My plate of crow...

[EKnight]

I was totally wrong about our ability to cover the NE TE's. Henne looked fantastic at times, but missed some receivers open in the end zone twice, which caused us to settle for 3 points instead of 14. Nothing else to say. Brady was a freak. -EK

[David Fulcher]

^^ Ha ha ha--pretty funny stuff!  I like that you'd even do that, EK...says a lot about you in this "message board/forum society" in which we currently reside.

As for me, I don't think that I necessarily need to have my share of crow for the week, but I did want to at least address a few things that were in that other thread about Pats--Dolphins discussion where Hoodie and I had an exchange regarding the teams. 

I do want to say, Hoodie, that I hope you read my whole post (I know they tend to be drawn out, but at least I use good grammar and try to spell correctly, so they aren't the worst to read--I hope!), because basically I acknowledged that I didn't know if the 'Phins were of playoff caliber/quality for this season, either, though I thought we'd be improved.  I also said that y'all are probably still a good, if not great, team, so for you to say my "analysis" had nothing else to it would be--well, not such a good thing for you, either.     Of course, I offered up no prediction for the game, either, other than I thought y'all wouldn't push us around or dominate us because, whether it's silly or not, I'm just a little superstitious with offering up score/final predictions on my teams, particularly the 'Phins.

For now, though, at least where I was wrong, was thinking we'd be a lot improved from where we were last season.  Granted, some players looked to be so, in particular one Chad Henne, but overall, I thought we were behind what I was expecting, very, very much so on the defensive side of the ball.  How much of that was just Tom's mastery of y'all's offense and synchronization with the talent around him, and how much of it was just that we were unprepared and/or not as talented as I expected, I think remains to be seen, but needless to say, I was quite disappointed with that side of the ball and in general with the team's performance, though Henne was obviously a bright spot.  I also thought Reggie played fairly well considering how much he was out on the damn field.

Where I don't think I was ridiculously off was thinking that y'all's additions weren't that impressive.  I know it was just the first game, so again, we'll see, but other than the defensive line (and I have little faith in our offensive line right now anyways, so I don't know how much that even means), I didn't think the other units you had mentioned like WR and secondary looked improved.  I saw a few plays where Haynesworth got penetration or a tackle at the line of scrimmage, and I'll admit, that was more than I was expecting, but I didn't feel like he was that much better than what I remember seeing out of Brace or Deadrick last season. 

As for Chad O., the stats spoke for themselves.  I would say he didn't do much, but considering he was the reason that that big gainer to Rob Gronkowski (which one, I know!   .... ) got called back, he actually probably hurt y'all overall.  Didn't pay attention whether he run-blocked in the game or not, but we both know that's not his forte so I don't expect much happened there. 

So, overall, I'll give you that maybe your d-line is improved, though again how much of that was our offensive line's inadequacy or not, I'm not sure yet, but other than that, y'all possibly looked worse on defense and about the same on offense--which I'll give you was obviously plenty enough on that night.

Congrats on the win and I hope the Dolphins can do much better next time on Christmas Eve!

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

@David

The only thing you said that I thought was at all off the wall in the other thread was your comment about clairvoyance and dismissing the recent past for assigning the labels of "playoff caliber."  The rest while clearing viewing things thru aqua and orange glasses was reasonable.  I think analysis can fall into five basic categorizes:  objective, optimistic and homeristic, pessimistic, blinded outrage.     Your analysis tends to be what I would call optimistic.  (I tend to think mine does too just for a different team)  Tenshot & EKnight  tends to be homeristic and on the opposite side of the spectrum tepop & MikeO are often in the  blinded outrage category.   I think it is very rare  for a fan of a team to ever achieve objective.  But I consider anything in the pessimistic to optimistic areas as reasonable analysis. 

I also don't think there is anything wrong with being homeristic.  Doesn't make for very good analysis but being a fan is about generating good analysis.  I have to wonder why those who live in the world of blinded outrage even bother rooting for their team. 

But getting back to pre vs. post game views of the game. 

Actually Henne improved quite considerably over last year.  I was shocked (and disappointed)   And either the Dolphins offense is a lot better than I thought or the NEP defense is not nearly as good as I thought, cause Dolphins moved the ball a lot better than I expected them to. 

The Dolphins pass defense is something a Dolphin fan should be worried about.  Yes, Brady is an elite QB but last year the Dolphins were the 6th best passing defense in the leauge.  They didn't look that way on Monday regardless of the skill of the opposing QB.

[Tenshot13]

Don't think that being a homer means poor analysis of said team.  Using me as an example, I can easily tell you who is performing and who isn't, what we need to do as a team to perform better, ect.  I could tell you all day how Fasano is inconsistant from game to game, or how our offensive line is a mess or how our running game is just not there.  My homerism comes from an optimism that my team will overcome these problems our find other solutions to succeed.  That doesn't mean I can't be realistic on issues the team has.  I do believe, however, that the Dolphins are going to win each and every week.  To clarify, I know they won't win every game.  I'm no blind idiot.  But I choose to root and believe in my team that way.  A player on the team will never say the other team is going to win when they play them, so why should I.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

  A player on the team will never say the other team is going to win when they play them, so why should I.

I go with the assumption that all the players on the teams are homers and if they aren't they are a serious locker room problem that needs to be traded. 

Note:  I didn't say there is anything wrong with being a homer, just that it tends to create bad analysis at least in the predict who is going to win this week.  I don't think there is anything wrong with being a homer.

[Tenshot13]

I go with the assumption that all the players on the teams are homers and if they aren't they are a serious locker room problem that needs to be traded. 

Note:  I didn't say there is anything wrong with being a homer, just that it tends to create bad analysis at least in the predict who is going to win this week.  I don't think there is anything wrong with being a homer.

Good point.  I agree.

[David Fulcher]

@David

The only thing you said that I thought was at all off the wall in the other thread was your comment about clairvoyance and dismissing the recent past for assigning the labels of "playoff caliber."  The rest while clearing viewing things thru aqua and orange glasses was reasonable.  I think analysis can fall into five basic categorizes:  objective, optimistic and homeristic, pessimistic, blinded outrage.     Your analysis tends to be what I would call optimistic.  (I tend to think mine does too just for a different team)  Tenshot & EKnight  tends to be homeristic and on the opposite side of the spectrum tepop & MikeO are often in the  blinded outrage category.   I think it is very rare  for a fan of a team to ever achieve objective.  But I consider anything in the pessimistic to optimistic areas as reasonable analysis. 

The Dolphins pass defense is something a Dolphin fan should be worried about.  Yes, Brady is an elite QB but last year the Dolphins were the 6th best passing defense in the leauge.  They didn't look that way on Monday regardless of the skill of the opposing QB.

I have to say, after I read your response to my post earlier, I was quite enthused--happy with the fact that as fans of opposing teams (particularly division rivals), we can actually discuss things pretty well, even if it is just "the internets"!  It's not much, I know, but in this day and age of typical mb banter, as I've seen fyo astutely point out in the past, I'll take what I can get.   

Anyways, as to what you were saying...yeah, I wasn't trying to cut you down even though I used "clairvoyance" in that one post, I was just meaning, like I said, that I thought you were "better than" pretending that just because a team did well (or poorly, even) the season before, does not mean that they'll necessarily do the same the following season.  Like I also mentioned in that post, we've certainly seen teams that continually do well in this era/decade, such as your Pats, the Colts, the Eagles, the Steelers, and maybe a few others, and then there have also been teams that have continued to perform poorly for the most part, such as the Browns, the Raiders (besides the early part of the decade), the Lions, and a few others.  But in between, there's a lot of teams such as the Titans, the Bucs, the Giants, the Vikings, etc. etc., who seem to bounce around and have very good seasons one year and then fairly poor seasons the next.  I know that's part of parity in today's NFL as well as injuries (one of THE most important factors in my eyes, actually), but the fact remains that, even sometimes without huge additions to the roster but rather just time to gel together as a unit(s) as well as good health and/or luck, plus maybe the addition of a missing piece or two (including new coordinator(s)), and that's it, and teams do really well the next season. 

That's really all I was trying to say in regards to how I thought it was possible that Miami could still have a surprisingly good season even though they haven't, as you put it, had an Eagles-like offseason (and personally I'm glad that they didn't).  Really, other than the draft of course, it was just Reggie added on offense, Burnett added on defense, and Daboll added as the new o-coordinator, but I was happy with that.   We'll see how Daboll progresses as a playcaller, and I wasn't particularly impressed with Burnett's play Monday night (who did have close to a decent game on defense for us that night, though?), but I thought Reggie already looked really good, especially considering he played damn near the whole game.

As for my own analysis type--I think you probably hit it close on the head for me.  While I won't label EKnight or Tenshot as homers myself, I don't think that I am one because I know that we're not the best team overall.  Do I think we can beat anybody on a particular day?  With rare exceptions, yes.  But do I really expect it depending on the situation/team?  No, not necessarily.  Even with my love for the team, which certainly factors into things as you will acknowledge yourself, I try to be as objective as I can other than hoping my team always pulls through.  I could possibly be more along the objective side of things rather than optimistic if I just got to see them play more, including preseason, but I still don't have NFL Ticket so most seasons I only get to see 1/3-1/2 the games in their entirety.  Last season was probably an exception, I think I saw closer to 2/3 of our games.  With more viewings, I probably would have a more informed opinion, one way or the other, as to how good (or bad) the team really is.

btw, just stating my opinion, but I do think people like fyo could be fairly labeled as 'objective', and probably even 'Stroke, too, but maybe that's because he's really just a damn, dirty Niners fan.    Obviously they're fans, but I feel like they'll point out strengths and weaknesses fairly and have the statistics (pretty pointed ones, at that) to back up their claims.

Finally, regarding our pass defense...yeah, I'm still not sure how much of it was Brady having so much time back there plus being so in tune with your WR/TE corps, but regardless, you're right, I certainly have worries about the pass defense.  I'm not sure if it's mostly just because he felt like no pressure and so it was easy for him (and most other decent NFL QB's) to just pick us apart, or if it was mostly sucky coverages by the back 8, or a combination of both.  I'm guessing it was a combo. of both, but either way, I'm hoping they can get it remedied quickly for this game coming up on Sunday!