After watching the third episode of HBO Hard Knocks, it is evident that the Miami Dolphins players are ready for whatever is coming.  Whether it be the Houston Texans on September 9th, the ups and downs of a rookie season for QB Ryan Tannehill, and the media's swarm over the team as Coach Philbin aims to right the ship that has been almost a decade of being dominated by AFC foes New England and the Jets.  

First, the Dolphins players demonstrated resiliency in their preseason game by picking up the slack as the game wore on.  In the first quarter, Ryan Tannehill appeared battered and bruised by an offensive line that could not stop the Carolina Panthers pass rush.  However, early in the second quarter, something clicked out of the shotgun and Tannehill led a 15 play drive where he completed 5 passes in a row leading to a 1 yard counter play by Daniel Thomas.  This drive was pivotal and even though the Dolphins were down, Tannehill's leadership emerged and the players shrugged off the negativity of having one less player in Chad Johnson.  

Next, if the Dolphins are going to be competitive, everything starts from that moment of the first scoring drive in Carolina to the moments when Tannehill was named the starter.  It is quite clear that Ryan Tannehill has the support of his coaches and players including Matt Moore.  Moore will play a crucial role in the development of Ryan Tannehill.  Confidence oozes from this kid more than any other rookie the Dolphins have brought in this position.  It will be important to give the kid everything and see what he can do.  It starts in Houston facing one of the toughest defenses and venues to play.  

Lastly, the Dolphins for years have made changes to coaches to get over the hump in the division.  Coaches such as Saban and Sparano with Parcells leading the charge appeared to be a quick fix winning a division or regaining respecatability with the Saban hire even though no playoff appearance occured.  The Dolphins have to let this play out even if as a fan we can't live with Coach Philbin's meticulousness or his way of doing things.  One thing is for sure, the Dolphins have charged Coach Joe Philbin of doing things the right way and that right way is creating a culture that fosters intelligence, accountability, and integrity.  In some cases, some media members might scoff at the idea that players refer to the coach as a teacher, but if everything has not worked until this point, then why not give this team a chance to eventually be good or even great.

Of course, it will take time and we as Dolfans will be suffering for awhile, but when that day does come to hoist that Lombardi Trophy, all of these growing pains will have been worth the wait! 

It’s Tuesday night and time to turn your televisions back to your favorite program of the offseason, HBO’s Hard Knocks. The third episode of the program had a little less drama surrounding it as Ryan Tannehill had already been named the Dolphins starter earlier in the week and the Chad Johnson drama has come to an end ( thank the lord) .

Despite now groundbreaking news that appeals to the national media, Hard Knocks did share some interesting tidbits for Dolphins fans.

- The leadership council of Reggie Bush, Jake Long and Karlos Dansby is formed, while this isn’t the nation of domination from the old days of the WWE, after the players were asking to
find out more about the Chad situation from the coaches and Ireland, Philbin thought it was best that a leadership group was formed. Long and Bush both look like very suitable leaders, who are driven and determined to steer this team in the right direction.

- Reggie Bush is far from a diva Hollywood big name, the dude brings it every day, works hard and is a true professional

- Michael Egnew is still seriously struggling as we saw tight end coach Dan Campbell blast him again, I seriously question him as a 3^rd round draft pick

- Vontae Davis is slowly starting to pick up his game, the beginnings of seeing flashes of his potential showed.

- The coaching staff likes what they see in Pat Devlin; even a Tony Romo comparison was made. Given Garrard’s injury, I would not be shocked if the Dolphins kept the cheaper Devlin on the
roster over Garrard.

- Coach Philbin also did take a hit at the local media, which has annoyed a few media members out there already.
 
- The end of the episode showed QB coach Zac Taylor informing Tannehill he will be named the starter, by the look from Matt Moore he saw it coming all the way. Taylor then told Moore “I
look at you as the best backup QB in the league “.  Despite the tough news Matt Moore was a class act and a true pro taking the news.


- Richie Incognito's advice for Tannehill when he got named the starter: "Don't fuck it up!"


That’s it for this week’s Hard Knocks, should be more entertaining and interesting Dolphins news and story lines to follow next week.

In his first five NFL seasons Reggie Bush showed little of the success he had as a college back and looked poised to become yet another bust, until a change of scenery rejuvinated his career.

Coming out of college the former USC Trojan generated a lot of excitement throughout the league, leading many to believe that Bush would be selected 1st overall by the Houston Texans in the 2006 NFL Draft. As it turns out the Texans made the right decision, passing on Bush and opting to draft defensive end Mario Williams who has tallied 53 sacks in a mere six seasons. However Bush didn't wait long to hear his name called, the New Orleans Saints made him the No. 2 overall pick. Once considered an elite featured back, Bush did not live up to expectations in the black and gold in large part due to the fact that he couldn't remain healthy for a full 16 game schedule. 

This all changed once the Miami Dolphins took a chance of him. After losing their long time running back duo of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams in free agency, the Dolphins needed someone to fill the void and were intrigued by Bush's overall skill set not only on the ground but also in the passing game. In his first year in South Beach, Bush competed with Daniel Thomas for the starting role. Although the Dolphins coveted Thomas, trading up to the second round to draft him out of Kansas State, Bush easily won the job. 

The future is now in Miami! August 20^th at 3:01 pm the Miami Dolphins quarterback competition came to an end as the Dolphins announced that Ryan Tannehill will be named the starting QB going into the season.

As PBP’s Ben Volin noted, number 17 Tannehill will be the 17^th starting QB for the Dolphins since Dan Marino.

The rookie was able to impress in camp having solid practices and strong outing in his first preseason game followed up with an alright performance in Carolina. Moore didn’t really take advantage of the situation as despite being the team’s MVP last season clearly lacks the upside and talent of Tannehill.

When David Garrard went down with his injury, this announcement seemed a bit inventible, and like most predicted the Dolphins chose to go with the kid.

CBS’s Pete Prisco has said over and over “Play the kid “, Prisco also said on his twitter account, “If a young first-round QB can't start because a team is worried about psyche, they drafted the wrong guy. “

Tannehill isn’t in the ideal situation due to his lack of weapons and now questions surrounding the offensive line. With that being said, Tannehill has looked like the quarterback that gives Miami the best chance at winning this season.

Tannehill had a head start from most rookies out of the gates as he had a good grasp of the playbook having already worked with the offense and Mike Sherman in college.

While it is exciting that Tannehill is being given the keys, my biggest concern with this decision is not based on Tannehill’s skills or comprehension of the offense but rather the tools and weapons he has around him.

Time will tell on how the Ryan Tannehill era goes but let’s hope for the best! Phins up!

Dating back to last season and a 6-10 finish, optimism reigned true with coaching search and plethora of coaching candidates that interviewed for the head coaching job in Miami.  As Joe Philbin was hired, many fans praised the hiring of an offensive football coach by Ireland in that the Dolphins were going to undergo a culture change for the better.  With Philbin being labeled as the mastermind of the Green Bay Packers Offense, Dolphins fans fantasized about Aaron Rogers type quarterbacks ready to lead the team since Dan Marino.  Outside of the organization, bloggers and beat reporters grew excited about the Dolphins offense changing to put points on the board run a multitude of quick plays and compete with the likes of AFC foes New England and the New York Jets.  

However after three weeks of training camp and two preseason games later, the Miami Dolphins look like the same team from 2011 providing a lack-luster effort up and down the roster.  More and more the Dolphins look and seem like the 2007 Dolphins who finished 1-15 under a coach who shall remain nameless.  Of course I may be wrong, but here is why I feel that the Dolphins are headed for disaster:

First, the Miami Dolphins are not finishing drives in the pre season.  The offense has accounted for a total of 7 first half points, countless three and outs and drops galore on offense. Sure the Miami Dolphins have a shiny new ferari at quarterback in Ryan Tannehill, but his numbers reflect positively only because Tannehill has yet to throw an interception or cause a turnover and has thrown for more yardage than other rostered QBs and two scores.  However, Tannehill fails to step up in the pocket when trying to avert a rush and has not completed passes on 3rd downs to sustain drives early in a game.  The running game looks non-existent and scared to hit the hole on a 3rd and short.  A paltry 2.9 yards per carry on Friday is akin to the Miami Dolphins season in 2004 without Ricky Williams.

Next, the defense's effort is not showing up on gameday.  Regardless of the injuries to Wake, Dansby, Burnett, and McDaniel, the defense missed tackles left and right in the first quarter of the Carolina Panthers game.  In fact, even though the reserves were in there, the zone defense they played got flat-out carved up by second year quarterback Cam Newton finding his tight ends over the middle.  Opposing offenses have been able to attack the middle on this defense no matter who has been playing out there dating back to last season.  New coach Kevin Coyle has to tighten things up and evaluate and decide on the best 11 for this defense.  Many are starting to doubt that this defense was better when run by Coach Nolan last season.  The physical nature of the defense is just not there.

Lastly, there is no "I" in team.  It is apparent that certain players such as Chad Johnson, who has been released for good reasons and Vontae Davis are making each battle in a game about themselves.  I don't understand the battle between Steve Smith and Davis and how that was good for comradery of the team defensively in the long run.  Davis has been shown pouting about the heat and challenging the coaches on his conditioning while on Hard Knocks, but this latest demonstration of immaturity reeks Vernon Davis, his older brother.  Perhaps Vontae Davis will repeat this performance and then actually be kicked out to the locker room during a game by Joe Philbin. 

Frankly, from the outside, the Dolphins after two games this preseason look like a mess.  Joe Philbin has his hands full of a myriad of issues: Players are not executing the systems in place, coaches are not reaching the players and gaining their trust, and the media is hovering over Davie and starting to doubt this first year coach.  

Maybe Ross and Ireland had all of this wrong when he hired Philbin or maybe the Dolphins are just as broken as they are and cannot be fixed.