The difference between Miami and New England

[Phishfan]

Welker also led Miami in receptions the year EK thinks he was only a return man and was forgotten.

[EKnight]

So then why was he traded? Marshall led Miami in receptions and he was traded too. That's precisely what I mean about giving up on players.

Put whatever spin you want on it, but how many other teams have let a guy go whose production increased from 600 yards and 1 TD to 1100 and 8

AND

let a guy go who immediately went from 1200/6 to 1500/11.

These guys both left Miami and starting having career years. Just a pretty big coincidence. And certainly not something that happens to the Patriots, which you'll recall, was the topic of the thread, not whether you agree with me or not. -EK

[Spider-Dan]

Welker was the #3 WR in MIA.  He signed a poison pill offer sheet with NE (salary fully guaranteed if he plays more than 5 games/year in the state of Florida).  NE offered MIA a second-rounder for him.  That's not "giving up," that's taking what you can get.

[dolphins4life]

No, you really didn't.

read my first post

At least four games could have been won if Sturgis kicked like Ghostowski

[mecadonzilla]

read my first post

At least four games could have been won if Sturgis kicked like Ghostowski

Oh, I did.  I just didn't see much evidence.

I might cede the point on the Baltimore game as the kick in question was at the end of the game (but a lot of stuff happened prior to that play that necessitated a long, desperate attempt), but the other games had very little to do with the kicker.  In all those games, the defense and/or offense faltered in the second half.  Too much bad football transpired between the missed kicks and 0:00 on the clock to even consider hanging it on the kicker. 

You say if Sturgis had made them, Miami was guaranteed victory.  I just don't see how that's possible.  It's not the kicker's fault when defenses can't tackle, offenses can't block, coaches can't coach, and referees blow calls.  On the list of things wrong with those games, the K position is not the biggest problem.  Perhaps if the rest of the team had done their jobs, a missed kick wouldn't have been so vital.  Perhaps if the offense could punch one in or the defense could hold someone out of the end zone in the 4th quarter, the team wouldn't have to desperately rely on a 40 or 50 yard kick by a rookie as the only hope of salvation in the 3rd friggin' quarter. 

Blaming the kicker for the woes of an entire team is not a fact based, rational way of looking at this team.  It's like thinking you struck out with a girl on a date because you had a piece of food stuck in your teeth after dinner and looked foolish.  Meanwhile, you completely ignored the fact that you bored her to death with inane conversation, weigh 400 pounds and didn't shower, or just plain failed to hit it off with her.  While it didn't help, it wasn't the worst thing that happened on the date.

The Patriots are winning more games because they're a better team from top to bottom with a HOF QB, fantastic coaching, and a front office that knows how to get the players they need to win.  They might be holding it up with duct tape and chewing gum, but they're making it work.  They play for a Superbowl berth every year, and we play for the hope of a sixth seed if we're extremely fortunate.  The kicker is just the tip of the iceberg when comparing these two teams.

[MikeO]

Miami isn't the ONLY team to give up on Marshall and Bush. The Broncos and Saints did too respectively. I guess they are idiots too. As are the rest of the league (minus Chicago) who wasn't beating down Miami's door to trade for Marshall and the rest of the league who ignored Bush when he was a free agent (minus Detroit)

[dolphins4life]

Horrible analogy to compare dates and football.

Football is governed by strict rules.  If you score more points then the other team you win.

A date is completely up to whim of the person you are going on a date with

[Sunstroke]

I thought that Mec's dating analogy was not only extremely accurate, but wisely chosen for the person he was delivering it to. I also think that loud exploding sound you heard was the sonic boom of that analogy's wisdom rocketing over your head while you were clumsily reacting to a perceived slight.

[dolphins4life]

^^^^

I didn't take it as an insult.  In fact, I chuckled a little when he posted it.

I just don't think it's a good analogy to compare a football game to a date.

Let me state it this way and see if this is better:

You can do everything right on a date, but she can still decide she's not interested in you for any reason she wants.

If you score more points than the other team in football, you win the game, and "they" (the refs? the commissioner?) can't say, oh, you don't win just because we aren't interested in you.

[Sunstroke]

Thank you for explaining that...I'll never again mistake my date for a middle linebacker.