All a punching bag does is take a beating.
A punching bag only takes abuse, it never gives it.
Ever see a Duct taped, malformed punching bag laying in the corner of a gym? That WAS a picture of the Miami Dolphins…for years upon years. Adam Gase has scrapped that image of his team on both sides of the ball with consecutive weeks of violent play.
And the faithful rise up in unison, “It’s about time!”
The Dolphins defense had its share of mistakes this season, but they always played with brutal abandon. The offense on the other hand was Kleenex and left the “D” on the field too long with an ineffective, pass happy game-plan.
This left them in near collapse at 1-4, and all eyes looking for 2017.
Enter a full compliment of starting offensive linemen powering Jay Ajayi, and the Steelers and Bills beaten into the ground on offense and defense for two “W’s”, and Miami has new life for the 2016 season going into the Bye-Week.
No, Miami won’t generate 200 yard games every week. Yes, there might be injuries in critical areas that hampers their effort.
BUT, make no mistake, the Dolphins are for real.
And it’s not because of their run game. The Dolphins are legit because they have found out who they are, and have a Head Coach strong enough and smart enough to see it and lead his team in the right direction.
This isn’t hyperbole.
Gase was killed for not kicking the field goal in Seattle.
The cries were ‘Don’t rock the boat, play it safe and get the three!’
But, he responded ‘like it or not, Miami is playing to win, so get used to it’.
How easy would it have been to play it safe and kick the extra-point? Instead, Gase held strong to his credo, played riverboat football pay per head software, and went for two.
This is a small piece to the larger puzzle: Gase is a fighter, aggressive,mentally strong, and believes in himself no matter how tough it gets…and let me tell you that before the Steelers game, it was about as tough as it can get for any coach, much-less for a rookie.
A punching bag has one fate: to take a beating.
Now, it appears the Dolphins players are emulating their coach, and neither have any intentions of being a punching bag.
It would be easy to say the source of the Dolphins success is simply the addition of the a healthy line. But, how many modifications in scheme, play calling, personnel and player tweaks did it take to get here.
If you just look at Gase’s moves involving players, they are legion: Ajayi sat home week one; Dallas and Turner were cut; Mario was benched; Maxwell was benched; Parkers’ dirty laundry was laundered in public; Damien was inactive for being late to a meeting. And that’s just what’s on the surface.
Dolphins fans need to understand that it isn’t the line or the Ajayi that makes this turnaround for real, it the leadership of Adam Gase.
I was a big supporter of Gase soon after his hire, but even I was shaking my head and wondering if I had ‘gotten it’ wrong.
Look, there will undoubtedly be more bumps in the road. And I’m not saying rings are coming anytime soon because I can’t say just how good Gase will end up. But, I know this, Gase is the best coach Miami has had in a long, long time, and for the remainder of his tenure, the Miami Dolphins won’t be a punching bag. And that is damn refreshing, wouldn’t you say?! Go Fins!!!