At least I've heard of him, I still don't know who Pace is.

Is he Orlando's much less talented little brother?

I remember he was a very high 1st round draft pick. Since I know nothing else I will assume he did not live up to the hype.

Ricky Williams... oh what could have been.

I benched ricky today as a flex play. Good read.

You have the ball. You're up 24-3. 1st and 10 from midfield, 2 minutes left in the first half. You get the ball in the second half.








You lose by double digits. Yeah, I dont know how that happens either but I know it means the Dolphins secondary blows and Chad Henne is growing but not ready yet.


/season.

edit: If some crazed Dolphins fan killed Ted Ginn tonight, I would not be all that surprised. He is the biggest bust in Dolphins history and his useless a$$ belongs on the bench for the rest of the season until they can cut him.

I really think they're a good that just happened to be up against a much better team.

I wasn't even that excited about the lead at half time. I knew the Saints offense wasn't going to be shut down the entire game, they are just too good. It's a tough loss for sure, but the 'Fins held their own against one of the premiere teams in the league.

Here is a "tweet" from Bill Simmons... "Ted Ginn Jr's Career gives us a chance to imagine what it would be like if someone tried to play wide reciever without arms"

Pretty damn funny!

that TD at the end of the half was crushing against such an explosive offense. They were not going to make Brees look bad forever.


Dont get me wrong, I am very excited about the Dolphins overall in the long term. You can't pin the first pick on Henne.....that was all Ted "bust" Ginn. He looks like a great QB prospect. They run the ball incredibly well. The run defense is great and the pass rush is pretty good (though a little old). The WR corps is weak but at least Bess and Hartline are young guys who look very competent. They need a #1 WR but thats a need that could potentially be addressed multiple ways. The secondary is terrible but the young CBs look good. Gibril Wilson is garbage but the next draft is rich in safeties. Another addressable problem.

The Dolphins are a very good team. The 2-4 record is deceiving. They have played the Colts and Saints to a standstill while most teams have been flattened by them. They are so far removed from the 1-15 debacle in a year and a half. It's amazing.....Sparano and Parcells deserve a ton of credit.

However, for this year, they are pretty much toast unless they sweep @NYJ, @NE over the next two weeks. Otherwise, they will be 3-5 with the Steelers and Pats still on the schedule. No way 9-7 makes the playoffs so the math is clear.

And Ted Ginn is awful. No one can disagree on that. I am not sure a WR could have a worse game than he did today. It's so typical. Every 6 games or so Ginn gets open deep and makes a wide open catch and everyone gets teased and thinks maybe this will be the start. But it is time to accept he is a bust. He cannot make a catch in traffic to save his life.

This kinda says it all. I wish I could make Cam Cameron answer the question: Why did you draft a WR with the 9th pick in the whole draft who does not catch the ball with his hands?

Watch him. If he is wide open he can catch it with his chest. If anyone's molecules are within 3 feet of him though and he has to catch it with his hands, oops.

Yep, that's why I said this a few weeks ago...





...I just...can't stand him. I always laugh when people say any professional athlete sucks but it seems like every week I'm saying something like, "Jesus, you suck" when another ball goes bouncing off his hands...and yesterday into the hands of Darren Sharper.

Henne looked pretty sollid again. Mind you, it was his third start ever. I like his prospects.

Ginn on the other hand, like you guys said, that Sharper thing was all his fault. Just awful. He elevated, cleared the defender by a foot and it hit him directly in the hands.

I don't say we lost by double digits only because that last td was just a give up deal. I'd say the future looks good, but the backs are getting some miles on them. I think they both have one more solid year

http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/254167

if you want to ruin your blood pressure, click on : http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolphins_in...-td-replay.html


basically, with the dolphins up 24-3 on a team that needs no help, the refs handed the Saints 14 points. ****ing zebras.

that south park episode is hilarious. dolphin and whale just scapegoat?

I didn't even have to click the link to know it was going to have something to do with that picture.

Ted Ginn singlehandedly won the game.

Does it make up for all the games that he's singlehandedly lost?

Nice win today though. I always love seeing the Jest lose.

Nope although he got brutalized here in the press so I am happy he had a good day. I mean, I still think he is a shitty WR, but he is a good kick returner and by all accounts a nice guy who does charity work and stuff. So good for him.

Defense still sucks in the 4th quarter. Gotta translate the first half d to the second half somehow. Henne really had a terrible game but the Jets will do that to you sometimes. Kind of makes that loss to the refs (sorry, the Saints) a lot more painful. If they had pulled off 4-3 against that schedule, it would have been super impressive (and that is not even counting that choke job against the Colts).

This has the looks of a woulda coulda shoulda season.

Oh and Fuck the Jets. They are talking more shit after losing again according to some press reports I am reading. It's borderline delusional to lose twice to a team in 20 days and still be talking shit. If you are a Jet, shut the **** up thanks.

I'm down with Ginn the kick returner. Just don't let Ginn the wide receiver get back in the mix.

Always fun to get a sweep against the Jets. They can talk all the shit they want, it just makes it that much funnier.

I'm looking forward to the Dan Lebetard show tomorrow to here what they say about Ginn. I agree with the comments on the Jets, they got non sensed up and down the field twice by the Dolphins, they should really just shut the hell up.

Ginn isn't a shitty wr, he's just a shitty number one wr to spend a first round pick on.

thus far in his career he has just been a shitty WR. that he was the 9th pick in the draft makes the focus on his shittiness harsher. I do think he could someday be a decent #2 WR. (Any dolphins fan should remember Tony Martin who had no hands for a few years with the Fins, went to San Diego and figured out how to catch, then came back to Miami and had a couple nice seasons with Marino. So it is possible to get better at catching the ball.)

and yeah jadaki, I mean the Jets have lost to the Dolphins 3 times in 9 games total right now. Being confident is nice....being delusional is pathetic.

Listen, he makes alot of drops, but he also has big play potential.. I don't that makes him shitty. He just has a couple of really bad drops in clutch situations that stick in people's mind. If he played on a team that had a real number 1 WR, no one would be saying anything about him at all. People expect too much out of him, imo. He's a shitty top ten over all pick, i'll say that.

That's probably the best way to put it.

But I did have an amusing thought yesterday. Cam Cameron defended the Ted Ginn pick by comparing him to Devin Hester (who was a kick returning rock star at the time) and said he could change a few games with kick returns alone. I thought yesterday, good 'ol Cam had to be smiling in the Ravens locker room like, "See, I TOLD you fuckers."

Putting the Ted Ginn stuff aside, here's something that really bothered me yesterday and I haven't heard anyone talk about it yet:

Why the hell did Miami go for two after scoring to go up 30-19? If you kick the extra point, you're up by 12. That means the Jets have to score two touchdowns, no matter what. If you're successful on the two-point conversion, you're up by 13 and the Jets have to score two touchdowns, no matter what. What's the difference here?

As it turned out, Miami was unsuccessful and the Jets could have tied the game with a touchdown, a two-point conversion, and a field goal...and this wasn't too far from happening. The Jets actually converted a two-point conversion after their next touchdown that was called back because of illegal motion or something. Then on the next drive they were down at the 15-yard-line and could have had a very make-able field goal if they only needed a tie.

I guess when the team wins people don't focus on stuff like this, but what am I missing here?

Being up by 13 is better than being up by 12 if you hold them to a TD/FG/FG? That way you are still tied I guess.

True enough, but there was less than nine minutes left in the game when the Dolphins scored that touchdown. That's an extreme lack of confidence in both your offense and defense if you think the Jets will have three more chances to score.

it's a mistake plain and simple. your analysis is correct. They were due a break or two after the Saints game (Saints just got a monster phantom def. holding call in their favor against the falcons....big shock) and they got several to beat the Jets.

The Jets are 4-5 in their last 9 games mainly due to an 0-3 mark against the Dolphins. Love it.

it's not a mistake... it was by the chart

then it is a stupid chart. There is no difference between 12 and 13 in that situation. Either way it requires the Jets to score two touchdowns. However an 11 point lead leaves the possibility that the Jets can tie the game with just a TD and a FG (with a 2pt thrown in). Seems pretty cut and dried to me.

Start of the show, celebrating Ted Ginn day... they so don't disappoint.

Yeah, I mean I understand the TD/FG/FG argument from a technical standpoint, but I just don't think it's realistic to think a team would have three more chances to score when there's nine minutes left. It probably would have had to involve recovering an onside kick and I really don't think you plan for that as a coach.

Anyway, I just found it to be another questionable call for the second week in a row and thought I'd bring it up because it's my right as a sports fan and an American to second guess everything my teams do.

I think BigD was mocking the chart that coaches live by because they can't think for themselves.


That second return by Ginn was crazy good.

you're wrong, actually. i think charts are 100 percent the way to go. Have that shit figured out ahead of time, and then go to it, because in the heat of the moment, you have very little time to think about this sort of thing, and make a well thought out decision on your own. This charts are based on points, and also time left in the game, and they are figured out by statisticians, who's ability to reason the optimal strategy I trust more than a coach.

I mean, it's not like football is a game of constant scoring. You can think ahead for yourself.

My philosophy would be to just kick the extra point every time until about halfway through the 4th quarter. Then I only go for two if I'm down two or up one.

yeah, you'd be taking the worst of it if you did that.

I don't really have a response to that.


But it'd be nice if the coaches also had a similar chart that told them when to go for it on 4th down. I think it would look something like this:

Nothing in football tilts me more than coaches putting between the 40's, on forth and short. There's strong statistical evidence you should do it on like 4th and 5's.. but 4th and 1 is unforgivable. Every time I see a coach punt in that situation, instantly start rooting for the other team to win.

So does anyone here think the fish will win tomorrow?

I don't think they will win probably, but they certainly COULD win, and i don't think they should be 10 point dogs.. I think the money line looks tasty.

Going to have to agree with BigD. The line is a bit high but obviously the Pats are the favorites. Brady/Moss/Welker against two rookie CBs? Yikes!

If Miami runs the ball well though, they will be in it. They are going to need someone on the D-line or an OLB to have a huge day pressuring Brady. That used to be Jason Taylor....maybe he will turn back the clock today.

Hey, look who still can't catch the ball.

it really is a shame for Chad Henne that he is saddled with the worst WR corps in the NFL. just a shame. Another game where the dolphins played well but couldnt get anything going in the air when it counted.

in fairness, Ginn was just one of many Dolphins WRs who cant catch. Hartline had two, Bess had one. Camarillo is the only guy who gave the Dolphins anything today from the WR spot. I have no idea why Ginn would get to play another down at WR this season. It's enough already jesus. He's a kick returner, not a WR. Accept it.

If the fins dont find some new WRs in the offseason, I cant really understand what Parcells is thinking. They could have had Boldin for a pick at anytime. He can catch.

3-5 means they have to win out basically to make the playoffs (which is not happening). Could easily be 3-5.

oh, and sparano punting with 5 minutes left in the game with 4 and 4 from the Pats 42 is an absolute chicken shit call. Complete puss out.

Yeah, as a group they were horrible. I just had to single Ginn out because it came on an important fourth down. The funny thing, though, is that before they started that drive I actually said, "Alright, we're in perfect Teddy Ginn drop territory."

other thoughts:

1) it did not end up impacting the game but that last second FG in the first half by NE was complete horseshit. Nice hometown clock-keeping Patriots.

2) That 10 minute drive to open the 2nd half was pretty awesome. The offense can look pretty good when the WRs catch the ball.

3) The rookie corners did a great job overall. Moss burned Davis a couple times but who the ****'s idea was it to cover Moss one on one so much? Any corner would have been in trouble.

4) It's always interesting to watch a Dolphins game. They basically ran the option to score a TD in the 2nd quarter. Pretty amazing.

5) This is the best 3-5 team I have seen in a while. That's both good and bad. Three times now (Indy, NO, NE) Miami has had the ball with less than 3 minutes left and a chance to tie (NE) or win (Indy/NO) the game. All three times they did not even get close. They will never be more than an interesting but flawed team until they can throw the ball like an NFL club.

6) The Patriots will win the AFC East but I feel like something is missing. I dont see them making too deep a run this year.

agree with all of this, but seriously, and I know our receivers aren't as good as theirs and our QB isn't as good as theirs, but can't we run some of those crossing routes? Or use the defense they use to defend our crossing routes? It seemed like the Pats ran those crossing routes all day and they were open all day? Why can't we run that? Our QB gets enough protection for that? Just confusing to me. We can't stop people quickly.

Oh well, they're doing enough for us to see potential but not closing out. Why cant we get that crappy schedule, Bucs, Rams, Titans, etc? Or do we? I haven't checked the upcoming schedule. Problem is, our defense is shaky, and old. Ferguson, Porter, Taylor, etc.

I was so excited watching miami's 10 minute drive. I was watching 'cause the bears blood bath got switched to the GB-TB game. It was such a thing of beauty.... and then the pats turn around and score in 40 seconds, 'cause moss is god, and gave just a god like stiff arm. Is there anything more demoralizing than spending 10 minutes of ball control, pound your face offense, and then have the other team insta score, rending the drive meaningless?


You guys might not go to the playoffs this year, but you should be happy that there's not a more entertaining non-playoff team in the league. You could be the chiefs or something.

1) That was BS. I was actually watching the clock as they lined up to run that last play and was thinking, "Sweet, the Pats are actually going to screw something up and run out of time."

3) Yeah, considering the passing attack they faced I'd have to say I'm pretty happy with the job they did. I like that we're able to field a decent team with so many young guys getting experience so early in their careers.





We got the crappy schedule last year. It lead to a lot of people thinking the Fins were better than they were and then getting housed in the first round of the playoffs. And actually the next few weeks aren't that scary.





Funny you chose the Chiefs there. I have a buddy who's a Chiefs fan. Yesterday he sent me a text during the game that said, "Your team runs options and other college plays and they're infinitely better than my team. I hate them."

Yeah, I don't think the dolphfins were as good as people thought they were last year, or as bad as they appear to be this year. It's rare on a team that I think WR's are actually the difference, as there are only a handful of truly great WR's, and the rest are what I think of as "situationally" good, they are excelling in the system they are in, but in another system would be just average. I think most starting WR's are about the same. But Miami legitimately has bad starting WR's. They legitly can't catch.




I assume his hate is aimed to the chiefs. It's not really that funny.. I live in Lincoln, Ne and and they always show the chief game, every week. Even when they were good in the 90's I didn't like them or care about them. But christ on crack, the AFC games they show these days are putrid. Fortunately one of the CBS stations went away from the cheifs and showed the Mia-Pats game.



A combination of the style of offense ( they ran a triple option on sunday which made me call one of my Nebraska football friends, and reminiscence about the good ole days), Ronnie Brown and Rickey Williams carrying my fantasy team, and me listening to Dan Lebatard every day has made me adopt Miami as my number 2 rooting interest team. In some ways, the number 2 team is more fun to root for than your number 1. The bears I'm too emotionally invested in.. close games just kill me, life and death. Their failures tilt me. your number 2, you have no emotional investment. You can just purely enjoy the team, and if they win, that's gravy, and if they lose, you won't lose sleep. I took the cardinals as my number 2 last year early in the season when Warner saved my fantasy football year single handedly ( I picked Brady in the first round, warner in the final round). And it was a pure gravy train of root all year round. I suggest you miami guys start looking for a fun number 2 team for some root. I think the saints would be an excellent choice. Fun team to watch and it's a good story. Long suffering franchise from a recently suffering town and what not. They aren't a historical jack ass team, no reason NOT to root for them. Getting a little saints root on will take some sting out of Ted ginn's iron hands.

Should've consulted my chart.




I read an article about the Saints receivers a week or two ago. It said that during practice they only have enough time to practice a handful of the routes in their playbook, so everyday after practice Brees and all of the receivers stick around and practice all of their routes. Every route, every day, on their own time.

It also mentioned one receiver in particular (I forget who now) who was on the practice squad for three years because he had a problem with drops. Now he just plays catch whenever he can with whoever he can. If he's at home or at a friend's house or wherever; he just gets a guy to throw to him. Even during games when their defense is on the field he'll have someone throw to him all the time.

It kind of makes you wonder if Miami did this as well, how much would they improve?


Note: I suppose it's possible that they do in fact do this and it's just not publicized because they suck.

I am glad you finally came around on Miami's WRs. I agree that usually how wideouts do is more about the system and the QB and the quality of the pass defense faced. However, Miami legitimately has a bad WR corps. Thats a very fixable problem.

I agree that Miami is a very fun team to watch. And I knew coming into this season that the schedule was probably too ridiculous to overcome. All five of their losses are to playoff teams (and other than Atlanta all the losses were to "dangerous" playoff teams). They are getting shredded in Pass D but most of that damage came against Brady, Brees and Manning. That will happen. However, the Dolphins historically have almost never been "bad." They finally were bad under Cam Cameron but Parcells and Co. fixed that in like 3 months. Things could be a lot worse.

I am happiest that Chad Henne looks great. I mean as great as a 2nd year QB can look when he is throwing to a group of stone-hands. It looks like the decision to pass on Matt Ryan wont be fatal. Look at the last two drafts for Miami.....here are the guys getting significant playing time (and playing at least average or better):

Jake Long (1st), Philip Merling (2nd), Chad Henne (2nd), Kendall Langford (3rd), Donald Thomas (6th), Davone Bess (UFA), Vontae Davis (1st), Pat White (2nd), Sean Smith (2nd), Chris Clemons (5th).

Thats a franchise left tackle, a promising QB, two promising d-lineman, a starting RG, an ok possession WR, two really good looking rookie CBs, a backup QB who does some things, and a safety who is just starting to get on the field. That is an amazing haul for two drafts. And I am sure I am forgetting someone.

I already have a #2 team (the Giants who I will love forever for winning the 2007 Super Bowl). Sadly, they are falling apart at the seams right now.