Earlier this week, I wrote a post (HERE) highlighting that the Buffalo Bills won the division again, the Kansas City Chiefs won the AFC, and then the Philadelphia Eagles won the whole thing. I then asked-
A) What have we learned from those three teams that should be applied to the current roster of the Miami Dolphins? In other words, what needs to be done or changed to achieve any or all of those three goals mentioned above? B) Do you believe that the individuals with the power to make the changes necessary to reach those goals will recognize them as essential to their success, thereby working towards them, or are we destined to keep repeating the same patterns and consequently see the same disappointing results?
Below are some of your answers and thoughts-
Miami7 also has a question-
are we we are destined to keep repeating the same patterns and consequently see the same disappointing results?!!!
Jptapt says what we have always been told was the recipe for a championship-winning begins in the trenches. Also would like Grier to just go away.
You know what I think.
1. Build a great offensive line.
2. Grier be gone.
StanleyDoyle1 agrees with a point I made a few posts back. The long-term recipe to success is to draft and develop your own players and then find a way to hold on to the key players—something the Dolphins do not do. I agree with the argument that you must let some walk when they become too expensive to re-sign, but that’s where drafting with some future insight (like other successful teams have done) also comes into play.
Apart from the trenches, maybe the bigger lesson is that it’s better to to draft your team rather than buy it in free agency. Philadelphia started the season having drafted 31 of 53 (58%) of its roster. In the last three years, 19 of its 21 draft picks (90%) were still on the team.
By contrast, the Dolphins’ 2024 opening roster had only 20 draft picks out of 53 players (37%), and only 53% of its draft picks over the past three years were still with the team. And only 25% of its starters were its own draft picks.
I think the verb is “Griered.” Used in a sentence: The company filed for bankruptcy after several years of being Griered by senior management.
cyberflea knows you can’t win with your quarterback on his back or with defenders constantly in his grill.
Hopefully our genius GM learned that you can’t win a Super Bowl without protecting your QB. The Chiefs makeshift OL was dominated and the reason why they lost despite having one of the best QBs in the league.
Balantine is another who made the point about how things begin in the trenches, as we saw in the Super Bowl.
The Super Bowl was a bit of a revelation. The best quarterback in the game (Patrick Mahommes) was unable to overcome the problems created by a second-rate Offensive line. All season he was running and squirming and overcoming the problems of that line, using the weaknesses of the opposing defense against them. And the Chiefs won, His performance was certainly not anywhere near his normal level of play, but the play of the collapsable line ‘protecting’ him was atrocious. They were overwhelmed by a first-rate defense. And on one day, Super Bowl Sunday, the Eagles defense gave nothing to exploit.
On the Eagles offense, the offensive line made it all good. The Chiefs clearly keyed on stopping the running back, and shut him down, but that was the only part of the offense that got shut down. If you are keyed to stopping one man running, the other aspects of the game will get you – and they did. Jalen Hurts, a decent quarterback, shined his brightest with the offense clicking around him.
The best offensive lines this year were the Eagles, Bills (I still am amazed that the Chiefs beat them), the Chiefs (who got the injury bug this year, and were finally undone). The Broncos and Commanders (who made their rookie quarterback shine). Finally I mention the Bucs, whose offensive line has allowed Baker Mayfield to show once again that he is a true franchise quarterback (blech on Cleveland), and the Vikings (who made Darnold look good).
It is all about the trenches! Without a top offensive line, a team is going to come up mediocre. If he is available and healthy, draft Josh Williams and move Jackson to guard. Draft the best lineman available in the second round (O or D) and finish the job with a third lineman at the end of the 3rd round. Use the rest of the draft to fix whatever else you can. And trust an awesome DC to build a quality defense again this year. But fix the line!
SlayerNation1 believes that we knew what we knew and said what he said.
Nothing necessarily new was learned, it was more of a confirmation of what We already knew.
It is a mix of talent, Front Office and culture. The HC needn’t be the best, most polished Xs and Os guy, but a culture builder and someone who can hire the right Coordinators and at least articulate a message.
There will always be a place for bullying trench play in the NFL, while speed and finesse may come and go.
Spok507 is hoping that Grier finally sees the obvious, as we are clearly stuck with him for at least another season.
No more ignoring the lines and pretending they’re ‘good enough’. Build this team from the trenches. I understand that’s been said over and over, but Grier really needs to get it through his head. He’s obviously not going anywhere, so needs to re-direct his focus. No more flashy players. We have the skills players to get things done. Now we need the meat and potatoes players to keep it effectively running. We need safeties, OGuards, DTackles and Linebackers. A good back-up QB for when Tua misses his inevitable games is also a must. They need to stop looking at the ‘marquee’ colleges who play finesse games and start looking at the rough and tough universities who play trench warfare. No more Alabama elites, try some midwestern Big Ten defenders or linemen. They need to get the stars out of their eyes and find some workhorses they can rely on and build with. That’s what I’m hoping from this off-season and draft. If I see them take some speedy WR, I might scream. Safety, OG, DT, LB, QB. Draft or FA. Just no over-priced, often hurt players anymore. Find some durable, tough guys. Please.
phinette has a recipe that includes fixing the OL, getting a decent backup QB, and drafting or acquiring tougher and more disciplined players while also replacing the head coach and GM.
Philadelphia manhandled the Chiefs because they had superior O and D lines. We have to address our O-line deficiencies. An average QB will not get the job done against the better teams. I know we’re stuck with Tua for at least one more year, but in the meantime, we need a major QB2 upgrade. We need to acquire players who are tough and disciplined, not ones who quit during games and turn up late for meetings. That’s inexcusable. If it all goes sideways next season, my final recommendation, getting rid of Grier and McDaniel, will be addressed.
dedstrk316 wants to go old-school.
Pat Kirwin said “Run the ball, play good defense, have a good Oline that’s what wins games. Problem is most teams don’t want to play that way anymore.”
Dolfanjoe wants the obvious but knows that the Phins have little to no money to spend on anything.
Good lines on both sides of the ball ! Above average QB. Good receivers and willing to block. Wait i am just saying a generally good over all team. Its so simple, just have to fit it in on a budget !
DX@TX, I guess, wants Aaron Rodgers. Um, okay…
Bring in Rodgers, he’ll make sure Grier an McDaniels are fired! Then we can start over!
Dolphinsfan2021 is done with McDaniel and Grier.
We learned what we already knew the Dolphins need to do for years and haven’t. Grier and company don’t want to build around OL and DL and sign the right free agents and draft core players that make a difference. It’s why the Dolphins are soft and haven’t won a playoff game in 25 years. Three years in a row they had a good defense that would have been even better had it had more help on the DL instead of wasting picks on bad offensive players. First two years the DC was blamed for losses and fired. One of those was Fangio. I think it’s crystal clear now the problem is McDaniel and his lame predictable offense. Just a weak team physically and mentally and McDaniel and Grier aren’t the ones who can fix that.
Bill Moody is screaming the same thing we have all been screaming for years.
There is one lesson… same as every other year. BUILD THE OLINE.
There seems to be a consensus that the most significant lessons were that things start in the trenches and that the current Dolphins roster lacks a quality offensive line. Many also believe Grier, McDaniel, or both need to be gone. We are pretty much stuck with both, so all we can hope for is that they improve this season, or if they don’t, Ross is finally ready to pull the trigger. Again, thank you to each of you who took your time to answer our question of the day.
