So I have always had this confusion about the basic responsibilities of the inside linebackers in a 3-4 defense. Heres my conundrum.  I have noticed many times that when either of the OLB in the 3-4 blitz, they set up on the line in a three point stance. Does that not make it essentially a 4-3? I saw Porter and Taylor many times lining up next to Starks or Langford which pretty much makes Porter/Taylor an end and Starks/Langford a tackle.  Doesn't that make one of the inside backers an OLB when either Porter/Taylor line up?  Would Crowder or Ayodele have to cover the person or zone that the blitzing OLB/DE would have had to cover had he not blitzed? For example, from left to right you have Porter, Crowder, Ayodele, and Taylor.  Before the snap, Porter moves towards the line and sets up in a three point stance.  You then have (again left to right) Crowder, Ayodele, and Taylor. Crowder then picks up the left LB responsibilities while Ayodele gets the middle and Taylor covers the right?

I only ask cause if thats the case, then it becomes easier to understand why we really need an ILB who can both stuff the run and cover the side of a blitzing OLB. In addition, do blitzes ever really come from an ILB? Can anyone think of a 3-4 that has had a passrushing ILB? Maybe a Pitt defense?

Sorry for my confusion but I tried my best.

I am pissed off. More pissed off than any of you are at losing that game to the Colts last night.  After reading Ethan Skolnicks article pretty much stating that Tony Sparano's honeymoon is over and remembering random thoughts from last nights message board like someone with a screen name of firedanhenning, I was pretty scared for the future of the Dolphins and just flat out sick and tired of sports fans with knee-jerk reactions

Yeah we lost last night. It was a heart breaker. And yes, we are 0-2.  No I am not gonna go down the road of the eternal optimist and remind everyone of what they already know, that we were 0-2 at this point last year.  As Matty pointed out in his article tonight, we have a much a more difficult schedule this year. So much more that many analysts and members of this site had us going 7-9, possibly 6-10.  The other thing that Matty pointed out was that this year there are expectations. By the looks of it, these expectations were huge.

It seems like everyone on this site has that fantasy in the back of their mind that pretty much has the Dolphins being the cinderella team.  This would be quite similar to the team of last year, but we would somehow, some way be able to do it again.  Ill tell you what, if you live life with these types of goals, more often than not, you will be severely disappointed. I prefer to set realistic goals in life, to not set myself up for such severe let downs and to also avoid making drastic assumptions and actions as a response.

I think that the worst thing in sports are those fans who do not possess the intelligence to see the big picture.  I hate those fans who constantly want perfection.  I hate it when memories are so short and the focus is always on the now, so much that this mentality micro-analyzes everything down to the point that there is always something wrong, always something to improve. Look, I am no different. i look many levels into this team.  I want to know who is at fault and what went wrong. But I always try to remind myself to be constructive and avoid mongering for change when it is not needed.  

Heres the gist.  Coaches and franchise will never be perfect.  The best coaches the NFL has ever had never coached a perfect game.  Even if some of you think that is true I guarantee that any coaching mistake can sometimes and often times be masked by the play of superior athletes.  Franchises are not perfect either. Even the Yankees, the dominant Yankees, havent won a world series in God knows how many years.  

When we lose, keep it in perspective.  No I do not mean that Sparano is on a pedestal.  I mean that you need to remind yourself of the crap we have had over the last decade.  Remind yourself who is at the top with Parcells and Ireland. Remind yourself of what has already been accomplished. Remind yourself of what the alternatives may be and whether it would be in the best interest of the franchise to go in that direction.  Remind yourself that expectations need to be tempered by reality, that this is the year we are expected to take a step back, so that if we do, its not unexpected at the very least.  That this team is going in the right direction. THat this regime has picked players that have worked for us. That even when Sparano falters, he is not perfect, just like no other coach is perfect. Do not be people that create an overwhelming negative energy that may eventually push these guys out of this city because they feel the disloyalty of a fan-base.  This mentality of calling for someone's head whenever something goes wrong has seized the sporting enterprise of this nation with its modern infatuation with WIN NOW!! and WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY?

Please dont be that guy or gal.

Take off the blinders that point towards unattainable perfection and always keep it in perspective.

Do you know anything of the dt colin cole from Green Bay? He has great size for a nt being 6'1 330 lbs and seems to be relatively young. You think he could be a possibility to have behind ferguson or is he no one to get excited about? Other than him, any other guys we could sign to be a backup nt? Seems like Gabe Watson was tendered by Arizona, so the only other guy I could imagine would be Dewayne Robertson? I forget, but is he better suited to be a 4-3 dt?

Thanks

No offense, but I figured you would have a better understanding as to how this has and eventually will transpire. I would never expect this type of paranoia from you. Get a grip! You had hopes of signing Asomugha, Atogwe and K. Dansby, but come on, those guys were definitely going to be either franchised or signed. They represent top talent as their respective positions. You say that you are not basing this post on how there are less star free agents, but it sure does sound as if you are significantly disappointed that these guys are no longer available. It is as if your fantasy dream offseason has already been shot down and because of that, you are kind of freaking out.

Remember, the free agency period hasn’t even started yet you feel that we have not been able to address our needs?!? We just resigned V Carey, so that is off our list. But the rest of the other needs you mention, “center, guard, receiver, outside linebacker, nose tackle, and cornerback” coupled with the added necessity of “tackle, inside linebacker, both safety positions, and add an emphasis to cornerback.” were not necessarily new problems. The way I see it is that our most pressing offseason needs are center, inside and outside linebacker, nose tackle, cornerback and safety. Wide receiver would not be as pressing a need considering the inability of CP10 to consistently be a threat with the deep game.

With that in mind, we all know they are looking to get bigger at center. That should mean that we will either sign a FA or draft someone. Do not forget that in effect, the acquisition of a new center will automatically give depth to our guards by moving Satele down. I think by just doing that, it provides an upgrade to our center and guard spots. With Smiley, D THomas, S Satele and the rest of the underlings battling for the top two spots, I think we are fine at the guard position. There is no real practical need to spend an early pick to pick up a guard. Plus, guards are usually the easiest of the offensive lineman to plug into your lineup with the expectation of efficiency.

Both our inside and our outside linebackers, even if we were to keep Crowder, still need to be addressed and upgraded. I do not have confidence in the depth of our linebackers, and knowing Parcell’s historical tendencies, I am not worried whatsoever as to how he will go about making upgrades to this unit. I do believe that we will draft at least two linebackers with the potential for more. Plus, I do believe we will also sign a free agent with Bart Scott being the most likely initial target.

Nose tackle could be addressed by either a draft pick or a free agent. No real worries there yet, but the need for an apprentice to J Ferguson is necessary.

Cornerback is a position that I believe will need to be addressed by both free agency and the draft. Whether we resign Goodman or not, we most probably will sign someone else to compete at the nickel or dime. In addition, I am quite sure that the trifecta are aware of the need to reinvigorate this corps with some youth. I welcome the possibility of taking a cb in the second round to throw into the mix. Best case scenario: Will Allen, Andre Goodman, a fa signee (Bryant McFadden anyone?), a first day draft pick, Jason Allen, and Nate Jones. Worst case scenario: Will Allen, fa signee, first day draft pick, Jason Allen, Nate Jones. I am comfortable with either potential scenario.

Safety? I am not too worried about Yeremiah Bell leaving. If he stays then great. If he leaves, which I highly doubt, then it will be fixed somehow. Yeah, Yeremiah is great, but he is replaceable. So I suppose I can shed light on the best case and worst case scenarios. Best case: Yeremiah and R Hill resign. We also spend either a 1st day pick or a 4th round pick on a safety. Starters would be Bell and the pick (if he is capable of showing that he can start immediately) with both Hill and Culver backing up. Worst case: Neither Hill nor Bell are resigned. We spend an early pick on a safety and sign a fa or two. Start the pick with either the fa signee or T Culver. Even with the worst case scenario, we will get younger at the safety position.

So, keep this all in perspective. We will most likely sign at least one more out of Bell, Hill Goodman, Crowder, with the high likelihood of resigning more. In this front office I trust!

Updated: December 28, 2008, 12:02 PM ET

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Hopefully this is all speculation, but jeez, what a time to write this story.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3795922

Will Bill Parcells become a free agent -- again?

It's a possibility, hinging on whether Miami Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga's sale of his majority ownership of the team goes through, sources told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen.

When Parcells joined the Dolphins as executive vice president of football operations last year, his deal included a one-time out clause that allowed him to walk away, with the rest of his $12 million guaranteed contract fully paid, no strings attached, if Huizenga sold the team.

Earlier this year, Huizenga agreed to sell 95 percent of the Dolphins to New York developer Stephen Ross. Huizenga hopes to close on the deal by early January to ensure that the capital gains taxes on the sale remain at 15 percent before President-elect Barack Obama takes the oath of office in January, Mortensen reported.

Parcells' contract specifically states only Huizenga can be in authority over him. Once Ross officially becomes majority owner, Parcells has to notify Ross within 30 days that he intends to exercise his walk-away clause and collect the full balance of $9 million, Mortensen reported.

At that time, Parcells would be a free agent. And any team that wants his services would not owe compensation to the Dolphins, according to the report.

Among the teams sources say are on Parcells' radar are the New York Jets, Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns and the Oakland Raiders. However, if Parcells' son-in-law, New England Patriots vice president Scott Pioli, is interested in any of those jobs, Parcells is unlikely to wind up with that team, Mortensen reported.

Parcells could negotiate with Ross to extend his opt-out clause by one year. But as presently written, the clause doesn't extend after one season, according to the report.

ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen contributed to this report.

.....yeah we lost. But being at a bar in New Orleans surrounded by a crowd that had at least 7 pats fans, I lost that game knowing that everyone on that field gave it their all.  This games reveals more about the quality of our secondary as to the heart of these players. Yeah, J Allen got picked on. So did everyone one else. You wanna know why? Its cause all of their receivers are badasses. Our secondary has been able to surprise us here and there, but against moss, welker and gaffney? no way in hell. we did the most that our talent level could provide. Hell, last year, I don't know how many games we played where i felt the players just did not care. 

Not today. They busted their asses and gave it their all. They didn't win, but they showed us how they will give their all no matter what. That means we've got an ideological system in place that will eventually turn losses like this into the upsets that we fantasize about.

Its a shame that many of us labeled him a bust so soon. Today goes to show that. The way I see the perception of Ginn’s performance has been unfair to say the least. Correct me if I am wrong, but i feel that since we drafted him with the ninth pick, we all felt that he needed to contribute immediately. I mean, the common thing is for a receiver to take 2-3 years to truly blossom. Since Ginn wasn’t the exception to this “rule”, then he automatically was a bust. Yeah we all want to have that rookie wr who comes in his first game and becomes an immediate stud. But in reality, the fact that this doesn’t happen so often is the very reason that makes the receivers that do break out immediately so special. We need to put our expectations in line with realistic assumptions of the production that comes out of this position. The learning curve that it takes for young receivers to achieve consistency is longer than we expect. We need to support him and take the pressure off. Let him become consistent.

Remember all the young receivers that do blow onto the scene usually are drafted into a pretty established situation in regards to the respective offensive system. Not all, but most. Let’s give Ginn a break. In fact lets embrace him and hope that he doesn’t get so fed up by all the negative flak that has gone his way so far and end up going to some other team when his contract expires.