NFL Week 14: Yeah, whatever

[sbr]

Damn Jadeveon Clowney had microfracture surgery today.  The normal 9 month recovery barely puts him ready for Week 1 2015 with no offseason and to training camp.

[jimmy olsen]

Anyway the doom and gloom in Washington kind of catches me by surprise.  Shanahan was the franchises last real hope of avoiding total failure.  I would have thought resignation would have set in awhile ago.  The only emotion I have been able to muster was to be incredulous they would pull a QB who had just won back to back games.

Shanahan's stupid, old school, play 'em while they're injured philosophy destroyed RGIII's promising career. He's the reason they're in this mess and deserved to be fired for that alone.

[Valmy]

Shanahan's stupid, old school, play 'em while they're injured philosophy destroyed RGIII's promising career. He's the reason they're in this mess and deserved to be fired for that alone.

What a joke.  Snyder is the reason they are in this mess and the mess long predates either RGIII or Shanahan showing up in DC.  Shanahan was simply the last big name head coach Snyder will be able to hire, and the last one with the prestige to run things his own way.

[jimmy olsen]

I don't disagree that Snyder is at fault for the terrible state of the franchise, just saying that Shanahan is specifically responsible for the RGIII mess.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

All-too-familiar collapse might cost Joe Philbin his job

Everything collapsed and fell here Sunday. This Dolphins season and its playoff hopes were a stilt house supported by balsa-wood legs, and everything buckled and gave way, crashing right before our eyes in Miami's biggest game of this NFL season and therefore its biggest loss.

The impact of this 28-13 home defeat against the Baltimore Ravens felt greater than the final margin. It felt like there could be a ripple effect.

Quarterback Ryan Tannehill referred to "the opportunity we let slip."

Defensive star Cameron Wake called the manner in which Miami lost this game "a little mind-blowing."

Defender Jared Odrick let fly a more visceral expression of frustration aimed at coach Joe Philbin on the sideline, caught on camera shouting angrily, "Every week!"

All around, things were collapsing ...

The Miami defense collapsed, impressively forcing three consecutive Ravens punts to begin the game and thereafter being helplessly gouged for length-of-the field touchdown drives of 97, 75, 80 and 81 yards.

The offense collapsed, jumping to an early 10-0 lead and then playing the final three quarters as if the end zone was a mysterious foreign land to which no transportation or map existed.

Playoff hopes were collapsing, too, of course, with the afternoon's result. Miami entered the game in control as the No.6 AFC seed, holding the second-wild card spot. The end of the franchise's six-year postseason drought was in the Fins' hands. It isn't now. At 7-6, even three consecutive wins to end the season might not be enough — and, all at once, the prospect of three wins in a row to end the season feels closer to laughable than plausible.

Here is something else that looked as if it might be collapsing: Philbin's future as coach.

Losses like this get coaches like Philbin fired. You have to figure this loss will weigh a ton as owner Stephen Ross weighs whether to make a change. You also have to note the irony that the coach who beat Philbin on Sunday, John Harbaugh, is the brother of the coach who could end up replacing Philbin in Miami, Jim Harbaugh.

That's getting ahead of ourselves. Philbin might still save his job if Miami wins its remaining games (at Patriots, vs. Vikings and vs. Jets) and makes the playoffs. But that notion was running away on Sunday. In a game so big, Philbin's guys did so much wrong.

The offensive line was bad, because right tackle Dallas Thomas had a nightmare, beaten for four sacks.

The Dolphins had three illegal-man-downfield penalties.

The defense put very little pressure on Ravens QB Joe Flacco.

"There were a lot of must-win plays scattered all over the game," as Wake put it in a postgame locker room beaten numb, "and we lost more of them than we won."

There is something missing in this team's DNA, lending to the idea of a franchise that has become snakebitten. The clutch gene isn't there. Whatever is the opposite of "killer instinct" seems to bedevil the Dolphins. The previous week, Miami needed a rally to best the lowly Jets. Sunday was more indicative as we saw a team that couldn't finish. Couldn't close the deal.

How many times before have I tapped a postgame dirge such as this onto my laptop, describing a team good enough to tease but just not good enough to please.

How many times before have Dolphins fans felt this same relapse of disappointment and hurt and thought all over again how hard it is to have an emotional investment in this team.

On Sunday, you couldn't help but feel for hopeful-turned-heartbroken Dolfans as they trudged defeated from the stadium while thousands of purple-clad Ravens fans stayed to cheer and serenade the home fans goodbye.

A year ago Miami was 8-6, the playoffs within grasp, needing only to win one of the final two games. Miami lost both.

On Sunday, the same thing. It's Groundhog Day.

"The frustrating thing is, it's not inability," Wake said.

Then what? Coaching? Coaching tends to be the scapegoat, the catchall, for club owners at a loss for better explanations.

By my eye, the game was lost on the opening sequence of the fourth quarter. Baltimore by then held a 14-10 lead, its first of the game, forging ahead on a series that included a ballsy fourth-and-1 gamble from its own 34, converted on a sneak by Flacco.

But Miami had wrested back momentum, sacking Flacco for the first time of the game and then driving for what looked like a sure go-ahead touchdown. It was first-and-goal at the Ravens' 4 as the fourth quarter started.

And then:

First down, Lamar Miller is buried for a 2-yard loss.

Second down, guard Shelley Smith has a false start penalty.

Second down again, Tannehill, under pressure, overthrows an open Mike Wallace in the end zone.

Third down, Tannehill is sacked in a blitz.

Now its fourth-and-16, and Miami settles for a field goal — possibly the most disappointing three points in the history of scoring.

At one point in the second half, in the midst of the Dolphins' collective pratfall, the PA system played a jingle associated with the slapstick British comedian, Benny Hill. It was the background to a fun game on the video screen, but it also served as an unintended commentary on Miami's performance this day.

Afterward Philbin — as he does far too often — opened his postgame remarks by complimenting and crediting the opponent with deserving to win.

"They coached better and played better than we did," he said.

If Sunday put on order the tombstone of Philbin's Miami career, that might be as good an epitaph as any.

[CountDeMoney]

That really was an atrocious performance by the Dolphins, though.  Especially since after the 1st quarter I figured they had it in the bag.  I'll give Flacco and the Ravens credit for playing an impeccable 3 quarters, but the Dolphins certainly helped.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

So did I.  Hell, even at the half I still thought they had a good shot.  They held one of the best rushing offenses in the league to about 50 total rushing yards after two straight 200+ yard games.  Then they disintegrated.

These past couple years the Dolphins have looked like the Norv Turner Chargers: play good ball until December, then collapse.

[CountDeMoney]

Had some friends go down to the game;  a lot of the Ravens Roosts choose one road game a year, usually a warm city or dome late in the year, and they couldn't believe all the empty seats.

Here's a 7-5 time, jockeying for the playoffs, and the stadium's half empty.  Unreal.  But that's Miami for you, where one would rather parasail than sit in a hot stadium all day. 

[MadBurgerMaker]

Damn Jadeveon Clowney had microfracture surgery today.  The normal 9 month recovery barely puts him ready for Week 1 2015 with no offseason and to training camp.

Supposedly this injury wasn't something he should have come back from so quickly or something like that.  I haven't been keeping up with it though.  I just know the Texans season as a whole has been WAY better than I thought it would.

[derspiess]

Had some friends go down to the game;  a lot of the Ravens Roosts choose one road game a year, usually a warm city or dome late in the year, and they couldn't believe all the empty seats.

Here's a 7-5 time, jockeying for the playoffs, and the stadium's half empty.  Unreal.  But that's Miami for you, where one would rather parasail than sit in a hot stadium all day. 

Last Dolphins game I went to in Miami, I think we picked up two seats for less than $20 total on Stubhub.  Of course Marlins game attendance is much worse.  So few people there that we got sick of being on the Jumbotron so many times.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

Had some friends go down to the game;  a lot of the Ravens Roosts choose one road game a year, usually a warm city or dome late in the year, and they couldn't believe all the empty seats.

Here's a 7-5 time, jockeying for the playoffs, and the stadium's half empty.  Unreal.  But that's Miami for you, where one would rather parasail than sit in a hot stadium all day. 

Attendance has always been bad, even in the Marino years.  I grew up only seeing Dolphins road games, because the home games were almost always blacked out.  I don't know what it is about South Florida, but none of the sports teams can consistently draw bog crowds.

[CountDeMoney]

Damn Jadeveon Clowney had microfracture surgery today.  The normal 9 month recovery barely puts him ready for Week 1 2015 with no offseason and to training camp.

Supposedly this injury wasn't something he should have come back from so quickly or something like that.  I haven't been keeping up with it though.  I just know the Texans season as a whole has been WAY better than I thought it would.

I don't know what the rate is for NFL players, but 1 in 5 NBA players who get it done never play again, and the rest that do don't ever play at the same level, but do see increased performance over time.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00167-009-0765-5 

[MadBurgerMaker]

Welp.  That's not good.

[sbr]

Damn Jadeveon Clowney had microfracture surgery today.  The normal 9 month recovery barely puts him ready for Week 1 2015 with no offseason and to training camp.

Supposedly this injury wasn't something he should have come back from so quickly or something like that.  I haven't been keeping up with it though.  I just know the Texans season as a whole has been WAY better than I thought it would.

I don't know what the rate is for NFL players, but 1 in 5 NBA players who get it done never play again, and the rest that do don't ever play at the same level, but do see increased performance over time.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00167-009-0765-5

I couldn't find any numbers in my quick search either, but I do think it works out better in the NFL.  I do know that Marques Colston has had it on both knees, one in '07 the other in '12.

[Sophie Scholl]

Shanahan's stupid, old school, play 'em while they're injured philosophy destroyed RGIII's promising career. He's the reason they're in this mess and deserved to be fired for that alone.

I would have agreed with this assessment.  Two years ago.  RGIII's on field and off field antics and awfulness since that time have convinced me that the collapse was inevitable.  "The Ultimate Coach" may have sped up the process and cost him some playing time, but RGIII's biggest issues seem to be mental, not physical at this point.