Another Frustrating Loss

I did not want to deal with today. Mondays like these, and especially after what we witnessed yesterday afternoon, are depressing. I woke up this morning feeling like it was October 8th again. Only difference is I didn’t make the trip to experience the disaster of a game in person. Dolphins’ fans are angry, once again. Our players are frustrated. We have every right to be angry, frustrated, and overall fed up with what is happening.

We lost a game that we should have won. Ryan Tannehill has returned. We have our quarterback back. No more Brock. I was so happy to see Tannehill on the field. He played decently well, too. I mean, how exciting was it to finally see our team score a offensive touchdown on the opening drive? It had only been over a year since that’s happened (insert eye roll).

Yesterday’s game started out so promising. We were winning and basically just had to run the clock down to secure a win. But, bad clock management combined with some horrific play-calling in the 4th quarter, and we watched our team fall apart (like the Bengals game) and lose. Again. Where do we go from here fans? What do we need to do?

Fan Base is Split

It’s depressing going to Twitter and opening up my feed and seeing nothing but fighting between fans. We all just want to watch our team win. It’s what any football fan wants. And here we are fans...about to enter into December, again, with barely any hope of making it to the post-season playoffs. We’re heading into another 8-8 type of season if something doesn’t change immediately. It’s the same ole Dolphins.

Do we clean house and start over? Is Adam Gase the coach to change this team? Do we let multiple veteran players walk at the end of the season? Just draft our new team and rebuild over the next few years? These are just a few of the questions that are all over Twitter and being discussed between fans. Start to answer these questions and that’s what I mean when I say our fan base is split. Any and every solution possible has been filling up my news feed and I don’t know if anyone has an answer.

I’ve always been a supporter of coach Gase. I believe he is a good head coach. But, that being said, he’s making some bad calls and he needs to own up to it. He needs to take responsibility for some of his play-calling that has cost us games. The 3rd and 10 calls he makes are inexcusable. The way he treated Tannehill toward the end of the game was not acceptable. Does he lack faith in Tannehill to finish a game? He claims he didn’t at today’s press conference, but hard to believe him. I rarely agree with Stephan A. Smith, but he’s got a point here.

Our fan base is already split when it comes to Tannehill. You either want him gone or you think he should stay for another season. So, for Gase to pull what he did at the end of the game yesterday, it leaves us wondering. What was Gase thinking? Is he telling us he no longer has faith in Tannehill? Does Gase need to give up play-calling and finally give that responsibility to someone else and focus on being a head coach? Is he taking on too much? I personally think he needs to get over his ego. He needs to take ownership of his poor decision-making. He has to stop point fingers and admit when he messed up and learn from it. He may just earn more respect from fans and players by doing so.

Players are Angry

I’m sure you all have heard by now how Frank Gore reacted after the game. I would be livid too. Gore has done nothing but play his heart out.

He gives 100% every game and is right. Our team needs to finish these games. This can’t keep happening.

Another player to mention is Kenyan Drake. He had a great game. I still don’t think he being played to his full potential. Just another frustration I see from fans.

Xavien Howard had a fantastic game. We all saw his consecutive interceptions on Luck. I went to Twitter asking if anyone could tell me the last time a player has done that. I found my answer.

We can’t keep losing games when we have plays like that. Let’s also be clear that the Dolphins need to do the smart thing and pay that man. We can not lose him.

I don’t know what will happen with Gase, but I do feel like Matt Burke may be finished after this season. It’s frustrating having to let coaches go every year or two, but our defense is struggling. I think a change is needed and it starts at the coaching position.

Where to Go From Here

Yes, our team is barely surviving with all the injuries, but you can’t keep blaming these types of losses on injuries. The Dolphins have to win out and hope for some other teams to lose 1-2 games, for us to have a shot at playoffs. I get it. Some of you are probably rolling your eyes and thinking, why discuss playoffs when our team is a mess? What else should I do? Hope to tank the rest of the games and maybe Ross will finally fire everyone? I don’t think that’s the solution but many fans have expressed wanting that to happen. Personally, I will always hold on to any thread of hope I can find.

It’s difficult being a Dolphins’s fan some days. I love this team, but right now as a fan, I’m angry and frustrated. Does Jason have a point here?

Can we predict what’s going to happen the rest of the season? Are we holding on to false hope? I get annoyed at some of the reactions I see from other fans, but I also can’t blame them. We started off so promising. Remember how excited we were as a fan base heading into October? We had so much hope. But that’s sadly fading away more and more with each passing week.

Final Thoughts

I’m not ready to give up on our team yet. It’s a long off-season and last year was depressing enough. I want to watch Gore break a record or two. I want to see Howard make 2 or 3 interceptions when we play the Patriots at home. I want us to beat the Bills. Twice. I’m not ready to throw in the towel and dread watching our remaining five games. I wanted this year to be different.

If Gase wants to remain as our head coach, he needs to find a way to make us win. I’m not ready to say goodbye to him just yet. I want to see how he handles the remaining games and make a decision from there. I think that’s what Ross is doing as well. Look at previous coaches. Ross tends to give them a fourth year to improve before he cuts them loose. I want Gase to stay and get rid of some other people, but that’s just my opinion.

I know my personal opinions don’t matter to the organization. We can all vent our frustrations and argue with each other, and it won’t matter. We are not a coach for this team. We don’t know the reasoning behind why some calls/plays happen. All we can do is hope something changes for the better. We just want to win games. So, I’m going to keep holding on to any tiny shred of hope I can. What else can you do?

The Dolphins play at home this Sunday against the Bills. It’s a throwback game, so perfect game to pull out some of your old-school gear.

Go Dolphins!