Dolphins A Complete Mess!

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

Please tell me that I'm not suffering from Alzheimer's Disease.

Is the NFL Draft in April or November?

As dumb as this seems, why are we talking about Stanford Cardinal QB Andrew Luck being the No. 1 pick in the 2012 NFL Draft?

We're only halfway through the 2011 season and the majority of the discussion should be focused on the playoff chase and surprise teams.

The feel good stories include the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions.

But that's today's media.

Luck is indeed the hot topic. His destinations appear to be either the Indianapolis Colts or the Miami Dolphins. Both are winless but for entirely different reasons.

The Colts can't win without future Hall of Fame first year lock Peyton Manning. If Manning is able to return this season with his competitive nature, Indianapolis will not join The 0-16 Club, in which the Lions are the only members. I could see a victory or two for the Colts.

Besides, Colts Owner Jim Irsay will never let the Peyton Manning era end on a bad note. Look for a statue in front of the Colts Stadium when his career is over.

But I do believe the Lions will have company in The 0-16 Club.

The Dolphins are a bad football team!

They tried to lure former Stanford Coach Jim Harbaugh during the off-season while their current head coach Tony Sparano was under contract. That failed and Sparano was given a contract extension.

They allowed Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams to leave through free agency and traded for Reggie Bush.  The former Saint and USC Trojan, has 75 carries for 335 yards with zero touchdowns. He has 21 receptions for 114 yards and one touchdown. He's only returned five punts for 44 yards.

Rookie Daniel Thomas hasn't scored a touchdown and like Bush, has 75 carries but for 302 yards.

I've always viewed Bush as a finesse back, who has versatility to catch the ball out of the backfield. He's not a four-down power runner and he's a solid special teams player.

The Dolphins haven't been satisfied with the performance of former Michigan Wolverines QB Chad Henne, but didn't pull the trigger when they had the chance to trade for Denver Broncos signal caller Kyle Orton during the off-season. Miami blew an opportunity to land former Jacksonville Jaguars QB David Garrard.

Now the Dolphins QB's are former Carolina Panther Matt Moore, Sage Rosenfels and former UFL journeyman J.P. Losman, a former Buffalo Bill.

Losman led the Las Vegas Locomotives to the inaugural UFL Championship on November 27, 2009. Losman signed with Miami on Oct 25, 2011, while Rosenfels was placed on the reserve/non-football list.

It wouldn't matter which signal caller was under center because there is no talent around them.

The Dolphins are A Complete Mess!

Miami ended the 2010 season with a three game losing streak to finish 7-9. The Dolphins had the worst home record in the league with a 1-7 mark.

At  0-7 going into their road game against the Kansas City Chiefs at noisy Arrowhead Stadium, the losing streak has hit 10 and counting.

The Chiefs are 4-3 and are in a three-way tie for the AFC West lead.

Do you see 0-8 and an 11-game losing streak? I do.

The Dolphins have flirted with 0-16.

On December 16, 2007, Miami was one touchdown pass from joining the 2008 Lions.

Cleo Lemon threw a 64-yard touchdown pass to Greg Camarillo as the Dolphins defeated the Baltimore Ravens 22-16 in overtime at Joe Robbie Stadium and ended a 16-game losing streak.

They finished the year 1-15 and seven teams in NFL history have lost 15-games in a season.

After this disaster, the Dolphins turned to Bill Parcells and the first year, the drafting of Henne and his Wolverines offensive lineman Jake Long, to go along with former Jets signal caller Chad Pennington, enabled Miami to land in the 2008 playoffs. Using a gimmick offense "The Wildcat" and maximizing the skills of Brown and Williams, the Dolphins finished 11-5.

The Ravens would get their revenge a year later with a 27-9 win and the Dolphins haven't returned to the playoffs since 2008.

Two 7-9 seasons and a pair of third place finishes in the AFC East have seen the Dolphins fall hard again. Parcells retired midway through the 2010 season.

He has returned to ESPN either to become a full-time Sunday analyst or size up his next challenge. Evidently, he had no desire to work with current Dolphins Owner, Stephen M Ross, A Michigan Wolverine Alumnus, after Wayne Huizenga sold the team.

Now the team is being run by CEO Mike Dee, General Manager Jeff Ireland (hired by Parcells) and Sparano, a former Parcells assistant coach.

Don Shula is the Vice Chairman, though I'd wonder if he has much input into the daily operation.

Yet this franchise which has 22 Playoff Appearances, 13 Division Championships, five Conference Championships, a pair of Super Bowl Titles including the 1972 Perfect Season (17-0), has a chance make history by joining the Lions for all of the wrong reasons.

When the Lions had their 0-16 record in 2008, the year before, they were 7-9.  The Dolphins find themselves in the exact same situation and lost to the Lions 34-27 at home last December.

Another Dolphins/Lions irony is Detroit had another former Wolverines offensive lineman, as Jeff Backus suffered through that imperfect season. The Dolphins have Long.

As I look at the Dolphins schedule, there best chance for a win was on October 25. Former Florida Gator QB Tim Tebow rallied the Denver Broncos from a 15-0 deficit to an 18-15 overtime win. A week later, Tebow faced the Lions and was sacked seven times as Detroit (6-2) crushed Denver 45-10 in Colorado.

Beginning with Sundays road game against Kansas City, the Dolphins road schedule includes the Dallas Cowboys, and in mid-December face the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots in potentially winter and blizzard conditions.

The remaining home games are against the Washington Redskins, Bills and in early December the Oakland Raiders travel to the east coast while the Philadelphia Eagles come to town.

The Bills are improved and recently gave their quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick a new contract. Coach Chan Gailey has done an outstanding job in Western New York.

Each of these teams are competing for playoff spots.

But the Redskins are experiencing quarterback problems with former Gator Rex Grossman and former Dolphin John Beck trying to get a grasp on the starters role.

The Redskins game is still Miami's best chance at a win. The Lions ended their long losing streak at Ford Field in 2009 against Washington and across the Beltway, the Ravens spared the Dolphins history.

There is no way that Rex Ryan will allow his New York Jets to be Miami's first victim on January 1st.

CBS has the honors of showcasing a potential winless Dolphins team on Thanksgiving, as Hall of Fame Quarterback Dan Marino has to talk about his former team on the pre-game show against the Cowboys.

Marino played his entire career with Miami from 1983-1999, had 61,361 yards and 420 touchdowns, playing for Coach Shula, who let him do whatever he wanted to do.

This is the same Marino that in 2004, who was named Senior Vice President of Football Operations, but resigned three weeks later. He wasn't going to get paid millions of dollars as he did when he led the team to one Super Bowl, a 38-16 loss to the San Francisco 49'ers on Jan 20, 1985.

While it is hard to believe that a team can go an entire season without a win, this situation is quite possible. We've seen it twice with the Lions and the expansion Tampa Bay Bucs finished 0-14 in 1976 as they played in the AFC West.

But if this happens, former Dolphins Owner Joe Robbie will turn over in his grave knowing this infamous perfect season happened in his stadium.

For the time being, I have a feeling there will be less traffic jams at Joe Robbie Stadium.

Whoever the Dolphins take in the NFL Draft in April 2012, better learn the Bible from cover to cover. He's going to need to say a few prayers as to how this team will ever get back to respectability.

The only two real perks the Dolphins next Football Man will have is he won't pay any State Income Tax on his paycheck and the nice weather.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com and his blog can be seen at www.scottsports33.com.

The Wildcat vs Run N' Shoot

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

When the Miami Dolphins cut QB Pat White on Saturday to complete their 53-man roster, I never understood the logic behind drafting the former West Virginia signal caller in the second round, 44th pick overall, in the 2009 NFL Draft.

Miami had Chad Pennington and drafted Chad Henne from the Michigan Wolverines in the second round, 57th overall, of the 2008 NFL Draft.

How do you draft a player to perform in a gimmick offensive scheme, to run in "The Wildcat" or the Dolphins version of a spread offense?

In 2008, the Dolphins implemented "The Wildcat" in the third game of the season to perfection by scoring four touchdowns (three rushing, one passing) in a 38-13 road upset over the New England Patriots. This formation caught the Patriots off guard and running backs Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams executed it to perfection.

Dolphins Offensive Coordinator Dan Henning is one of the best offensive minds in the business. He's currently entering his 31st season as a coach in the NFL. Therefore, there isn't anything that he hasn't seen which surprises him.

What puzzles me about the White pick is Miami probably had other potential needs and they blew a high selection to add to their gimmick. I have the utmost of respect for Bill Parcells, but he stubbed his toe on this selection.

Although their gimmick was good enough to earn them an 11-5 season in 2008, the opposition had time to adjust to it and as a result, they prepared for it in 2009. The Dolphins, with a tougher schedule and "The Wildcat" had a "Bullseye" on them as they regressed to 7-9 in 2009.

Now White is gone.

A second round pick is gold!

Teams don't have to pay them as much as a first round pick from a signing bonus and salary standpoint. They also have chips on their shoulder because they're angry that they were passed on by every team once especially after being highly touted.

Second round picks salaries increase when they either out perform their contracts or when it expires. This is how Super Bowls are won.

NFL executives, personnel directors, scouts, coaches, etc... can't afford to make these errors.

In 1979, the San Francisco 49'ers drafted a quarterback out of Notre Dame in the third round, 82nd overall, by the name of Joe Montana. All Montana did was win four Super Bowls. He was a three-time Super Bowl MVP.

So what lies ahead for White?

I wouldn't be surprised to see him land with the New England Patriots. For some reason, since "The Wildcat" beat the Patriots, Patriots Coach Bill Bellichick may want to utilize this gimmick in his offense. Bellichick used a gimmick with Doug Flutie kicking a field goal by "Drop Kicking" the ball. This is the same franchise that once used a "Snow Plow" to defeat the Dolphins.

If White doesn't land with the Patriots, there is always Flutie's old stomping grounds, the Canadian Football League. Nobody said Flutie could play in the NFL so all he did with his strong arm and 5-10, 180 pound frame "North Of The Border" was win three Grey Cup Championships before he returned to the NFL. Flutie utilized the wide field and 55-yard line to his advantage giving him more room to roam than a gazelle.

White can use that to his advantage and return to the NFL a better and more polished player because the CFL is ideal for an athletic quarterback.

I'll never forget back in the 1990's another gimmick offense consisted of the "Run N' Shoot" which used one running back and two-four receivers. This is where a flexible offense adjusts on the fly and the quarterback has to read and react to the defenses coverages in an improvised manner than with other offensive schemes.

Back in the USFL Days, former Miami Hurricanes QB Jim Kelly ran it for the Houston Gamblers under Jack Pardee, Mouse Davis and June Jones. It was great for a league with a smaller talent base but the Gamblers never won a USFL Championship with it. It was exciting for the fans that attended games at the Houston Astrodome.

When former Detroit Lions Coach Wayne Fontes hired Davis and Jones, they installed the "Run N' Shoot offense, then proceeded to draft 1989 Heisman Trophy Winner Andre Ware from the University of Houston in the first round, seventh pick overall. Ware ran the same offense in college but he was a bust in the NFL.

What led to Ware's downfall in the NFL was he held out during training camp and missed most of the preseason due to not signing his rookie contract immediately. Thus he fell behind and experienced a lost season.

In the NFL, the game is faster, players are bigger & stronger and with the lack of a running game, ball control, the Lions defense was wearing down by not being able to kill the clock, thus it gave the opposition more opportunities to score. That would happen with any NFL team, and these days, you'll find teams stocking up and adding more depth at running back. It's hard to win shootouts in the NFL.

The "Run N' Shoot" in college was much different than in the pros.

The reason Kelly had a successful NFL career is before he was involved in the "Run N' Shoot" he learned his craft from the "Pro Passing Attack Offense" under former Hurricanes Coach & current Florida Atlantic Owls boss Howard Schnellenberger.

Therefore, Kelly was able to adapt to the Buffalo Bills offense when he was surrounded with good runners and receivers. This enabled him to lead his team to four consecutive Super Bowls under Coach Marv Levy, which led them both to the Pro Football Hall Of Fame.

While I have nothing against gimmicks, trick plays or creative offensive schemes, my point is don't base your draft around them especially when you have depth at one position, plus have other needs to fill.

When I was covering the Miami Dolphins in 1983, before a Monday Night Game at the Orange Bowl, I once asked OJ Simpson what was more exciting, a good running or passing game. Simpson, who was a color analyst for ABC responded by saying, "whatever one is successful is more exciting."

How true.

For those that don't know, Simpson was the first running back to rush for 2000 yards in a season when he amassed 2003 in 1973 during a 14-game schedule.

Say what you want about Simpson's personal life but when he was on the football field, he was a great player that was electrifying and fun to watch which is why he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall Of Fame.

I still think "The Wildcat" will be like the "Run N' Shoot because it will be an offense that will dissolve over time or be De-emphasized in favor of the more conventional, two back, two-three receiver sets which will be even altered more as two tight-ends are inserted.

"The Wildcat" will remind me of "Disco" because it has it's time and place. Disco was a fad.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com and his blog can be seen on www.scottsports33.com.