Na, Belichick wouldn't take that. He has a better CB in McCourty and Mallet vs Luck is a wash. Maybe if Mangold's involved he would bite.
@RMorin Sparano doesn't want to lose. He has no skin in that game at all. He's not going to be the head coach in Miami past this season one way or the other. The only reason he wasn't fired in the off-season was that Stephen Ross did not want to pay two coaches through a lockout and as you point out Sparano's contract is guaranteed until the end of this season. Stephen Ross on the other hand desperately wants to lose out this season. He knows the Fins haven't been more than sporadically good since Dan Marino retired and he knows why: they haven't had a good QB for more than a season at a time over that span. At the beginning of the season Ross probably figured the Fins were going to go 9-7 or somewhere in that vicinity since the defense looked to be improved and Henne seemed to be settling down. It was going to be just another ho-hum season with the Fins not playing at a high level but certainly not at the nadir they displayed in the Cam Cameron season. Ross would fire Sparano at the end of the year and see if he could actually get Bill Cowher or John Gruden to take the reins and rebuild the team. Then the losing happened bang-bang-bang and not only did the Fins lose but they looked pretty terrible in the process. Sparano ironically gained some time as the actual head coach of the Fins when he outright admitted after game three that he did not know why the Fins were losing and he didn't know how to fix it. That must have sounded like music to Stephen Ross ears since it seemed likely to increase the chances that Ross would be able to get the best QB prospect since Peyton Manning as compensation for a terrible situation that looked like it was getting worse. Even better, if the Fins actually got the Luck pick it would improve the chances that Ross could talk some real talent into taking over the team for him and running it, Then Chad Henne got hurt and like JESUS what an opportunity. If you don't think this scenario is real then you're not a particularly astute observer of what really happens in the NFL when strange situations like the Luck Sweepstakes suddenly emerge to overwhelm the status quo. You likely would never have believed that Mike Ditka could possible trade his entire draft for a running back and then make the guy pose next to him for a magazine cover in a wedding dress while Ditka wore a tuxedo. You'd never have believed that the Minnesota Vikings would trade the better part of two drafts for Herschel Walker. Sometimes life is a lot stranger than fiction. This is especially true in South Beach. Organizationally the Fins are definitely looking at Andrew Luck as their payoff and salvation. Sparano and the players? Who cares, most of them aren't going to be there in two years anyway after the new sheriff arrives and brings in his own posse to play alongside Luck.
Man, I'm really trying to respect you because I think you are close to a few correct points, but there is still a alot things that you are ignoring. First off to your credit; Yes Stephen Ross is attempting to bring a "Hollywood" feel to South Beach. This is abundantly clear with his rather ceremonial "part owners". No one would doubt that. Also of course Stephen Ross would want an Andrew Luck, which owner wouldn't? But you are ignoring a couple of things. First off, Sparano has ZERO incentive to lose a game, I explained this in previous posts. Secondly, MIA is comprised of a lot of young guys, they would NEVER play sub-par even if their coach said to. Their literal future in the league depends on them playing well. Additionally, they have yet to pull Brandon Marshall, Donald Thomas, Reggie Bush, Cameron Wake, Carlos Dansby out for random games because of dubious injuries. These are probably 5 guys who can legitimately change a game against an otherwise mediocre team. I have said in literally EVERY response to you man, YES NFL teams do throw games but not until about week 13. The Dolphins are not currently throwing games they are just a bad team. For the thousandth time, if they throw games it'll be the last 3-4 weeks, and they'll put in a random third string QB under the guise of "To see what he can do" and sit a couple good players under the guise of "he tweaked a hammy at practice". They are not (and you have no evidence to support it unless you think the Phins held back on us??) attempting to lose games at this point, they are just a terrible team!!
unless I am mistaken (Br4dw4y5ux can correct me if I am wrong) but none of that is what he is saying at all. he isn't saying that Sparano or the players are tanking, he is saying that is clear that Sparano sucks and that is why he hasn't been fired -- the Dolphins want him to suck. and if he is so terrible it negates the skill of the talented players they have, even more reason to keep him. only if the Fins start to win would they want to make a change simply to get Sparano out of there and hopefully have some lame duck interim coach who would be over his head to help them lose. not on purpose, simply by inability. maybe I am misunderstanding his point, but it certainly doesn't read anywhere close to what you are interpreting it as.
Sparano doesn't know what's wrong with the Fins. He's won one game at home since Dec. 7th 2009. His teams have played poorly down the stretch in each of the last two seasons, losing 3 in a row each year. By all the normal measures he should have been fired at the end of last year but Ross couldn't pull the trigger because of the lockout. Now the Fins are off to a terrible start, with a clueless head coach and their starting QB knocked out for the year. The beauty of the situation for Ross is that he doesn't have to do anything to tank the season, it's already blown all to hell without any need to interfere in any obvious way. The Fins are going to go something worse than 4-12 no matter what they try to do to improve things. It's a lost season already. What Ross needs to do now is not fuck it up by making any changes that might provide a spark to the team and get them a win or two they don't deserve. 4-12 and a pick in the 5-9 range (Luck Sweepstakes is going to create a logjam of losers with bad records not quite good enough to qualify for the coinflip at the end of the year) or just let things continue to snowball downhill into a 1-15 record with a shot at Luck or better yet 0-16 with some Luck? Ross is likely already mentally checked out on the season. He just needs to be careful not to create a spark where one should not exist otherwise. Yes, the Fins have some young players and a few with talent. Look at their schedule. With a backup QB it just isn't going to matter. They only have two teams left that look like they might lose to the Fins: Denver next weekend and maybe @KC in 3 weeks. After that they are just flatout overpowered by the competition.
That's exactly what I'm saying. The Fins weren't built to lose this year, but since that's what has happened the organization is going to be really happy if it just snowballs from here. They have no investment in the coaching staff at all. They have maybe a dozen players on the roster that the new regime will want to keep around long-term. They'll be really happy to just lose out for Luck at this point. In the boardroom that is. The players and coaches don't want to lose but the team is bad and the coaches are fairly clueless at this point. It's kind of the perfect quagmire for a team to fall into for a season and the Fins are just about to slip in past the point of no return.
This intrigues me. Maybe they'll win just enough games (5?) out of spite. If they're going to be replaced, why do what management wants? If Sparano and the players care about their careers, they ought to get their shit together. I was never that impressed with Sparano, but I don't think he's worst-in-the-NFL bad. Just mediocre.
At this point, I think he's hit the Jim Fassel, "Are you trying to get me fired?!" stage of his career.
I think Sparano might have hit the Jim Mora no man's land of just enough knowledge to make the lack of vision a critical weakness. He motivates people well enough to make their slacking off at key times really noticeable. He's a hard-driving, hard-working coach with a soft team that crumbles under pressure. Probably he should never have been a head coach in the NFL. He got the job because Parcells wanted one of his guys so that he could tinker with the Fins. When Parcells left all the air went out of the operation and Sparano was immediately handicapped by the fact that Parcells explicitly called his franchise QB a disappointment as he was walking out the door. I feel sorry for the guy but I'm glad it's happening to the Fins. I just hope they go 4-12 in stead of worse that that.
Alright I think we are on sorta the same page now, which is what I have said since my first post. The Phins won't intentionally tank unless there is a lame duck "interim, but we are never actually gonna hire you" coaching change later in the season. If I am correct you are stating that simply by having the terrible Sparano and terrible Moore that is defacto tanking because they are so bad which I (and any football fan) can agree on. I however, still don't see if by some miracle the Phins beat DEN this week that they will fire Sparano, which is what you have stated would happen multiple times. That would raise a lot of eyebrows in NYC with Goodell. Like I have been saying for now the thousandth and one time, tanking in the NFL is subtle. If Sparano won one game there is no way he'd be sacked after it (your original allegation). Tanking in the NFL is subtle!
I think if the Fins won a close game with Denver next week that Sparano would be gone by Tuesday. I don't know how Ross would sell the firing but Sparano clearly has done enough to get fired over the last 37 games at this point and I think Ross might well just say that he thought it was time for a change, with the Fins at 1-5 and on the verge of elimination. He could very well argue that he was firing Sparano after the game regardless of whether or not the Fins won or lost. The Fins are 14-23 at this point over their last 37 games and they are 0-6 over the last 3 games of the preceding 2 seasons. I don't think Roger Goodell would bat an eyelash if Ross fired Sparano after a win, given the obvious hesitancy to retain him last offseason and the Fins lousy start this year. Now if Ross came right out and said he was firing Sparano because his intention was to have the Fins lose games and Sparano won one, well that would cost the Fins their Lucky pick.
OH CRAP, i totally forgot about that, sry i was really tired from studying all day and it was kinda late, great analysis
i see what youre saying but you cant fire someone after a win ... the owner would lose tons of credibility with future prospective coaches and players (specifically FAs)
all that has to happen is the upstarts that came out of the gates blazing cool off, and the jets start to fly, and they will be right back in the thick of things
Appreciate the statistical approach, but the reality is simple- can the Jets finish the season on a 7-3 run? San Diego @ Buffalo New England @ Denver Buffalo @ Washington Kansas City @ Philadelphia New York G @ Miami To finish on a 7-3 burst you have to assume we: a) sweep Miami and split with Buffalo, b) sweep the lamers like Denver, Washington, Kansas City, and c) Go .500 in the tough games San Diego, New England, Philadelphia, Giants. If Rex can get the ship righted quickly after our 3-3 start, I can see a 7-3 finish there. No matter how bad things look, we've already pounded a scrub team (Jaguars) so beating the rest of the bad ones isn't a stretch. Sweeping Miami is a given, split with Buffalo makes sense. Question will be, can we a) be perfect against the scrubs and b) beat 2 tough teams? Eagles and Giants? San Diego and New England? That's the key to the playoffs. Be perfect against the scrubs and go .500 against the tough teams. That gets us to 10 wins. Sweeping the Bills and going .250 against the elite teams is even better. No matter how bad the Jets look now (and it's bad), they can get into the playoffs and try to re-kindle that postseason magic by holding serve against the bad teams and eeking out a win against the better teams. SAR I
Oh goody bringing your awesome negativity to this board as well? Although this was a relatively positive post, good stuff
I have been a Jets fan since 1979, haven't missed a single game live or on TV ever, cut my first honeymoon short a day to get back for the 1992 opener, spent over $70,000 this past decade as a season ticket holder, and drove 10 hours round-trip for 10 years attending at least 5 home games live when I lived in New Hampshire. You're not talking to someone who's "negative". You're talking to someone who's realistic. Big difference. SAR I
Appreciate the sentiment, sg3, but no need for a slate to be cleaned. There's a need for the blind-homers to realize that the breakdown of Jets fans right now looks thusly: 10% SOJF's 80% Realists 10% Blind-Homers The blind-homers are just as bad as the SOJF's, but they are so blinded by their unjust optimism that they can't see it. The reality is that the Jets need to go 7-3 to get into the playoffs. I clearly stated that I believe it's possible so long as we hold serve against the teams we should beat and find a way to beat a better team or two. Can't see how that's "negative" at all. SAR I
