A quick look ahead to the Dolphins… and Eagles Eye Fantasy playoffs…

Let’s take a quick look at the Miami Dolphins who are also 4-8 at this three-quarter mark in the regular season…

First, I want to keep a promise to Eagle Nut by running his reactionary commentary which speaks to both the defensive disaster in Seattle and the recent firestorm over Juan Castillo’s job rating:

Eagle Nut: “I am a firm supporter of Reid…if anyone should go, it should be Castillo. He just hasn’t done the job. Defense wins championships (here comes the cliche police!), and this defense isn’t winning anything…I had misgivings about Castillo and the tough job ahead of him very early this season, and he hasn’t been up to the challenge…The four-game losing streak early in the season confirmed my fears (I know, here comes Brizer’s ‘if you’re scared, get a dog’ speech!), but I realized Castillo is not our guy as DC… we’ll find somebody, though, that will get it done.”  

Next, I promised T-Bone we’d show you the Week 12 standings in the EEB Brisucksegg Fantasy Football race which is getting closer and closer to playoff qualification time.  Here’s where they were as of yesterday before the MNF game results came in:

Tomorrow, Boner promises we’ll get to see updated Week 13 results and some kind of explanation of who qualifies for the league playoffs and (as Brozer would want to know) “why?”
Quick key to team owners:
“Dem Apples” = Hud Huston
“Amputatoes”= Jerked
“Nut Chokers” = JB
“Team BONE” = Boner
“Team Conahan” = Robert (JB’s friend)
“McLuvin’s Pastries” = Leo Pizzini
“Marty Funkhouser” = Harry Organs
“Team Jax Eagles” = Andrew Mandarakas
“Dem Stinken Bums” = ATV (The King)
“Sunny’s Jock Strap” = Mothra 
“Lancaster Rubber Necks” = Gary Conahan
“Green Machine” = David Calvo

Now a few observations on the Dolphins as the Eagles head down to Miami this Sunday…

When I first drew up notes for this game way back in September, I had envisioned the Eagles at 9-3 flying into Miami, whose Dolphins would be sitting at 6-6, with both teams still technically in charge of their divisional destinies… silly me.

The Dolphins. Remember when their owner Steve Ross flew across country to court Jim Harbaugh while Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano waited anxiously at home, totally out of the loop? Remember when Dolphins players were openly ripping teammates and coaches?

Miami is still doing everything possible to forget about that miserable chapter, including a contract extension for Sparano and a makeover for the offensive coaching staff. Only two teams scored fewer points than the Dolphins in 2010, due to an inept running game, the lack of a deep passing threat, inconsistent QB decisions by Chad Henne at QB, bad game plans and a struggling interior offensive line…

But during all the offense turmoil last season, the Miami defense carried the team. Often exceptional, the Miami defense could have made a respectable charge in the playoffs if the Dolphins’ offense could have gotten them there. DC Mike Nolan installed a fierce, player-friendly system during his first year in Miami, and the Dolphins ranked 6th in total defense in the NFL.  Nolan moved away from the pure 3-4 scheme inspired by Bill Parcells and instead utilized a hybrid scheme that provided attacks from more creative angles.

If the Miami offense could just produce half of the game-controlling energy that its defensive unit does, then the Dolphins would be capable of making some real waves in the NFL. This is the key to the Eagles winning in Miami— step up on defense just enough to shut down a struggling offense…

Until Sparano finds a way to get his offense to play with more dimension, whether by adding more speed or just taking more vertical chances in the passing game, he is inevitably going to leave his very solid defense on the field way too long.

And that, my friends, is the delicious irony of this game—  if only we could merge Sparano’s defense with Reid’s offense, we would have a true contender.