Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
Originally posted by SnakePlissken:
Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
Originally posted by cciowa:
Originally posted by SanDiego49er:marino was the wonderboy of the nfl in 84 like ck is today but never got back to the super bowl mainly because the dolphins were either unable or unwilling to fix the problems on the team. Jh knows where the problems are on this team. they have been here all year long, pass rush, poor secondary coverage, keystone cops special ed teams and one of the most penalized teams in the nfl. fix the f**king problems coach and admit jenkins was a mistake for gods sake. for three playoff games we had people here proclaiming jenkins would be our secret weapon and would make plays in the big games.. ok
Originally posted by merm49:
My main worry--and what's making this so tough to deal with--is that the defense began to slip up the last several weeks of the season and playoffs. Smith is only getting older, and was obviously crucial to the entire efficacy of the D. Aldon Smith seems largely ineffective without J Smith, though I'm willing to bet his injury was much worse than the team let on. The LBs are the best in the league and still young, but the DBs, particularly the safties, were exposed for what they are: hard hitters who at times struggle in coverage.
We can't keep squandering opportunities like this. We're likely built to be a perennial playoff contender, but that's no guarantee. Tons of teams over the years have been in the playoffs year after year, only to never win the big one. I fear we're that team. We've let two great chances for a championship slip through our fingers the past two years, and shockingly, this year, we were even closer than last year. Until proven otherwise--by winning a SB with this team and this coach--I fear we'll go down like Marino's dolphins, Kelley's Bills, the post 2004 Pats, or the myriad other teams who came oh-so-close but could never seal the deal. With the NFC improving substantially, particularly within our own division, it'll be a challenge to make the playoffs let alone advance all the way to another SB.
You make a lot of good points and I agree with a lot of what you are saying here.
Special teams coverage cost us all year and it was a dagger in the Super Bowl.
Baalke cutting Blake Constanzo and Colin Jones to sign Brandon Jacobs destroyed our special teams; 70% of our success last year came from Special teams (field position on both sides of the ball).
That was an absolute disaster. Cost us big in the Super Bowl.
Baalke and the rest of the scouting department has, on the whole, been great. That said, they did have a couple of obvious misses in the 2012 draft and FA. I remember really not liking the moves to not resign Costanzo or trade Jones...