FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- It is cold. There is fallen snow on the ground. And playoff football is in the air. As in years past, The Miami Herald will be at the NFL playoffs watching other teams play while the Dolphins ...
... Well, they're watching just like you and me. Actually, I'm closer to being in the playoffs than the Dolphins. At least I'm in the stadium.
I'm covering the Jets at New England today.
You remember the Jets and New England, right? They're the two teams that finished ahead of the Dolphins in the division. They're the teams the Dolphins must pass in 2011 to get to the playoffs.
So we should watch and see what the task might be like. There will be a live blog here starting at 4:30 this afternoon.
In the meantime, I would ask you to check out my Sunday column. It makes the point that Miami faces a tougher job in getting past the 2010 season than it did in the 2007 season. Yes, I know the Dolphins were 1-15 in 2007 and were 7-9 in 2010. And I repeat, the assignment is tougher now.
I explain why in the column, but suffice to say one of the reasons is the folks trying to turn things around don't have the luxury of working with the benefit of a honeymoon now.
Some extra things I did not have room to mention in the column that makes overcoming 2010 might be harder than overcoming 2007:
After four years of tooling and retooling and retooling again along the offensive line, the Dolphins have to, you guessed it, address the offensive line once more. They need a center and maybe a right tackle.
And they need to dump that idea of picking players who mostly offer position flexibility but no position consistency. Here’s a crazy idea: Rather than find a mediocre player that can play guard and center, how about finding a really good starting center and leaving him there until he retires?
The Dolphins need to upgrade the tight end position. Last year they loved Tony Moeaki and Dennis Pitta in the draft but couldn’t land either. They really must upgrade the spot this year or once again the red zone troubles that plagued in 2010 will haunt another year.
As I touch upon in the column, coach Tony Sparano, already fixing his rift with general manager Jeff Ireland, must broker a fix between receiver Brandon Marshall and quarterback Chad Henne.
Yes, Henne is very likely going to return in 2011. The Dolphins would be unwise to anoint him their starter and probably will not, but I doubt they will simply dump him. And unless an experienced, talented veteran can be added, it is unlikely any rookie Miami finds will be immediately ready to supplant Henne.
So you might find yourself with Henne under center in 2011. Again. Marshall might find himself with Henne under center. Again.
That’s not a comfortable spot. The receiver openly criticized his quarterback the last few weeks and in some cases he was right to do so. But Marshall never admitted that sometimes he blows his assignments and runs the wrong routes and causes problems that sometimes get blamed on Henne.
Both players need help. Both need improvement. And in 2011, both may be surprised to learn they need each other again.
Crazy right?
See you at the live playoffs blog.
Well you do have to factor in that Brown was in the trigger position of most every Wildcat snap we did the whole year.
That piling into the line would have to make it tougher sledding on yards per carry as everyone is keying on him.
I think if he and Ricky switched roles in that position then their YPC would even out some. Ricky is still a crazy freak physical specimen and he did have time off so chronologically he may not have as much wear.
I think because Ricky was ripping Sparano's coaching and seams to have voiced that he wants out that he will be gone before next reg season.
Cheers,
Posted by: Rob in OC | January 17, 2011 at 03:28 AM
Some of those gowns at the Golden Globes last night were just divine. Tackiness was definitely OUT this year. Good job, ladies, on a tasteful, elegant, and chic evening!
Posted by: michael | January 17, 2011 at 06:06 AM
After watching both games last night I have come to the conclusion that the fins need a combination of good FA signings and a good draft.
We also need someone to help Wake with the pass rush. So regardless of what people think about having a all offense draft I dont see it happening.
Posted by: bk | January 17, 2011 at 08:27 AM
THE PATS LOST B/C OF A FAKE PUNT BY A PLAYER WHO CALLED HIS OWN PLAYED AND APPROVED BY THE HC .........JETS ARE LUCKT BASTARDS
Posted by: ALoco | January 17, 2011 at 08:33 AM
any change the Phins fire that fat fraud BP? what about the tom cable story on the sentinel?
Posted by: assmando | January 17, 2011 at 09:11 AM
MAKE SURE YOU READ ARMANDO'S ARTICLE in the miami herald. he's telling it like it is. got to appreciate his thinking and questioning the regime of secrecy. another year of on the job training with ireland/sparano will be tough.
Posted by: greg z. | January 17, 2011 at 09:12 AM
ARMANDO SAID IN HIS LAST TWEET ......... (( THE JETS PLAYING LIKE A TEAM NOT LIKE THE DOLPHINS )) ...........WELL SAID ...
P.S....... ALL THE GOOD IDEAS COMING FROM ARMANDO DOESN'T COME ON THE FORM OF ARTICLE BUT IN THE FORM OF CRAPPY TWEET ,I DON'T KNOW WHY ?
Posted by: ALoco | January 17, 2011 at 09:26 AM
REX AND THE JETS .......... ARE OPEN AND OUT THERE W/HONESTY .
SPARANO , IRELAND AND FINS....... HIDING EVERY THING AS IF THEY HAVE ANT THING GOOD TO HIDE ........BE LIKE THE JETS.
P.S......... I GOT THAT IDEA FROM LAST ARMANDO'S TWEET
Posted by: ALoco | January 17, 2011 at 09:29 AM
Any chance somebody can find me a brain instead of the pile of dumb sh@t I have between my ears??
Posted by: Assmando | January 17, 2011 at 09:41 AM
LAST !!!
Posted by: cowkilla | January 18, 2011 at 06:11 AM