Team Chemistry - How important is it?

Offensive talent much better—Ronnie back, Henne more Exp. and of course the drastic improvement of the player occupying the #19

Defense— no talent change overall. but greater upside—swapped youth for experience.

Chemistry— should be great i think because of the attempt at acquiring mature type players through draft and keeping a pretty solid core of leaders (10, 7, 94, 37, 36, 34, 23 etc) and improving an already good coaching staff

nicely worded, too.

almost as if Matty never left.
1.As far as the talent goes I think we have improved quite a bit since 2008. The interior line looks much better, the addition of a number one wide reciever, and the emergence of polite makes the offense more talented. The potential of so many young defensive players (Misi, Wake, Odrick, Clemons, Smith, Davis), the addition of Karlos Dansby, and the emergence of Starks ( I think he will succeed at Nost Tacke) makes the defense more talent.
2. Hard to say if the team will have chemistry without being in the locker room on a day-to-day basis, but I will say this: players seem to love playing down here since the trio showed up. The team seems very focused, all rookies have been captains at the colligate level, and no large egos are on the team without Joey Porter here anymore. So if I had to guess, I would say yes.
3. I think the Jets will have team chemistry, as well. Say what you want about Rex Ryan, but his players love playing for him. I don’t think they are a super bowl team ( not with dirty Sanchez, and offseason additions are past prime), but I don’t think it will be beause of the chemistry. They may be on the arrogrant side, but that team seems to embrace it.

for some of the new guys makes the Defense better. As far as chemistry I think all it takes for it all to click for a certain team is to buy in to not only the system but the team concept. If you have a team like Washington, full of players that believed that they were bigger than the team as a whole, you will never go far. Sure you can win some games on sheer talent but it takes a belief in one another and the “team” to win big.

Agreed. I believe every word of what you said, and you couldn’t have said any better. I hope this team chemistry carries over to this upcoming season, what with the new faces and all. Great job, LCFF! ;)

Wrecked!

With no superstar on the defensive side of the ball, itll have to come down to the system to of nolan to manufacture sacks, turnovers, there is no proven main pass rusher yet so itll be a joined effort to get to the qb.

i have got just one word for it all well two words really and that is tony sparano he is the key to this whole thing.

sure mister P and the gm had a hand in this but they are not down with the players every day like tony is. he seems to make the players really want to play for him.

and to me that is what makes a great coach and the key to team chemistry.

as my great grand pappy use to say: your house is your castel if you rnot going to stand up to protect it the n who will?

2008 the chemistry was outstanding. CP10 holding private workout (no coaches) sessions weekly with the o-line and WR core helped tremendously. Everyone on both sides of the ball wanted to work together to get it done.
2009 Some players got cocky and that chemistry fell apart. Injuries also played a role in the teams decline. Losing CP10 also caused a reduction in that chemistry.
2010 Henne had time to grow with the team and build his Chemistry last year. He will continue to do so this offseason. Cancer Porter is gone. This will allow the Defense to grow under Dansby, Starks, and Bell (W. Allen if healthy). These are good role models for the young guys. I don’t know if the team chemistry will surpass 2008. That was magic on the field. However, I think 2010 will be close to 2008 with better talent and depth. We will also be hungry to prove we are better than last season.

1. I think the overall talent is better than the 2008 team, but talent alone will only take you so far as we saw from the ’Skins back in 2000.

2. I do think we will have good team chemistry this year because of the lack of big egos and negativity in the locker room. Add the fact that there are a lot of guys on the roster with something to prove, and leaders that would rather walk it than talk it. Now I don’t know if this year’s version of the Phins will mesh as well as the 2008 team, but I do believe they will come together as a team.

3. I think the Jets will have good team chemistry as well (for a while at least). With that said, I also think they will be under a lot of pressure. We all know pressure busts pipes, and think that the pressure will end up getting the best of them as the season wears on. IMO they have a very volitie situation in N.Y. One in which thngs can go very good or very bad very fast. And with the contract problems facing some key players, one hot head could be like throwing a lit match in a gas tank.

First, there is no doubt we have more talent now than we did in 2008.

Secondly, I think our chemistry will be stronger as we had a lot of rookies last year who are now entering their second season with each other. Our roster is full of youth who are maturing together. The free agents we have brought have have been working well with the team thus far. Marshall has had problems with coaches in the past, but there were no indications he was not getting along with his teammates in Denver. He has bonded very well with other Dolphin WRs. Dansby is a player with great character and will likely be an immediate leader in the locker room. I expect he’ll be voted as a team captain. The only true player we really know that caused problems last year will be playing in Arizona come September.

As for the Jets, I don’t know if they will combust, but I doubt they’d have the same chemistry as many teams. There’s been a lot of animosity towards their front office and they have a lot of new faces.

better than matty’s lol….shouldn’t have said that lol…jk matty.

the only big loss in talent on D is JP, and we added Dansby and a LOT of young talent. Offense goes without saying, and our O-Line should have much more chemistry this year. The biggest question is at QB where we traded experience for talent, and CP10 was in my mind the single biggest reason we made the playoffs that year.

And to the excuse that we had an easy schedule when we won the division: I only buy that argument for wild-card winners. We won our division when all 4 teams had the same exact schedule minus 2 games; and if they had beat us 2 games, then those other 2 don’t matter.

I think that you made really good points and I agree. Chemistry is underrated these days by many fans. And this year I believe this team will be as cohesive as ever. The o-line is pretty familiar with each other and outside of Dansby,the defense knows wach other well. I just hope B-Marsh and Henne get on the same page quickly.

As far as 2008 goes, which was the most enjoyable season of my lifetime, I do think you nailed it. CP10 and Sparano deserve a ton of credit. In fact, the entire coaching staff deserves a ton of credit. They made all of the right adjustments and took a team that wasn’t as talented as most to a division crown.

There’s no doubt,though, that this team now is more talented. Heres to hoping for the best in 2010!!

This is a real solid post – thanks for the effort.
totally agree – chemistry is very important, this team will need to have great chemistry because we are still growing – specificall on defense. the offense is much more “mature” with a great O-Line and Experienced RB’s (plus talented) add in Marshall to solid VETS Camarillo & BESS and you have a real good “team chemistry” on offense… Now the DEFENSE is another thing – we must build up this chemistry, with a new MLB (Dansby) new starting safety (prob. Clemons) Starks moving to NT and the addition of NOLAN, this is a unit in transition…A big victory over Buffalo in week 1 would really help this DEF out…

After such a devastating year (2007) all our senior player’s, & most of our new (free agent’s). Yes & this is were I will agree with you whole heartedly. Most of those player’s sat down made time, to prioratize thing’s as sum say soul search. But what they are really saying, is that they went over in there mind’s eye. Really saw how they should have made a Quicker read here, a smaller steep there. Got a better mental scope of the game, hung with the team a bit more going over read’s makeing the game slow down.
              Chemistry is the sum of part’s that come together working simotaineiously with jell & cohesiveness, smoothness, for a single perpous too also atain a goal!

And I wasn’t disappointed at all. Very good article LCFF.

Chemistry isn’t just important, if you want to win Super Bowls, it’s mandatory. Look back at the last 10 Super Bowl winners

XLIV Saints – Everyone saw these guys last year, they played as a unit and had fun together. Most of all, they played as a team.

XLIII Steelers – The cohesiveness of the Steelers defensive unit this year won them the title. And even during the game, you could just see more fire in the eyes of the Steelers.

XLII Giants – The Giants took the underdog role to heart here. They were out to prove that Tiki Barber was not the only good player on their team, and they played with a chip on their shoulder all year.

XLI Colts – This Colts team displayed another type of chemistry. They seemd damn near emotionless, almost robotic, but their timing and consistency was perfect.

XL Steelers – Jerome Bettis’ last season, we all saw the sob story and the emotion that was driving that team.

XXXIX, XXXVIII, XXXVI Patriots – in XXXVI the Patriots came in to play against “The Greatest Show on Turf” on the arm of a second string QB and the play of a rookie DT, and had already lost to the Rams earlier in the season. But the team first mentality and chemistry had already begun, and the Patsies would carry this mentality through the other two Super Bowls as well. Few can argue that the teams that won these three Super Bowls had great chemistry and camaraderie.

XXXVII Buccaneers – Remember that this was Gruden’s first year as the Bucs coach after being “traded” by the Raiders. Another emotionally charged team determined to not be the laughing stock of the NFL anymore led by a cohesive defensive unit and great team chemistry.

XXXV Ravens – A very emotionally charged team, but really, I think it’s safe enough to say that you HAVE to have good team chemistry to win a Super Bowl with Trent Dilfer as your QB. The Ravens defense this season had especially good chemistry, and truely worked together as a cohesive unit.

1. much better talent this year than 08
2. chemistry may be a issue with a new DC and a bunch of rookies. No real leader on the field on either side yet. we will have to wait and see who emerges as our captains.
3. the Jets rally around their coach. they have proven that last season. if we beat the coach we beat the team. Rexy the Hutt has already been swept by us his rookie season and fined for flippin our faithful the bird. not to mention his jawing with channing crowder. we are definitely in his head. now with JT workin on the inside for us covert style we should defeat them again this season and that may be their undoing.

Regarding team chemistry, or shall we say, lack thereof….

We could take our pick among many’s the Redskins squad that have demonstrated awful chemistry. More often than not, they ended up with what amounted to a vastly underachieving group of mercenaries who were largely strangers.

But you can look at it as a chicken/egg type question….is it how well guys bond and gel that determines their performance or is it the performance that depends how well they get along?

I suspect there are plenty of teams where the players are tight, the coaching staff respected, and yet their on field play may be poor.

So I’d say talent trumps chemistry but that doesn’t mean chemistry is irrelevant. Even on a talented team, when chemistry is absent and adversity comes up, then you can see squads like that have big, big problems. Without the chemistry, it can quickly become every man for himself.

The 08 dolphins had soooo many positive intangibles: well coached, underdog mentality, highly disciplined on the field (witness the team record low turnovers that year), and let’s not kid ourselves……..plenty of luck.

Like labrat, I see this year’s team as being far more talented than our ‘08 edition. Yet I’d also say this team has more question marks as far as leadership and many new players which raises issues of chemistry.

I think they’ll bond well and contend to duplicate the feats of the 08 team…meaning contend for the division title.

…no one thought the Matt Cassel led Patriots were the best in the league- but I’ll give you that it was gigantic upset that has brought the Dolphins back into prominence.

Also, I believe that the Patriots and Dolphins are creating teams that will be the best in the AFC for the next decade. The Jets are going for broke this upcoming season.

The Bills are also a football team. I think.

1. much, much better
2. yes, we dont have TOO many big egos in the locker room
3. ive been saying it since day one, if rex ryan can handle all the big egos of all the big names in that locker room, they will be great. if not, they will be average

and I think that youth tends to gel better than new veterans, since they all grow together in the same program over time.

That said, there will be some great chemistry on the team both offensively and defensively. I’m personally hoping that it translates to great success on the field.

As for the rest of the division (I’m growing loathesome of all the Jets talk by Fins fans…lets not fan their egos by repeating the hype)…

Bills – and this is just my opinion – probably won’t be as bad as people think. True, the QB position looks shaky and they really didn’t address their offensive line. But if they bring the same workmanlike attitude to the field that they usually do, they could be formidable enough to eke out 6 or 7 wins this year.

Pats have a lot of team chemistry in the longer standing veterans, but the rookies and newer guys need to be able to fill those roles that they were assigned to. I think old Bill has a good track record of finding such players and I expect a typical Pats season this year (Though they did look old and slow in the playoffs last year – perhaps time is catching up with them, but I think they are still strong for a playoff spot).

The Jets are an enigma. They played well for Ryan last year, but they are truly a group of veterans from different teams and with different mindsets. If all the players they signed were hungry for a championship, I could see giving them all the SB hype…but some of these guys are situational at best and expected to carry the load…and some of these guys have a ring from elsewhere…I just see the team as mediocre or average…just waiting for a younger, hungrier team to slap them down once, really hard, and thus end their season hopes.

I’ll take our team chemistry over all of the rivals, this year and in the immediate future. Our future looks bright as long as we continue the winning culture while these guys are still growing.

But we have young players that are close friends and help each other out so we still have great chemistry. Even Marshall has become best friends with Bess.

I am not worried about “legal issues”…football players are like cops—when a cop goes wrong the rest of the police force stands behind the guy (besides which, Merling and McDaniel aren’t even starters, Brown and Allen’s DUIs are victimless crimes, and Hartline’s deal is just plain weird). How often have “legal issues” messed up a locker room?

I don’t think “character” is an issue either. “Character” is for individuals. “Chemistry” is for the team and I think they’ll have that (but again, if things go south early or late, that could change and I think that’s what happened last year, which was why Porter and th eothers were let go, and the FO didn’t go all out to sign JT).

Leadership could be an issue, but that should work itself out as the season goes on.

To answer the question, I don’t think one can say this team has good chemistry until the season gets underway, and then we find out, but I do think the chemistry should be good.

Can’t really compare Jets to 2000 Skins, because the Jets have most of their core players from the draft, unlike the 2000 Skins. Other than Holmes and Cromartie (who were trades not FA signings), the rest of those new vet players will not be starters…what could bring the Jets down, however, is if LT or JT get it into their heads that they OUGHT to start and cause trouble that way. I guess we’ll find out this year if having too much talent can be a blessing or a curse.

Who exactly is appearing to lead the FS battle? I’ve heard mixed rumors between Clemons and Culver, that Jones was looking awful, that Jones was looking great, etc.

i was a bit more nervous about posting this than when i just write a sidebar fanpost. =)

Also, if i had to take a general swag at the direction of the answers to the questions, it looks like they are generally shaking out as:
1) much more talented this season
2) that most folks think the chemistry will be good; better with JP gone, but 2008 is too much to hope for
3) as much as we hate to say it, Ryan tends to help foster good chemistry among the team, but many of us feel that it is fragile at best.

the 2010 jets are the epitome of the Redskins. Watch them underachieve, and crash and burn as Rex Ryan takes the heat and crashes into an inferno

terms of talent, how much better do you think this years Miami Dolphins are than the 2008 squad?
2.Do you think the Dolphins will have team chemistry this season?
3.Do you think the Jets will have team chemistry this year, or will they end up being the 2010 version of the 2000 Redskins?

1.)by far alot better talent. the reason i say this is because most of our back ups could be quality starters on teams like the lions, rams and raiders. and be an upgrade.
2.)absolutly yes and the reason i say this is because when the two biggest nfl bad boys(marshall and incognito) can come in and get welcomed with open arms and a warning.,….mess up and your held accountable. players must check themselves at the door before entering a team atmosphere. they will bond or wont be on the roster.
3.)they will absolutly be the 2000 redskins all for the simple fact that they are more worried about getting paid as the best player in the league rather than focus on team drills in mini camp. that right there shows, a me first personality rather than a team first mentality

i think the jets are the most nieve fans in the league… i mean how many times do you have to hear your coach say were going to the superbowl…(only to be watching it on tv at the end of the year), do you finally get smart and realize its all just a smoke screen. i mean come on you get rid of one of the best guards in the game and your 1000 yard rusher and you still think your a contender???? come on really….seriously these nieve jets fans would believe any thing you told them. im so sick of these overrated jet fans tooting there horn on a free ride into the play offs. just makes me laugh when i hear a jets fan pretend like they have dominated the division for years when the sad fact is they have been nothing but bottom feeders for the past 3 decades. what a jokethey are

and with better talent around him we will ultimately be better