Dolphins Try to Salvage Season on Short Week; Sherman Losing Locker room?

Well, this once promising season seems to have come down to this:

Win on Thursday, and you keep it alive.

Lose, and you're done.  Finished.  An afterthought.

Personally, I can see this giving Miami an edge.  Backs against the wall, on your home field, under the lights, on national TV.  If EVER this team was going to put it all together, it would be then.  This team has shown you how good it can be.  Take the first half against New England.  That was undoubtedly the best half of football this team has played all season long.

From the play calling, to the execution on both sides of the football, it was a dominant first half from the Miami Dolphins.  The problem is, and has been during this four game skid, they can't put together TWO good halves.  And this isn't an outside perspective, or a shot in the dark opinion, this is a known fact WITHIN the Miami lockeroom.

Here's what Lamar Miller told NFL Network this morning:

"We've got to play a whole 60 minutes in all three phases.  On offense, special teams, and defense, we have to find a way to win and make plays."

Miami played a good first half against New Orleans, and were obliterated in the second half.

After that they played a good first half against Baltimore, led at halftime, then ended up losing in the final two quarters.

Last week, against Buffalo, Miami started awful, played a good second and third quarter, then lost in the fourth quarter.

And finally, on Sunday, this team DOMINATED for the first 30 minutes.  They were outscored 24-0 the final two quarters.

How do you lose four in a row?  That's how.


SHERMAN LOSING LOCKER ROOM?

NFL Network's Jeff Darlington reported today that members in the Miami lockeroom are beginning to question OC Mike Sherman's game plan.

"This is the big concern: Players are starting to wonder about this offensive game plan.  I came out of the locker room, and let me not overstate this, the lockeroom is still together, there's still a good vibe in there.  I talked to several players today, they still feel like they can get this season back on track.  However, there is some questioning about what offensive coordinator Mike Sherman is starting to do.  And it really started to come to head after this Sunday's loss to the Patriots."

Darlington goes on to say what I told you yesterday, Sherman had a brilliant offensive game plan in the first half.  He ran the ball 22 times, and threw it 18 times.  The Fins were running all over New England, and had nearly five yards per carry.

Then, up 14 in the second half, Sherman proceeded to run only SIX times, while throwing 11 times.

"Players were wondering why they abandoned the run, why they got away from it when it was working in the first half, and that's a problem when the players start to question the offensive coordinator."

I don't blame the players one bit here.  They're mad, and they SHOULD be mad.  The play calling from Mike Sherman has been suspect for weeks now, and Sunday may have been the tipping point.

On a short week, with only one day of practice, it'll be very interesting to see what this offense does for the entire 60 minutes on Thursday night.