More positives to look at.

[Doc-phin]

1 - I am sooooo happy with our special teams coverage thus far.  Particularly I am impressed with the play of Jason Allen and Lex Hilliard.  The return game will never be great unless we get a dynamic return guy or our return blocking just goes ape.  Otherwise, special teams has made huge strides that should not be overlooked.

2 - Our D-line play is sooo good against the run, we can really consider more corner play in the backfield.  I really don't know why they continue to play Jones over Jason Allen, but if they ever wise up and make that switch I think we start to see some major improvement in pass defense.

3 - Our O-line is definitely ready to handle a young QB behind center.  Jake Grove appears to be the real deal and Donald Thomas is still healthy.  Pennington's injury really had nothing to do with bad O-line play. 

4 - Next two games are at home which is great for a young QB,  just hope the weather is good.  Would be great if crowd noise remains a factor even with the record the way it is and the conservative playcalling being a snoozer.  This remains to be seen.

5 - Jason Taylor still looks good.  He seems to be getting closer and closer to big plays.  It also appears that he is allowing single coverage 

Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of other positives I could find.  But hell, at least I found some.  I just think we have to give credit where credit is due.  This is my attempt to bring balance to the bashing.

[masterfins]

I would add that both Ronnie and Ricky are doing well, in no small part to the O-Line doing a great job.

[Doc-phin]

I would add that both Ronnie and Ricky are doing well, in no small part to the O-Line doing a great job.

Not trying to side-track my own thread but...

Are they really doing all that great?  The holes are pretty big to run through.  They get to the point where there is one guy to beat and they go down.  To be fair, I see this more with Ronnie.  Ricky is usually surrounded by tacklers.  With this many rush attempts, someone should have broken a big one by now.  And from what I have seen there have been oppurtunities to break a few big runs.

None-the-less, I am satisfied with the run game.

[David Fulcher]

2 - Our D-line play is sooo good against the run, we can really consider more corner play in the backfield.  I really don't know why they continue to play Jones over Jason Allen, but if they ever wise up and make that switch I think we start to see some major improvement in pass defense.

I agree particularly with this comment, and I don't feel like I've been hearing it enough.  Granted, it is only 3 games into the season, but I get particularly excited about the prospects of a team that can just shut down the opposition's running game, in the vein of what Pittsburgh and Baltimore have been able to do against most team's (I know about the Giants' game last season against Baltimore, I said most) these past 3-4 seasons. 

I don't know, as crazy as that may sound, I almost get more fired up about seeing the 'Phins not be able to be run against than anything else.  With some more athletic LB's (particulary ILB's--like most others here, I think we could use 'em), I can only see this aspect getting better, particularly with Starks, Langford, and Merling's youth at DE.  Defense talked about this last some season, and I completely agree--if we can truly establish ourselves on both sides of the line, I think we will really take off from there, regardless of the skill player set.  It doesn't hurt to have great skill players, don't get me wrong, but as cliched as it may sound, I think games are won at the line.  Maybe not so much this time of the season, but particularly as the year goes along, if you can impose your will on the opposition's defense by running it down their throats, and then make them one-dimensional because they can't run on you offensively...man, that's a great feeling, and I don't know if it's one that I've ever seen simultaneously with the Dolphins (the 2002 season came close, but we didn't even make the playoffs then for obvious [i.e., Wanny] reasons), but I'm excited about the prospects of it with what this team has been able to do so far, whether we have the threat of a vertical passing game or stopping the vertical passing game or not. 

[fyo]

2 - Our D-line play is sooo good against the run, we can really consider more corner play in the backfield.  I really don't know why they continue to play Jones over Jason Allen, but if they ever wise up and make that switch I think we start to see some major improvement in pass defense.

How much of this is our linebackers and strong safety cheating up? That would explain why we suck so much at defending the deep pass. If you look at the tape, even a HINT of a handoff and the safeties come crashing.

[Doc-phin]

How much of this is our linebackers and strong safety cheating up? That would explain why we suck so much at defending the deep pass. If you look at the tape, even a HINT of a handoff and the safeties come crashing.

I have watched close enough to confidently say that it has very little to do with our Safeties and ILB play.  Our outside linebackers have had to make a few tackles, but primarily it is Furgeson, Langford, and whoever they put on the otherside (Merling, Starks) that are getting the job done.  Our middle three D-linemen are playing like beasts right now.

[Defense54]

More Optimisim! Awesome!  Keep it coming!