Boys-Phins

[EKnight]

Another loss because of coaching and poor QB play. Plus Jake Long committing way too many penalties.

Defense played well.....again! Coaching, QB, and offense still sucks against decent opponents which Dallas was.

I must've been watching a different game. What I saw was the offense put the team in a position to win, and the defense let Romo march right down the damn field to kick a FG and win the game. Dansby says he's the best LB in all of football, and he comes out with 2 whole tackles? The entire pass rush was non-existant in the fourth quarter. The O-line sucked for the entire game, but the D wasn't exactly stellar in the second half. -EK

[masterfins]

^^^ Yeah, I'd agree that the Defense (coaches and players) failed down the stretch once again this year, but they did play well up until that point..  However, the missed snap by Moore and poor offensive line play also hurt.  I'd say this was a team loss, especially when you add in the missed field goal by special teams.

[Pappy13]

The offense didn't play that well either. They had the ball in good field position twice because of interceptions and all they got out of it was a FG I believe.  Miami had plenty of oppportunities to put points on the board in the 1st half and only had 9 points. If Miami converts just one of those opportunities into a TD, perhaps they are winning by more than 2 late in the game.

[EKnight]

Pappy- totally agree. I was simply saying that the D was not stellar. -EK

[MikeO]

The defense gave up 2 Touchdowns. One of which the Cowboys started the drive on the 2 yard line.

The defense played well! PERIOD!

[Pappy13]

^^They also gave up the game winning drive to the 10 yard line without much trouble. I got the feeling that if Dallas needed a TD on that final drive they would have gotten it. Dallas shot themselves in the foot early with a couple costly INT's that Tony will do from time to time. It was nice to see Miami get a couple picks, but both I believe bounced off a player before landing in the hands of a defender. I'm not knocking the D, but lets not get carried away with them either. Let's face it, neither the offense nor the defense could do anything with the game on the line.

[EKnight]

You must not argue with Mike. He knows all and sees all. If he says the defense played stellar football, it MUST be true (didn't you see that he said that, "PERIOD?" The entire collapse of the franchise is the fault of Henne and Marshall, not the defense that is 24th int he league and giving up nearly 20 ppg. Haven't you been paying attention? -EK

[tubba marxxx]

You must not argue with Mike. He knows all and sees all. If he says the defense played stellar football, it MUST be true (didn't you see that he said that, "PERIOD?" The entire collapse of the franchise is the fault of Henne and Marshall, not the defense that is 24th int he league and giving up nearly 20 ppg. Haven't you been paying attention? -EK

to be fair, the defense is 16th in the league (pass defense is 24th, run defense is 7th)

[EKnight]

Sorry, I shoulda been clearer. They're 24th in points allowed. -EK

[MikeO]

You must not argue with Mike. He knows all and sees all. If he says the defense played stellar football, it MUST be true (didn't you see that he said that, "PERIOD?" The entire collapse of the franchise is the fault of Henne and Marshall, not the defense that is 24th int he league and giving up nearly 20 ppg. Haven't you been paying attention? -EK

No Parcells, Ireland, Sparano, Henne....with Marshall sprinkled in! That's the reason we suck and the collapse of the franchise.

Giving up around 20ppg should be enough to win more than 3 stinkin times!  If an offense can't score more than 20 pts on a somewhat consistent basis in this league with these rules tilted towards the offense, something is wrong with the offense. The defense isn't outstanding but its played good enough to win more than 3 times. Last Thursday was a prime example. They gave up 1 legit TD drive the entire game and we lose because the offense sucks.....AGAIN!

If you want to take the opposite stance of this, feel free but you look foolish!

[EKnight]

I look foolish thinking a defense that is supposed to have been top five in the league but is next to last in creating turnovers is somehow supposed to be good enough to win more than three games? Or is it that allowing 20 ppg should be good enough to win more than three games? Giving up three TD's every week is NOT going to win a lot of games. And for the record, the D didn't give up "just one other TD" against Dallas. Cowboys scored 20 points. That means the D gave up 13 points beyond the TD with great field position. Do points scored on FG's suddenly not count? Take away the three games we won-- against teams combined to be 13-20-- and the defense is allowing over 23 ppg. You might be shocked to learn the offense is averaging 19 ppg. Simple math- 19-23= 3-8 record. -EK

[MikeO]

Do points scored on FG's suddenly not count?

So a defense that holds opponents to FG's is a bad thing? You got to be kidding me. Live in your bubble

[EKnight]

No, they're not a bad thing, but they DO count. Living in a bubble is repeatedly saying, "the defense only gave up one TD," when the final score was 20-19. -EK

[MikeO]

Defense isnt why Miami lost the game though, to say so is foolish

[EKnight]

They were winning.....there was less than three minutes on the clock....they ended up losing....just like with Denver. Just like with the Giants. The defense can't stop anyone from scoring when it counts. If your team is ahead, the defense's job- their ONLY job- is to protect that lead. They have shown an inability to do that several times this year, but you keep giving them a free pass and saying they're "playing well," or "they're not the reason we lost." We scored enough to win the game; the fact the we had a lead- AGAIN- within two minutes left shows that we scored enough, but the D is incapable of preserving that lead. That is the definition of "why we lost." Reword it, backpedal, make whatever claims you want. You keep mentioning that the first touchdown didn't count because of field position. If the D was as good as you keep saying, they would have held to a field goal, not allowed a TD. Once again, when it really mattered, they folded. Stop always putting the blame for our season on the guys you hate, and own up. Dansby's popping off that he's the best linebacker in football, then he has TWO FREAKING TACKLES??? The defense is every bit as much to blame as the offense for every loss we've had, and they're equally responsibly for every win. When a team is 3-8, that means both sides of the ball suck. -EK