Karen Guregian wrote after the game last Sunday about the Patriots and how they felt about being booed by the fans. Ellis Hobbs was particularly vocal about his disappointement with how fickle the fans at the game were.
I think he's right.
Now, booing is every fan's right as a paying customer. I don't boo players who are working hard. I never have, in my life, booed a player who played for a team I supported (I have been at home and been disgusted, but booing a TV seems dumb). But I have one rule about booing: you boo effort, you never boo performance.
The Patriots were out worked on Sunday, true, but they put in the effort to win that game. They were outplayed. They were out played on the line of scrimmage, they were outplayed downfield, they were outplayed on offense, and they were outcoached.
The Dolphins essentially ran an option offense straight out of high school/college. This isn't a new thing. The Falcons did almost the same thing (in a different way) with Michael Vick, using high school spread offense techniques to get Vick out in the flat where he could hit an open guy, or run for massive yardage.
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It's a simple philosophy: put the ball in the hands of your best playmaker and only risk the ball by throwing when it's an easy completion. It's why high school QBs rack up rushing yards like Boobie Miles in Friday Night Lights and it's why the Dolphins creamed a team that couldn't stop a traditional run offense anyway, let alone a creative throwback one with superb athletes running the ball.
By all means, let your displeasure be known. Walk out of the stadium if you're so disgusted by losing, but as long as the guys are trying--even if they're being beaten like they stole something--keep your mouth shut.
I didn't see a lack of effort Sunday, I saw a lack of athleticism. I saw an inexperienced defensive back corps left with the task of stopping a hell of a running back in the open field because the line couldn't penetrate an unbalanced scheme and the linebackers couldn't adjust to keep Brown from turning the corner.
What is a problem now is how the Patriots adjust. Other teams may try this, with far better athletes. Brown and Williams are a formidable duo, to be sure. But are they as good as Addai and a maybe-healthy Rhodes? A Tomlinson and Sproles? A Barber and Jones? Foster and Jones-Drew? There are platoons all over the league better than Miami's.
It's a new feeling around here, but sometimes you're just not good enough to win, no matter how hard you work. So even if the Patriots have the ball run down their throats all season, think before you boo.
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about 1 month ago
There right and wrong under certain circumstances. If you've been a loyal fan and the O's stink, it's justified. If you're just a Joe who comes to the park and they suck, wrong.
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