. 

This is what it's like to watch a Dolphins team that seems to physically and mentally crumble on the field. 

In the lockeroom, the team is loose and not pressing.  I find this very disturbing. 

As a fan, I should have an opinion, but as an observer of this team, they are filled with denial and self efficacy. 

Why should we cheer on the guys such as Brandon Marshall and Reggie Bush?  Two quote un-quote leaders...

Brandon Marshall is more of a free-agency bust than anyone I can remember that has ever landed on the Dolphins as a WR. 

Oh wait...David Boston was one heck of a find for Dave Wannstedt, but he couldn't stay healthy and got out worked by every other receiver on the team. 

Marshall can't catch the ball for a TD and catches the insignificant passes.  The "Beast" is too scared to play well. 

I am convinced it's confidence and a lack of ownership over his position.  You could see it in the Jets game, he was scared of Revis. 

Reggie Bush was brought in to make the offense dynamic.  I was almost jumping up for joy to see him play.  Then I saw how he played in the 2nd quarter against the Patriots and how he could not run up the middle, New England adjusted and so have all the other teams. 

He is not an everydown back.  I later cancelled my jersey order at NFL.com. 

Will Brandon Marshall and Reggie Bush be back?  That I am not sure of, but I'd consider taking the loss to find some college kids to come in and play either position with pride and respect for authority. (Please don't tell me that the players truly respect the coaching staff.) 

Marshall has been "embarrasing" and Reggie Bush "stinks".

-Michael Serrania

Please follow @DolphinMick

Dolphins have made another move towards landing Andrew Luck. Today they put Sage Rosenfels on the IR and signed JP Losman. This move clearly helps the Dolphins as now they are just one big hit away from having Losman as their starting QB.

Move after move, the Dolphins organization has made really would make you think they are trying to land the first pick of the NFL draft next year. That doesn’t even include the fact that Tony Sparano is still the head coach of this team.

At this point their isn’t much Dolfans can do but sit back and watch this team crumble even more. The only real winnable game on this schedule would appear to be week 10 against a banged up Redskin team at home. That being said the Dolphins have had a nack for messing up games that
they should win as we saw last week. Week 10 the Redskins will be without both Santana Moss and Hightower, it will be a real opportunity for a W for the Phins if they leave without a win in week 10 if not 0-16 might be a sad reality.

So do yourself a favour Dolfans and turn on some tape of Stanford’s Andrew Luck or USC’s Matt Barkley or Landry Jones of OU. College football can be entertaining and one of those guys should be the next starting QB for the Dolphins.

Stay Classy Miami !

The Dolphins are a spitting image of 2005 49ers.

Bare with me for a second.

 2004 marked one of the worst seasons in franchise history for the SF Forty Niners.

 Why? Ownership

The York family had previously been granted the Franchise because of Eddie DeBartolo's squabbles with his sister Denise DeBartolo York and some legal troubles.

When the York's took over a once proud franchise they rested their laurels on an unknown defensive coach, Mike Nolan.. He was granted total control of all football decisions.

Nolan coached the team getting QB Alex Smith and anyone else he wanted. He was the one getting the groceries.

This move proved fatal for the 49ers. They are still recovering today, but has shown a glimpse of what they can be with a new structure and a new Stadium on the horizon.

Flash forward to today: the Miami Dolphins are leading the standings in ineptitude. They are stinking more than fish left out at a Bayside Bistro.

They can't even get the refs to replay a near dropped pass.

They can't get the refs to replay a tuck on the Moore fumble in OT.  A challenge was warranted because Moore clearly brought the ball down.  Was I the only fan in America screaming this?

(I haven't seen one since Brady's), it's a conspiracy.

Dolphins are governed by an owner that's interested in what lines his own pockets than what the fans want, a winning team and franchise QB.

Gator Day was a gutless disaster to the fan base that is pro Dolphin and fans of the Miami Hurricanes.

So were the images of Ross yucking it up with Urban "Stressed out" Meyer or Urban, I can't coach right now Meyer. 

The Broncos are far worse than the Dolphins, they had no shot of winning until the Dolphins gave them that chance.

Point Fingers at Ross:

Ross first made the mistake keeping Sparano last January.

Ross has no clue about winning and how important the fans are in getting the stadium upgraded and what it takes to be an owner as confident and bullish about winning as Jerry Jones. He can only wish.  Jones has poured almost every cent into his franchise and gotten results.

The Miami Dolphins are the laughing stock of the league because they chased the cheese in a QB called Orton. Then failed, then pushed that idea under the rug and contacted Matt Moore and Reggie Bush.

Ross called it off because it did not make financial or business sense for a QB that is a care-taker to make Franchise QB money.  That much is true, but Orton would win in Cleveland and yesterday versus the Broncos had he come to Miami. 

Ross for all his acumen in the business world in developing real estate that is less than desirable and turning it into a beautiful landscape has his biggest task ahead.

Suggestions for Ross:

Hire a football czar. Hire a well known Football guy. A guy who will work 80+ hours a week with the coach and GM. Not one who leaves on Thursdays to go fishing on his boat or to Spring Training or to race horses a la Parcells.

Hire a GM that does not delineate from what it takes to build a team, make it a 3- 5 year plan. Don't try to win it all the first or second year.

Develop the bottom of the roster and quit churning.  Let players develop so they can start in 1-2 years.  

High draft picks need to be the starters on the team. That vision of building through the draft needs to be consistent. 

Hire a coach that's in it for the long-haul, fan-friendly, and stern but fair on the field.

Then, Ross can sit back, entertain non-coaches, and focus on stadium improvements and revenue streams that are pro Miami Dolphins.

Update:

If you are a Dolfan not familiar with the mess the Yorks were and are wondering why compare this to Ross? You are not alone.

Ross is a new owner to football and the Yorks were new owners to football.

Here is a link about the Yorks from 2008:  Special thanks to ESPN for writing this blog in 2008.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=kreidler_mark&id=3655234

Follow @DolphinMick

Miami Dolphins are officially 0-6.  This is a bizarre re-run of the twilight zone and it feels like 2007!

 This game had shades of Miami v. the Jets 2000 on MNF.  A 15 point lead blown in the final 5:34.  This is not unbelievable, but it is despicable. 

Matt Moore played like Chad Pennington (22-33, 1-0) and Brandon Marshall does his best to catch every ball, but didn't catch a TD.

Tony Sparano goes for TWO thinking he needed 14 points to win the game.  He settles for 15 and the loss.
 (He might need to walk home as his car has been impounded by Stepen Ross and parking spot might be gone.)

Two blown opportunities and lack of rhythm produce three first downs in OT, but a misread by Moore and maybe a missed block on D.J. Williams (of the U and upset because of Florida Day, gets the forced fumble for Tebow and the Florida Team being celebrated.)

Ok, so I am still picking up the pieces of my remote control, baby monitor, and whatever I tossed at the wall in the 4^th quarter.

I am officially NOT on the Suck For Luck train, but I am waiting on the platform with ticket in hand!