The Team's Central Problem

[Phishfan]

As I pointed out earlier in this thread, that comment by Ryan Fitzpatrick is inaccurate - We've won at least three games in that period against teams with a winning record:

24 December 2023 home against the Dallas Cowboys 22-20 (10-3 at the time, going on to finish 12-4)
25 September 2022 home against the Buffalo Bills 21-19 (2-0 at the time, going on to finish 13-3)
18 September 2022 at Baltimore 42-38 (1-0 at the time, going on to finish 10-7)

Three wins ain't great either, but it sure isn't 1-14

In a world of alternative facts the truth doesn't matter.

[masterfins]

As I pointed out earlier in this thread, that comment by Ryan Fitzpatrick is inaccurate - We've won at least three games in that period against teams with a winning record:

24 December 2023 home against the Dallas Cowboys 22-20 (10-3 at the time, going on to finish 12-4)
25 September 2022 home against the Buffalo Bills 21-19 (2-0 at the time, going on to finish 13-3)
18 September 2022 at Baltimore 42-38 (1-0 at the time, going on to finish 10-7)

Three wins ain't great either, but it sure isn't 1-14

The Dallas win was a great win.  But bringing up the win against Buffalo is laughable; Miami is 1-10 against Buffalo going back to 2019 (I think the worst team in the league could beat the best team in the league if given 11 chances).  The Baltimore win was a good win, but it was over two years ago. I really doubt that win is in the current minds of the players, and if it is that is sad. 

[Spider-Dan]

The losses from over 2 years ago DEFINITELY count and will be brought up at every opportunity, but the wins?
Those games are in the past, man.

[Downunder Dolphan]

The losses from over 2 years ago DEFINITELY count and will be brought up at every opportunity, but the wins?
Those games are in the past, man.

I get all of that, believe me. I have called the team soft during the year, and pointed out that this season they have not beaten a winning team (yet).

What I was highlighting though was that some people are leaning on Fitzpatrick's comment like it was gospel - I'm guessing because he was a former player and graduated from Harvard. The ironic thing is for someone with those qualifications, he seems to have a hard time trying to count. What he said is inaccurate.

You said yourself, it's hard to take him seriously; more so if you think that he still possibly has a grudge against the team for dumping him in favor of Tua.

[Spider-Dan]

It's probably something like the "Jared Goff is 6-0 in games where he throws at least 4 interceptions" nonsense: total internet BS that is picked up and repeated without any skepticism.

[Downunder Dolphan]

It's probably something like the "Jared Goff is 6-0 in games where he throws at least 4 interceptions" nonsense: total internet BS that is picked up and repeated without any skepticism.

It's even worse when an experienced Journalist like Dave Hyde posts such an inaccurate comment as part of his article. He really should know better.

There's still a case to argue for, but it helps to stick to the facts and not use this sort of outlandish BS for support.

[CF DolFan]

Miami has never done well in the freezing cold. Even Kim Bokamper admitted having homefield advantage definitely helped them win games. Hell ... Ricky ran for over 220 yards in the Buffalo snow and yet we still lost. We still need to shore up both lines so we can run in the cold but that thin blood from Miami seems destined for failure in the snow.

[Spider-Dan]

I think Miami's biggest problem in the snow is that snow definitely means the Dolphins aren't playing at home.  EVERY team is worse on the road.

Remember how Brett Favre was terrible in domes, and then he went to the Vikings and suddenly got a lot better in domes?
Or how Indianapolis Colt Peyton Manning couldn't play outside in the cold, and then he went to Denver and set every record in the book?

Most players are worse on the road, especially in the playoffs.

[Dave Gray]

I don't know all this about identity, but I do think that you build a team with certain characteristics and when forced to play in the face of those advantages, it's harder.

Right now, we are built for speed and big play capability.
The trade-off is that we aren't very good at power-running for one yard, for example.

There are ways that you can address that, but calling it "soft" is lazy.

[CF DolFan]

As fun as the offense can be ... it just seems counterproductive to build a team for domes when the 3 teams in your division are all Northeast in open air stadiums. It's like you are purposely conceding late season failure to some degree.

I don't know if Chris and Mike know this but we can still have fast players at skill positions while having physical lines. Yesterday Pete Briscoe was saying that Saquan Barkley averages  3 yards before he has contact because of the holes opened from the Eagles's O-line. That's more than twice ours.  Can you imagine our RBs with that kind of clearance?

[Dolfanalyst]

I don't know all this about identity, but I do think that you build a team with certain characteristics and when forced to play in the face of those advantages, it's harder.

Right now, we are built for speed and big play capability.
The trade-off is that we aren't very good at power-running for one yard, for example.

There are ways that you can address that, but calling it "soft" is lazy.

"Soft" is far more about the (in)ability to rise to the occasion and overcome adversity.  The team's performance against a relatively weak Tennessee team last year, when they had a 97%+ probability of winning late in the 4th quarter and squandered the game with playoff seedings on the line in one of the most unlikely losses in NFL history, is the epitome of "soft."  And their performance generally is consistent with that, whereby they're unable to rise to the occasion and muster an extra gear when needed.  Opposing teams turn on the juice and the Dolphins can't respond accordingly.  Naturally there have been exceptions to that rule, but the players quoted in the article in the original post are talking about a general pattern of performance, as am I.

[Denver2]

As fun as the offense can be ... it just seems counterproductive to build a team for domes when the 3 teams in your division are all Northeast in open air stadiums. It's like you are purposely conceding late season failure to some degree.

I don't know if Chris and Mike know this but we can still have fast players at skill positions while having physical lines. Yesterday Pete Briscoe was saying that Saquan Barkley averages  3 yards before he has contact because of the holes opened from the Eagles's O-line. That's more than twice ours.  Can you imagine our RBs with that kind of clearance?

Grier not building good lines is our problem, on both sides of the ball.

It seems we’ve been screaming about the 0-line since the Tanny era

[Dave Gray]

Was Armstead born injured?  I've never seen a player hurt as much as he is.  ...on all parts of his body at once.  And when he comes back from injury, he has to sit during the game for injury.

I know he's good, but the guy never plays.  It's crazy how often he isn't on the field.  I think it's part of why the line can't gel.

[CF DolFan]

Grier not building good lines is our problem, on both sides of the ball.

It seems we’ve been screaming about the 0-line since the Tanny era

I don't think we've had a good physical O-line since we ran Incognito out of town for being mean.

[Dave Gray]

With the Rams winning, does that now mean that the Dolphins can beat good teams on the road again?  Or does that not retroactively count?