The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

Aug. 4     Dallas Cowboys (Canton, Ohio)       8 p.m.

TBD.        at Jacksonville                              TBD.

TBD.        at Houston                                    TBD.

TBD.        Tampa Bay                                    TBD.

TBD.        New Orleans                                  TBD.

I know I will get to see at least three of them live on TV. A local station played the games outside Florida on tape delay last year so maybe I can catch them all again this year.

NFL Network airs them all

Normally, with 4 preseason games, you see:
1) Starters for about two drives.
2) Starters for about three drives.
3) Starters for a full half, halftime adjustments, then one drive in the 3rd quarter.
4) MAYBE one drive, and it's a half-assed one.

How does it go when you have 5 games?

Probably you repeat part 1 of your schedule a second time.

It means the first game you will see a lot of the "stars" not dress and they will be in street clothes and you might see Tannehill for 1 series. The first game (when you play 5) is more of a joke than the last preseason game usually is

And pray no one on your team is on the Madden cover.

5 games ??? ???

Now the Nfl really need to cut preseason down to 3

2 would be the sweet spot....one home, one away.

I thought the last time we played in Canton starters played into the second quarter? I know Brian, Tony and maybe others were there. Anyone remember?

I was there, but I don't remember.  I was surprised they played more than 1 drive.

Brighthouse just added the NFL network recently so that wasn't even a consideration before. Don't they abbreviate the games though?

Might not all be relevent as Philban wasn't the coach then. 

nope

no I know that. I just figured maybe national audience on the NFL stage teams may approach that particular game different then regular preseason.

Regular Season schedule to be released Thursday at 8pm

Romo and Orton won't play in the Hall of Fame game. Cowboys are sitting a lot of their top guys

Hope Miami does the same. Nothing to gain by playing that 5th preseason game. It's foolish

Romo is not playing because he's still recovering from surgery in April and they are taking it slowly with him. They don't want to put him at risk of getting injured. On top of that he's a seasoned vet, he doesn't need the extra work. Despite this Romo wants to play and says they'll have to give him a good reason not to play. Maybe they are a little worried about putting Tony up against Wake, Vernon, Wheeler and Ellerbe? Tannehill is a completely different situation.

There is everything to gain by playing as many guys as you can.  With all the new faces on this team, a 5th game is extremely valuable

There is nothing to gain. The game doesn't count!  Just like when Sprano was playing Jake Long right before halftime of the last preseason game when every team across the league didn't play their starters or benched them after 1 series and got Jake's leg hurt in meaningless time. Playing star players in a 5th and meaningless presesaon game is asking for trouble!

Give them a series at most in these games and with a 5th preseason game I got no problem benching them all together

Injuries are a part of the game and you can't predict when they will happen. If Long doesn't get hurt in a preseason game, what's to say he doesn't get hurt on the first play of the regular season and then what difference did it make? You can't let injuries dictate getting prepared. Now, if you are prepared, there's no reason to risk it, but I don't think anyone believes that everyone is ready to play the season now. Use the time to get prepared and then give them the rest they need, not vice versa.

If he gets hurt in a regular season game you can live with it. If you are risking a guy for no reason in meaningless games with no value...then it becomes plain stupid!Play a series or two then get everyone out. Since there are 5 preseason games there are a bunch of guys who should be sitting out the first two or the last two and not even dress.

And if he's not ready to play you lose the game even with him. You have to prepare your players even if it means risking them to injury. Once they are fully prepared for the season then you can sit them out and not a second before.

There is still practice which you can get more quality work done in than these meaningless games.

Getting ready for the season requires a level of intensity that increases injury risk, whether in practice or pre-season game. No amount of time on a stationary bike will get anyone ready for actual football games,

Practice certainly can help you prepare, but in preseason games you get to see things that you never see in practice. You are facing different people, running different offenses/defenses etc. On top of that practice speed/contact is one thing and game speed/contact is another. Preseason games do have value and yes with that there comes some risk. The trick is finding the right balance of using the preseason to get prepared while not over exposing the players to the risk.

Besides, it's not like players don't get hurt in practice all the time too.

My take is play mostly the guys who are still on their rookie contract or maybe a recently acquired FA who need practice with the system.  But the vets only need a small amount of playing time to warm up for the season.

A guy like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning isn't going to get much out taking snaps in a preseason game.  Even a guy like Orton or Sanchez  has enough experience that one more game isn't going to have much benefit their skills (or lack thereof) isn't going to change much at this point.   

On the other hand a guy like Tannehill or Geno Smith would benifit greatly from the game reps.   

unless, you know, you're throwing to a completely new group of players... as far as I can tell, Brady could be without his #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5 targets from last year -- Gronk isn't back from multiple surgeries, post-op infections, more surgery... Even if he makes the season opener, you'd really want to try out your other options. That leads to Lloyd, who could still be resigned.

You can practice with receivers all you want, but game day timing is different and any reps that could help that along would be extremely useful.

This is exactly my point.  With all the new faces on this team, certain players need as much game time work as possible.  That's why this extra game will be beneficial.

Preseason football isn't real "game time". It's a joke. It's on par with the pro bowl. At least in a practice you got guys in somewhat of a controlled environment and while yes there is still risk (as we saw this week) the risk is greatly reduced!

Philbin said yesterday at his press conference that he and the staff are going to sit down this week and see who actually dresses this week for the Cowboys game. Hopefully he has a little common sense and doesn't dress anyone of any significance on this team.

Especially with all the big injuries that have occurred this week...I mean Maclin, Pitta, Harvin and denver's starting center are supposedly all done for the season.  Preseason is a showcase for the few open spots, the starters hopefully have worked hard enough in practice, that come Week 1 are ready to go.

All of those injuries were in PRACTICE, not a pre-season game. I think some of you think the games are more dangerous then practice is. I don't think that's true. You have so many more reps in practice that a pre-season game in comparison is relatively safe. The difference is that in practice you are going up against the same players over and over and over. You know them so well that you know what they are going to do before they do it. A game situation is completely different. It's a chance to see how you perform against an opponent. It's a chance to see you perform when the lights and the camera's are on and the fans (the few that are there) are there. It's a chance to see things at full speed, when you are taking guys to the ground and all that. It's a chance to see something different and that is EXTREMELY important especially now that contact has been limited in practices.

Haven't any of you played a sport? You honestly believe that a game, even a pre-season game isn't any different than practice? I'm shocked because I've played a lot of sports and games are ALWAYS different even if it doesn't count. You heard Mike Wallace talk about how in the scrimmage that the offense is Miami and the defense is just the competition. You don't think that's even more pronounced in a pre-season game where the competition is really just the competition? In practice a win for the offense is a loss for the defense. You don't really know what you have till you go up against an opponent. Don't be fooled by MikeO. Preseason games ARE important and they are MUCH more valuable than the STUPID pro-bowl game ESPECIALLY for guys trying to make the team. I don't mean whether you win them or not, I'm talking about you perform. For many of the players, what they do in the pre-season games may be the difference between them making the team and not making the team. It's not important for the returning veterans to play or to play well, but for just about everybody else it is important. Not more important than practice, but certainly on par with practice. If you don't think it would be HUGE for Sturgis to get into a preseason game and nail a 50 yarder, well then I don't know what to tell you because until he does it in a game, even a pre-season game it's doesn't mean squat.

I know most of you only really care about the starters, but the fact of the matter is that the starters make up less than 1/2 the team. The OTHER half the team is JUST as important when the real games start.

I agree with pappy preseason sucks for fans because starters usually are not playing for their job.  However if you are trying to make the team it is very important to the player. Philbin said he welcomed the fifth game because it gave him a chance to evaluate players in an extra game. And its kinda football well better than nothing.

As a fan, I like watching 3rd string guys fight for their jobs.  I like seeing guys like Chris Hogan and Jarrell Root fight to get their roster spot, and try to understand the GM's and coaches' decisions to keep or cut a guy.

I don't look at preseason to watch good football.  I watch it to see who is quality players and who might pop up on another squad somewhere later.