Gase has proved to be strong enough to make the hard decisions, but will they prove to be smart as well?
Ajayi was a talented, but disgruntled complainer and Gase saw divorce as the only option
Here we are, where the rubber meets the road with Adam Gase in 2017.
After having made the biggest all-in move of his short career as the Miami Dolphins coach by shipping Pro Bowl Running Back Jay Ajayi out of town mid season, Gase has the ball in his court for a crucial prove-it-or-lose-it game to restore what many are seeing as his crumbling credibility.
Now, let’s be clear, the move had to be made.
Would I have like more than a late 4th Round pick? Hell ya! But that bone-on-bone knee might be more bone-on-bone than we plebs know. Or maybe Mike Tannenbaum was told by Gase to get Ajayi out of town by hook or by crook… and the crook was Philly ripping Miami off?
We’ll know the truth in time.
But any player who storms out of the locker room after a win because he didn’t get ‘his’ is a cancer to unity. Plain and simple. And the best remedy for cancer is to treat it immediately and aggressively, before it spreads and kills the patient.
Well, Gase has traded talent for continuity and culture, so that continuity and culture better prove to have more value than just a feel good statement. A disaster by Gase and his offense this week, combined with Ajayi having good production, would be a PR nightmare.
Miami’s Offense has been terrible… not a hot news flash, I know. But beyond the rabid discussion of exactly why it’s been terrible, one thing everyone can agree on is, the offense and play calling has been predictable and the players have all been inconsistent (which for some is another way of saying they suck).
Gase bears full responsibility for the Ajayi trade, so he must make good
I got after Gase quite hard for his schemes and play calling from the Jets game on. Both have gotten somewhat better. But this week Gase must be superb. If some guys don’t know the playbook, then whoever they are, they need lesser roles. Whatever it takes, Gase needs to prove he’s a quality HC AND play caller. No excuse will cut it.
The Dolphins staff has changed the way they teach, coach, and prepare, and the players have received as powerful a message of ‘get with the program or your gone’ as you’re ever going to see.
Gase has home field advantage, rest, the players he wants on and overboard… so this offense must produce and continuity and culture must show substantial value.
Must Gase notch a “W”?
No.
I’d ‘get’ a close loss given everything involved… as long as that offense produces about 24 points or more without long stretches of pathetic.
The Raiders are good team, despite their record, and Miami will feel the loss of Ajayi as it transitions. Then there are the banged up D-Ends Andre Branch and William Hayes, who might be missing against a stout silver and black O-Line and talented RB’s.
A loss to the Raiders would be rough, and the price per head sportsbook sites would then mark next week in Carolina a must win.
And if there’s a loss with the offense still looking like a stuttering drunk trying to tell a joke, 2017 will end in utter disaster… with the possibility of more ultimately on the line as well.
But for a second, think back to last season and the days leading up to Week 6 against the Steelers. Heck remember the talk leading up to Atlanta this year? Remember how the Miami season was finished, doomed, kaput? Well, we are there once more. Maybe, as many say, Gase is an idiot, and this is the death spiral that will end in another failed regime? But maybe, just maybe, Gase proves to be right… again. Sounds nice anyway. Go Fins!!!