Dolphins offense unable to make up for defensive struggles as Fins fall to Jets

I would have loved to swallow a loss like this to ANY other team…

i dont get why we didnt play our best db on there best wr? jason allen has played well but i dont get the match up. and please kill the wildcat…one of those lethal injections you give to pets would be ok with me.

One to add… Am I the only one who literally just sits there on apposing team kick offs and punts and holds my breath for the 25 yard line, or no muff?

We officially have no return threat and I am sick of it. Atleast last year with Ginn, and I know he blew most of the time, gave the fans a glimpse here and there. Would we really rather have someone like Roberto Wallace active, or a blazer who can maybe contribute on offense, but potentially really help the return game???

With that said, I am tired of seeing Henne get into a flow and then bringing the wildcat in, this is not good for a hot qb. Play calling? Well to me it was inconsistent, if we have the ball on the two yard line on 2nd down why not run it? Henning called some good plays and some bad plays, but it was great to see our offence march the ball against an elite deffence. Jason Allen played poorly on some plays but he did play quite well on the rest; with expirience as the go to guy he’ll improve. Vontae Davis quietly played a reall good game people. Y.Bell played like…..well not like Y.Bell. I still think this is a team thats coming together and we should have a good season.

P.S: Im sorry to say but i have been to this site a few times and i just recently created a profile and im already not to enthusiastic about visiting during game threads; excuse me for being forward as i am new but some people here are too much of a downer when the team is down that it makes it not worth sticking around to chat with fellow fans. I am from NJ and while i hate the jets with a passion i do have to say people from the north stick with their team regardless the score until the last second, out, and period. With that said, Go Dolphins!

So close it really was a coin flip. I was really impressed with Henne tonight. Can’t wait until you guys come up to NJ.

 Week one he played the bills with Edwards and no wr. Week two he played a wr depleted Vikings. I’m not hitting the panic button, but Allen should at least pay his next door neighbor’s kidney start his car for all of next week.

And the Kracken that is our offense has been unleashed! Keep that up!

holy crap, I didn’t realize he could boot it like that. I swear that one kick almost when 70 yards.

What the hell is wrong w/ Henne!? The guy looks like a robot out there. Is the coaching staff really breathing that hard down his friggin’ neck that won’t allow him to be a human QB out there. Did anyone see that 3rd down play at the end where he ran into D when he had the whole right field to pick up the 1st. Plus you could really tell he locks on the plays he’s given, and looks like an idiot lost not knowing what to do if the play doesn’t go as designed.

the guy is playing great and throguht hte last three games has been our best corner. he has 2 picks and shouldve had a pick six @buffalo and 2 tnoight. i know he ddnt and you can get mad at him for droping them but he is in the right position. the mistake of not undercuttign the route is a valid point but it was also a really well thrown back shoulder throw which is one of the toughest passes to defend in the game.
he misses that tackle and since vontae ddnt ge tto sanchez in time on his blitz (twice) the defense slide over and he has no help over the top on there best receiver. thats not so much his fault as a very strange call on that drive.
the pass interference wasnt. it just wasnt. he put his arms up and turns his head as the ball comes forward, really touchy call. vontae shoulda been on that play but again thats not on JA.
i was all for cutting this guy but man hes been playign lights out and i have faith in him(never though id say that)
its toguh it stings and im really bummed but we played good and without a few bad breaks and stupid plas we walk away with that game.
1 special teams (brad smith really? hes not even that fast)
2 refs, defenseless receiver? wow terrible call. PI in the endzone wow
3 defensive pressure, to much time

Yes. Our special teams have been bad for far too long. I understand the talent level was low when this regime arrived, but from what I can see on the teevee, this isn’t primarily due to lack of athletes. It’s due to people being out of position. Consistently.

That’s on the coach.

did Misi play?

WC lives and dies with offensive line execution. Apparently something happened from last year to this year.

I think everyone was well aware that we should have been overload blitzing.

Sweeps killed us, our OLBs (or just Wake?) need to learn how to set the edge.

Why didn’t we keep Soliai at NT and Starks at DE, that way it would be less confusing for Starks.

We had too many dropped INTs. One throw got popped up and hit Langford on the back. One hit Langford in the face. JA dropped two. Clemons almost had two. Bell should’ve had another, but it would’ve been an amazing grab. If we could capitalize on half of these, we win.

The JA PI call was bull, cuz the Jets did it to us and it wasn’t called.

Also, why wasn’t BM down at the 5. he definitely had one foot in bounds at the five. Refs screwed us out of 5 yds when we needed it the most.

But I’m not. There’s so many things I wana get off my chest but I can’t. This loss is jus killing me inside I can’t think right, headaches, can’t sleep… I’m petrified to even turn in to Espn,NFL Network; Those r also my favorite websites after this. I don’t know how to cope with this loss. Any advice?

What is that formation that we continually go to with our backs in a shotgun set but henne under center. See I understand its effectiveness on non obvious passing downs as it helps with protection yet also allows the running back to gain some momentum. I just don’t see any advantage of usign it on obvious passing downs it just lowers Henne’s protection.

Miami really killed themself. Take away the blocked punt and Jason Allen’s miscues and the Dolphins win. Although I guess every game comes down to a couple of plays. The wildcat and the Marlin’s infield suck! Jason Allen made some mistakes, but still had pretty good coverage most of the night and who else would be put back there Sean Smith? He’s going backwards and Will Allen is not available so we better support Jason Allen.

Go get Westhoff back…pay some $$$$$$$$$$$$. Our special teams have been going downhill for years. We should just kick it out of bunds every kickoff so that they do not start on the fifty. Carpenter had an extra 5 yards and still couldn’t get it to the endzone, WTF? Don’t blame Henne, Jason Allen, or the play calling, the main culprit was the D’s lack of pressure.

Broken coverages, especially on that fluke Edwards TD. Missed INT’s, they let that clown sanchez get away with those.

Hope Dolphins will bounce back from this terrible loss.

We still had some good plays and a fighting chance against a Jets team who I think we don’t give that much of a benefit of a doubt to.

I will go ahead and question the offensive playcalling;

The Dolphins were the second best team at running the wildacat last night.

With Henne playing as good as he was i cringed when he was not taking the snaps. On the flip side the Wildcat was a nice weapon for the Jets. Its time to move on without it and let the young QB play.

Also on the last drive why was Henne not in the Shotgun? Why make the kid take the extra time to drop back to survey the field? He should have been in the shotgun in my opinion.

Also the playaction passes? Are you kidding me? the Dolphins were either unable or unwilling to run out of thier base offense. So that being the case why (again) take time away from Henne again by making him fake to a RB that everyone knows (at least by late in the 3rd qtr) that he is not handing the ball to anyone.

No question that the defense was more of a factor in the loss as you pointed out – but i think the offense WAS good enough to go out and win the ballgame given the right opportunities.

The offense was picking up yards in chunks at that point. I didn’t mind the gamble at all. The reverse to Cobbs was dreadful though — especially given the situation. Cobbs isn’t a burner and isn’t a particularly strong runner that is going to break a bunch of tackles. Why give him the ball that deep behind the line of scrimmage? His best asset is as a receiver out of the backfield, not a gimmick runner.

And it’s time to praise Henning – he pulled off some very unconventional plays. Our offense was unrecognizable. Well, the Wildcat play calling was a disaster, but still – I was pleased with what I saw.

As for the defense and ST…sigh. They looked completely lost.

At first last night I was happy to see that the dreaded baseball infield was covered up. However, after Jason Allen falling flat on his face allowing for Braylon Edwards’ long TD grab and BM losing his footing on a sure TD grab later on the only thing I’m sure about is the Fins’ need to go back to a Football ONLY venue.

and it’s been all season really, he gets the ball there a lot but it’s always just a little off, I count 4 TDs he missed to Marshall this year at least, but he is hitting the right shoulder when it would be better to hit the left shoulder.

In truth in the 4th quarter I thought we would have had a better chance with CP in there, I’m not sure what it is but Henne is just a little off so far this year and I thought that more than anything was the reason we lost.

I have never been to a game in Miami but

a) the "orange out" looked like it completely failed

b) on NBC I didn’t hear a single howl on 3rd down that was not over the PA System

c) at no point did the defense gain a true advantage bc of a 12th man… very very very dissapointing, especially in the 2nd half. Where were you guys? Is that stadium just not built for sound?

been reading this site for months, but havn’t really posted. Just some of my opinions.
1. I liked a lot of the playcalling from Dan Henning. I thought he opened up the playbook a bit and it showed. So, I cannot blame him for the loss. However, I can blame him for continuing to call the wildcat whan Henne is playing great and the wildcat clearly isn’t working. That reverse to Cobbs was terrible, and I also hated that Marshall run. He is one of the top receivers in the game, let him receive. I truly think, at this point, we should only be using the wildcat when we are trying to pound it into the endzone.

2. As well a Jason Allan looked the first few weeks, he looked equally as bad this week. It didn’t look like he knew (or understood) what he should have been doing. With that being said, I cannot blame it on him either. It is tough to play corner with no passrush. Plus, had he come up with that pick, we would all be saying how well he played.

Who didn’t see this coming? Spank the Pats and we’re good to go!

Cobbs looked horrible! I’m not just talking about the reverse (BTW, Cobbs, you’re not elusive! Stop trying to fake out 3 defenders and just keep going to the outside. The head fakes fooled no one). On special teams he missed his assigned block, causing the blocked punt.

FLOSSY FLOSSY!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m almost finished with my degree. I want to get a job with a desk so that I can read Phinsider all day. I will be on later to set all of you straight.

I was really confident in the offense and the defense before the game. I went to bed before the game started (overseas, game started around 0300). When I woke up, I saw the lost. I was so hurt, I was half tempted not to go to work.

But you know what? I think that we should just keep on moving…this was only a small bump in the road…thats all…

I don’t blame JT for the water cooler dunking. That was classless Jets players led by a classless coach.
What I don’t understand is how a Dolphin fan could post a sign to JT saying “Thanks for the memories” AND how other fans in proximity could ALLOW the sign to stay up long enough to get seen on national TV. I loved JT when he was a Dolphin, but he’s the enemy now on a hated divisional rival. Save the praise and love for when he retires!

At least we aren’t winless…

Sure, we can all sit here and talk about how we shot ourselves in the foot, but when all is said and done, tthe Jets marched down to Miami, put up 31 points on what we thought was a “great” defense and came out with a win. You got to give them props. Mark Sanchez, despite making a few mistakes, showed great mental toughness and looked poised in the pocket. If the Jets continue to play at this level, then I can definetely consider them legitimate contenders.

At the end of the day, it’s what they say: Good teams find ways to win and bad teams find ways to lose.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we’re a bad team, just not as good as we all thought. The fins played really well, and we could have won that game. Henne and the passing game looked great, Marshall showed why we got him. Hartline and Bess really stepped up and both had great games. The running game left a a lot to be desired though and the defense obviously did not live up to expectations. Jason Allen single handedly cost us the game, and you can blame it on the infield dirt, and poor calls all day, but GREAT players don’t make those mistakes. Jason Allen is progressing, but right now, he’s just not there yet. Hopefully he’ll rebound against the Pats.

and that is because there is no depth, that is going to get worse as the season goes on.

or stomach to post much right now so I’ll just say our passing game looked great, I’m really excited, our D looked lost at times and our special teams are the wrong kind of special. Overall the teamed looked much improved from last year and we should be in the mix for a playoff spot later this year.

The only way Miami can makeup for this LOSS is…go up to NY later in the year and beat them at home!!
i want 2 make a few points.
1. Miami need a offensive coordinator(time for mr Heene 2 go),offense is underachiving.
2..The defense upfront is solid but the conerbacks and secondary are weak,they are giving up BIG pass plays exactly like last year?? Vontae Davis is solid but the rest of the group cannot cover… if the DOLPHINS do not address this problem they will not make the playoffs??
3. u can look for the (Patriots) next game and the remainding schedule 2 pass the ball 2 beat this DOLPHINS defense.

makes it premature to make many conclusions about a team. Hence way to soon to say our D was really that good, that Jason Allen was suddenly a player, and that Henne and the O were mediocre.

These things are self-correcting over time time and as the weeks pass, we’ll see how our respective units (O, D, ST) will perform.

Reluctantly, you have to give credit to NY for coming here and beating us. The fact is winning on the road in the NFL is especially hard.

I do wish we’d have lost last week and won this game rather than what actually happened, given this was a division game. Buffalo also seemed to play a lot better against NE and this division was always going to be a real challenge just with NE & NY competing against us.

The wildcat? Watch the teams with the best QB’s and see if they utilize the formation very much….how many times have you seen Drew Brees or Peyton Manning on the sideline while their offense runs the WC?

I think if your offense, and in particular your QB is finding his rhythm in a game, then you stick with that and leave the “wrinkles” (aka, wildcat) in the dryer (re: sideline)!

Man I was close, I predicted 32-28 fins to my buddy before the game, I knew the excitement would always give the offenses the advantage in this series. But yeah my point (I’m at work and skimmed the posts here quickly) is two weeks in a row we’ve kicked the ball out of bounds after awesome drives. I think, my memory is always hazy, that’s the case atleast. I don’t think either team took advantage of it on those paticular drives but that is a problem I personally wouldn’t mind seeing be eliminated. But yeah the tackling coverage is probably a bigger problem, with those returns maybe kicking it out of bounds is safer. First post woohoo feels good!

Plays like that 3rd and 16 wildcat conversion that the Jets had just can’t happen. Tough loss but at least it served as a bit of a coming out party for Henne. I like his chances against NE next week.

Did anyone else read that “hero to goat” part on J.Allen and think “what?” Isn’t goat supposed to an acronym? When you refer to someone as a goat you are calling them the Greatest Of All Time.

I really hope he breaks his leg and never plays another game for the Jets. Maybe then I can forgive and forget that he ever put that Jets jersey on.

Let me preface by saying that there is nothing I hate worse than losing to that team. I live 5 miles from the Meadowlands, and this is going to be an awful week. However, there was some of good to take away from this game, if you can remove the emotion from it.
Henne looked good. He spread the ball around. He worked his progressions (Most of the time). He, once again, didnt (really) throw any interceptions. As great as it was watching him hit Marshall all night long, I really liked how he used Bess. They need to be able to take advantage of Bess when Marshall is double, and sometimes tirple covered.
I really, really like Brandon Marshall though.
All told, it was a tough loss, but they didnt show me anything last night that suggests they arent the team we thought they were a week ago…

You know, when you were a baby in your crib, your father looked down at you, he had but one hope – some day my son will grow to be a man. Well look at you now. You just got your asses whipped by a bunch of GD nerds. Nerds! Well, if I was you, I’d do something about it. I would get up and redeem myself in the eyes of my father, my maker, and my coach! ~ Coach Harris (now Sparano)

we FINALLY got to see Henne pass the ball after 2 weeks of just running the ball

Because you can’t get over the feeling is that we should have won this game, we just committed too many mistakes. Now the Pats become a must win, you don’t want to drop 1 behind Jets and Pats and 2 behind in division, also considering how tough the AFC Wild Card is (Colts or Housten? Ravens, Steelers or Bengals?)

Don’t want to be too harsh on the D, they carries us twice. I was a bit worried that the talk will get to their head, and they will underestimate this offense. Fact of the matter is that if you give a QB all this time he will probably beat you. We had zero pass rush (just like Pats vs Jets) and Sanchez can make plays if he is not pressured.

Don’t want to kill Jason Allen too, its seem Mike Nolan wants him to take chances and thats what he did.

If there is one thing that does worry me is whats the mental state of these players, and this again is where coaching staff earn their keep. The Pats have a great offense, but their defense is really awful. If we mix plays we will score. Lets see what Nolan can do to pick this defense up.

Hopefully the team learns from this , we need that win next week.

Good point by christiandolfan, Wild Cat not much different then a running play when it comes to passing rhythm. But if you passing well then you can have the pass set-up the run as the defense doesn’t know whats coming, or do play action later on. Wildcat = run, so the D at least knows it.

I don’t think the Wildcat should be killed (they ran it better then us yesterday!), i do think its when Henning decides to run these calls.

While i do agree with Matty on how hard it is to criticize play calling (if it works its great if it doesn’t its awful), but i can’t help to feel thats our biggest issue on offense now. I really don’t like DH’s play calling.

Will someone PLEASE teach him how to throw an endzone fade? Its a valuable weapon, especially with Marshall, and he has no idea how to make that throw…

I was initially, but I really liked the offense potential that was unlocked tonight. If this loss inspired a new offensive mentality which eats up “CHUNK YARDAGE” I’m all for it.

That was a BS call. The guys was in the air and he hit CClemons. Clemons didnt hit him at all, he was trying to avoid him with the less than a sec that he has to do so.