The reality is if any one steps up and gives us good QB play it automatically puts you in position to have one of the 10 best teams in the league. With Palmer, Culpepper and Breese all question marks this year you really only have 4 or 5 teams that are guaranteed solid QB play, NE, IND, Seattle and Pittsburgh are really the only teams that stand out above the rest.
great point, as of now our QB situation looks anemic for the immediate future but who knows, Ramsey could step in and do something. im not counting on it, but you harped upon the best thing. were 1 yr removed from being a SB contender, sure we lost some good players but if we answer the question at QB, then were definitely a top 15 team.
Are you seriously trying to compare the 2004 Buffalo Bills, to the situation the Phinz now have in Miami??....:lol: I've heard it all now.... Go back, and look at all of the changes that team went through during that particular off-season, and then maybe you'll see how ridiculous that sounds. They dumped Bledsoe for Losman{huge downgrade}, then they lost key players on both the OL / DL, only to replace them with cheaper / less talented players{downgrades}. The bottom line is that the Bills downgraded big time during that off-season, and that was the reason for their falling off the pace in 2005.... Now, looking at Miami, we've done almost the exact opposite in terms of upgrading our roster{QB / OL / DB}. On top of that, we've experienced no major losses during free agency. Comparing the two situations is like apples / oranges based on the major differences in the directions our teams went during the off-season....
Fins fans aren't going to see the writing on the wall until it's spraypainted in great big red letters, similar to how many Jet's fans viewed the Jets last year headed into the season. Miami's record prior to the 6 game season ending win stread was 7-18 for their previous 25 games. That record is just as likely to represent where the team stands right now as the 6 games streak. I make the Fins out as 50/50 to go 8-8 or worse this year. BTW, in games that Ricky Williams was not present over the last two years the Fins are 6-15. Ricky is in Canada this year...
One big advantage Miami has over the Jets last year is Herm Edwards is not even close to being in Saban's league. While I can easily see Miami taking a step back from last year in terms of wins and losses, they are clearly a team on the upswing with one of the best people running the organization in the NFL.
I was pretty high on Saban also before the Culpepper move. I feel like he mentally jumped ahead of himself a couple of years and double-visioned Culpepper as the last piece in the puzzle. The problem is that: a) Culpepper is a real risk because of the injury and b) I see other potential holes that will likely need to be patched before the Dolphins are a first-class team again. It may all work out for the Fins, but if it doesn't we'll all look back at the Culpepper trade as the point at which Saban wandered off the path.
:lol: Where do you come up with this stuff???.... So using that logic, you're saying that since Ricky wont be playing in Miami this year, the Phinz will have a losing record in 2006 as the result??.... You certainly have one seriously bent imagination....
Certainly Saban envsioned Culpepper being an upgrade for the Phinz at QB. I don't think he sees Culpepper as the last piece to the puzzle however. That would be extremely foolish at this stage. Why not just view Culpepper as an upgrade instead of the savior???... You're trying to speak for N. Saban, and that in itself is wrong. You have no clue what he was thinking when he decided to go with Culpepper instead of Brees. I think you're perception of the entire situation is extremely clouded by your own biased views, and inferiority complex towards having to face this situation as a Jets fan. Knowing you'll have to deal with Culpepper is eating you up, and the only way to make yourself feel more comfortable about it, is to do exactly what you're doing now. Basically living in denial.... Any QB who has had to come off surgery is a risk. What kind of risk are the Jets taking in keeping Pennington around??...What about QB D. Brees for that matter. I suppose the Saints didn't take any risk what so ever in signing him after ripping up his throwing shoulder???...PLEASE. It's a weak debate on your part in my opinion..... Other than some needed help in our secondary{which is an area we've focused on this off-season}, where are these holes you speak of??.... Why would we do that??....Miami hasn't had a QB of Culpepper's talent level since Dan Marino retired. It's extremely doubtful anyone would end up blaming Saban for taking a chance on Culpepper regardless of the outcome... Under a different FO we traded a 2nd round pick for AJ Feeley{3rd stringer} for crying out loud. We got Culpepper{Pro Bowler} for the same. How could anyone be disappointed in that???... I think you're highly underestimating Saban, and Culpepper. Come the 2006 season, I think your tune will change dramatically in terms of saying Saban made a mistake in signing Culpepper....
I totally disagree here. If Culpepper comes in and bombs and the Dolphins step back, which is the most likely result if that happens, I think everybody will be asking why Saban pre-empted the rebuilding process to bring in such a severely injured QB. It wouldn't have been hard for Miami to trade up and get Cutler or Leinart. That would have been the type of move you'd expect a rebuilding team with a gaping hole at QB to make. The problem is that it would also have admitted to the world that the Dolphins were still rebuilding. Instead Saban chose to try a shortcut back to contention by trading for damaged goods under the assumption that the damage was not real. It may work or it may not but if it fails you'd better believe everybody is going to be looking at the Fins cross-eyed wondering why they side-stepped the rebuilding process at QB. As to the question of where I come up with statements like Miami was 7-18 prior to the 6 game winning streak at the end of last year: well I go and look it up. And sometimes I'm wrong, like I was this time. Miami was actually 7-19 in their prior 26 games before the 6 game win streak. And yes, they have sucked royally recently when Ricky was not around. And he's not around now...
Even if Culpepper bombs, which is highly unlikely in my opinion{and most others}, Miami will still be in very decent shape{as a team} regardless. There's no sure things in this business, and taking risks are part of the game. Saban chose to upgrade the QB position this off-season, and he did so by trading for Culpepper. I don't know how anyone can argue against that. I don't hear any Phinz fans complaining about it. The only people who seem to questioning Saban are the division rivals. Alittle jealous are we???.... PLEASE. You think Saban, or anyone in the Phinz orgainization for that matter, cares what the rest of the world thinks???....:lol: Trading up for Cutler / Leinart would have been very costly in comparing the differences. We traded a 2nd round pick for Culpepper{a young, proven, Pro Bowl QB}. How can you think that trading up for an unproven QB like Culter / Leinart, {which would have cost us twice as much in terms of picks and money}, would have been a better direction to go when looking at our chances right now?? That's just dumb in my opinion..... Back into contention???...We were in contention with Frerotte. I'm sure Saban was very careful in making his decision to trade for Culpepper. You're in such denial, you make it sound like Saban is some crazy old coot yelling YEEEEE-HAAA!!! as he steers the Phinz right into the gutter.:lol:.... And what about Harrington??...He's still a very young QB, with tons of upside for the future. He could emerge and become a very solid QB for Miami, you never know. It's not like drafting Culter / Leinart are going to be "sure things", if they were, everyone would have tried to trade up for them.... Miami is much better off with Culpepper / Harrington, than they would have been trading up to get a rookie with zero experience.... No offense, but that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard....
Really? What was Miami's record from the beginning of 2004 to the beginning of their winning streak last year? What is Miami's record since Ricky joined the team when he is unavailable to play? The issue is not my stupidity, it's your blinders.
Who cares??...Different team, different circumstances. One has nothing to do with the other in my opinion.... I didn't call you stupid, I said using that logic is stupid....
The Bills hiring of Dick Jauron is very similar to our signing of Rich Kotite. Kotite had some success in Philly but that didn't stop him from being god awful when he was there. It's kind of similar to Herm going to the playoffs 3 out of 5 seasons here, but everyone wanting him gone in the worst way. Jauron saw success in Chicago, and even made the playoffs a few times... but talk to any bears fan in Chicago, and they will tell you that Jauron is the biggest ass to work for the Bears in the past decade. Like Kotite's somewhat success in Philly, Jauron's somewhat success in Chicago will give the Bills fans hope... that is until they actually see the team that the Bills are going to field. I fully expect three years from now Jauron to be out of football permanently, and the Bills having combined for a total of 8 or less wins over the course of Jauron's two or three years there.
Just time-warping a bit here. Miami's record is now 8-24 in games over the last 3 seasons that were not part of that 6 game winning streak at the end of last year. They and the Bills both look very much like teams that have done nothing right for the last half decade except for a single winning streak at the end of one of their seasons. I'll go out on a limb here and say that nothing has changed from 2002 to 2006. The Patriots are still the class of the division. The Jets are still lagging well behind them and the Bills and Dolphins are non-contenders who are either perpetually stuck in rebuilding mode or pretending they don't have to rebuild. My guess at this point is that the Culpepper/Harrington fiasco at QB has probably set the Dolphins back two seasons. Their defense is aging and they'll have to completely rebuild that before they have a chance at dominance again. I look at the Dolphins right now and I see the Jets in 1973. It's a long way back from that, even in today's NFL. And I'm guessing Saban isn't going to be the guy that finally leads them out of the pit. He looked sick today on the sidelines.
Well it took eight years for the Jets to recover from that point (1973) as far as the post season went and they had some pretty rotten years (1975-76) in between. How did you come up with 1973? Yes, Saban looked like he was going to puke. I would not be the least surprised if he steps down after the season.....
I came up with 1973 because that was the last year that the remnants of their great super bowl defense was still present on the team. Larry Grantham and Gerry Philbin retired after 1972. That left Al Atkinson and John Elliot as the last torchbearers. On the Dolphins you have Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas holding down those roles. Sam Madison and Junior Seau have moved on and you basically have a handful of older free agents (Keith Traylor,Kevin Carter) holding down key roles. The Dolphin's defense is one year removed from a total rebuild and if they get unlucky with injuries it could be a nasty rebuild. 1973 was also the first year that many Jet's fans realized that Namath was probably done. He was still the savior in 1972 but a guy named Al Woodall took most of the snaps in 1973. That would be Culpepper and Harrington. How exactly do you rehab a knee well enough to take a 4.5 pound composite brace off of it? Culpepper looks like a shadow of himself with the brace on and yet without it he is one snap from the end of his career. But probably most importantly 1973 was the year Weeb Ewbank gave up. He knew he had to completely rebuild the team at that point and he did not have it in him. 1974 saw the short reign of Charlie Winner, who did not want to do a ground up rebuild anymore than Ewbank had. I think Saban is going to be sick of the Dolphins by the end of the year. Too many things need to be fixed before that team is any good again. Dan Marino got his dream job and quit a month later. Why? Because he knew the handwriting was on the wall and he did not want to be associated with the failures to follow. Smart guy.
Very good anaylsis...glad to see somebody else realize the age of the defense is Miami's worst problem but they don't seem to be too worried about it... Their QB situation is terrible also. Culpepper is not the same QB after the injury and Harrington is Harrington
I honestly believe that the Dolphins front office does not yet realize that a complete rebuild is in order, especially on defense. They keep getting gritty efforts out of the defense against teams like Buffalo, Tennessee, New England and the Jets and they think that the defense is still sound. I have news for them: none of the teams I just mentioned have particularly good offenses right now. If you hold the Jets to 20 points that's like holding indy to 30...
