FIRE EVERYBODY!!! State of the Dolphins and Their Fans

Fire everyone! Time to move on! The quarterback sucks! Fire Wallace! Fire Tannehill! Fire Jeff Ireland! Sell the team to Chuck Norris! Fire Coach Philbin! Fire Mike Sherman! Get rid of Wake and Wallace for some cap room! The logo sucks!

(I'm not going to bring up the logo again. This post is not about the logo. I only added that comment about the logo to show that some fans still can't get over it. Want to gripe about the logo? Read this post, and gripe there.)

All of those were comments I've seen on the Miami Dolphins Facebook page. I have never seen such a group of uninformed wannabe team owners in my life. Let's revisit some Dolphins history shall we?

Since the last time they were in the AFC Championship, the Jacksonville Jaguars and Carolina Panthers have both become teams, and both have been to the conference championships TWICE. Carolina has even been to a Super Bowl, and currently, they are the number 2 seed in the NFC. The Houston Texans have become a team, and have been to the AFC Championship.

Also since the last time the Dolphins were in the AFC Championship, The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints (2 long time bottom feeder teams) have both won Super Bowls. The San Francisco 49ers have won a Super Bowl, lost the players on that team, went through a stagnant phase, rebuilt, and have been to another Super Bowl, and are looking to go again. The Seattle Seahawks (another long time bottom feeder) have been to a Super Bowl, and are a favorite to be in the next one, and are well on their way, being the current #1 seed in the NFC.. The Rams were in 2 Super Bowls. Won one, lost one. Not to mention the Patriots becoming the latest dynasty. The Baltimore Ravens, formerly the Cleveland Browns go from decades of being horrible to winning 2 Super Bowl championships. Even the Arizona Freaking Cardinals made it to a Super Bowl, and almost won it!

Believe it or not, there are fans of other teams who have had it worse. MUCH worse than Dolphins fans.

By the way, the last time the Dolphins were in the AFC Championship was 1993.

Yep. Yous guys did SO well once
ya got ridda me.

Don Shula retired in in 1996. Since then, Miami has had Jimmy Johnson, Dave Wannstedt, Nick (Prick)
Saban, Cam Cameron, Tony Sparano, and now Joe Philbin. Plus, 2 interim coaches who stepped in when Dave Wannstedt and Tony Sparano ran for the hills. For those of you scoring at home, that's 6 coaches (8 if you count the interim coaches) in 17 years. That's horrible.

So, I have a question. What has the revolving door of coaches gotten the Dolphins since 1996? SEVEN LOSING SEASONS SINCE 2002. Dave Wannstedt had only ONE losing season in 5 years. 11-5 twice and 10-6 once, and fans (including me) were demanding his head. Looking back, I wonder why we were giving him so much grief when the last time the Dolphins were in the Super Bowl was 1984! I would much rather see those numbers than the pathetic seasons Miami has had since Wanny was run out of town.

A QB with the last name 'Lemon'
probably wasn't a good idea.

And let's look at quarterbacks shall we? Since Dan Marino retired in 1999, SEVENTEEN quarterbacks have started for the Dolphins. Damon Huard, Jay Fiedler, Ray Lucas, Brian Griese, AJ Feeley, Sage Rosenfels, Gus Frerotte, Daunte Culpepper, Joey Harrington, Cleo Lemon, Trent Green, John Beck, Chad Pennington, Chad Henne, Tyler Thigpen, Matt Moore, and Ryan Tannehill.

So, are we noticing a pattern here? Basically, inconsistency=LOSING! So, to all the fans who are suggesting yet another turnover, let me just ask one question...What do you think that will accomplish? It will accomplish NOTHING, other than putting the Dolphins back in loserville for another 5 years. And what happens if the Dolphins hire Bill Cowher, or one of the other retread retired legends of years past, and they can't do it either? Jimmy Johnson ring a bell? I'll tell you what will happen. Lets say the

You fans DID demand this guy, and
you all know it.

7-8-1 in his first year,
7-9 in his second year???
OFF WITH HIS HEAD!!!

Dolphins hire Cowher, and he goes 6-10 in his first season. Some of the fans will be demanding his head right then. Others will wait until they go 7-9 the following season, then most will be on the 'Fire Bill Cowher' bandwagon. And 90% of the people calling for his head will be the people clamoring for Cowher in the first place. How do I know? Because that is EXACTLY what is happening now with Philbin. Lots of you were clamoring for Jeff Fisher. Well, in his first season with the Rams, he went 7-8-1, and 7-9 in his second. Should the Rams fire him? If not, then why not? Why does he get a pass but Philbin doesn't? Philbin at least has a winning season under his belt.  And, these same people are the first to throw owner Stephen Ross under the bus. Don't you remember how everyone was demanding Wayne Huizenga hire an offensive minded head coach? He went out and got the one who was considered the best available. Cam Cameron. Sure, he was a dud, but those same fans who were demanding Cameron were ready to crucify Huizenga for hiring him after they went 1-15. Should Cameron have been fired? Absolutely, but you can't blast Huizenga for hiring him when you were demanding that he be hired in the first place. You can't have it both ways, people.

Damn dude, your offensive line REALLY sucks!
They didn't even TRY to block me!

Now, the Dolphins do have problems that need to be addressed, and I'm going to get into those right now.
Coach Philbin, sit down. You aren't going anywhere. That's right. Philbin is the best coach we have had in a long time. In fact all of the coaches need to stay except offensive coordinator, Mike Sherman, and offensive line coach, Jim Turner. The offensive plays this year were reminiscent of the conservative and predictable play calling by Tony Sparano. And the offensive line? Ryan Tannehill was sacked almost 60 times this year. So, bring in another offensive coordinator, and another offensive line coach.

The other problems Miami has are the deep ball, and running game. Both in my opinion would be corrected if Tannehill had faith in his offensive line. He and Mike Wallace did find some chemistry later in the season. The running game showed signs of life too. But, did you notice something? The offensive tightened up in the later part of the season. Not enough for Sherman and Turner to keep their jobs, but enough to show that the talent is there.

The main whipping boy for these fans is GM, Jeff Ireland. He is another person who is being unfairly thrown under the bus. Honestly, did ANY of you think that all those free agents he brought in would click and gel

overnight? I remember alot of you saying that you didn't have the highest of expectations for this season, but the expectations were for the 2014 season. So, what changed? Nothing changed. Only the direction that the wind was blowing in your heads. So why not give Ireland the time you so graciously allowed him during the 2013 offseason? If next season doesn't end with a playoff berth, then it will be time for Ireland to pack his bags.

The bottom line here is that the Dolphins have the best team they have had in a very long time. Ryan Tannehill is going to be a top NFL QB for a long time. Brian Hartline and Mike Wallace are going to be the best WR tandem since Duper and Clayton. Want to free up some cap space? Don't resign Dustin Keller at tight end. We don't need him. Charles Clay has emerged to be the best tight end the Phins have had in a very long time. The defense is set, although they could use some depth in the secondary.

No, ref..YOU are wrong. 8 of 9 on challenges confirms that I
am RIGHT. (Not part of the post, but I had to add it because
I am sure the refs hate Philbin because of that record.)

It isn't all gloom and doom, fellow Dolfans. The problems Miami has are so manageable it isn't even funny. New offensive coordinator, new offensive line coach, some new offensive linemen, and MAYBE a runningback. We are the closest we've been to a championship in a very VERY long time, and we will get there, but hitting the reset button yet again is NOT the way to do it. Like I said...The deep ball and the running game would fix themselves with a better offensive line. Other than that, the only other problem I see is finishing games. They need to not be afraid to run the score up on an opponent. They need to put their opponent away, and not let up on them. How many blown leads did Miami have this year? Do you see Peyton Manning and the Broncos easing up once they are up 10 points? No. And the reason why is because you don't win games that way. You need to put your foot on your opponent's throat, and keep it there until the clock reads all zeros.

Have faith, Dolfan Faithful. We are almost there! We are closer than we were in 2002-2003 when only a crappy backup QB ruined it for us. Keep your chin up, and we will get there. Once we do, there will be a dynasty in South Florida!

Here's some food for thought...Wouldn't you like to see an all Florida Super Bowl between the Bucs and Dolphins? It could happen.

One last thing before I end this...At least we aren't Jaguars fans. 

And Russell Wilson thanks you from the bottom of his heart.