Miami Dolphin Coach Adam Gase is Winning Back Fans

As a jaded and cautious Miami Dolphin fan, witnessing the rise of the five-second-QB's status to game manager has been invigorating and delightful. The running game took the burden of the offense off the QB’s shoulders and the Giggggity Jay train is rolling downhill. The QB making timely plays at the end, cemented the Buffalo victory. So, while serving my derogatory QB comments with a heaping helping of sarcasm, I'll give credit where credit is due, Tannehill played a very nice couple of games.

My whole problem here is reconciling with this feeling of déjà vu... After so many exasperating years, I am no longer gullible enough to jump directly on the Giggggity Jay train. I'm going to need a season of games before I'm out of the woods and begin thinking this team has finally turned the corner. The run through Wannstedt to Philbin haunts my brain like a reoccurring nightmare. The thought of impending glory has me panting like a greyhound chasing the rabbit, only to find it stuffed with sawdust.

Two weeks does not a season make… During those two weeks Adam Gase completely changed his offensive approach from primarily a throwing mentality to a complete emphasis on the running game. We saw the OL pave the way for the Giggggity Jay train and it really speaks to a coach who knows which stable holds his thoroughbreds. Memories of Csonka, Kiick and Morris occasionally filter through the ugly noise of the past forty years, but lost among those daydreams are names like Kooch, Langer and Little, the true backbone of the last Miami Dolphin team to win a Super Bowl.

Prior to the season, after hiring Adam Gase, we were assaulted with suggestions this coach was not in vogue with the “modern” system approach. “He would take his’n and beat your’n, and take your’n and beat his’n.” There can be no greater compliment than to recognize him for doing exactly that. It seems a simple premise, build a scheme around the strength of your best players. All too often, coaches enter the arena trying to force players into a system leading to epic failure. Joe Philbin couldn’t even recognize who his best players were, let alone put them in position for success.

Remaining cautious, we cannot anoint Adam Gase in vintage 72 throwback coaching robes, nor sanctify him at the altar of Shula. We can only look at the data and see there is a clear and logical thought process at work. It’s unlikely Shula would have allowed Laremy Tunsil to “rest” his twisted ankle after falling in the shower. But perhaps there was a method to throwing the laziest underachieving lineman into a fray they were completely incapable of performing.

“The tape don’t lie,” and the tape of the offensive, offensive line play against the Cincinnati Bengals raised the ire of every self-respecting Miami Dolphin fan. Could it be Adam Gase used this fervor to override his GM? Did he use the tape to justify cutting three players he determined were undermining his attempts to raise his team’s level of play? Witnessing brilliant ruthlessness under the guise of recorded truth is not a guise at all, it’s called chutzpah, audacity, big cojones and it resonates through a testosterone laden locker-room like a Mike Tyson uppercut.

The experienced pessimist acknowledges the past as the surest indicator of the future. Forty odd years without a title and thirty without an appearance should be enough past to indicate any future. Still the bone dangles in front of our salivating mouths just out of reach and we chomp at the slightest inching forward.

We see you Mr. Gase, and accordingly you have raised the suspicious eye of your competition. Your team is now a glowing blip, firmly positioned on your opponent’s radar screens. The hell-bent-for-leather running game will become as one-dimensional and predictable as the passing attack it supplanted, leaving the ball right back in the hands of your five-second-QB. “The wheels on the bus go around and round, round and round…”

How you avoid the bus will determine your future and that of your QB. To the amateur observer it may seem this offensive line strength could bare more fruit with the understanding of those five precious seconds. The argument of whether the actual time is five seconds is meaningless when knowing five seconds will turn any QB into a star. The key may not be Payton Manning-like quickness of wit, it might reside in simply providing enough time for the QB you have.

It all goes back to your’n and his’n… Know thyself, know thy enemy… When the line of scrimmage becomes crowded, space opens behind it. How to make those five precious seconds available will be the next challenge when the running attack is stifled. I am personally looking forward to how Mr. Gase overcomes his next obstacle.

You know what you have to work with Coach Gase, I’m anticipating how you apply the talent and avoid becoming a system guy. Things are indeed looking up in Miami as the feeling of déjà vu subsides...

Miami Dolphins Jay (Train) Ajayi Steamrolls Buffalo for 214 yard VICTORY

For a second consecutive week Earl Campbell, I mean OJ Simpson, I mean Ricky Williams, I mean Jay Ajayi ran wild for 200 plus yards versus stout rushing defenses. Those other guys are just the only other running back names in the history of the league that have eclipsed the 200 yard milestone on consecutive weeks. For a second straight week the Dolphin defense shut down highly explosive running teams that were the AFC's talk of town before being introduced to a Miami Dolphin TEAM that has suddenly found their identity. For a second consecutive week The Miami Dolphins produced nearly 500 yards, and just shy of 200 more yards than the highly touted, and rolling opposition. Due to penalties and special teams mishaps that provided the Bills with short field scoring opportunities, Miami trailed by eleven with one third quarter minute remaining. Fourteen minutes and 22 unanswered points later the Dolphins led by eleven just before the fourth quarters two minute warning. That 22nd unanswered point was the result of a 67 yard Ryan Tannehill touchdown pass to Kenny Stills. For a second consecutive week Miami held possession of the ball for nearly 15 minutes longer than both Pittsburgh and Buffalo. For a second consecutive week THE MIAMI DOLPHINS WON!!!

Can the Miami Dolphins Maintain the MoJo

In the warm afterglow, we are reminded of the Tennessee game in 2015, Man Campbell's debut - 38 -10. Almost a mirror image of this game, though the Titans were not quite the Steelers...

What that game showed Miami Fans was, if the Dolphin players came out with a fire in their belly, they were capable of beating anyone. After Campbell and the Dolphins had settled in for a long winter's nap, I rationalized that Campbell was a motivator, but wasn't tactical enough to compete with the Belichick's of the world. Motivation and emotion alone were not enough to carry a team to more than .500 in the NFL.

So here we are again, I don't think Gase can cut a few players each week and end the season with a football team. He will need to be a better coach than his opponents while maintaining the motivation and emotion. We've seen these players rise and fall steeply during the course of the season.

I will be interested to see how Adam Gase keeps the motivational edge and if he is tactically able to outwit his opponents. My own thoughts are, there are 15 to 20 players on this team that can be motivated for a few games, but over the course of the season will show up at that level less than half the time.

We can see potential in games like this from individuals, it's the body of work that must be judged if the Dolphins are going to rise again. Gase can't say "X" player has so much potential, look at the Steelers game.

He must look over the course of the season, see which players show up game in and game out and keep those players. The challenging part will be getting rid of the 50% no-shows and bring in more gamers. Changing the culture cannot be done in one season. The personnel department and coaching staff must be aligned.

The message to the Miami Dolphin players, forget the warm afterglow. If the film doesn't lie, you'd better put something consistently on there, or don't be surprised if the door smacks your ass on the way out!

Miami Dolphins vs Steelers Week 6 Victory Comments

Shout fans please comment on the Miami victory in the comments section below!

Miami Dolphins vs Titans Week 5 Game Chat

Will Miami get a win at home?

Obvious Decision for Miami Dolphin Coach Adam Gase

Adam Gase said it better than any frustrated fan ever could, “Obviously he missed a couple of things early. When things start going bad, you want him to find that one throw where he can spring us loose.” Welcome to Miami Adam Gase. Man love and confidence building directed at the fifth year five-second-QB is not going to change the obvious. Sorry coach, nothing to see here…

“Obviously,” has become one of Gase’s favorite words. Obviously, high paid corner Byron Maxwell played poorly enough to find himself sitting on the bench in favor of a converted wide receiver. Obviously, Jay Ajayi has shown enough childish behavior to ride on the pine in favor of an undrafted free agent. Obviously, first round offensive tackle Ja’Waun James has earned of the coach’s disdain enough to get pulled for a guard that can’t sniff the field otherwise.

Obviously, this QB needs five seconds to have a chance at finding a receiver and then the results are questionable. The five-second-QB threw a 74-yard TD pass on the offense’s second play. He then completed 2 more passes the entire first have. After that single play, Miami went three-and-out five times and failed to make a one yard fourth down conversion. That was it, the entire first half in two sentences.

Obviously, other players on this team are not giving the effort coach Gase expects, but there must be a huge blind spot for his enigmatic five-second-QB. In the game of football, the most impactful position on the field resides behind the center. It’s a team sport the pundits will remind us. Defense wins championships! These truisms are undeniable, but a team still needs a player behind center that can make the one play necessary to positively change the rhythm of a game.

Obviously, a matador’s cape is a feint used to keep the bull’s horns from goring his body. As the bull goes rushing past, the crowd responds, “OLE!” The bull finds himself out in the open field while the matador steps away unharmed. This is the Miami Dolphin offensive line after the five-second-QB misses open receivers all over the field.

OLE! Don’t hurt me, get the five-second-QB, OLE! Maybe one hit will do it. OLE!

Obviously, this team will not play for five-second-QB.

Obviously, if coach Gase wants to remain an NFL head coach for long he’d better make the one decision his predecessors failed to make. Bench the five-second-QB…

Obviously, coach, it’s the only decision that makes sense. Bench the five-second-QB…

Obviously, if it doesn’t happen immediately, there is no need for Miami Dolphin fans to tune in for the rest of the season. After four torturous seasons…

Obviously, there’s only one conclusion.

Bench the five-second-QB…