The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

It hasn't always been easy to be Dolphin fan over the past decade, but I believe we are moving in the right direction.  Despite our average record, most analyst see the Dolphins as a scrappy team that is going to fight hard.  I think a case can be made that the Dolphins talent has improved each year.  I'm optimistic about our future.  That said, I wonder about the fans of other teams that seemed to be in total disarray. 

Taking into consideration current talent, coaching, the front office and ownership, which NFL franchise is the most likely to disappoint their fans for years to come?

Several candidates....

1.  Bills -- Just like the Dolphins haven't done much since Marino left, the Bills have fared even worse since Kelly left.  And while the Dolphins seem to be moving in the right direction, the same can't be said for the Bills.  Both teams also have the problem of being in a division with two teams that will be fielding playoff caliber teams for the foreseeable future. 

2. Raiders - As long as Al Davis is running that team like it is 1970, the Raider fans are in for disappointment.  I predict KC wins 7 of the next 10 AFCW division titles.

3. Lions.  They are the Cubs of football. 

I think there might be a changing of the guard from Detroit to Buffalo.

Detroit blows and has big-time problems with their team.  However, they've gotten a lot of that out of the way and are showing some improvement.

Buffalo has some history and when I think of the Bills, I imagine snowy football and dudes painted up, grilling in arctic temperatures.  However, now that the team is bad and the Bills aren't getting a lot of press, they're kind of a sad franchise. I think that the Bills suffer from the "new NFL" more than most other teams.

The hardcore nature of football is dying, and when you can watch in a warm house on a 60" HDTV, the incentive to freeze your nuts off dwindles.  For better or worse, the NFL is becoming entertainment, more than just sports.  It's what they have to do to give people a reason to come to the games.  We have good weather, live bands outside, tailgating, cheerleaders, etc.  Buffalo has less of all of that, because it's such a crappy environment.

I find myself going to sporting events now and then for teams that I'm not passionate about, because it's still fun: baseball, NCAA, high school.  I don't think I'd be willing to go watch a crappy Bills team in 0 degree weather.

Cincinnati.  They have fundamental ownership problems, and unlike Oakland or Buffalo, they aren't likely to change anytime soon.

I'd be curious to hear from our members who support struggling teams other than (or in addition to) the Dolphins.

JTex - are you confident about the Giants moving forward with a resurgent Dallas and Philadelphia in the division? 
AZ - I know you went to the Cardinals game last week, is there a light at the end of the tunnel in Phoenix?  A few years removed from a Super Bowl and this team looks lost.
CF - I think you follow Tampa as well as the Dolphins.  Is this team for real, or is it all smoke an mirrors?
Stroke - The 49ers seem always on the verge of a breakout year, but haven't been able to get over the hump.  Is Mike Singletary the answer or the problem?

I don't think that is is the issue as much as the fact that Miami's population is about 10 times larger than Buffaloes.   

People who live in the North for the most part have learned how to have fun outdoors. Folks aren't staying home to watch it on TV more likely they are watching it on a portable TV while ice fishing or are skipping it to go skiing or snowmobiling. 

Some folks hide inside, for the winter.  Most do not. 

I say the Raiders. They have had the talent to easily contend for the AFC each year for decades, and even to run deep ino the playoffs, but Davis keep sabotaging them.

Hey Jim...I've lived in the Tampa area my whole life.  The Bucs are for real.  They've drafted amazingly the past two years and young guys are playing ahead of the curve.  Ill be shocked if Morris doesn't get coach of the year.  I think they are a year away from being an elite team.

I'm torn between a few teams, but I think I agree with Spider-Dan that Cincinnati is the team that will most disappoint fans for the foreseeable future.  Plenty of talent, but no discipline and a coach that I think should have been given his walking papers years ago.  Add in a skin-flint owner and you have a recipe for failure.
 
I was tempted to select the Raiders, but I figure that Al Davis can't live forever.  He can't live forever.....can he?  The Arizona Cardinals haven't been mentioned yet, but I think they are another franchise with a cheap owner that undermines the team.  At least I think they have a good coach.  How about the 49ers?  With John York running the team for his wife, the 49ers are a shadow of what they used to be. 

Detroit. Seems like that team's been snake bitten. They haven't been able to put together anything remotely cohesive since the Barry Sanders days, and even then they were usually knocked out of the playoffs in round 1. They're sub .500 record year after year has to get REAL old for their fans. I feel bad for 'em.

I think Detroit's problems began and ended with Matt Millen.  Granted, it took ownership longer than necessary to get rid of him, and they haven't fully recovered from his influence yet, but they look to have good decision makers in place, and seem to be a team poised to make a big jump (if Stafford can stay healthy).

I'll list four franchises that are the worst and I think the NFL should consider contracting.

1.  The Bills- Small market team, hasn't won jack shit.  Doesn't even play all its home games in its home stadium.

2.  The Jets- Haven't done jack shit in over 40 years.  Do we really need two teams representing NYC if one of them has this poor a track record?

3.  The Vikings.  This team also hasn't won a damn thing.  They had a couple big years back in the 1970's but aside from that and the occasional division title, do we really need them?  Especially when they play INDOORS?

4.  The Lions.  I actually feel bad for these guys because it was a proud franchise even when it was losing.  Now it's like watching a car crash.  Or the movie Groundhog Day.  Also haven't won anything in over 40 years.

They aren't the worst team, but this team may be one of the biggest disappointer's for the next several years.  Tennessee.  Yeah the Titans.  Hold on, let me make my case.

I think Jeff Fisher is close to being done and if he goes, then Tennessee will fall to the bottom of the league and stay there for a long time.  He's a great coach, but for as much talent as he's had to work with there the passed couple of years, they have not gotten it done.

Take Vince Young for instance.  Compare him to Henne, there's no comparison for raw talent, yet Vince hasn't really been that much more effective than Henne.  Oh yeah he has a great win loss record, but that's despite him rather than because of him. Most of the credit for those wins goes to Chris Johnson.  Young has got tremendous raw abilities, but he's been a huge head case and that's with one of the best coaches in the league.  If Fisher can't get Young to play then no one can.

The Titans have the talent and a good head coach and haven't looked any better than Miami this year.  Talk about disappointing.  If Jeff Fisher stays, they'll stay competitive, but he can't seem to get them over the hump.  I'm not sure what's missing, but if they ever lose Fisher this team will fall apart and with as much talent as the Titans have had, that's a lot more disappointing than the Bills in my humble opinion.

The 49ers will be fine...we just need two things:

1) A head coach who actually understands how to be a head coach
2) A starting QB who is better than the average arena league QB

Take care of those 2 things, and the 49ers are golden. I don't even care about the owner, as I think his role in how the team performs is pretty insignificant.

I think the same could be said about any teams.  I think you'll be hard pressed to name very many great coach/QB combos that are on crappy teams.

I'm not quite 100% with that...  I think you can have a solid QB, but if the coach sucks at game planning, that QB will never perform as well as he could. Likewise, you could have a coach that is very solid, but has so little talent to work with that he's never able to get the team to win consistently.

I think it's usually one or the other, but in the 49ers case, we have it harsh in both of those key spots. I absolutely love the young talent that SF has been drafting on both sides of the ball...now we just need a HC that knows how to use that talent, and a QB that doesn't self destruct on the field.

I think the offseason will prove what this team is going to do in the future. We all expected a let down season this year as we lost a tremendous amount of talent. (Warner, Boldin, Rolle, Dansby, Okefor, & Barry) I think ridding the team of Lineart was a great decision as no matter what people think about him, he was not a leader and he did not have the respect of his peers and teamates. These guys were not going to battle with him at the helm. Derek Anderson sucks donkey balls and I can let you know that all 233 Cardinals fans loathe him. We are hopefully going to utilize Skelton for the remainder of the season who is very unproven but has a cannon for an arm. I think they need to add a few run stoppers and a game managing QB, and improve the o-line a ton but they can contend to make the playoffs again. I mean really you only need about 8 wins in this division anyways lol. With that said I know the Bidwells are among the biggest tight asses in all of football so I fully expect them to return to the cellar where they belong for years to come. This is my 11th season having season tickets and while I do not see that changing anytime in the future, I can tell you that after the last two seasons where we tasted some success it has made this season really difficult. I wondered how I put up with that for 7 of the last 10 years as it did not bother me then. I have retrain my mind I guess to get back to the point where the growing losses do not affect me again.

I've analyzed the Detriot Lions franchise and here are the results:

Since 1990 (not counting 2010, so a good 20 seasons):

Detriot Lions:

8 Head Coaches (2 interim, 6 full-time)
121-199 W-L Record (.403 Win Pct.)
Best Record: 12-4 (1991)
Division Titles: 2 (1991, 1993)
Playoff Wins: 1 (1991)
Playoff Appearances (Seasons): 5 (1991, 1993-1995, 1997, 1999)
Conference Championship Games: 0
Conference Championships: 0
Super Bowl Appearances: 0
Super Bowl Wins: 0
10+ Win Seasons: 3 (1991, 1993, 1995)
10+ Loss Seasons: 12 (1990, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2001-2006, 2008-2009)

All Sources: NFL.com.

I wanted to analyze Buffalo, too, but their website doesn't have an easy history page like the Lions' website. Maybe later.

Buffalo Bills:

6 Head Coaches (1 interim, 5 full-time)
169-151 W-L Record (.528 Win Pct.)
Best Record: 13-3 (1990, 1991)
Division Titles: 4 (1990-1991, 1993, 1995)
Playoff Wins: 10 (1990-1993, 1995)
Playoff Appearances (Seasons): 8 (1990-1993, 1995-1996, 1998-1999)
Conference Championship Games: 4
Conference Championships: 4
Super Bowl Appearances: 4
Super Bowl Wins: 0
10+ Win Seasons: 8 (1990-1993, 1995-1996, 1998-1999)
10+ Loss Seasons: 6 (1997, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009)

Statistically, the only thing that the Detriot Lions are equal or greater than the Buffalo Bills are the number of Super Bowl victories. Other than that, Buffalo has been more successfull in the last 20 years than the Detriot Lions.

You can even narrow your focus closer and remove the 90's all together:

From 2000-2009:

Lions: 42-118 (.263 Win pct)
Bills: 66-94 (.413 Win pct)

Worst Lions Season: 0-16 (2008)
Best Lions Season: 9-7 (2000)
Lions Seasons at or over .500: 1 (2000)
Lions Seasons under .500: 9 (2001-2009)

Worst Bills Season: 3-13 (2001)
Best Bills Season: 9-7 (2004)
Bills Seasons at or over .500: 3 (2000, 2002, 2004)
Bills Seasons under .500: 7 (2001, 2003, 2005-2009)

The Bills have clearly not been as bad as the Lions have in last 10 AND in the last 20 years.

There's no question that the Bills have been better, but do they have a brighter future? 

While Detroit has enjoyed 15 years of major suckitude, I think they are on the rise.  Is the future of Detroit brighter than the future of Cincy or Arizona?  I believe that it is.......but I wouldn't bet money on it, given the Lions history.

I probably would, just because I think that Detroit "really" has a lot more quality talent than either Cincy or the Cards. By this time next season, I expect any conversation about "who's the best defensive lineman in the NFL" to start with Ndamukong Suh. That dude is an absolute monster, and he's just going to get better. If you take the first and second round picks that Detroit has made the past two drafts, I see 5-for-5 in quality building blocks:

2009:
QB Matt Stafford - Has had injury issues, but I still see him as an outstanding NFL QB just waiting to happen
TE Brandon Pettigrew - Very talented young TE, only Calvin has more receptions or rec yds for Detroit
FS Louis Delmas - Has been Detroit's starting FS since game one of his rookie year...excellent two way safety who leads Detroit in tackles this season

2010:
DT Ndamuking Suh - See comment above...Mr House of Spears is a mutant freak and could very well accidentally kill someone on the field someday
RB Jahvid Best - Some injury concerns as well, but no arguing his talent when he's on the field. Kid knows where the end zone is every time the ball is in his hands.

^This feels like the Houston Texans story to me. Every year they are "That next new team on the rise", and every year they disappoint.

Will the Lions be all hyped up like the Texans were this year and go 5-11 next season?

Not sure...my crystal ball is in the shop for calibration.  Talent-wise, I expect them to get some hype next preseason, especially if all the young talent is healthy coming into the season.

Rumor has it the Redskins are thinking of changing their team name to the Generals. 

Denver!

Denver may be getting close to bringing in Elway to be their equivalent of the Dolphin's Bill Parcells.  So you have an someone who is an untouchable God-like figure because of his abilities as a QB running the team who has zero knowledge of how to run a franchise just how to play QB.   2011 Denver finish last in the AFC!