Even though I don't gamble, I am a firm believer that sometimes when making decisions you need to go all in instead of pussy footing around the issue. Case in point? When I was deciding whether or not to go to law school. I made up my mind that if I got a certain LSAT score I would quit my job as a teacher and go to law school. I went all in. Nothing was going to change my mind. You're probably wondering what the hell this has to do with a sports blog. I'll tie it in right now.
The Miami Dolphins need to go all in when it comes to Chad Henne.This past Monday night Chad Henne threw three (3) interceptions. Some of them at key points when the Dolphins were driving and could have taken momentum from the Patriots. However, when you sit back and analyze the game statistics Chad Henne shouldn't be blamed. He was 29-39 for a 74 percent completion percentage. He tossed two touchdowns. He was moving around in the pocket and looked more poised than he has in the past. Let's face it. Special teams lost the game for us, not Chad Henne. True, he threw the interceptions, but he was facing the New England Patriots defense.
I know New England's defense hasn't been as good as it has in the past, but this is still a team coached by Bill Belichik and his defensive schemes are still one of the most confusing in the NFL. Much has been made of the fact that a linebacker named Rob Minkovich was the one picking off Henne. Go back and look at the tapes though and you'll see what happened. Belichik used the outside linebacker to take away drag and curl routes. Henne didn't make the read and failed to adjust, a mistake that he shouldn't be making anymore. This doesn't mean that Dolphin fans should be panicking. Yet panic is exactly what is going on here.
Fans are calling the radio stations and calling for Henne's head. Chris Mortensen of ESPN is reporting Henne's job might be in trouble. Over reaction ladies and gentleman. We got our asses whooped. That is undeniable. Does this mean Chad Pennington wins this game, as some are suggesting? No. Pennington doesn't play special teams and he isn't going to be chasing around a 5'7" running back named Woodhead either. Should we start experimenting with Tyler Thigpen? It's too soon to resort to that, unless the Dolphins want to end up with a top five (5) draft pick. It's time the Dolphins went all in with Chad Henne.
i told my friends the same thing about henne last game..we still would have lost even if he didn't throw the 3 picks. but no, they turned the tide of the game and we could have been up more after the 1st half and momentum would have been on our side. it wouldn't have made a difference bc you will never win a game where special teams costs you 21 points. never. much less with brady on the other side. and momentum or not, they are still returning that kickoff for a td and blocking that fg. this team has showed that last two games that they're not a super bowl contender at the moment..period. so why not stick with henne and see what he can do.
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU. Talk to Gino and tell him that! lol
ReplyDeleteI never said to take away Henne or that he sucked. My argument was Mark Sanchez v. Chad Henne, but I've argued enough on that lol.
ReplyDeleteThis game Henne takes part of the fault for this game. Yes special teams was like watching a high school special teams vs. a FBS team, but I believe this game could've been had in the 1st half. Henne threw for 70%, but it gets wiped out if you go 6-6 on the drive for 60 yards and then get picked. His completion percentage was a bit skewed too when most of his passes were short patterns in the 2nd half with the Patriots playing prevent. His costly picks gave the momentum all to the Pats going into halftime. I was at the game thinking how disgusting it was were up only 1. Henne scores on those drives rather than stall them, it's AT LEAST a 17-3 game at the half. You have to admit, the past two games in which the game in which Henne aired it out we lost and when he was conservative we won. I don't think he's ready yet to carry this team to a win. He can protect it. The special teams made this game a blowout. But everything changes with a 2 score lead going into halftime. I think Henne will be fine, but he hasn't proven it yet.
Special teams performance doesn't change depending on the score. No effect on it really. If you want to argue that we should have had a larger lead, fine. But it is pure speculation to assume we score 17 or 21 or 13. And it is a catch-22 situation... we were in position to score because of Henne and we were taken out of position to score because of Henne.
ReplyDeleteWe spotted the highest scoring team in the league 21 points. Don't care to argue that game was Henne's fault or partially his fault because that would be revisionist history or Tuesday morning quarterbacking. The team became discombobulated. If given a 7-6 halftime lead against a potent offense, you take it and need to win that game regardless of the missed opportunities. If we blame Henne we should also claim part of the blame goes on the offensive line and the running game, part of it goes on the defense and 90% on special teams.
As to your point that the games Henne aired it out we lost, and the conservative games we won, I can point to numerous factors as to who we can blame for that disparity: 1)Bills and mediocre Vikings teams were the opponents (yes, Vikings have been mediocre this season); 2) defense played perfectly; and 3) special teams played perfectly. In the Vikings game, we scored a defensive touchdown.
Not everything is as black and white as we should have been up by more points and oh 2-0 with conservative game plan and 0-2 with air it out game plan. Several variables present which are ignored for the sake of bashing Henne for some ghastly reason. He started the first drive 7-7 for 90 yards with no prevent defense, that accounts for his high percentage as well. Besides the interceptions, he threw 7 incomplete passes, and you try to diminish the effort by suggesting most of the completed passes were short patterns in the second half. Did you expect us to run the ball more after 21 points were scored on special teams?
Your just putting too much value to the high completion percentage. I wasn't devaluing it, I was just pointing out that you were putting so much emphasis on the completion percentage when the INT's were more critical. I say Henne had more fault than what you were emphasizing. Henne was at fault in that game and he was the blame for the offense. How much blame is questionable, but he scores on those two drives in which should've been scores and the game is a complete 180. Henne needs to take advantage that the defense was shutting down Brady. We let them hang around and they took full advantage.
ReplyDeleteHenne threw two critical interceptions (the third was largely inconsequential). The Dolphins were still winning 7-6 and in a position to continue dominating the game. At that point you can only blame Henne for the lead being so small (although, again, I point out that Henne was also the cause for the Dolphins offense moving the chains, running game was not as effective, and we punted after a 3rd and 6 wildcat play). So, again, I note that this presents a catch-22 (you blame Henne for not scoring, but the team was in a position to score because of henne). I agree that the interceptions were more critical, but Henne was lights out otherwise. I am not saying Henne played brilliantly, but you cannot say he threw critical interceptions and take away the bright spots of his performance... unfortunately, he made one forced throw into coverage and another one was inaccurate.
ReplyDeleteHenne is to blame for the lead being small. But we did not lose that game because of him. The Patriots did not hang around and take full advantage of Henne's mistakes... they accounted for 6 points. Special teams destroyed our chances to win, not Henne. Despite his mistakes, we were still in that game and Henne led a drive to close the game to 20-14. When it was 27-14, he led a drive for a fg.
Cannot blame Henne for this loss. QBs should not get too much credit and too much blame. Henne played well enough for us to win and that was with his two interceptions.
Wait...you said we are placing too much value on a high completion percentage? Are you kidding? A high completion percentage means you are giving players the opportunity to run with the ball and get yards after the catch, a large reason why we picked up Brandon Marshall because he's great at creating extra yardage after the catch. A high completion percentage is equivalent to a running game in that you keep the clock running. A high completion percentage means you are driving and converting third downs. A high completion percentage is a great indicator of success for a quarterback. Can a high completion percentage be misleading? Sure it can, if those completions are going for short yardage or mainly dump offs to the running backs and tight ends (this is not the case with Chad Henne). Look at Mark Sanchez though, a quarterback who relies on his tight ends and running backs to complete passes, and yet he still has a low completion percentage.
ReplyDeleteWhat?! JC, you say Marky Mark isn't great?!?!!? But he went 21/42 last night and blew a chance to put the game away in the 4th quarter and was largely responsible for settling for fgs left and right! Biased!
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