January 21, 2010 by
Paul Preibisius |
49ers,
atlanta,
Bears,
Broncos,
carolina,
chicago,
Denver,
Dolphins,
falcons,
Football,
Giants,
houston,
Jacksonville,
Jaguars,
Miami,
New York,
NFL,
Panthers,
pittsburgh,
Playoffs,
san francisco,
Steelers,
tennessee,
Texans,
Titans
With several teams falling just short of the playoffs this year, it begs the question, what of these teams can find a way to secure the two or three extra wins necessary to take themselves into the playoffs. This mid-range covers all 7-9 and 8-8 teams, as well as the 9-7’s that fell short of a wildcard berth.
Chicago Bears
The Bear narrowly avoided entrance to the first list by way of back to back wins to close out the year. A preseason darling for a deep postseason run, Chicago lands itself as one of the biggest disappointments of the year.
Why They Can: Defensive emotional leader Brian Urlacher was gone for the year. With him back the team will have more fire and swagger. Jay Cutler may be turnover prone, but he can air the [...]
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Once again, Miami controlled the line of scrimmage- gaining 149 yards at 4.8 a carry, and limited San Diego to 69 yards on 2.5 a carry- and it meant absolutely nothing. People will try to pin this loss on the loss of Chad Pennington, but that had virtually nothing to do with it as we were on the same path regardless of who was the QB- Henne's pick 6 just made the difference that much worse. Some might also point to our defense giving up a few long completions, but we held them to only 1 TD and a handful of field goals, for a measly 16 offensive points scored for the Chargers. Simply put, Miami has no play makers on offense.
Miami played better on defense. They stopped the run, generally had good pass coverage (Rivers only completed 54.5% of his passes), tackled when they gave up [...]
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After a gut punch of a loss to the Colts on Monday night at home, now the Phins get fly across the country and play the Chargers in San Diego coming off of a short week. At 0-2 so far things look grim, but we are 7-0 all time against the Chargers- including a win at home last year- so it CAN be done. Here is what I think we need to do.
Can somebody PLEASE tackle?!: I usually don't like to put basic, obvious things in my analysis- you know, "these guys need to tackle to win. In other news they need to score points, and also stop the other team from scoring points." Of course you need to tackle to win, but it would seem that some members of our defense forgot that last week, with every single Colts player who scored a touchdown was touched by at least one [...]
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Well, the Dolphins covered nearly every base I thought they would have to cover to win, yet still found a way to cough up the game.
Play keep away? How about they hold the ball for over 45 minutes, to fifteen minutes for the Colts (allowing the Colts to win with the least time of possession since 1977). The Wildcat, on its "birthday" no less, played a huge part in this- the Dolphins used it 12 times for 107 yards and a TD. You really can't ask for a more dominant performance as far as ball control.
Stop Reggie Wayne? How about holding him to 3 catches for 37 yards and 0 TDs. On top of it the Colts only rushed for 61 yards. Sean Smith was absolutely blanketed all over Reggie Wayne and basically took him out of the game. The D-line once again played well and controlled [...]
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Before we get into Monday nights game, I' like to say sorry I didn't have any updates after the Atlanta game. I was simply too disgusted with the sloppiness I saw on the field. The reason for the loss was fairly simple: we gave away too many opportunities. Whether it was whiffing on blocks, poor tackling, missed assignments, or turning the ball over, it looked like the Dolphins didn't want to win this game. We actually outgained the Falcons 4.6 yards per play vs. 4.3 yards per play- the difference being that Atlanta ran 65 plays to the Dolphins 56- mainly due to two untimely fumbles, and and interception that killed promising drives and lead to Atlanta points. A stout run defense that held the Falcons to 2.5 YPC kept us in the game, but our young secondary gave up too many plays [...]
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Has there ever been a coach more angry at an undefeated team than Tony Sparano? He had not one, but two "f-bomb" laden sessions during the rain delay and half time of last Thursday's "win" against Tampa Bay- and they were well deserved. Simply put- even though they won the game, the Dolphins played some of their worst football since getting thrashed in Arizona last year. Now it is of course only the preseason; the win didn't count, and neither did any of the mistakes- HOWEVER, the third preseason game is usually the "dress rehearsal" for the regular season, with the starters playing even into the second half- and the Dolphins were none to impressive in their win. Let's do a quick rundown of the good and bad.
Since there is so little to go over here, let's go over the [...]
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Bill Parcells captained teams seldom provide much entertainment during the off season. Players know that their job is always on the line, so they tend not to get in trouble. If they do slip up you can count on their best clam imitation, because they won't be saying a word about it (see Will Allen last year, or Randy Starks this year). All I can say then is thank God for Channing Crowder!
He has always been a character (he was famous for wrestling boars and alligators up in The Swamp, as you can see here.) This off season has been no exception. With Rex Ryan upholding the 'family tradition' of not being able to stop talking- Crowder first took him to task with this [...]
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After the Dolphins drafted Pat White, even a soccer fan could tell you that the Dolphins planned on expanding the WildCat playbook next year. It was obvious by years end that teams had learned to make Ronnie Brown beat them with his arm, as they stacked the box and blitzed every gap which severely limited the effectiveness of the WildCat formation. While some thought that the WildCat was dead after it fizzled out as the year wore on, the use of a high second round draft pick on Pat White clearly refutes that. Simply put, you don't waste a second round pick on a developmental WR/KR that has never caught a pass or fielded a kick. White was an explosive zone-read/spread QB in college, clearly this regime plans on getting White on the field as the WildCat triggerman.
The big [...]
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In a move that was desired by many, but expected by few, Jason Taylor has become a Dolphin again. Many fans are completely ecstatic about the move. And on a purely sentimental level, so am I- afterall, he was a Dolphin for nearly half of my life, and one of the best Dolphins of all time at that. But is it necessarily a smart football move? Jeff Ireland himself said that players like Taylor can be "progress stoppers" that prevent younger players from growing and developing. I'd like to take a look at the pros and cons of the Taylor signing in a point-counterpoint format, and give a few thoughts afterward.
Point
With 6 Pro Bowls, 3 All Pro Selections, and 120.5 career sacks (making him the active career leader), he [...]
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In recent years, the Patriots have had the good fortune of playing in the AFC East, one of the least competitive divisions in football.
But something changed last season.
The Miami Dolphins turned their abysmal 2007 season into an 11-5 2008 campaign that crowned them AFC East Champions for the first time since 2000.
The New York Jets made the biggest splash in the 2008 offseason by signing Quarterback Brett Favre, who led them to an 8-3 start, only to see them wither down the stretch, missing out on a playoff spot in Week 17.
The Buffalo Bills shocked most people by starting the season 5-1 before predictably [...]
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