Going Out With A Bang!!!
Ryan Tannehill had his most clutch game of the year to jam a big fat loss down the throats of the Patriots at Sun Life Field. If the Broncos can pull out the victory, Miami may have dealt a critical blow to the Patriots chance to repeat. To say that such an abysmal season could be redeemed by one game would go to far, but this win coupled with the complete overhaul at least breathes a bit of hope in to the situation.
Tannehill was finally given a mobile platform to work with for an entire game as well as the support of a consistent and effective run game. Whatever Tannehill may or may not develop into going forward, this is the recipe for the system and play calling that will bring the mold for him to be at his best. The most crucial aspect of the game was Tannehill’s long ball and clutch performance on pressure downs, all of which came through in spades. Whether is was his legs on 3rd and 13 or the deep balls to Parker…he shined like a star – at least for today. It was pretty evident that the rest of the team feeds off his success.
The defense stepped up big putting pressure on Brady inside on out and stopping the run as Shelby, Vernon and Suh all had big days. Young players flashed signs of something more for next season as Lippet, Sheppard and Hewitt all had their best games of the season. The defense gang tackled, made big hits, and played 4Qrts to limit Brady to 134 yrds on 12 /21 passes, which is nothing short of mind blowing and not even the best sportsbook in the world would have bet on that.
But it was Parker who showed that the 1st round pick might end up being a very good pick. He used speed and his 6′ 3” frame to dominate inside and outside the hashes with great grabs and agility. He and Landry showed the possibility of them being a “thunder and lightening” of receiver core for many years to come.
None of this erases this awful season, but at least watching the Jets get knocked out and Miami with the opportunity of kicking the Pats out of first in the conference this season will end with a smile. Now on to the total overhaul!! Go Fins!!!
i MUST AGREE WITH YOU! Overall, Ryan Tannehill had a good day. I hope the new coach looks at this game film and deploys his offense in a similar fashion. Tannehill is not the smartest guy but he is tough and apathetic. Those 200 plus sacks he has taken are going to show up some day all at one time. Let the man play his game, which is apparently a zone read QB game.
Tannehill is one of the top 3 QB throwing the straight bullet
But he is probably in the bottom 5 in throwing the long ball
Whoever becomes our coach needs to develop Tannehill’s lob passes and long passes
Maybe an off season program where he can practice the long throws and the lobs but with some coaching from a retired QB that can teach him how to lead a receiver and how to anticipate when to throw and when to run it yourself
My experience from corporate world is that rarely is the person responsible for actual failure the one that gets fired. I doubt Hickey was alone in selections for OLmen and CB’s that busted, but shit floats downstream and somebody had to get whacked, its not like Tannenbaum was going to fire himself.
Good to see Marino in the ear of Ross up in the booth.
Love we’re interviewing Mike Shanahan, dont like we might consider coordinators again.
Loved the play of Hewitt, Parker,and loved Lippet who I think can become a shut down CB. If he looks this good at this stage I believe with reps and coaching he can develop to lock down that CB position.
If Hewitt’s flash is real…then we can focus on OG’s early in draft, take a LB or CB BPA in 2nd round much like Perryman was selected by Chargers.
Fix this OL and Tannehill becomes a bigger threat overnight with Parker and Landry. We still need a TE threat.
Hopefully Shanahan is the guy.
I have thought T-Hill in Shanny’s system would be perfect. He looks 100% better on a mobile platform…and it was sheer stupidity to force him to be static. YEAH – loved seeing Marino in there…they are pushing him to take a larger role. Hope he does!
Admin, I would totally be on board for OV staying. Would like to see both, sign Matthews and tag OV. Yes, I have accepted Tannebaum is here to stay along with Tanny. I do believe Shanahan would maximize Tannehill’s abilities (he would have his best game of the year in the end)! One thing about Tannebaum, we should not have a boring draft or off-season, he likes to make moves/trades, right or wrong.
Freak, Did you make a New Year’s resolution involving our beloved Dolphins? What ever the reason, I like it.
I too loved the play of Hewitt/Parker, and if Lippett pans out, with his size/length he could be one of the top CBs in the league. Like you said Freak, if Hewitt is for real we could focus on the guard situation. That being said #8 is way to high for a guard, we could trade down and acquire another second and 3rd or 4th and with a late first and one of the 2 seconds, that could give us the chance to draft at least 2 of the top 4 guards in the entire draft and focus on defense for the rest of the draft. If we stay at #8, again like you said Freak = Best Available Player, hoping a CB or LBer. As sh***y of a season as it was that win yesterday kinda eased the transition into the off-season (and may have exposed the Pats for a early exit in the playoffs, yea!!!)
Should be an interesting week for the future of the Fins.
Dunner
Tony Lippett was on my draft board for the dolphins. I believe that he is a play maker if allowed to grow into the cornerback or wide receiver position. You are right if he pans out we could have a valuable player.
Dolphins selected Michigan State WR Tony Lippett with the No. 156 overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft.
Lippett (6’3/192) was the 2014 Big Ten Wide Receiver of the Year, finishing his Michigan State career with 149 catches for 2,247 yards (15.1 YPR) and 15 TDs. Revealed as a mediocre athlete at the Combine, Lippett ran 4.61 with a 36-inch vertical and 9-foot-6 broad jump. Short on separation skills, prone to drops, and not particularly physical for his size, Lippett was a good college receiver whose game is unlikely to translate smoothly. Lippett has experience at cornerback, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he moved there at some point down the line
Was Hickey responsible for this year’s abismal draft or Tannebaum ?
Philips in the second round instead of a solid guard made no sense then and looks even worse now
Was giving up our third round for Stills another mistake by Hickey or is that also on Tannebaum
I would be so much happier if Tannebaum also is fired and we start over with a clean slate
Today I was expecting a loss but the guys played their hearts out. Was it for Campbell ?
Also had a bit of a lucky break with Parker catching that long ball off the defenders deflection
Mathews should be kept – better than Stills; Jennings and more productive
Time to cut Jennings and Taylor
Agree some of the new guys excelled today
Gotta get a new middle linebacker corner and 2 guards either draft or free agency
Good job today fins
Jimmy keep us posted on HC interviews please
I hear ya Ralph about Hickey and the guard situation. I’m believing that there were more behind the scene then the general public knows w the Hickey firing. Tannebaum is not getting fired, Ross loves him, we are stuck w him next year. Phillips had a decent rookie season and progressively got better as the season went on. I didn’t mind that pick. There was no excuse for ignoring the guard position, none at all, and the staff responsible did this team and players a HUGE disservice. Not sure I would call the Parker catch “lucky”, he is a playmaker and thats what playmakers do, looking forward to watching him next year. Really hope we resign Matthews, we would have the best WR group in the league. We have a top 3 duo as it stands right now. There were 3 or 4 rookies that have a roster spot on this team next year, Lippett may be the dark horse of the group, love his size and play speed. nice to see Brandon Albert close the season out on the field. Head coaching interviews starting Thursday, Campbell gets his interview Friday.
Lippett did seem flash some talent and would be a very nice for him to pan out. Tannenbaum will be king for awhile in Miami – get used to it. Tannenbaum essentially had overriding power this year and Hickey was turned into a glorified scout and it was because of this he decided to part ways. Chris Grier has taken that over that role as head scout grinder so Tannenbaum can do the macro thinking. Dunner, I think if any high priced FA is signed, I hope it’s Vernon…was on the fence, but after he mended he changed my mind. Most difficult to acquire and most needed where we have a stable of WR. I think he will be kept as the one “big fish”.
…it was a good game to go out on …we ran well enough to keep the Pats honest but it was the passing game that made the difference today …Landry and Parker are keepers
…but what I really enjoyed was watching Brady being consistently hurried and harassed by our front 4 with Jones thrown in just enough to keep the pats offense off balance …even Dunner may have to admit that Brady w/o a good OL to keep his pocket clean looked a lot like Tannehill often does
…seems Tannenbaum is staying so I’m not holding out much hope for a drastic improvement …this season’s failure rests largely on his shoulders since he was Ross’ go to guru long before Ross made him czar …the fatal failure to fix the OL when he had the opportunity was his doing …and his position is, imnsho, going to make it almost impossible to attract a top tier HC
I don’t like T-Bomb as king…Hope I am wrong. Well, at least one man will make this thing sink or swim. Hope he shocks the world!
Lemmus, you as so right there. Tannehill played his best game of the season to boot, he did miss a few throws and there were a few situations that he should have called a audible, but all in all very well played. He is one tough QB though and the best one we’ve had outside of #13 and Pennington.
Congratulation to Tanehill and his team! Any given Sunday any team can lose or Win! This maybe clearing of the Dust! Here we have the 1st game in about 5 seasons that the Dolphins have won late in the season. What killed the Dolphins this season was the Consistency to closed with a win.
Yeah, they shot themselves in the foot both players and coaches all year…
Tough year, but, we were 3 and 1 against playoff teams (NE, NE, Was, Hou) and beat NE to end the season on a good note. I am much more optimistic about next year. Beefing up the O-line is a MUST.
O-Line is, as it has been for a while, a major priority!