Jeff Fisher was highly touted to be the next coach of the Miami Dolphins, but after a brief courtship, Fisher rejected the offer on the table and took the job in St. Louis, much to the dismay of many a Dolphin fan. We were left wondering who would take the helm of our beloved organization. Around the league we were being scorned, from tweets and remarks from players like Joey Porter, to the media and our own fanbase picketing outside the offices and hiring private propeller planes asking Stephen Ross to fire Ireland. It seemed like dark days indeed, until Joe Philbin emerged to take up the challenge of getting our team back on course and steering us in the way of respectability. So far he seems to be on the right track – I have not agreed with everything he has done, but then again I am not down at the practice facility every day keeping a watchful eye on everything like he is. It really does feel like a plan is starting to come together, so as we settle in for what will be a thrilling encounter, I am sure I can’t help but wonder which team got the better coach to move the franchise forward? Right now I am betting on Stephen Ross and his man Philbin.

This Sunday, the St. Louis Rams face off against the Miami Dolphins in Miami. Playing in front of a home crowd with growing expectations by the week, this game presents the Phins with a great opportunity to move to .500 on the season and put the AFC East very much back in contention heading into their bye week.

This is a real chance to get some momentum. We have looked every bit the part of a contender for most of the season but for a few sloppy mistakes where we turned the ball over. That, there has killed us, ending potentially great drives (something we have seen a bit of already this season), but worse, allowing our opposition to put points on the board and stick around in games where we were the better team for the majority of the game. But in any sport, it is never really about the team that played the best for most of the game, it is about the team who took their chances when they got them and made the most of them. The Dolphins have not. Until last week, that is. We saw the Dolphins force more turnovers than the Bengals, and what happened? We were able to win the game. Well done to a very great defensive effort here, especially you, Mr. Randy Starks. Great pressure throughout, and not only did you get your hands up on that pass but you managed to hang on to it – absolutely fantastic. Sean Smith is like a different player so far this season and Reshard Jones has stepped up big time, he was everywhere last week and his contribution in stuffing the run was inspired.

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With our legitimate reporter Alex moving to California I recently reached out to Dolfans NYC member Ross Barnes who often posts mini opinion pieces on our Facebook group to see if he wanted to start writing for DolfansNYC.com. He was excited for the opportunity so enjoy the first article by Dolfans NYC’s own British ex-patriot Ross Barnes. 

To echo the sentiments that followed Reggie Bush’s exploits in last Sunday’s game, I want Bush! As I look down the Dolphins schedule I can see many winnable games, and for a team that many pundits had written off at the start of the season (I myself was/am reticent to get too excited just yet) there is a lot of promise on the horizon for this team. However, I do not believe that promise will translate into success without the continued play of Reggie Bush as he is currently performing. The Dolphins in 2012 are a far outside bet right now, but don’t write them off just yet. This team is a dark horse in the race and, if nothing else, we could play spoiler to a few other teams. The worst thing an opponent could do right now is underestimate what this unit is capable of, and to some extent the pressure will be on them, not us. But Bush will be key to our success.

In Week 1, Tannehill made some costly mistakes. He turned the ball over three times, twice of which came off of tipped balls at the line of scrimmage where Houston’s big defensive linemen were able to read and anticipate Tannehill’s throws as he stared down his receivers. In Week 2, Tannehill did not make these same mistakes. Sure, the Oakland Raiders are not on the same level as opponents like the Texans, but this is the kind of progression that is encouraging to see nonetheless – now we look to consistency. Tannehill was able to score on a run, this is something that we need to see more of him doing. One of the key factors of his game that did draw praise was his athleticism, his ability to get out of the pocket, extend the play and to bust open huge gains scrambling.

I could not be more excited for this! We will have to do a party for the premiere on August 7th!

With the Dolphins facing off against the Houston Texans on Sunday, DolfansNYC collaborated with State of the Texans for an in-depth game preview, focusing on the burning topics for each team. We cover the Texans’ offseason; Wade Phillips, Mario Williams and the much-improved defense; the aftermath of the Fins-Patriots game; the match-up problems Reggie Bush and Cameron Wake pose for Houston; and much more.

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Hey, um, remember when this happened?  Me neither.

(Though honestly, I found the Dancing with the Stars appearance even more questionable than the New York Jets signing to begin with, but that’s besides the point).

It’s now official – Jason Traitor Taylor is coming back for his third stint with the Miami Dolphins.  He said so on his Facebook page and everything.  Aside from bringing leadership and a veteran locker room presence (and perhaps a copy of the Jets’ playbook?), the two-time Defensive Player of the Year is unlikely to see more than 15-20 snaps per game and add a handful of sacks to his 132.5 career total, barring an injury to Cameron Wake or Koa Misi.  The 36-year-old Taylor is clearly at the tail-end of his Hall of Fame career and should serve as the Dolphins’ third-down down pass rusher and outside linebacker.

Either way, pull out that aqua-and-orange No. 99 jersey from the bottom of your drawer (again) and cheer on one of the greatest Dolphins (and worst Jets and Redskins) players of all-time.  It’s yet another reason to forget all about 2010.

With a short week and injuries to both Chad Pennigton and Chad Henne, Tyler Thigpen is in line to make his first start as a Miami Dolphin.

It’s probably safe to assume that most Fins fans don’t know all that much about the team’s newest quarterback.  He’s been the third-stringer behind Pennington, Henne, and (sigh) Pat White ever since he was acquired from the Kansas City Chiefs in September 2009, and had throw only one touchdown and three interceptions for Miami prior to last week.  In his most extensive game action to date, he threw two costly picks in a winnable game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 17 of 2009.

A mistake-prone QB going up against the Chicago Bears’ fourth-ranked defense that’s tied for the NFL lead with 14 interceptions on the season isn’t exactly a recipe for success, but that doesn’t mean that Thigpen can’t get the job done.

In 2008, Thigpen wasn’t just good in his final ten games for the Chiefs (we’ll conveniently ignore his first career start) — he was one of the best QBs in the NFL.  No seriously, take a look at these numbers from Weeks 7 through 17 of that season.

Only five perennial Pro-Bowlers and a QB playing with Randy Moss and Wes Welker at his disposal found the enzone more times.  The aggressive Thigpen threw the eighth-most TDs — three fewer than Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers — rushed for 386 yards and three more scores, and even caught a 37-yard TD pass.  Of course, the second-year player made his share of errors, and Kansas City lost 10 of the 11 games he started (though six of those contests were decided by seven points or less).  The spectacular numbers apparenty weren’t good enough for the Chiefs, who opted to trade for the marginally-better Matt Cassel and keep the legendary Brodie Croyle as the backup QB.

Last week, I speculated that Thigpen would get an extended look towards the end of the season to see if he can be the Dolphins latest QB of the future.  Miami hung on to him during the offseason despite getting plenty of offers, and instead cut ties with White, a 2009 second-round pick.  Don’t be surprised if the underrated Thigpen seizes the opportunity and establishes an immediate rapport with Brandon Marshall on Thursday night. 

At the very least, let’s hope he can make it through the game — I really don’t want to have to write anything positive about Patrick Ramsey.

Like most Dolphins fans, I was surprised (somewhat pleasantly) by Coach Tony Sparano’s announcement that quarterback Chad Pennington will start over Chad Henne going forward.

A little over a year ago, when Miami started 0-3 and Pennington averaged only 138 passing yards per contest while committing four turnovers, the fans wanted him benched in favor of the up-and-coming Henne.  21 games later, there’s a growing sense of excitement about Pennington’s return to the field as a 4-4 team clings to its fading Playoff hopes.

According to beat writer Omar Kelly, the coaching staff felt that “Henne had become extremely predictable,” leading to decreased confidence in locker room.  Henne made too many bad decisions and committed far too many costly turnovers, throwing four interceptions without a single touchdown pass in Miami’s last two games.  Whether he’s still the Dolphins QB of the future remains to be seen, but it’s certainly not inconceivable that Tyler Thigpen will get an extended look later this year or during the offseason.

Offensive coordinator Dan Henning’s play calling has certainly raised a lot of valid questions, since his system has been more tailored to Pennington’s “water pistol” arm all along.  Henne averaged 6.9 yards per pass attempt and 10.8 yards per completion his season, both of which are below Pennington’s career averages.  After three surgeries on his throwing shoulder, Pennington doesn’t have the arm strength to throw deep passes, but then again, Henne has only two completions of over 40 yards in eight games.

One factor that can’t be understated is Pennington’s accuracy, which is miles ahead of Henne’s.  Pennington holds the highest completion percentage (66.1%) in NFL history among players with at least 1,000 pass attempts, and led the NFL in that category during his last full season in 2008 (67.4%).  He has the 12th-best career Passer Rating (90.1), and ranked second in the league behind Phillip Rivers two years ago.  While Henne has thrown four more INTs than TDs, Pennington has nearly twice as many scores as picks over 11 years (though it should be noted that he threw four costly INTs against the Ravens in Miami’s last Playoff game).

It’ll be interesting to see how the 34-year-old fares against the Tennessee Titans defense, which has given up the 10th most passing yards but leads the league with 3.3 sacks per game.   If Pennington improbably leads Miami back into the postseason, he deserves to win an unprecedented third Comeback Player of the Year Award.

Normally I take today to post pictures from the last Dolfans NYC meet up, but since I was at the game in Baltimore getting embarrassed by my team I don’t have club pictures to post. Instead I am going to post some questions I have for Dan Henning. Tomorrow is his media availability day and I have some questions for the guy. The press loves Henning because he is so charming when he talks to them, but they rarely get to the bottom of what the fuck he is doing out there. Today I woke up to find out that Henne was benched, which I think is a terrible idea. The real culprit behind this mediocrity is Dan Henning. He is the guy who needs to be benched.

• Why the hell do you go empty backfield on third and short all the time?
• Why have you stopped giving Polite the ball on 3rd and 1? I know he missed ONE 3rd and 1, but thats one out of 25.
• Why do you not keep handing the ball to the running back who is actually gaining yards?
• Why did it take you twice as long as we did to realize the Wild Cat isn’t working anymore?
• Why during the Baltimore game did you have a 10 play drive without handing off once?
• Why down 16 points with 3 minutes to go did you start running play action?

Seriously, our offense is garbage not because of Henne, but because of Henning. He is putting our players in a position to fail. Pennington might fare better than Henne, but it won’t be because he is a better quarterback. It will be because he is experienced enough and smart enough to play within this horrible system that Henning has created.  Everyone gives Henning all this credit for the brilliance of the Wild Cat, but that was all David Lee.  Let’s put David Lee in charge and send Henning to the nursing home.

What questions would you have for Henne if you were at his press conference tomorrow?