I didn't get to see last week's game, and it seems that was a good thing. I don't think I would have liked what I saw. It was one of those games that people simply want to forget about. Any time a team plays a game as we did last week the only thing the players and the fans can do is move on to the next game. I really don't think the Dolphins are as bad as what they showed last week.
So now we are looking at the Buffalo Bills, a long-time hated rival. Without looking at the stats (which I hate to do by the way) I know that the Bills can put up some points. CJ Spiller, one of my favorites in the draft a few years ago, is starting in the place of the injured Fred Jackson. I would rather see Fred Jackson in the game to be honest. CJ Spiller scares the bejeebers out of me. He is a lot like Chris Johnson from last week, and from what I heard Miami didn't fare to well with him.
The Dolphins handled Bills receiver Stevie Johnson pretty well last year, but judging by the play of our secondary in the past few weeks he should have a big game tonight. Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick is the wild-card in this game. He makes some strange throws at times, and we will need to count on him doing that this week.
The Dolphins on the other hand have been playing, well, let's just say not so very good. The defense came apart at the seams last week. I'm also wondering if anyone has noticed how bad the secondary has been playing since Richard Marshall went down? It's as if they have changed their coverages since that time. I think we have a serious problem at the safety positions, and Coyle, no matter what he says, doesn't trust Clemons and Jones. That is why we are seeing all the soft coverages.
Overall I think the team has done a pretty good job. They are using players that don't fit the system of a west coast offense, and in particular on the offensive line. I'm not singling out Long and Jerry here, but they don't fit the west coast mold at all. That is not their fault. Neither one of them plays well in space or on the move. Long because of injuries, and Jerry because of size. The west coast offense depends on stretch plays, and the linemen getting cut off blocks on the back side. Those cut off blocks are not there, and that is the problem. Martin isn't playing very well either, but I think that is because he isn't strong enough at this time.
If you had told me we would have a 4-5 season at this time of the year before the season started. I would have told you to let me know when you wake from your dream. As the wins mount up so do our expectations, so we don't expect to lose games to teams like Tennessee. We have a rookie QB and about 13 new young players on the team that at times play like they are clueless.
I think we are progressing, we need some play makers that's for sure. Lamar Miller could be one of them. We need more speed on the outside and in the linebacker position, in particular on the inside. We have a coaching staff that expects their team to execute the plays, and they know what we need to improve.
One last thing. Joe Philbin doesn't take any crap from his players, and we as Dolphin fans better be getting used to that. What Joe says goes in this organization.
