 
If you are a Miami Dolphins fan (like I am) and have watched the team build over the last 7 years; you may have noticed a disturbing trend. I hope I'm not alone in recognition of the current team's fatal flaw. A black hole is sucking every opportunity to that mythical place where dreams are lost and memories of happiness fade in the dying light.
In the past, our struggles were pride and ignorance. We would Rely solely on the arm of a great quarterback and hope that a one dimensional offense and a mediocre cast of unworthy characters on defense could somehow dig deep enough to carry us to the heights of victory. That formula, as we finally realized, was fraught with flaws and doomed to failure. So, for many years, we have struggled to forge a new regime from the desolation of our own incompetance. Built on the foundations of the game's fundamental principles, we learned from our mistakes and changed, or so we thought.
Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of Irony. That which now holds us back from victory was once the one thing on which we had hung too long...the Quarterback. It is our only hope that a true leader will emerge to free us from the bonds of underachievement. Let us dream that that day is on the horizon...
The Following are Quotes from various online media sites regarding Jay Fiedler's performance. They are not all complete. Only the information and aspects of the various articles and sources that pertain to jay and his poor performance on the football field have been kept.
One of the most irritatingly consistent and predictable points announcers and media personalities
always make when they are defending Fiedler is his winning percentage [record].
Dan Marino was a winner and he never won a Superbowl. He also never had a team like the current squad, although he came close anyway (with
poor units) a few times in his career. If Dan Marino played with a team as talented as ours, he'd have 3 or 4
superbowls...Fiedler's wins weren't because of him, they were in spite of him, with the exception of a few games he won. When it counts, Jay's play, Wannstedt's decision making, the team's record and the franchise's fortunes change.
Some blame our collapse on the whole team, but that's a mistake. We have an excellently built team unit. Other than Tom Brady and Ty Law, who do the Patriots have that can dominate their position regardless of their coach and scheme? Dallas was a 5-11 unit before Parcells took them to 10-6 and a playoff berth this season, his first. Dave Wanstedt has coasted on a lucky break running back signing, a great coach's coattails (Jimmy Johnson) and a town's patience long enough, and so has Jay Fiedler. The talent we have (individually) won't overwhelm a defense or
offense, but collectively (if led properly on and off the field) could be one of the most complete and
dominating teams in the NFL, for years. We just need a coach that can motivate and a QB that can play![MiamiSucks]
No matter how the rest of the season plays out, the Miami Dolphins have already decided
to make quarterback their top offseason priority. Even though the coaching staff goes to
great lengths to defend Jay Fiedler, it knows, as does management that he isn't going to
be a guy who ever gets the franchise to a Super Bowl. There has been plenty of rhetoric
about Mark Brunell wanting to play in Miami, but don't count on it, for any number of
reasons. The preference is to get a veteran for a year or so, maybe even (Brian) Griese if
he reduces his financial demands, although no one is sold on him yet, either. But the push
will be to get a quarterback in the draft, perhaps even the first round, or to trade for a
young guy, like (Drew) Henson. There are financial ramifications, too, with Fiedler. He is
due a $2 million option bonus by next March 14, is scheduled to earn a base salary of
$5.775 million, and has a cap charge of $7.57 million. He's just not worth it. He's like
the little girl with the curl. When he's good, he's good. But when he's bad, like
(on Sunday), well, you know the rest....[ESPN]
Jay Fiedler is decent, but he's not going to be the QB that takes the Dolphins to
the Super Bowl.[ESPN]
After two weeks of vehemently rejecting the notion Brian Griese could push Jay Fiedler as
the starting quarterback, Dolphins coaches are now pondering scenarios in which Griese
could play against the San Diego Chargers. Coach Dave Wannstedt continued to voice public
support for Fiedler on Monday afternoon, after the starter threw two interceptions and
directed the offense into the end zone only once in a 19-13 overtime loss to New England
the day before.[Miami Herald]
New England put one rookie at cornerback and another at free safety and dared the Dolphins
to throw deep. ''The only way to get people out of that is to hit a couple
[of deep passes],'' Wannstedt said. 'Until you hit them, they're going to keep saying,
`Go ahead, go ahead. Prove that you can do it.' And we have to prove that we can do it.
And we will.'' But they haven't. Fiedler and his receiver corps have been unable to make
defenses pay for their disrespect. ''We've hit some deep balls, but that's never been
one of Jay's strong suits,'' Wannstedt said.[Miami Herald]
Wannstedt is sensitive about not causing a stir among his players and knows a quarterback
controversy would do just that. That's why he was hesitant to discuss how the offense
might change under Griese. ''I wouldn't even go there now because it would be unfair,''
Wannstedt said.[Miami Herald]
Each time quarterback Jay Fiedler misses on a deep ball because there are rushers in his
face, it's a further indictment of the Dolphins staying pat.[Sun Sentinel]
So the Dolphins have a quarterback who isn't good at making deep throws under pressure.
Ricky Williams has no room to run against stacked fronts, and the Dolphins can't offset
that because of the problems with the passing game.
[Sun Sentinel]
Fiedler's ailment comes at a time when he is under the most scrutiny since midway through
the 2001 season. At that time, Fiedler had thrown 15 interceptions in an eight-game stretch
as the Dolphins stood at 6-3 following a 24-0 home loss to the New York Jets. But Fiedler's
biggest problem now is his accuracy. Fiedler's completion percentage of 56.9 is lower than
what he posted his three previous seasons as the starter. Fiedler's completion average of
11.7 yards has remained almost identical, but he hasn't connected on a pass of more than 40
yards since the opening loss to Houston. "The MRI results were exactly what we expected,"
Levy said. "This is one injury where you can play if you have a high tolerance for pain
and understand the risk of further injury." If he can't play, Fiedler would be replaced by
Brian Griese.
[Sun Sentinel]
Noted one Patriots coach: "Everybody knows what they're going to do (offensively). We cut off
the inside and figured, if Ricky was going to go outside, we'd chase him down. I mean, their
offensive line isn't that good, and you have to make (quarterback Jay Fiedler) beat you. But
the truth is, Fiedler is a player of modest skills, and his own physical shortcomings
probably play a significant part in limiting the Miami offensive design. There were times,
particularly on two throws to tight end Randy McMichael, when Fiedler demonstrated a bit of
arm strength and excellent touch. Yet for every on-target toss, Fiedler typically has a spate
of passes that are wide of the mark. Suffice it to say, a marksman he is not, and his Sunday
performance was exacerbated by the fact he was facing a makeshift New England secondary that
should collectively have made for easy pickings. For the day, Fiedler was 20 for 35 for 230 yards,
with one touchdown pass and a pair of interceptions, good for an efficiency rating of 62.8.
Through six games, his passer rating is just 71.8, with more interceptions (seven) than touchdown
passes (six).[ESPN]
After forcing a New England punt, the Dolphins had driven to the Patriots' 45 when a scrambling
Fiedler lofted a pass toward Chambers. Poole stepped in front to end the scoring threat. "I thought
[the pass] was going to be a little further out there than it was," Chambers said. "It was tough to
get a few things going," said Fiedler, who is under increasing fire after a 20 of 35 passing
performance that looks better on paper than it was on the field. It didn't help that the Dolphins
went three-and-out twice after that Patriots drive and Jay Fiedler was 2 for 8 passing. "It was
tough to get a few things going, put some plays together, get some drives going early on," Fiedler
said. Part of the problem was Fiedler. While he threw a strike to Chris Chambers for a touchdown
between defenders in the second quarter, he missed a wide-open Thompson in the third to throw to
double-teamed Chambers. He also threw behind receivers and had passes deflected. "We just couldn't
put it all together," Fiedler said. And this is the problem with the Dolphins, and specifically Fiedler.
He hasn't been able to put it all together. Over four weeks Fiedler has thrown two touchdowns and five
interceptions. Those numbers won't win many games. In the words of Ayanbadejo, eventually numbers like
those are going to jump up and bite you.[Sun Sentinel]
The offense couldn't...threaten defenses with even one deep pass completion. The deep pass
plays that have eluded the Dolphins this year, the ones coach Dave Wannstedt said the team
would work on so diligently in practice last week, never materialized. And that seems to be a
growing frustration. Fiedler's first interception was off a deflection. The one in overtime was
thrown deep into blanket coverage. Overall line play was better than it has been the past couple
of weeks and protected Fiedler pretty well, allowing only one coverage sack. After trading
possessions, Miami quarterback Jay Fiedler attempted to put the Dolphins back in field-goal
position with a pass to Chris Chambers down the right sideline. Cornerback Tyrone Poole
intercepted the pass at the 18. Bench Jay Fiedler will be the easy cry to emerge now...Fiedler has
been sporadic...Give Fiedler a couple more games before we either deport him, jail him or bench
him...Fiedler but not just him -- must pick up the collective game.[Sun Sentinel]
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