Will Joey Porter ever learn and just keep his big mouth shut.

[Chris]

Well we can't expect Matt Cassell to put up 40 points.  He didn't play well, but when your defense is surrendering points on every drive, it's a lot to ask of Matt to go out there and throw the ball effectively on every play.

I put this square on Belichek, he got outcoached in every sense of the word by Sporano.  Pennington was untouched the entire game, 3-step drop passes were netting 15/20 yard gains, Fins running game got whatever they wanted, wherever they wanted it.

let's give credit to the dolphins, who have one hell of a running game right now.  If you can't stop the Brown/Williams combo, Pennington will eat you alive as well.  Say what you want about him, but when he has playmakers to work with he knows how to get them the ball and get out of the way.

Although I agree that some blame needs to go to the coaches, I put this mostly on the players...and specifically the veterans who are supposed to be the leaders.

This game was a simple case of the players overlooking the Dolphins, and not showing up ready to play...and then not righting the ship.  No changes to the gameplan, or adjustments would have changed that.  The only adjustment they needed was in their intensity.

Now, I know a lot of people like to give credit, and blame to coaches when teams come out flat like that...and I agree that it is part of their job to keep the team motivated.  However, I think much more important in situations like these is the leadership of the players on the field.  They needed guys like Harrison, Bruschi, and all 3 D-linemen to step up, and stop the bleeding.  When it comes to things like effort and motivation, players ussually respond better to leaders on the field than coaches.

[jgod213]

Well we can't expect Matt Cassell to put up 40 points.  He didn't play well, but when your defense is surrendering points on every drive, it's a lot to ask of Matt to go out there and throw the ball effectively on every play.

I put this square on Belichek, he got outcoached in every sense of the word by Sporano.  Pennington was untouched the entire game, 3-step drop passes were netting 15/20 yard gains, Fins running game got whatever they wanted, wherever they wanted it.

let's give credit to the dolphins, who have one hell of a running game right now.  If you can't stop the Brown/Williams combo, Pennington will eat you alive as well.  Say what you want about him, but when he has playmakers to work with he knows how to get them the ball and get out of the way.

Although I agree that some blame needs to go to the coaches, I put this mostly on the players...and specifically the veterans who are supposed to be the leaders.

This game was a simple case of the players overlooking the Dolphins, and not showing up ready to play...and then not righting the ship.  No changes to the gameplan, or adjustments would have changed that.  The only adjustment they needed was in their intensity.

Now, I know a lot of people like to give credit, and blame to coaches when teams come out flat like that...and I agree that it is part of their job to keep the team motivated.  However, I think much more important in situations like these is the leadership of the players on the field.  They needed guys like Harrison, Bruschi, and all 3 D-linemen to step up, and stop the bleeding.  When it comes to things like effort and motivation, players ussually respond better to leaders on the field than coaches.

Certainly blame must go to the players as well...

but after hearing that the relatively candid Richard Seymour was quoted as saying "we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off," it made me think that the players were reacting to the Dolphin offense rather than dictating play - which was evident throughout the game.

Now i understand that you can't really gameplan for Ronnie Brown lining up at QB and running the option, but i did expect the coaches to make some big adjustments at halftime...it was more of the same in the second half, though.

[Chris]

Well we can't expect Matt Cassell to put up 40 points.  He didn't play well, but when your defense is surrendering points on every drive, it's a lot to ask of Matt to go out there and throw the ball effectively on every play.

I put this square on Belichek, he got outcoached in every sense of the word by Sporano.  Pennington was untouched the entire game, 3-step drop passes were netting 15/20 yard gains, Fins running game got whatever they wanted, wherever they wanted it.

let's give credit to the dolphins, who have one hell of a running game right now.  If you can't stop the Brown/Williams combo, Pennington will eat you alive as well.  Say what you want about him, but when he has playmakers to work with he knows how to get them the ball and get out of the way.

Although I agree that some blame needs to go to the coaches, I put this mostly on the players...and specifically the veterans who are supposed to be the leaders.

This game was a simple case of the players overlooking the Dolphins, and not showing up ready to play...and then not righting the ship.  No changes to the gameplan, or adjustments would have changed that.  The only adjustment they needed was in their intensity.

Now, I know a lot of people like to give credit, and blame to coaches when teams come out flat like that...and I agree that it is part of their job to keep the team motivated.  However, I think much more important in situations like these is the leadership of the players on the field.  They needed guys like Harrison, Bruschi, and all 3 D-linemen to step up, and stop the bleeding.  When it comes to things like effort and motivation, players ussually respond better to leaders on the field than coaches.

Certainly blame must go to the players as well...

but after hearing that the relatively candid Richard Seymour was quoted as saying "we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off," it made me think that the players were reacting to the Dolphin offense rather than dictating play - which was evident throughout the game.

Now i understand that you can't really gameplan for Ronnie Brown lining up at QB and running the option, but i did expect the coaches to make some big adjustments at halftime...it was more of the same in the second half, though.

Well, I think there you could take that comment multiple ways.  Personally, I would take it as meaning they were playing incredibly undisciplined, and not sticking to their assignments.

But the bottom line is, you can have the best gameplan ever, and know exactly what the offense is going to do, but if you get pushed around in the trenches like the Pats did, you are going to get burnt badly.