New Dolphins Career

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This is my new Miami Dolphins dynasty, so that means my other Fins-thread is no longer up to date. Sorry for the confusion...

I'm starting in preseason (so I won't have the 08 draft to work with), trying to turn around the worst team in the league. I'll use Tony Sparano as my Coach. My main goal is to keep the dynasty realistic, so I set up some house rules:
- No sign-and-trade deals (if I sign a FA, I'm not allowed to trade him in that season)
- I'm not allowed to trade rookies (doesn't happen in the NFL either)
- Limited roster churning - during preseason and the regular season I'm only allowed to sign 1 FA per week. It would be too easy to improve my team's weak roster by signing every decent FA available at the start of the game, so I'll limit myself here. However, there are 2 exceptions to this rule:
1) If a player is placed on IR, I am allowed to sign a FA to fill his roster spot
2) Right before the regular season starts (after the final-53 cuts) I am allowed to sign 2 FA's. This is supposed to reflect the increased roster churning that (usually the weaker) NFL teams do after the cut deadline

Summary:
Career start: Preseason
Offensive PB: self-created PB, based on the Michigan Spread PB
Defensive PB: self-created PB, based on a 3-4 base defense, mostly using man coverage
Sliders: adembroski's sliders
Coach: Tony Sparano
Draft Path: Mike Zazzali

Philosophies:

QB: Balanced (but needs some mobility)
RB: Balanced (planning to have a power back and a receiving back)
FB: Blocking
WR: Tall/Redzone Threat
TE: Balanced (needs to be a good blocker)
OL: Balanced

DE: Run Stopper
DT: Run Stopper
OLB: Pass Rusher/3-4 Blitzer
ILB: 3-4 Tackler
CB: Man Coverage/Ballhawk
FS: Balanced
SS: Balanced (may be switching to Run Support/Big Hitter later, depending on the success of my defense)

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Preseason summary:

We went 0-4 in the preseason, which doesn't really concern me because I don't put much emphasis on these games, the players don't know the PB in the first season and our roster is still very weak.

However, a couple of things happened that might deserve to be mentioned:
- traded QB Chad Pennington to Atlanta for a 2010 2nd rounder
- traded RB Ricky Williams (exp. contract and he was getting old and banged up) and LB Channing Crowder (exp. contract, bad personality) for some late round picks
- RB Ronnie Brown got injured and will be out 1-3 months with a linsfranc fracture
- DE Roddy Wright is on IR
- Dan Carpenter beat out Jay Feely for the kicking job. Sounds familiar somehow... ;-)


Coming up: roster overview and season outlook

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Roster Overview:

QB: J.Beck, C.Henne, T.Palko
RB: R.Brown, P.Cobbs, J.Parmele, L.Hilliard
FB: C.Stewart
WR: A.Mix, B.London, E.Wilford, T.Ginn, G.Camarillo, D.Hagan
TE: A.Fasano, D.Martin
LT: J.Long, K.Barton
LG: J.Smiley, E.Mathis
C: S.Satele, A.Alleman
RG: S.Murphy, D.Thomas
RT: N.Garner, V.Carey

LE: P.Merling, K.Langford, R.Wright (IR)
RE: V.Holliday, L.Dotson, R.Starks
NT: J.Ferguson, H.Smithers, P.Soliai
LOLB: J.Porter, T.Bake, C.Anderson
ILB: A.Ayodele, R.Torbor, J.Goff
ROLB: M.Roth, Q.Moses
CB: W.Allen, D.Tribble, M.Lehan, A.Goodman, D.Edwards
FS: D.Manning, J.Allen
SS: Y.Bell, J.Barrett

K: D.Carpenter
P: B.Fields
RET: T.Ginn

This is basically the roster I inherited. I managed to bring some guys in to help the team immediately (Danieal Manning, Anthony Mix) and some guys who might develop into good players in the future (Tony Bake, Hank Smithers).

Strengths:
- Offensive Line
- Special Teams
- Nose Tackle

Weaknesses:
- Overall Talent
- Defensive Backfield
- RB depth
- Inside Linebacker
- Wide Receiver


Season Outlook:
The 2008 season is supposed to be a rebuilding season for the Dolphins. We have bad supporting staff (Coordinators, Coaches, Trainer) and the players have to learn new playbooks on offense and defense. Coming off a 1-15 season, the overall talent base is not very good. The offense should be fine in a year or two (as I know the system and what players I need for it to work) but I have no idea if this 3-4 defense works out well for me...
When Ronnie Brown comes back from his injury, I hope we'll be able to run over some of the worse teams but at this point I don't see this team winning a lot of games this season. But as I said, 2008 is a rebuilding season. If I can win enough games to keep my job, I'm fairly optimistic I can turn this franchise around.

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Game Preview: Week 1 vs Jets

Injuries:
Dolphins: Ronnie Brown (RB)
Jets: Thomas Jones (RB), Kris Jenkins (NT), Kenyon Coleman (DE)

Both teams are without their #1 RB. With Brett Favre probably in his last season (again...), the Jets need to win now while we have just begun the rebuilding process.

Matchup to exploit:
Our O-Line vs their D-Line

Matchup to contain:
Brett Favre vs our DB's

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Game Summary:

Jets 20
Dolphins 13

Scoring:
Q1:
MIA - D.Carpenter, 31 yd FG
Q2:
NYJ - M.Nugent, 32 yd FG
NYJ - J.Chatman, 9 yd pass from B.Favre
NYJ - M.Nugent, 36 yd FG
Q3:
MIA - P.Cobbs, 3 yd run
NYJ - J.Chatman, 1 yd run
Q4:
MIA - D.Carpenter, 19 yd FG

Game Summary:
Turnovers (3 INT's by J.Beck) and poor rushing defense (146 yds rushing allowed) cost us this game. The Jets were up by a TD for most of the game, so they kept pounding it, which we couldn't stop. John Beck moved the ball well, going 16/28 for 301 yds. Unfortunately he threw 3 picks (2 of them in the Jets red zone). He distributed the ball evenly to a lot of different receivers (7 different players caught passes). Brandon London had the best day of them (5/86). With Ronnie Brown out we expectedly couldn't get any rushing offense going (27 yds combined). For the Jets L.Coles did most of the damage through the air, exploiting a matchup against our rookie CB DeJuan Tribble. Our O-Line did not have a good day, giving up 5 sacks. On defense, no player really stood out (although both starting ILB's had 9 tackes each). No big plays on defense or special teams.

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During the week:
Miami Dolphins signed QB Dennis Dixon, released QB Tyler Palko. The Dolphins see Dixon as a change-of-pace QB who can contribute on Wildcat and Option plays.
Starting NT Jason Ferguson will be out for 4-6 weeks.


Game Preview: Week 2 at Cardinals

Injuries:
Dolphins: Ronnie Brown (RB), Jason Ferguson (NT), Philip Merling (DE)
Cardinals: Bryan Robinson (DT), Mike Gandy (T), Jordan Black (T), Bertrand Berry (OLB)

Matchup to exploit:
OLB Matt Roth vs 3rd string LT Brandon Keith

Matchup to contain:
WR Anquan Boldin vs CB DeJuan Tribble

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Game Summary:

Dolphins 20
Cardinals 17

Scoring:
Q1:
ARZ - E.James, 7 yd run
Q2:
MIA - D.Carpenter, 33 yd FG
ARZ - N.Rackers, 26 yd FG
MIA - D.Carpenter, 23 yd FG
Q4:
MIA - B.London, 13 yd pass from J.Beck
ARZ - S.Alexander, 4 yd run
MIA - P.Cobbs, 2 yd run

Game Summary:
I have no idea how we came away with the win in this one. On offense John Beck was solid (18/32 for 268 yds, 1TD). Patrick Cobbs couldn't get anything going on the ground (7 yds rushing) but he emerged as a pass cathing thread out of the backfield (5-71). Brandon London was the most consistent WR again (5-53, TD). Our O-Line gave up 4 sacks which is better than last week but still too much.
On defense, Anquan Boldin torched us, just as expected (6-113) and just like last week we couldn't stop the run (137 yds). Kurt Warner threw two second half picks (Y.Bell & M.Lehan) which brought us back in the game. Ayodele & Torbor lead the defense with 8 tackles each.
To be honest, Ken Whisenhunt lost this game for Arizona today. Had they been running the ball more in the second half we'd have no chance to come back. At the end of the game, the Cards had the ball at our 32 with 0:07 left and no timeouts. They didn't kick the FG but threw it to Fitzgerald instead. He got tackled at our 5 and time expired. Sometimes you just need some luck but a win is a win...


During the week:
Miami Dolphins signed RB Ryan Torain, released RB Lex Hilliard.
Starting DE Philip Merling will be out for 3-5 weeks, so with Fergie still out and Wright on IR, we're running out of Defensive Linemen...


Game Preview: Week 3 at Patriots

Injuries:
Dolphins: Ronnie Brown (RB), Jason Ferguson (NT), Philip Merling (DE)
Patriots: none

Matchup to exploit:
Our WR's vs their CB's. If the Pats have a weakness, it's their Cornerbacks...

Matchup to contain:
Our D vs their O. I have no idea how to stop them...

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Game Summary:

Dolphins 3
Patriots 42

Scoring:
Q1:
NE - L.Maroney, 9 yd run
NE - W.Welker, 4 yd pass from T.Brady
Q2:
NE - R.Moss, 9 yd pass from T.Brady
MIA - D.Carpenter, 51 yd FG
Q3:
NE - R.Moss, 1 yd pass from T.Brady
Q4:
NE - R.Moss, 12 yd pass from T.Brady
NE - D.Thomas, 3 yd pass from M.Cassel

Game Summary:
It was the expected blowout loss. Couldn't stop their offense all day (NE had to punt just once) and couldn't get my offense going. No running game (13 yds) and the O-Line gave Beck no time to throw (7-17, 110 yds, INT). Luckily we don't play the Pats every week...


During the week:
Miami Dolphins signed DE Victor Abiamiri, released OLB Quentin Moses. Abiamiri is expected to fill the void created by injuries to DE's Roderick Wright and Philip Merling.
Starting SS Yeremiah Bell got hurt against NE and is questionable for the next game.
The next game will be in 2 weeks, as we have our bye week.


Game Preview: Week 4 vs Chargers

Injuries:
Dolphins: Ronnie Brown (RB), Jason Ferguson (NT), Philip Merling (DE), Kirk Barton (T)
Chargers: Derek Smith (ILB), Shawne Merriman (OLB), Sam Adams (NT)

Matchup to exploit:
none - the Chargers are the superior team in every aspect

Matchup to contain:
Our run defense vs RB LaDanian Tomlinson - we were unable to hold any team under 120 yds rushing this season, LT is a HoF guy. Not a good matchup for us...