Interesting and telling stat - its all about the FG

[Brian Fein]

Looking at Carpenter's numbers this season:

15 of 15 under 39 yards.  in 15 games.
17 of 27 outside of 40.

Why the hell are 65% of his attempts 40+ yards?  That means the ball is no closer than the 23 yard line.  And its not like they're scoring TD's every time they get that close, because the Dolphins' offense is 31st in the league with 25 TD's (just over 1.5 per game).  But hey, we're 3rd in FGM...

Disgusting.

Why does the offense shut it down at the 30 yard line on every drive?  Is this part of the "make sure we get points/don't make mistakes" conservative game plan?

[dolfan13]

it's because inside the red zone nobody is going to be wide open. the throwing windows are real tight, and the reads are a lot quicker. watch any of the good qb's that have a lot of td's thrown. inside the red zone, watch the passes these guys throw. thread the needle, super quick throws. when they get to the line, they instantly read the d and know exactly where they need to put the ball.

everything inside the 20 yard line screams to henne's weaknesses.

[Brian Fein]

^^ agreed, but its not only Henne.  Where's the running game?  Where's the play designed to get guys open?  Why does it always seem to fall back to "when all else fails, WILDCAT?"

I'd think, inside the 30 is where your TE and backs should shine.  I don't think its all on "guys being wide open" to show why they can move the ball fairly easily all the way down the field and then stall at the 30.

[badger6]

it's because inside the red zone nobody is going to be wide open. the throwing windows are real tight, and the reads are a lot quicker. watch any of the good qb's that have a lot of td's thrown. inside the red zone, watch the passes these guys throw. thread the needle, super quick throws. when they get to the line, they instantly read the d and know exactly where they need to put the ball.

everything inside the 20 yard line screams to henne's weaknesses.

I believe you are correct. Henne can't read a defense for shit. As the field gets shorter all the outs, stop and comeback routes, and passes into the flat become more and more ineffective. In science it is referred to as "Henne's law of diminishing returns". Maybe he can go on ebay and find a like new Super Nintendo. I believe Tecmo Bowl might be a good starting point for Henne, ha ha.

[bsmooth]

I believe you are correct. Henne can't read a defense for shit. As the field gets shorter all the outs, stop and comeback routes, and passes into the flat become more and more ineffective. In science it is referred to as "Henne's law of diminishing returns". Maybe he can go on ebay and find a like new Super Nintendo. I believe Tecmo Bowl might be a good starting point for Henne, ha ha.

Your hatred is blinding you to what Brian is saying. We cannot punch the ball in with either a normal running game or the wildcat. We suck at smash mouth football in the red zone. We have become pretty much one dimensional on offensive selection inside the red zone.
There are more problems with this team besides "henne can't read".

[Brian Fein]

^^^ thank you bsmooth.  At least someone has more to say around here than "Henne sucks"

[badger6]

Your hatred is blinding you to what Brian is saying. We cannot punch the ball in with either a normal running game or the wildcat. We suck at smash mouth football in the red zone. We have become pretty much one dimensional on offensive selection inside the red zone.
There are more problems with this team besides "henne can't read".

Hatred ? I don't hate anyone on the Miami Dolphins. I was simply making a joke at Henne's expense, but that doesn't take away from the real fact that Henne simply sucks.

I know exactly what Brian was saying. My point is that if you can't throw the ball in the red zone and the defense knows this fact, they will play the run and stack the box and dare Henne to score and/or win the game. Which he has proven time and time again that he can't. Hence all the FGs !!! And the OL problem we have isn't helping either. Seems to me that week after week and interception after interception. Some people still are not convinced the Henne is not a viable long term solution at QB. Most people have accepted it but some haven't and probably never will. Our weakest link on the offense is Henne, simply because in my opinion the OL is much easier to fix.

Anyhow, Happy New Year guys !!!!

[MikeO]

The problems are 2 fold in Miami....

1) Ireland/Sparano/Parcells have failed at bringing in enough talent. Missed HIGH draft picks with Pat White, Sean Smith, Chad Henne, and Patrick Turner, which you can now label all 4 as TOTAL BUSTS. And HORRIBLE free agent signings with Justin Smiley, Eric Green, Gabril Wilson, Earnest Wilford (just to name a few). Even with the way Marshall played this year you can make the case Miami overpaid for him by giving up two 2nd round picks and giving him a huge contract that will tie up our salary cap when the salary cap returns. Ireland/Sparano/Parcells have failed so miserably in the player personnel area its scary.

2) The coaching staff has been below average to downright bad. Pasqualoni was a disaster for 2 years. Bonamego as a special teams coach was bad from day 1. And it took till year 3 until Sparano did anything about it. Henning is living in the 1950's and 60's with his style of offense that is outdated and doesn't work. And the coaches have relied too much on the "gimmick" WILDCAT. Sparano's in-game decisions have been questionable to bad at best. Calling timeout before the end of the first half vs New Orleans last year. NOT challenging the Saints defensive TD which wasn't a TD. Going for 2 vs the jets when kicking the extra point makes it a two score game. Clock management screw-up's vs the Jets in the 1st meeting this year.  The list is endless and I could go on and on.

The combination of those 2 things have damaged this franchise. And one offseason (lockout or not) upcoming can't erase the disaster Sparano/Ireland/Parcells have been.  In this division with 2 mega-powers in NE and NY, we are locked into a 3rd place for the immediate future. And the owner is content with that. Some fans seem content with that. And its more mediocrity on the way for Miami Dolphins football

[Brian Fein]

badger brings up a good point...

Why aren't the o-line problems being highlighted?

can't run cause the line can't give them space
can't pass cause Henne always has guys in his face.

Ever notice how Henne CAN make a throw or a read when he has time?  Problem is the d-line usually beats him to the top of the drop so he can't set and throw, he's always running.  And for a guy with little mobility, that's a bad recipe.

I wonder if fixing the o-line makes this an instantly-better team?

[tepop84]

badger brings up a good point...

Why aren't the o-line problems being highlighted?

can't run cause the line can't give them space
can't pass cause Henne always has guys in his face.

Ever notice how Henne CAN make a throw or a read when he has time?  Problem is the d-line usually beats him to the top of the drop so he can't set and throw, he's always running.  And for a guy with little mobility, that's a bad recipe.

I wonder if fixing the o-line makes this an instantly-better team?

No, he usually has plenty of time.  He usually runs into the pressure because he has absolutely no pocket presence.

[Brian Fein]

No, he usually has plenty of time.  He usually runs into the pressure because he has absolutely no pocket presence.

You don't watch many games do you? 

Many of the passing plays, he's scrambling before he even sets.

[tepop84]

You don't watch many games do you? 

Many of the passing plays, he's scrambling before he even sets.

I watch all of the games and I know when i see a qb who has no clue what the hell he is doing.

[Brian Fein]

I watch all of the games and I know when i see a qb who has no clue what the hell he is doing.

Awesome, congratulations.
heaven forbid someone should have a thread that is trying to discuss something other than how much Henne sucks.

[tepop84]

Awesome, congratulations.
heaven forbid someone should have a thread that is trying to discuss something other than how much Henne sucks.

Well the original thread topic, I don't really see how that has anything to do with anything.  Carpenter has a stronger leg than most kickers so of course he will have more long kicks.

[badger6]

badger brings up a good point...

Why aren't the o-line problems being highlighted?

can't run cause the line can't give them space
can't pass cause Henne always has guys in his face.

Ever notice how Henne CAN make a throw or a read when he has time?  Problem is the d-line usually beats him to the top of the drop so he can't set and throw, he's always running.  And for a guy with little mobility, that's a bad recipe.

I wonder if fixing the o-line makes this an instantly-better team?

Actually, I think that the OL is a big problem. But I have seen Henne with plenty of time hold the ball way too long also. I think if you fix the OL and Henne/Henning that we would fix 75% of the problems we have winning games