Posts Tagged ‘Minnesota Vikings’

Will Miami Regret Passing on Randy Moss?

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010

Randy Moss is going to the Tennessee Titans, who claimed the enigmatic wide receiver off waivers from the Minnesota Vikings.  Since waiver priority is determined by the inverse order of the current standings, the 4-3 Miami Dolphins would have acquired Moss had they decided to put in a claim.  Did the team make a big mistake by passing up the chance to feature two 2009 Pro Bowlers in a revamped vertical game?

Tmoss-frohere were plenty of reasons for Miami to pass on Moss, who can be the best player on the field if he’s motivated, and a head-case who doesn’t respect his teammates or coaches and carries far more baggage than he’s worth if he’s disinterested. 

Despite playing for Bill Belichick, one of very few coaches who has earned Moss’s admiration, the wide receiver still found a ticket out of New England after questioning his role in the offense and getting into a spat about Tom Brady’s hair (I don’t actually think that last part is true, but it’s hilarious nonetheless). 

Through his career, Moss has been repeatedly chastised for his lack of effort, failure to finish routes and make blocks, and an alarming attitude in the locker room that largely contributed to his release from Minnesota.

But hate him or love him, Moss is one of the most talented WRs in NFL history, and players of his caliber are hardly ever so readily available.  He’s two and a half years removed from a season in which he recorded nearly 1,500 receiving yards and caught an NFL-record 23 touchdown passes.   For his career, he ranks second in league history in TDs (153), fourth in receiving yards per game (76.6), fifth in total receiving yards (14,778), and eight in catches (948).  Those skills didn’t suddenly diminish overnight.

Perhaps the Miami coaches didn’t think they could keep him happy in a run-first offense, or didn’t want to deal with the distractions and media circus that surrounds the outspoken and constantly unhappy Moss.  But his off-putting personality aside, the Dolphins sure could’ve used him on the field.

The team ranks 25th in the league in passing plays of over 20 yards (17) with an anemic average of 6.7 yards per pass attempt.  Miami hasn’t had a true deep threat (at least one who can catch the ball) in years, and Moss would’ve commanded double-teams and opened the field for Brandon Marshall — who publicly lobbied for the acquisition — and slot receiver Davone Bess.

It would’ve been a relatively low-risk and low-cost gamble for the Dolphins, since Moss is owed $3.388 million for the remainder of the season, the final year of his contract.  Even he has to realize that at this point, no team would hesitate to cut him if he continues to exhibit an oversized ego and a poor attitude, and that he could find himself out of a job in the offseason if he burns yet another bridge.  

The Dolphins could’ve gotten a playmaker whose talents could’ve single-handedly brought the division title back to South Beach.  Instead, they’ll have to settle for seeing Moss catch passes only once this year, when the visiting Titans come to Miami on November 14.

Pillage The Vikings!

Friday, September 17th, 2010

I gotta go out of town in a couple hours so I am just going to cut and paste the message I sent out to the DolfansNYC Facebook group. If you don’t live in NYC this is probably not relevant to you…

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Glad to see everyone out last week! Third and Long was packed and everyone seemed to have a great time.

Beating the Jills was great but this week we face a much harder task in the Minnesota Vikings and our old friend Bret Favre. The last time the Phins faced Favre I and some of the founding member of DolfansNYC were watching the Dolphins become AFC Champions. We had seats just a few feet from the field and we watched our boys trounce Favre and the Jests. It was great. This week unfortunately I have to be out of town for a funeral so I won’t be at Third and Long, but Short Michelle will and I am sure someone will step up and lead the bar in the “That’s Another Miami Dolphins… FIRST DOWN!” cheers. DolfansNYC has a very deep roster this year so I’m sure we won’t miss a beat.

For those of you who have been asking we are temporarily sold out of Large and XL DolfansNYC t-shirts. There will be S, M and XXL shirts available on Sunday and I will have a new batch made up for the Jets game next Monday. The T-shirt sales have been great and along with a few ads on DolfansNYC.com we have raised more than $350 for charity.

People have also been asking about Jets Vs Phins tickets. We are planning on buying tickets as a group. We are going to be buying several blocks of 10 seats. If you want to come with us, please have cash in hand on Sunday or the following Monday. Michelle will be buying tickets during the games and she will need your money to reserve a seat. If you have any questions about tickets email her at dolfansNYC@gmail.com.

My last order of business is a favor from the Dolphins. We work with the team a lot and are raising money for their charities. They hook us up with stuff all the time and are now asking a favor in return. They are trying to promote their new photo store. It’s a pretty cool to get great shots of Dolphins players in action. They are offering everyone a free photo just for signing up. Also whatever Dolphins fan website that signs up the most people will win a gift certificate to the store. If we win we will spend the money on picture for our fund raising raffles so take a second to sign up. It seriously takes less than 30 seconds and you get a free photo out of the deal.

Anyway, that’s all I got for you this week. I hope everyone can make it out to Third & Long this week at 35th and 3rd. Ill miss you guys Sunday but I’ll see you next monday when we kill the Jets at home!

Dolphins Toss and Turner

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

According to multiple reports, the Dolphins have traded fan favorite Greg Camarillo to the Minnesota Vikings, who were in desperate need of a wide receiver after losing Pro-Bowler Sidney Rice for the next eight weeks.  A hard-worker and one of the most sure-handed players in the league, Camarillo will always be remembered for his 64-yard game-winning score from the immortal Cleo Lemon in Miami’s lone victory of the 2007 season.

Ah, good times.  It’ll go down in Dolphins history as the team’s version of the improbable “David Tyree catch” in Super Bowl XLII.  But much like Tyree, who suffered a season-ending knee injury the following and wasn’t resigned by the New York Giants despite his heroics, Camarillo lost much of his speed after tearing his ACL in 2008 and was set to enter the 2010 season as the team’s fourth receiver, at best. 

In return, Miami will receive defensive back Benny Sapp, who’s started only 17 of 86 career games, recording 140 tackles, 4 interceptions, and six fumble recoveries.  He’s not likely to significantly help the Dolphins’ secondary, aside from adding a little depth and injury insurance while Will Allen recovers from knee surgery.  Hell, 37-year-old Warren Sapp would’ve been a more exciting pick up, but alas.

The bigger outcome, is that Patrick Turner, last year’s third-round pick, will now almost certainly make the final roster.  Turner, who was active for only two games and failed to register a catch in 2009, wasn’t a lock to make the team going into training camp.  While his size (6’5″, 220 pounds) and athleticism make him a tough cover, the former USC standout had trouble grasping the fundamentals and getting off the line of scrimmage.  Turner certainly didn’t help matters by missing time with a back injury and reportedly not exhibiting a strong work ethic or sense of urgency during training camp.  He was even listed behind undrafted rookie Marlon Moore on Miami’s initial depth chart.

But Turner has shown some notable improvement in the first two preseason games, tying  for the team-lead in catches (4) and ranking fourth in receiving yards (51) behind Anthony Fasano, Marshall, and Moore.  At this point, he’s far more likely to make the team than Moore, as well as fellow undrafted rookies Julius Pruitt (3 catches for 31 yards) and Roberto Wallace (2 catches for 14 yards), if only because the Dolphins will be more reluctant to cut ties with a former high draft pick.  Or two for that matter, with the all-but-inevitable release of 2009 second-round selection Pat White.
 
The Dolphins won’t have to wait too long to find out how much Camarillo has left in the tank – Miami will travel to Minnesota for a Week 2 match-up on September 19.

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