I am so excited to be a small part of the Fins’ universe. I love reading the Phinsider columns with our great writers and the great comments from our readers(you all are strong!). Keep ‘em coming. Before I start the column proper, I am watching the Chiefs-Broncos butt-whipping, I mean game, and I just saw Jaylen Waddle drop a perfectly thrown pass from Bo Nix. It had a bit of Grey Poupon on it but it should have been caught. I think we will make out good on that trade.
I just read Chris-Early’s column. Wow! That “Wow!” wasn’t just an ordinary “Wow”, it was a “Wow!” with a factorial “!” behind it. In mathematics, a Wow! (factorial) is far superior to an ordinary “Wow.” I get fired up when people put out strong opinions!
The Chiefs are pulling out a page from Dennis Erickson’s UM versatile offensive playbook. I went to Auburn, FAU and UCLA but I do root for the Canes. Back in 1992, FSU came into the Orange Bowl to take on the high-flying high-octane passing attack Hurricanes. FSU expected UM to throw the ball a million times but Dennis Erickson saw some weaknesses in FSU’s run defense and ran the ball for 222 yards and ultimately won on the “Wide Right” kick. This change of pace is something that the Dolphins should aspire to but we are not there yet. Does Hafley and company have the “strategerie” to try things like this down the road? I say that because I didn’t see much “strategerie” on Sunday. Say what you want but Coach Hafley seemed like he threw the Dolphins into an underwater maze and left them to their own devices. I didn’t see any obvious coaching changes e.g. all out blitzes, max protect, reverses, counters, sixth offense lineman etc etc etc.
I am not gonna harp on that because I saw Andy Reid let Mahomes get killed in two Super Bowls because the Chiefs didn’t have the foresight to have serviceable tackles. I thought Andy Reid would have ran double-tight end or use a sixth blocker (even Mike McDaniel figured that out). Something. Anything to change the momentum of those two Super Bowls. I watched Coach Shula and Tom Olivadotti not figure out to switch defensive fronts and let Tim Tyndale rush for 498 yards (almost) in Shula’s last game ever. Thank God the moronic Bills lost the next week to Pittsburgh!
So Hafley was content to not make any noticeable changes or if he did, nothing happened. Mike McDaniel could have done that too. Where is Hafley’s mark as a coach? The fans need to see something positive, something to build on. Even in Shula’s down years, he would pull out one unexpected victory. Repeating myself a bit; I didn’t see anything special from the coaching staff. Speaking of special, there was very little in the special teams. Pathetic is a better word. Is this the coaching upgrade that we were promised? What possible excuse do you use for not being able to stop long kickoff returns? Twice? The camera showed some bewildered coach, acting bewildered. Twice. The bad second coverage was virtually an instant replay of the first bad coverage. I am unsure if he is the special teams’ coach but I already had Keith Armstrong flashbacks. How do we not get special teams right? Special teams (outside of finding a reliable kicker and punter) should be the EASIEST thing to fix. This is how John Harbaugh made his bones. This special team issue is a symptom of something wrong. Maybe I will have to eat some crow? Glad to do it. I am an experienced crow eater!