Well, Super Bowl Sunday is here and one of Miami's most bitter AFC East foes, the New England Patriots will go for another Lombardi Trophy as they take on the New York Giants. These two teams played in the 2007 Super Bowl when the Giants defeated the Patriots 17-14, thus keeping the Patriots from not only winning a Super Bowl, but keeping the Patriots from going 19-0 and keeping the Dolphins as the only undefeated team in the Super Bowl era. The teams aslo played earlier this year, with the Giants coming from behind to beat the Patriots 24-20 in Foxboro.
This should be a very good football game, as the Patriots come into the game as a 3 point favorite, but most folks are picking the Giants to win. The Giants have defensively what it takes to give the Patriots fits, a front four that can get pressure on Brady not only on the edges, but up the middle without blitzing. Offensively, Eli Manning has had perhaps his best year and he has weapons to attack a very suspect New England secondary. WR Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz and Mario Manningham will be hard for the Patriots to contain, and TE Jake Ballard gives the Giants a threat down the seam. While the Giants have struggled running the ball most of the season, they have come on during the playoffs and RB Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs will be key.
The Patriots come into the game with one of the most potent offensive units in football, led by perhaps the best quarterback in football, Tom Brady. They have a solid run game lead by RB Ben Jarvis-Green Ellis and Danny Woodhead. But what makes the Patriots go is their passing game lead by Brady, TE Rob Gronkowski & Aaron Hernandez along with WR Wes Welker. Defensively, the Patriots have not been good, but have improved during the playoffs, and their improved play will be key if the Patriots want to win this game today. NT/DT Vince Wilfork will be a big key for the Patriots in this game along with a very suspect secondary. Somewhere in this game, that group will need to make a play.
I would not be surprised to see either team win this game, as they are pretty evenly matched. That being said, as much as it pains me, I am going with the Patriots. The Patriots have played with an emotion and a dedication to Myra Kraft, the wife of owner Robert Kraft that passed away this summer. Sometimes it little things like a little extra motivation in a game like this that get's you over the top. This team loves their owner, and they would love nothing more than to win this game for their owner.
Now, to our Dolphins a little bit. As most of you know, the Dolphins have come out and said they will monitor the Peyton Manning situation closely and will be involved if Manning is released, which most think he will be. Right now, Washington and Miami are seen as the teams that will have the best chance to land Peyton. The big key in this whole equation is will the nerves in Peyton neck and arm regenerate. Neither the doctors or Manning have a clue of when this will happen. At some point, the Dolphins will have to make a decision on when to move away from Peyton the closer we get to free agency. The last thing the Dolphins want to have happen is to miss out on Peyton and not have a chance to get Green Bay QB Matt Flynn.
For the record, IF, and right now it is a big IF, but if the nerves regenerate and Peyton is able to play, he still is an elite quarterback in this league. In 2010 Peyton completed 66.3 percent of his passes for 4,700 yards, 33-17 TD to INT ratio, and this was with an offensive line that was as bad as I have seen the Colts have for a while.
The Peyton Manning situation will be one that will shape the fate of a few teams, our Miami Dolphins being one of those teams.
Miami have players on their roster that will become free agents, 2 of the biggest being NT/DT Paul Soliai and DT Kendall Langford. Both have been big parts of a Dolphin defense that has been a very solid, young unit and the Dolphins will probably lose one of these two guys. It is my hope that the Dolphins will look to get Soliai resigned, as the Dolphins will look to run both 4-3 & 3-4 schemes defensively. In a 3-4 scheme, you need that dominant NT to run that scheme and Paul has shown the last 2 years that he is a force, as the Dolphins have finished in the top 5 defensively the past 2 years against the run. In a 4-3 scheme, I think the Dolphins could use Soliai the way the Patriots use one Vince Wilfork.
I think there is more value with Paul and it going to take a sizable contract, but I would like to see Paul back in the fold if the Dolphins had to choose one of the 2 players. It will be interesting to see what direction the Dolphins go.
I really can't get along without the browser toolbar. It has all the important links on it. I'm not selfish, I even have all the other Dolphins fan sites on it. There's a lot of draft links, rss feeds, and a cool email program that lets you know when you have mail. And NO spam or spyware. It works for Firefox and Internet Explorer. So, enjoy!
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A number of Dolphins fans would like the Dolphins to cut ties with Brandon Marshall. Fresh on our minds of another losing season are all the dropped touchdown passes, Not only that but the personal and team drama that follows him wherever he goes. I mean, how many players have their wives stab them in the stomach? That is a potential act of murder. Does he have that scary of a temper or is his wife a nutjob? Whatever happened, and we will never know the full story, he did his best to protect her and they are back together. On top of that he has admitted that he went to get professional help and found out that he has a chemical imbalance. Since this incident he seems to have turned the corner on his personal drama.
"Brandon Marshall, star wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins recently revealed in a press conference that he suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder. According to the National Institute of Health, Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) can be described as “an illness that causes “pervasive instability in moods, interpersonal relationships, self-image and behavior.” Marshall, no stranger to the media with tales of domestic abuse and driving under the influence; last week decided to go public with his disorder in order to raise awareness and eventually lobby Congress for funding to assist research efforts. Though BPD is a lesser known mental disorder compared to Schizophrenia or Bi-Polar Disorder, it affects over 6 million Americans." madamenoire.com
Didn't the Dolphins give up two second round draft picks to score touchdowns and win games? You better believe it, and I am disappointed by his drops in the red zone as well. While the passes were not easy catches, being the #1 WR on this team means that he is expected to catch those balls. What I saw was a lot of hand-fighting with the DBs on several of his drops to where he was not mentally ready to catch the ball. Yet, we kept calling those plays in the red zone time after time even though Marshall was showing an inablitiy to catch them. Yep, the same old, same old fit-a-square-peg-in-a round-hole type of mentality that we have had to endure since the Don Shula years. When will teams learn from great coaches such as Don Shula and Bill Belichick to exploit your players strengths?
I do not want you to think that I am defending Marshall for his drops. He is clearly responsible for them, but it is my hope that we have a different mentality leading this team. Thank God for the breath of fresh air that 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh has brought into the NFL by dictating his offense based on each player's talent rather than the old school of thought. Offensively I think the Dolphins are on the right track. Defensively I am not so sure.
Anyways, back to Marshall. Despite his mistakes in the red zone, Marshall has been a beast between the 20 yard lines. Most of the time it was his ability to catch the ball and his toughness to grind out the extra yard that got the Dolphins into the red zone in the first place. As you can tell, I am a Brandon Marshall fan. He didn't have problems in the red zone until he came to Miami. Get him another receiver to compliment him .... and, of course, a long term option at quarterback. And what about the bomb? Put it back in our playbook.
Did he throw his Dolphins quarterbacks under the bus when he said that he touched base with Matt Flynn to get him to consider coming to the Miami Dolphins? And his frankness that his "elite" Pro Bowl quarterbacks made it easier for him to catch those Pro Bowl record breaking 5 touchdown passes? Of course, but let's the fact that he is telling the truth. I admire what Matt Moore did this year for the Dolphins but would you really be that impressed with him if he were a first round draft pick that has been the league for a few years? The answer is "no". What is Moore's ceiling? Did he peak this year? The Dolphins need an elite quarterback to lead this team. It makes everyone better. If you need an example of that then think of how much better Dan Marino made receivers such as Nat Moore, Irving Fryar, OJ McDuffie, etc. They had talent, but Dan the Man made them great.
As far as his performance in the Pro Bowl game, it was a reminder of why he is called "the beast". I enjoyed the game, and I've been waiting for a Dolphins player to dominate these "meaningless" All Star football games since Garo Yepremian was cheated out of an MVP trophy by The Juice. BM even broke a Pro Bowl record. Great game, and Marshall wasn't the only one trying hard. Did anyone even notice Clay Matthews, Ray Lewis, Jimmy Graham, or Drew Brees? There were more.
So, should the Dolphins get rid of our biggest playmaker on offense? Again I ask you, "are you insane"?
I really can't get along without the browser toolbar. It has all the important links on it. I'm not selfish, I even have all the other Dolphins fan sites on it. There's a lot of draft links, rss feeds, and a cool email program that lets you know when you have mail. And NO spam or spyware. It works for Firefox and Internet Explorer. So, enjoy!
Support Phinfever by buying what you need from our advertisers. They pretty much pay the bills for us. Thanks!
A number of Dolphins fans would like the Dolphins to cut ties with Brandon Marshall. Fresh on our minds of another losing season are all the dropped touchdown passes, Not only that but the personal and team drama that follows him wherever he goes. I mean, how many players have their wives stab them in the stomach? That is a potential act of murder. Does he have that scary of a temper or is his wife a nutjob? Whatever happened, and we will never know the full story, he did his best to protect her and they are back together. On top of that he has admitted that he went to get professional help and found out that he has a chemical imbalance. Since this incident he seems to have turned the corner on his personal drama.
