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.
