3 Ints and 4 Fumbles is quite an epic stat line
Cutler has been consistent at one thing… being undependable
Inconsistent and undisciplined fully sums up Jay Cutler‘s performance against the Buffalo Bills… as well as the entire Miami Dolphins 2017 Season.
We need to thank our lucky stars that both Jay and this snake bitten season will be forever in the rear-view mirror come 2018.
But while the Fins and their fans will be free of Cutler, the most crucial question is, will there be an end to this team-wide, undisciplined play?
You can point to this issue and that issue, this play and that player, every problem takes a back seat to the TEAM’s amazing talent in beating themselves.
It doesn’t take a great pay per head service to realize this issue begins with Chris Grier and Mike Tannenbaum and ends with Adam Gase,
Cutler is a perfect poster boy for all that has gone wrong with 2017. This isn’t to say Cutler is solely responsible for the Dolphins underachieving this season–he isn’t. But consider the polarity of his back-to-back weeks. One week he houses the reigning champs and the next he plays like this:
What team could win with this level of Quarterback play? What team can win when their players aren’t dependable?
And let’s be clear, Cutler isn’t the only undependable player.
Cutler symbolizes all that’s wrong with 2017
Reality is Gase took over a disaster of a squad and with all the holes to fill their wasn’t enough ammo to fix the backup QB situation. And sadly, the reality is also, backup QB isn’t the only position that needs help.
But 2018 will have zero room for those excuses for Gase. Players who aren’t Gase’s guys should just about all be gone by year three. This team will be what Gase has made them.
In the 2016 Season Miami overachieved. The blowout by the Steelers in the Playoffs could fairly be blamed on being outclassed.
This season, the team was marked by ineptitude, inconsistency, and lack of discipline… and spotted by moments of excellence. The Pats and Atlanta games showed it’s not physical talent that’s their main issue, rather it’s professionalism.
IF the Fins play smart, they can hang with anyone… and when they don’t they lose to the bottom dwellers.
Miami must shape up the players they have or find players who can be mentally tough and play like pro’s–even if they are less talented.
The Fins don’t have to have a roster of freaks, but they must be disciplined. No team can have All Stars at every position, but they can have a roster of dependable players (see 1972 Dolphins).
The beautiful thing is that you can find those type of smart, consistent players in every round, and even after the draft ends (see Pats roster).
Dolphins must take a page from the Patriots build guide, who perpetually outlast their opponents with a few elite pieces backed by a dependable and mentally tough, but under-talented roster.
Penalties and turnovers are the backbone of winning or losing in the NFL
It’s not to say Miami will be the Pats with smart players–unless they get a HOF QB and TE. But consider the Ravens: beat up, under talented with one elite player. They are #1 in turnover differential and #4 in least penalized… and they are headed to the Playoffs.
Miami is currently averaging 8 penalties a game (2nd worst in the league) with a turnover differential of -11, (3rd worst). In 2016 they averaged 7.7 penalties (4th worst) and had a +2 turnover differential (14th best).
With two seasons of being the Top 5 most penalized team in the league, Miami must not make it a hat trick in 2018.
Under Gase Miami has proved they can take care of the football adequately (2016), and when Cutler is gone that area of team play will make a strong bounce back. But Gase has yet to field a team that consistently plays with low penalties. Gase must take a page from Shula’s handbook and figure out a way to coach this team up, weed out the mentally weak, and find players who are dependable.. if he wants to win–and if he wants to be back in 2019. Go Fins!!!