Miami Dolphins Fire Adam Gase

Adam Gase was fired after another Miami Dolphin football season came to an agonizing end. The team lost three games in a row for the second straight year. Some glaring problems surfaced as the season ground to a screeching halt. Players once again ejected in the final minutes of play, dispelling the notion that good guys replacing locker room bad guys really made a difference.

When referencing the three out of four games he does not play well, Ryan Tannehill used the word “obviously” a lot. “Obviously myself, and the team, we need to finish better… Obviously, we didn’t finish strong and you want to be playing in the postseason and competing for a championship.”

When asked to define the problems he replied, “We need to find a way to win these games down the stretch when we have opportunities to put ourselves in the postseason. To answer your question, I don’t know.”

Obviously, the quarterback didn’t know how to win, but it went much deeper.

There were subtleties in player comments that gave outsiders a glimpse of their true feelings. “It’s been up and down,” Danny Amendola said. “Had some great wins. Tough losses. Lost some key players to injuries. It’s the NFL. Ultimately, we’ve got to play better. We’ve got to learn how to practice and play at a championship level. And we didn’t have it.”

“We’ve got to learn how to practice and play at a championship level.”

“It’s been a roller-coaster,” Xavien Howard said. “A couple injuries. Everybody couldn’t get on the same page. It was either the offense, defense or special teams. We’ve just got to be on one page and just work together. So, you know we haven’t been on the same page and the injuries haven’t helped at all.”

“Everybody couldn’t get on the same page.”

“We bite ourselves in the feet,” Ja’Wuan James said. “Penalties. Not starting fast. We just. We never honestly had an identity. When you don’t have an identity as an offense it’s hard because you don’t know what to go to when things go wrong. You’re just trying stuff. We never really found our identity this year.”

“We never really found our identity this year.”

Put all those comments together and what’s under the surface begins rising to the top…

“Obviously myself, and the team, we need to finish better.”
“We’ve got to learn how to practice and play at a championship level.”
“Everybody couldn’t get on the same page.”
“We never really found our identity this year.”

Tannehill can’t finish games or seasons or even third downs very well and when taken in the context of, “Everybody couldn’t get on the same page.” “We never really found our identity this year.” “We’ve got to learn how to practice and play at a championship level.”
 
How do you accomplish this when half the starting roster is on injured reserve and those players have very specific skill sets? Albert Wilson and Jakeem Grant have very similar body types and Gase’s early offensive game plan was based around those skills. When an offense is built around certain skills and those skills end up on injured reserve, the offense must adjust to healthy players.

Easier to understand why, “We never really found our identity this year,” was true, without those speedsters. Once those players were lost, Gase tried to use Frank Gore in a power running game but after practicing fancy RPOs through training camp, “everybody couldn’t get on the same page.”

Gore is another player Gase fell in love with, while Kenyan Drake sat. Drake the ascending player, sat watching Gore probably playing in his last season. It made little sense.

The whole thing begs to ask, how do you “learn how to practice and play at a championship level,” While sitting your most explosive player? Gase could never settle and was continually changing the offense to use players with drastically different skill sets.

Gase had built the Miami Dolphins without an identity.

Gase's platform was not team identity or systemic, it was whether or not he loved the player, even if the player did not fit the system. Gase could not hope to find consistency with perpetually injured players all having random skill sets.
 
This is the failure of the Miami Dolphin triumvirate, Gase, Grier and Tannenbaum. Gase fell in love with players and was smart enough to design an offense around the skills of those players. But this trait betrayed him when he designed his offense around one or two of key players. The offense tailored around them changed drastically when they went down due to injury.

With a stable identity, the team may have filled the roster with players fitting the identity. Then, game planning and practices would not alter drastically during the course of the season. Gase never understood the importance of continuity on his roster, on both sides of the ball. Because of this, his team, like his plan, played Jekyll and Hyde all season never knowing which would show up.

The Miami Dolphins lost a good coach, it was reported that he would not relinquish control of the 53-man roster. In other words, he would go down in the same ship with Ryan Tannehill.

The coach killer claims another victim…

Take two lessons Adam Gase:

Don’t fall in love with players…

Build your team around an identity so there is depth to mitigate injures…

Good luck Adam Gase...

Miami Dolphins at Bills Week 17 Game Chat

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Tannehill Decision Will Define Gase's Future

The Miami Dolphins spiral into another dismal off-season with some amazingly offensive stats…

2 of 9 on third down against Jacksonville…

57.7 completion percentage…
 
83 yards gained on the first drive and 100 on the final nine possessions...

Tannehill’s sixth time in 10 games failing to throw for 200 yards...

Averaging 183.2 passing yards per game...

Failed to generate 200 yards of offense in three of the past four games...

Miami’s offense is 25th in points this year, was 25th in points last year, and was 24th in points in 2016...

Former first-round pick DeVante Parker has three catches for 31 yards in his past three games and 122 receiving yards in the past six games.

“It’s terrible,” coach Adam Gase said. “I mean, the offense was awful. It was brutal to watch, to be a part of.  I think today was a rough day for {Ryan}. I wish he would have played a little better. I wish he would have made a few more decisions that were different. I think there’s been games that he has – that he’s played really well – and there’s been some games where we haven’t played well.”

“I think every position has its faults,” Tannehill said about the inept offense. “Start with me and just go right down the line. I think when you have that, it all stacks up and you’re not moving the ball. We have to be cleaner, every position, starting with me and that will give us our best chance, obviously, to put the ball in the end zone.”

Why take a 36-year-old Frank Gore and make him the fixture of your offense when it takes carries away from more explosive backs like Kenyan Drake and Kalen Ballage? The reason is because there is no trust in the passing game and the only true option left is a power running game.

The stats above define why there is no trust in the passing game and it’s time the Miami Dolphins face the simple truth, Ryan Tannehill is not a Super Bowl quarterback…

There seems to be a misunderstanding in Miami as to why there are football games. There is a single goal in professional football…

Win the Super Bowl.

Certainly, no team can win the big game every year, but the big picture focus seems to have eluded the Miami Dolphins. Frank Gore is a great locker room guy, but he’s not going to take this team to that Super Bowl in the sky. Sitting future players like Kenyan Drake and Kalen Ballage and using Gore makes little sense in the big picture.

Sitting them because the quarterback cannot consistently show up for football games and then praising that quarterback opens all kinds of questions…

Winning is an interesting conundrum when taken in the context of time. A momentary win can actually hinder long-term success. There is a simple way to remember this, “short-term gains no long-term returns.”

Those short gains by Gore can keep the ball moving slowly down the field in hopes of some success, but in the end the big prize is just an illusion. That prize goes to players like Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, who is averaging 324.5 yards passing in his second NFL season.

Seven years later, any thought of creating a great person out of one that never was, is an illusion. This needs to be addressed unless Stephen Ross is also delusional. If the coach has no ability to project long-term success and is simply mired in short-term day-to-day management, than the expectation for the future should be the results of the present.

Simply stated, doing the same thing over and over again will produce the same results…

The expectation cannot be to remain with Ryan Tannehill, whether it’s perceived as his fault or not. Calling out injuries, or penalties, poor game planning, not playing complimentary football, are all excuses that will not change the result. The only constant on this team has been Ryan Tannehill, not Joe Philbin, Jeff Ireland, Mike Sherman, Bill Lazor, Mike Tannenbaum, Chris Grier or Adam Gase…

Ryan Tannehill...

Tannehill is a really good person and that is what keeps the illusion alive, but make no mistake, it is an illusion.

Think - big-picture - Super Bowl picture.
 
The Miami Dolphins must somehow find this understanding. Adam Gase has the potential to be a great football coach, but great coaches have one thing in common, they can sense and see great quarterbacks. They can take that quarterback, make him better and together they can achieve the ultimate football success…
 
Winning the Super Bowl.

This is what Stephen Ross should be looking for, a coach who can sense a great quarterback and make him better. Adam Gase? Maybe, but if he’s locked in on Ryan Tannehill, than he’s caught in the illusion. He’s not what Ross though he was and the boss-man has no other option but to move on from Gase and keep searching for a coach that can see greatness.

It is pivotal for the Miami Dolphins to make a clear rational decision and cut ties with Ryan Tannehill. Once the cord is cut, then other pieces of the future can begin to establish themselves. A team cannot plan for the future if it is stalled in the past.

Adam Gase ran the most productive offense in NFL history with Payton Manning. Gase has shown the ability to work with greatness, but attaching himself to Tannehill will end his career in Miami. Fighting to keep Tannehill this off-season will only prolong the agony of Miami fans should both remain. Gase will be fired before the 2019 season is concluded and the Dolphins will be left floundering.

Will Adam Gase’s legacy be remembered for being the guy who signed Jay Cutler and stuck with Ryan Tannehill. Will he be the coach who fell in love with players, has no business savvy or vision. Will laughs and scoffing follow decisions like offing Jarvis Landry, Jay Ajayi and Ndamukong Suh.

Gase must square his jaw and step boldly into his future. Those aforementioned players never took to a team led by Ryan Tannehill. It is not a coach’s job to create leadership at the highest level on the football field. Either that player has the respect of his teammates or he does not and clearly there’s something wrong with Tannehill’s leadership in the huddle.

From the outside, it appears Tannehill is the teacher’s pet. The boy who finishes every assignment on time, brings in cookies and listens intently to every word from the teacher’s mouth. In the back of the room, the boys who should defend this QB on the field secretly despise him. This can no longer go on, and if Gase cannot see it, than he’s as blind as the teacher and it’s time for a change.

Gase must come to terms with all of these obvious issues or he may never land a head coaching job again.

It’s time coach...

Time to find your own quarterback...

Time to stake your own future...

Before the coach killer strikes again…

Miami Dolphins vs Jaguars Week 16 Game Chat

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Miami Miracle Crashes and Burns in Minneapolis

Twenty-one first quarter points quickly erased the Miami Miracle as the Dolphins crashed and burned in Minneapolis. The Vikings running game gashed the Miami defense on three straight drives, while the Miami offense floundered. The game and Miami's playoff hopes ended before halftime. An average Minnesota Vikings team resembled the purple people eaters, annihilating the hapless Dolphins.

Minkah Fitzpatrick stepping in front of a Kirk Cousins pass and dashing into the endzone and a Kalen Ballage 75-yard touchdown run were the only hint of life Miami showed all day.

It was not enough, Ryan Tannehill stood flat footed in the face of a fierce pass rush, throwing for only 108 yards. After a brilliant performance against New England, Tannehill completed only 11 of 24 passes, looking beleaguered, confused and shell-shocked.

Enough of the Tannehill debate...

Clearly we've seen enough.

The Miami offensive line played an atrocious game allowing nine sacks. Even the invincible Frank Gore could not endure the pounding and left the game with an injured ankle. The Dolphin defense surrendered the line of scrimmage from the onset as the Vikings rushed for 220 yards and Cousins passed for another 215.

Six straight road losses for the Dolphins is the tale of the season. Miami does not bring the same intensity on the road, playing uninspired football in a game broadcast nationally. The euphoria of a walk off victory the previous week quickly gave way to the reality that the Miami Dolphins cannot match up with quality teams on the road. Miami has lost by an average of 17.7 points per road game during the six game skid.

The Dolphins are 7-17 on the road during Adam Gase's tenure and only three of those defeats have been less than ten points. While the Miami defense looked like a revolving door, the offense was equally pathetic. After the 75 yard Kalen Ballage burst to open the second half, Miami's next five drives totaled -27 yards...

Reverting to bad Tannehill, the Miami quarterback completed only 45.8 percent of his passes for 108 yards. His magical 155 rating a week ago, sunk to 59 this week as the Vikings took away the dink passes and forced him off his spot. The offensive line was downright offensive and did not show up for the game.

Enough debate...

It's time for a change.

Both sides of the ball looked lackadaisical and the 41-17 loss was not even that close. Nine sacks are a team record for a single game. Kirk Cousins came into the game as the worst free agent acquisition of the season only to put up 215 yards, 2 TDs and a 112 rating against perhaps the worst defense in the NFL.

It is time for this team to take a long realistic view at how far it is from the next level. In the present form, mediocrity is the definition of the Miami Dolphins. The quarterback has been here for seven years and has yet to reach the playoffs or finish a winning season. The coach has been here three years and his team has played 500 football and is routinely blown out on the road.

It is time for a change. If Adam Gase is unwilling to part ways with Ryan Tannehill, than it is time for Stephen Ross to fire the coach and allow the QB to move on. Any fear that Tannehill will somehow acquire greatness is a foolish notion. Quarterbacks do not take eight years to find some magic formula and anyone who thinks differently is delusional, including the coach of the Miami Dolphins.

Adam Gase has the potential to be a great coach, he can win games he should lose. Unfortunately he will never be that coach with a wildly inconsistent quarterback. If Dan Marino had been in that huddle, the words from his mouth would be ringing in the stands. Tannehill has no leadership skills and it shows vividly on the road.

Enough debate...

It's time for a change.

If Gase is unwilling to make the changes needed on this football team, there is no other recourse than to fire him. Tannehill is what he is, a backup quarterback. Joe Philbin was fired for trying to draft his replacement...

Will Adam Gase be fired for trying to keep the same quarterback?

Tannehill is a coach killer...

Meanwhile, Dolphin fans must agonize season after season mired in his mediocrity. If Mike Tannenbaum is unwilling to do what is right for this team and insists on maintaining the status quo, than he too must be fired.

The personnel people have been changed, the coaches have been changed and the Miami Dolphins remain the same. The only constant on this team is Ryan Tannehill, whether he's a tough guy, whether he has a rocket arm, whether he's smart, whether he's a team guy is irrelevant, you are what your record says you are... Mediocre.

Miami beat New England with a miracle play...

It was a euphoric moment in a season that has been grinding down to this, 7-7 mediocrity. It will be eight years next season.

Enough debate...

We've seen enough...

Time to move on...

Miami Dolphins at Vikings Week 15 Game Chat

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Dolphins Pull Out a Miraculous Victory

There are games that define teams and players, games that erase all the critics, games with such a warm afterglow; they leave you reaching for a cigarette. The Miami Dolphin win over the Patriots was one of those games.

The idea of using Rob Gonkowski as the deep safety seems so Belichickian, until the Gronk actually has to become a defender and make an open field tackle. Kenyan Drake was feeling lonely watching Frank Gore run through the New England defense. When Drake got the ball on the final play, nothing would stop him from outrunning the Gronk all the way to victory.

For Dolphin fans, the moment will live forever in the lore of a team desperately needing spark. The Dolphins stood up to the AFC East bullies, duking it out toe to toe, but seemed destined for the knockout blow with 7 seconds left, down by five points.

Somehow the magic happened, a pass to Kenny Stills, a lateral to Devante Parker, another lateral to Kenyan Drake and the field of dreams opened up. The Miami Dolphins won the game.

New England fans will call it luck, high school shenanigans and of course, there was a certain amount of luck involved. This one play is the perfect example of how a football team learns how to win. How a football team learns that luck only matters if the team is in a position to win.

With a minute left in the first half, New England blocked a punt and had a very short field to score. The Dolphins did not allow a single point, in fact, they forced Brady to make an uncharacteristic mistake, he was sacked with no timeouts and the half ended.

What does this have to do with luck? Every person and every team has the same amount of luck, what matters is, if you're in a position to benefit from that luck. If Miami had been 8 points behind at the end of the game, the last play would have been a lot different.

By fighting for every inch at the end of the first half, Miami was able to stay alive and within in a touchdown at the end of the game. By making that goal line stand, the Dolphin's final lucky play turned into victory.

This is the difference between winning and losing. It is the reason Miami can be outgained, lose in time of possession and turnovers, yet still win. Luck does not matter if you are not in a position to win. Adam Gase knows this, he teaches it and his players do not quit until the final whistle blows.

Ryan Tannehill had perhaps his finest game as a Miami Dolphin. The local press and indeed this site have been insistent that Tannehill is nothing more than an average quarterback. If any player on the Dolphins was an example of staying in the game until the final whistle, it was Ryan Tannehill.

JaWaun James stomped his 300 pounds firmly on Tannehill's right ankle and it looked like Tannehill was done. No one would have said a word if Tannehill did not return to that field, but he taped the ankle and hobbled back out there to lead his team. A team one last desperate breath from playoff elimination. In the end, Tannehill and his team deservedly sucked in the sweet aroma of victory.

Kenny Stills, made some ugly mistakes. He slid to the ground in the fourth quarter with his team leading and needing a first down. Had he simply dove over the line, Miami may have won the game without those final heroics. He dropped another first down throw that caused the final punt.

Stills didn't quit, he stepped into the open zone, caught that final pass and flipped it to Parker, who flipped it to Drake, who found the endzone. Stills knew it was a desperate play, but he also knew it was possible because Miami had left themselves in a position for luck to do its magic.

Maybe all Dolphin fans need to learn the lesson of luck. When you give up and put a lucky break out of reach from helping, you lose. The luck was there, the same luck everyone has, but luck doesn't matter if you can't use it.

Tannehill may never be a great quarterback, Stills may never be a great receiver and Adam Gase may never be a great coach, but they will win. The will win because they do not give up.

The Miami Dolphins probably need a better QB, could use some linebackers and secondary...

But in the end, if they believe they can win and keep victory in their grasp...

These Miami Dolphins will find a way...

Miami Dolphins vs Patriots Week 14 Game Chat

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Miami Dolphins at Bills Week 13 Game Chat

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