Here comes two poor quarterbacks -- oh no!!!!!

[CF DolFan]

I agree with Armando on this. We seem to play to the level of our competition as if we don't think we don't need to play as hard against weaker teams.  It makes it almost impossible to predict which team will show up from game to game.

Here comes two poor quarterbacks -- oh no

Go ahead, try to understand the Miami Dolphins. You cannot. It's impossible. They cannot be predicted. They cannot be understood.

And there is no more obvious way to illustrate this than to offer Miami's success against quarterbacks in 2013.

The Dolphins this year have beaten Matt Ryan, Andrew Luck, Tom Brady, Andy Dalton, Phillip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger. Impressive, right?

They have lost to, among others, rookie Mike Glennon of Tampa Bay and Thad Lewis, who started the year on the practice squad and was at the time Buffalo's fourth quarterback choice to start. The Dolphins also lost to Joe Flacco, who went on a tear last postseason to help Baltimore win the Super Bowl but this year is average at best with 18 TDs and 17 INTs and a QB rating that puts him 30th out of 35 rated signal callers.

And that is interesting only because in the final two games the Dolphins play two rookie quarterbacks -- one of whom is inconsistent and the other of whom has played quite poorly.

The Dolphins are in trouble!!!!

Seriously, the final two games against the Bills and Jets would seem to be a gross mismatch of a solid, veteran defense against two young QBs.

This week Miami faces E.J. Manuel, who is the 28th rated passer in the league tied with, get this, Matt Schaub. Manuel was injured during Miami's early-season loss to the Bills so he did not play. He's made five consecutive starts since returning from his knee injury. The Bills are 2-3 in those games and Manuel has been, well, inconsistent.

(At least he's consistent with his inconsistency).

Manuel completed over 70 percent of his passes in wins over the Jets and Jacksonville last week. He failed to complete even 60 percent in losses against Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Tampa Bay, which was his personal meltdown game in which he threw four interceptions.

Let's just say Manuel is not a rookie phenom. He's held his own and that's about it.

Geno Smith has been a disaster this year, as the Dolphins saw for themselves Dec. 1 when he posted an 8.3 QB rating against them and was benched in a loss at MetLife Stadium.

Smith has thrown 21 interceptions. He's had five games in which he's failed to complete even 50 percent of his passes. He's had only one game where he's thrown more TDs than INTs in a game and that came Oct. 7. He's the lowest-rated NFL quarterback among starters with a 62.9 rating.

So he's not exactly the biggest challenge the Dolphins have faced this season.

All that should encourage a Dolphins fan. All that plays to the Dolphins' benefit.

Now, if the Dolphins can only do to the youngsters what they've done to far better quarterbacks -- namely, beat them -- everything will be good for Miami.

 

Posted by Armando Salguero at 06:00 AM | Permalink

Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolphins_in_depth/2013/12/here-comes-two-poor-quarterbacks-oh-no.html#storylink=cpy

[Cathal]

I can seriously see the Phins lose one of these two games, even though they should blow both of them away. They have nothing to play for other than pride and their jobs, so who knows.

[MikeO]

^^^They won't lose to the Jets. But this Buffalo game will be a dog-fight. Bills are decent enough and give Miami some bad match-ups in certain spots

[Landshark]

EJ Manuel is out for Sunday's game.  Thad Lewis will start

[MikeO]

EJ Manuel is out for Sunday's game.  Thad Lewis will start

That just made this game a little easier (still not easy though). Lewis had like only 2 decent drives last time Buffalo played Miami. It was a pick-6 and a sack-fumble that won them the game

[MikeO]

WR Stevie Johnson is also OUT for the Bills this weekend. Mother died last week, he played last Sunday but won't play this Sunday

[Spider-Dan]

If the Dolphins can't get into the playoffs under these circumstances (given NE's injuries, MIA's remaining schedule, and the remaining schedules of the competing teams) then they CERTAINLY don't deserve to be there.

With the exception of DEN, the AFC looks incredibly weak this year.

[Tenshot13]

If the Dolphins can't get into the playoffs under these circumstances (given NE's injuries, MIA's remaining schedule, and the remaining schedules of the competing teams) then they CERTAINLY don't deserve to be there.

With the exception of DEN, the AFC looks incredibly weak this year.

Perfect season to glide under the radar with momentum into the playoffs.

[masterfins]

The thing that worries me is that Miami's secondary seems to be a little dinged up.

[EDGECRUSHER]

You can never get too excited about this team until they learn to stop dogging it against supposedly inferior teams. That's all coaching.

[fyo]

Go ahead, try to understand the Miami Dolphins. You cannot. It's impossible. They cannot be predicted. They cannot be understood.

And there is no more obvious way to illustrate this than to offer Miami's success against quarterbacks in 2013.

The Dolphins this year have beaten Matt Ryan, Andrew Luck, Tom Brady, Andy Dalton, Phillip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger. Impressive, right?

They have lost to, among others, rookie Mike Glennon of Tampa Bay and Thad Lewis, who started the year on the practice squad and was at the time Buffalo's fourth quarterback choice to start.

It's almost like there's more to a team than just the quarterback...

[CF DolFan]

It such an important clog. Most teams do not fair well without an established QB. For some reason that hasn't always been the case for teams playing Miami. They aren't beating other teams very often so it must mean something.

[Downunder Dolphan]

After the way Smith shat broken glass the last time he faced our defense, I'm not worried about the Jets. They will be lucky to even score.

The bigger worry is the Bills defensive front vs our offense, which in recent years has have given us major headaches. Special teams too. We really need our line to give Tannehill some time and confidence against these guys, get nasty and maul some lanes for out RBs to get through. No major meltdowns on defense or special teams will go a long way to getting the win.