Happy Tuesday!
You have to come up and check out The Villages! It just doesn't get any better than this. Call me for all the details.
Two weeks in a row in which the Dolphins have, to say the least, underperformed. After losing to the Bills in week 2, 29-10, the defense was, once again, just a figment of our imaginations, as the KC Chiefs put a whoopin’ on the Fins, 34-15.
The "not-so new and improved offense” and the “Ole” defense are horrible.
For all of you who want to lay the entire blame on QB Ryan Tannehill, I tell you that all the responsibility does not fall totally on his shoulders. The Dolphins lead the NFL with 12 dropped passes in their first three games. An offensive scheme that has not exactly kicked in is at fault here. They at least managed to show signs of life in a two-minute drill at the end of the first half, although they managed to screw that opportunity up by only being able to run two plays in the last minute of the half and settling for a field goal. Did they even try to use the hurry up again while the outcome of the game was still in question? Nope. That, my friends, is coaching.
The offensive line, for the most part, has been holding up their end of the bargain, and we can expect some more improvement as Mike Pouncey returns from the DL soon. After Knowshon Moreno went down last week, Lamar Miller had a good game against the Chiefs, rushing for 108 yards in 15 carries.
Ryan Tannehill continues to be up and down, mostly down. His only consistency is the fact that he has absolutely NO pocket awareness. He cannot feel the pass pressure, cannot find a lane to throw in, and absolutely holds the ball WAY TOO LONG. With the athletic ability that he has, it is mind-boggling to me how the coaches do not put Tannehill in situations where he can flourish and succeed. That, again, is coaching.
NOTE: I have a good memory (sometimes) and I remember that when the Dolphins drafted Dan Marino, a lot of the so-called “experts” questioned that selection and said that a gun-slinger like Marino could never play in a Don Shula system. Oops. Methinks the “experts” were wrong.
One of the things that made Don Shula as successful as he was in the NFL was that he was able to build a system, whether on offense or on the defensive side of the ball, to best suit the players he had. That is coaching.
The Fins have one of the top defensive lines in the NFL. They are a wrecking crew that has the ability to take over games. That doesn’t mean, however, that I want DE Cameron Wake or LB Jason Trusnik on one-on-one pass coverage on speedy running backs, like Joe McKnight. Hell, they made McKnight look like an all-pro, and they gave up 132 yards to back-up running back Knile Davis, subbing for all-pro Jamaal Charles. In total, the Chiefs ran for 174 yards on 41 carries, and dominated in time of possession.
Last week, against Buffalo, they allowed rookie WR Sammy Watkins carte-blanche to run around unimpeded and catch 8 passes for 117 yards. After that game, I asked why not put your best cover cornerback, Brent Grimes, on Watkins? This week, by the way, when the Bills lost to the San Diego Chargers, Watkins ended up with 2 catches for a grand total of 19 yards. Defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle has had pretty much the same group of players the last three years. Maybe it is time for him to learn how to put these players in situations that they can succeed in. (Wait, I said that before about Tannehill) That, once again, is coaching.
Linebacker Jelani Jankings has played very well against the Chiefs, where he had 15 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and a safety. On the negative side, the Dolphins had 18 interceptions last year. So far this season, ZERO.
If there was not hot seat under Coach Philbin’s ass before, there is now. The Fins have been outscored in the first half of the first three games by a score of 43-13. That is not good. If this team doesn’t get better, this season will be the last we see of Joe Philbin. In football, it is virtually impossible to fire a coach during a season. A lot of work has to go in to implement a system, and a change during the season means that the same assistant coaches are still going to be running the ship. This isn’t baseball.
Another hot seat should be under Ryan Tannehill’s butt as well. He needs to take charge of this team, possibly needs to spend more time watching film of himself, and definitely spending a LOT of time working with the receivers. I have always wondered how the elite QB’s in the NFL - - - Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, etc. are able to work endless hours, yet other QB’s don’t. To me, the work ethic these guys show year in and year out is what separates them from the rest of the QB universe. In all fairness, however, the only way we're going to figure out if Ryan Tannehill is the long-term answer at QB, is to let him play without restraints. Put him in situations where he can flourish and show everyone that he can win games, not just avoid losing games. We also need to face the fact that Ryan Tannehill is NOT Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, or Aaron Rodgers.
The Fins will travel to London this week to take on the winless Oakland Raiders, who gave the New England Patriots a battle on Sunday. I said last week that the result of the game against the Chiefs would speak volumes. This coming Sunday, the voices in my head will be even louder.
If the aforementioned fire under the butt is not hot enough to motivate young Mr. Tannehill, and the Fins get off to a rough start against the Raiders, look for Matt Moore to take over at some point during the game, and then be given the opportunity to start after the bye week. The bottom line used to be that the coaches needed to be 100% sold on whether or not Ryan Tannehill is the guy to lead this offense. Now it may be to bring in Moore just to keep their jobs. The coaches will be talking about this early this week as the team prepares to go to London.
How did I do on my picks this past week?
I went 5-2. My record now, after three weeks, is a lofty 16-6 against the spread.
My Winners and Losers highlighted
(HOME TEAM IN CAPS):
Thursday
FALCONS 56 Buccaneers 14
Sunday
Chiefs 34 DOLPHINS 15
GIANTS 30 Texans 17
SAINTS 20 Vikings 9
Chargers 22 BILLS 10
Steelers 37 PANTHERS 19
Monday Night
Bears 24 JETS 19
Here are all of last weekend’s game recaps and scores:
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18
Atlanta 56, Tampa Bay 14
A record-setting night for former Hurricane Devin Hester, who passed Hall of Famer Deion Sanders for most return touchdowns in NFL history. With a 62-yard punt return for a touchdown in the second quarter, Hester broke a tie with Sanders at 19 career touchdown returns. Hester now has the record all to himself with 20. Hester also scored a rushing TD in the game on a 20-yard end-around. Matt Ryan completed 21-of-24 passes for 286 yards and three touchdowns. Julio Jones caught nine passes for 161 yards and two TD’s.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 21
Seattle 26, Denver 20 (OT)
Marshawn Lynch ran for a touchdown in overtime and the Seattle Seahawks survived to take a 26-20 victory over the Denver Broncos in a rematch of last season's Super Bowl on Sunday. Peyton Manning had led Denver in a terrific comeback, tying the game with a touchdown and a two-point conversion at the end of regulation, but never got the chance to play in the overtime, as Seattle won the toss and scored the winning TD.
San Diego 22, Buffalo 10
Philip Rivers threw two touchdown passes to Eddie Royal and the San Diego Chargers beat the Buffalo Bills 22-10 on Sunday despite being down two running backs. The Bills’ Sammy Watkins caught just two passes for 19 yards a week after grabbing 11 for 117 yards and his first NFL touchdown against the Dolphins last week.
Cincinnati 33, Tennessee 7
Giovani Bernard rushed for a pair of scores and Andy Dalton became the first Cincinnati quarterback to record a receiving touchdown. Dalton finished 15-of-23 for 169 yards and one interception, and hauled in an 18-yard scoring pass from Mohamed Sanu in the second quarter
Baltimore 23, Cleveland 21
Justin Tucker's 32-yard field goal at the buzzer sent the Ravens over the Browns. The game had a total of six lead changes.
Detroit 19, Green Bay 7
Reggie Bush had a touchdown and the Lions’ defense held Aaron Rodgers in check, and he finished the game a paltry 16-for-27 for only 162 yards.
Indianapolis 44, Jacksonville 17
Andrew Luck led the Colts with four touchdown passes and completed 31-of-39 passes for 370 yards.
New England 16, Oakland 9
Former Cane Vince Wilfork intercepted a deflected pass deep in New England territory after Oakland had a potential tying touchdown negated by a penalty, as the Patriots held on against the Raiders. The Raiders have now lost 15 straight games in the Eastern time zone, and they’ll head further east for their next game, a matchup in London next Sunday against the Dolphins.
New Orleans 20, Minnesota 9
Drew Brees completed 27-of-35 passes for 293 yards and two touchdowns. The Saints had lost their first two games by a combined five points.
NY Giants 30, Houston 17
Rashad Jennings rushed for a career- high 176 yards and a touchdown. Eli Manning finished a sharp 21-of-28 for 234 yards and two touchdowns.
Philadelphia 37, Washington 34
Nick Foles threw for 325, completing 28-42 passes, with three touchdowns.
Dallas 34, St. Louis 31
Tony Romo threw for two touchdowns and the Cowboys erased a 21-0 deficit.
Arizona 23, San Francisco 14
Backup QB Drew Stanton threw two touchdown passes to rookie John Brown and the Arizona Cardinals remained unbeaten. The Cardinals have won their first three games for the second time in the last three years and are 10-2 in their last 12 games dating back to last season.
Kansas City 34, Miami 15
Backup RB Knile Davis ran for a career-high 132 yards on 32 carries with a touchdown to lead the Chiefs to a 34-15 win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
Pittsburgh 37, Carolina 19
Ben Roethlisberger threw two second-half touchdown passes to Antonio Brown. Le’Veon Bell had a career-high 147 yards on 21 carries and LeGarrette Blount ran 10 times for 118 yards and a touchdown, giving the Steelers two 100-yard rushers in a game for the first time since 1986.
Monday, September 22
Bears 27 JETS 19
Ryan Mundy intercepted Geno Smith’s first pass of the game and returned it for a touchdown. Jay Cutler threw two TD passes to Martellus Bennett.
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Here are this week’s NFL games and early point spreads. Some of these lines will definitely move around as the week progresses:
Thursday, September 25th
Giants @ Redskins -3 8:30 pm CBS
Sunday, September 14th
Dolphins @ RAIDERS (London) +4 1:00 pm CBS
Packers @ Bears -1 1:00 pm FOX
Panthers @ Ravens -3 1:00 pm CBS
Lions @ Jets -1 1:00 pm FOX
Buccaneers @ Steelers -7 1:00 pm FOX
Titans @ Colts -7 1:00 pm CBS
Bills @ Texans -3 1:00 pm CBS
Jaguars @ Chargers -13 ½ 4:05 pm CBS
Eagles @ 49ers -5 ½ 4:25 pm FOX
Falcons @ Vikings +2 ½ 4:25 pm FOX
Saints @ Cowboys +3 8:30 pm NBC
Monday, September 29th
Patriots @ Chiefs +4 8:30 pm ESPN
The first bye week of the season has the following teams taking a break:
Arizona Cardinals
Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns
Denver Broncos
Seattle Seahawks
St. Louis Rams
If you play fantasy football, make sure you remember to take the bye weeks into consideration when setting your lineups.
What else are the Dolphins up to?
Miami Dolphins blog from Armando Salguero:
Chris Perkins and Omar Kelly bring us their Dolphin blog:
For more news from around the NFL, here is NFL NATION:
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In college football last week, for the second week in a row, all of my picks were correct:
(HOME TEAMS IN CAPS)
FSU 23 Clemson 17 (OT)
ALABAMA 42 Florida 21
NEBRASKA 41 Miami 31
Louisville 34 FIU 3
WYOMING 20 FAU 19
UCF 41 Bethune Cookman 7
This coming Saturday, in games involving state of Florida universities:
FSU @ NC State 3:30 pm CBS
FIU @ UAB 3:30 pm American Sports Net
UTSA @ FAU 5:00 pm
Duke @ MIAMI 7:30 pm ESPN 2
UCF OFF
Florida OFF
I will, once again, bring you all my picks, both in the NFL and the Florida College games, on Thursday.
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Manny Navarro and Susan Miller Degnan have all the latest news from the University of Miami.
From FIU, David J. Neal of the Herald, who is, once again, allowed to see FIU play and practice, has the latest from the University of Westchester in his blog.
Here’s the latest from Tallahassee and the Seminoles:
From Gainesville and the University of Florida:
The Central Florida Knights are in the house:
Every week, celebrating the fact that we will now have a four-team playoff to determine the national championship, I will bring you my TOP FOUR teams in college football, indicating what teams will end up in the four-team playoff. This list will probably change every week. On the fringe . . . Texas A&M and Auburn.
1. Alabama Crimson Tide
2. Florida State Seminoles
3. Oregon Ducks
4. Oklahoma Sooners
Another reminder . . . . I’ll have my picks, both NFL and College, in Thursday’s blog.
Let’s shift gears, and head out to the baseball diamonds.
The Marlins are on a downward spiral, as they have lost four in a row, and five out of the last six games. The day off on Monday couldn't have come at a better time for the floundering Fish.
They open a series at Marlins Park Tuesday night against the Phillies. They will then close out the season in Washington, DC, against the mighty Nationals. starting with a day-night doubleheader on Friday. With a 74-81 record, the Marlins are going to have to win their seven remaining games to finish at .500. It just isn't going to happen. Here are the probable pitching match ups for the series against the Phillies and against the Nats:
Tue Cole Hamels vs Henderson Alvarez 7:10 pm
Wed Kyle Kendrick vs Brad Hand 7:10 pm
Thu David Buchanan vs Tom Koehler 4:10 pm
Fri Jarred Cosart vs TBA 1:05 pm
Fri Nathan Eovaldi vs TBA 7:05 pm
Sat TBA vs TBA 4:05 pm
Sun Henderson Alvarez vs TBA 1:35 pm
TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Jonathan Lucroy of the Milwaukee Brewers tied the major league record for doubles in a season by a catcher with 45. Who held the record before? The answer comes later, alligator.
For the latest Marlins news and stories, as well as Dolphin news, you need to make sure you follow my good friend Larry Walansky on nbcmiami.com.
Here is Joe Frisaro’s MLB Marlins Blog:
The Yankees’ blog is here, thanks to Mark Feinsand of the NY Daily News:
Click below for yesterday’s recaps and results in the major leagues:
Here are the standings in MLB:
Here are the individual leaders in the majors:
In other baseball news,
As we begin the final week of the season, the races are in the AL Central, where the Tigers lead the Royals by one game, with six to go. In the race for the AL wild card, it is the A’s and the Royals pretty much tied, with the Seattle Mariners 2 games behind, the Cleveland Indians 3 ½ games back, and the Yankees still not technically out of it at four games back. The O’s and Angels are just waiting for the post season to begin.
In the National league, we have the Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Francisco Giants tied for the wild card, and Milwaukee is 4 ½ games out. The division races are pretty much locked up, barring a collapse by the Dodgers or Cardinals, with Washington, Los Angeles, and St. Louis holding down first place in their respective divisions.
The Atlanta Braves fired general manager Frank Wren, and has been replaced, in the interim, by John Hart. Hart, team president John Schuerholz, and former manager Bobby Cox will head a committee to determine the new GM. Cox, incidentally, may be prepared to take on a more significant role within the organization. Cox worked with Wren as the GM from 2008-2010, and there was a disconnect between the two during that time. Hart is hesitant to become the permanent GM as he is enjoying his present job as a baseball analyst on MLB Network. A name that will be considered is Braves Asst. GM John Coppolella, considered one of the bright young minds in baseball. Other names that may be considered are Royals GM Dayton Moore, who grew up in the Braves system.
Up in the air, for now, is the status of manager Fredi Gonzalez. Fredi has the support of his mentor, Bobby Cox. Of course, his status will be clearer once the Braves decide on a permanent GM.
Unfortunately for Fredi, he doesn’t hit. The Braves have managed to score two runs or less in 61 games this year, and their record in those games is 8-53. The team has scored less than two runs in 16 out of their last 26 games and 12 out of their last 19, including another 1-0 loss on Monday night against the Pirates, the sixth shutout loss in September. I hope the Braves do the right thing and bring Fredi back.
If you think the Braves underperformed, you need to take a look at the Cincinnati Reds.
The Yankees’ Masahiro Tanaka made his first start in more than two months a successful one, going 5 ⅓ innings on Sunday against the Blue Jays, allowing 1 run and five hits, striking out 4 and issuing no walks. He will go again on Saturday, at Fenway Park, against the Red Sox. The Yankees will have many questions going into next year, including Tanaka, CC Sabathia, and Ivan Nova, both of which had season ending injuries this year.
Cleveland Indians’ pitcher Corey Kluber, the best pitcher you have never heard of, struck out 14 batters for the second consecutive start on Sunday. The last guy to perform that feat was Randy Johnson, back in 2004. The last Indian to do it was Sudden Sam McDowell back in 1968.
Another injured pitcher ready to return is our old friend Anibal Sanchez. Sanchez has been on the DL since August 9th, and will probably be activated sometime this week.
Marcell Ozuna sprained his right ankle in Sunday’s game against the Washington Nationals, and will probably miss the remainder of the season. He will build on the .269, 23HR, and 85 RBI season. Look for Kike Hernandez to get the bulk of the playing time in the outfield.
Quietly, Albert Pujols reached the 100-RBI milestone for the twelfth time in his career, only the fifth player to do so before the age of 35. The other four? Alex Rodriguez, Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, and Al Simmons. By the way, nobody wants to play the Angels in the playoffs. They're going to be a force to be reckoned with.
Cuban defector Yasmani Tomas, 23, is raising a lot of eyebrows. Some people are expecting that Tomas may end up getting a bigger contract than what Rusney Castillo got from the Boston Red Sox ($72.5 million).
THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Jonathan Lucroy of the Milwaukee Brewers tied the major league record for doubles in a season by a catcher with 45. Who held the record before?
Lucroy, who presently has 52 doubles, has hit 45 this season while playing catcher. His next double in a game in which he is the catcher, will break the tie with Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez.
Let’s go to the hardwood, and here is Ira Winderman’s Miami Heat Blog:
And finally, the powers that be over at the Miami Herald have come to their senses, and we can now, once again, bring you Santos Perez’ weekly spotlight on boxing. Who in Gods’ name runs that paper? How is it that they can have five or six columns on wrestling, which is all fake and try and ignore boxing? Welcome back, Santos.
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Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day.
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