I Know Cleveland has been playing much much better in recent weeks but I like Miami in this one at home.
Miami totally dominated Oakland in California last week while Cleveland escaped with a 1 point victory at home against a lesser team in Carolina. Cleveland are more banged up also.
Recent trend says to take Cleve and the points but I like Miami -5 here
more info: Cleveland SERIES: 3-0 L3… 9-2 vs AFC East (1-1 this year)
MIAMI DEC: 1-9 H off SU dog win… 1-7 vs < .500 opp off SU win
THOUGHTS?
More Confidant Henne Rubbing Off On Rest Of Offense
Sometimes it takes a little adversity to shake things up on an NFL team, specifically on one side of the ball or the other. Based on how the offense for the Miami Dolphins performed last Sunday at Oakland, that light bulb just might have been shaken up enough to stay on. Quarterback Chad Henne, making his first start since a 26-10 loss at Baltimore in Week 8 cost him his job, showed a fiery side to him that had yet to be seen. He also displayed a precision in his throws that had been seen before on film and was the basis behind Miami’s front office touting him as the quarterback of the future – and he did this on an injured knee he had rehabbed aggressively.
Henne’s receivers stepped up to the challenge of producing without their security blanket, Brandon Marshall, on the field or on the sideline, and the running game showed some promise again after some less than stellar outings. All of this was music to Head Coach Tony Sparano’s ears with a crucial five-game final stretch in front of him, especially the growth Henne has shown.
“I think this guy is really a mentally tough guy. I knew that he was a mentally tough guy, I’ve kind of known how he’s built,” Sparano said. “I think that those two weeks were probably a real whirlwind for him there. But I think that from his hand he handled it all really professionally and I think that this kid really believes that he’s going to be a heck of a quarterback in this league.
“I told you guys even before the decision was made that I thought that this guy’s future was going to be bright, I really do. To me, you could step aside sometimes and keep your eyes closed, shut it off, turn it off. A lot of players do that, you know, ‘They didn’t need me this week, they made this decision to do this so I’m not going to (work),’ and he didn’t do that. This guy paid attention, he was diligent about his preparation and really I thought last week did a tremendous job from a preparation standpoint. So as he starts getting healthier and some of that comes off of his plate, that’ll help us a little bit down the road too.”
When Sparano made the decision to start 11th-year veteran Chad Pennington against the Tennessee Titans on Nov. 14, it marked the first time in Henne’s entire football career going all the way back to before high school that he was not the starter for any reason other than an injury. He handled it professionally in his dealings with the media and his approach in practice and in the meeting room.
Pennington hurt his right throwing shoulder on the very first offensive play from scrimmage, stayed in for one more play and completed a 19-yard pass to Brian Hartline and then took himself out. Henne was thrust into action and guided the offense to a 20-10 lead, completing 19-of-28 passes for 240 yards, a touchdown and an interception before going down after taking an awkward hit on his left knee late in the third quarter.
He served as Tyler Thigpen’s emergency third quarterback in a 16-0 home loss to the Chicago Bears four days later and then focused on getting healthy enough to be ready for the Raiders. He was 17-for-30 for 307 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in Oakland.
“Well, I think I took a step back and kind of looked at myself and where we’re at as a team and as a player,” said Henne on how he handled the demotion. “For me now, it’s kind of just go out and make it a new beginning. It’s kind of opening up a new couple flames out there and just having fun with it, realizing that this isn’t life or death right here and that it’s a fun game to play. I take it as a grain of salt and just say, ‘Hey, this is another opportunity and another step in my life that I can improve on and just have fun with.’”
Hartline, Davone Bess, running back Ronnie Brown and the others in the offensive huddle have sensed a new fire in their quarterback and that has rubbed off on them. Bess, playing in front of his family and friends, caught six passes for 111 yards in the 33-17 win over the Raiders, and Hartline added another 75 yards on four catches.
Brown rushed for 85 yards on 24 carries and Ricky Williams added 95 yards on 20 carries, with his 45-yard touchdown run near the end sealing the win. Henne’s leadership was evident, as was his confidence.
“It was good to see because it doesn’t surprise me to say anything would have happened any differently,” Hartline said. “It’s good for him and he’s always been a professional about his work and done a great job, so him coming out and playing the way he did was no surprise to me.”
The biggest difference Sparano saw in his young quarterback between the first eight starts and how he played against the Titans and the Raiders was his demeanor on the sideline during discussions with Sparano himself and quarterbacks coach David Lee.
“What I’ve noticed just in the last couple of weeks is maybe more suggestions coming from him and being a little bit more aggressive in his approach that way, which tells me that he’s confident in what he’s seeing in his preparation on film,” Sparano said. “In other words, I’ve seen this ‘I’m convicted with this, I like this. This is what I like,’ (approach) and that’s what I’ve seen. He comes to the sideline a little bit more vocal right now. Sometimes when that happens you figure out quickly, ‘Look I ain’t going to let that happen again.’”
What that means to Henne is that he’s going to play quarterback the way he’s always played quarterback, with the confidence in his arm befitting other strong-armed quarterbacks of the past and present. That factored into his only interception against the Raiders on a 2nd-and-9 from the Oakland 11. He thought he could muscle the ball to Bess in the back of the end zone and was picked off at the goal line by Raiders rookie linebacker Rolando McClain.
Henne owned up to making what he described as a “dumb” decision on his part because he believed in his arm more than he should have in that situation. After the play Sparano was caught on camera reminding Henne to throw it out of the end zone next time, but that doesn’t mean Henne is going to stop taking chances when they present themselves properly.
“I’m going to try to fit the ball in tight spaces and that’s why they brought me in here, to make some of those throws,” said Henne, who is 212-of-335 (63.3 percent) for 2,447 yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions this season. “I’m not going to shy away from that. I’m going to just stay aggressive out there but just be a little bit smarter in some of those situations.”
The words of a confidant quarterback.
Miami totally dominated Oakland in California last week while Cleveland escaped with a 1 point victory at home against a lesser team in Carolina. Cleveland are more banged up also.
Recent trend says to take Cleve and the points but I like Miami -5 here
more info: Cleveland SERIES: 3-0 L3… 9-2 vs AFC East (1-1 this year)
MIAMI DEC: 1-9 H off SU dog win… 1-7 vs < .500 opp off SU win
THOUGHTS?More Confidant Henne Rubbing Off On Rest Of Offense
Sometimes it takes a little adversity to shake things up on an NFL team, specifically on one side of the ball or the other. Based on how the offense for the Miami Dolphins performed last Sunday at Oakland, that light bulb just might have been shaken up enough to stay on. Quarterback Chad Henne, making his first start since a 26-10 loss at Baltimore in Week 8 cost him his job, showed a fiery side to him that had yet to be seen. He also displayed a precision in his throws that had been seen before on film and was the basis behind Miami’s front office touting him as the quarterback of the future – and he did this on an injured knee he had rehabbed aggressively.
Henne’s receivers stepped up to the challenge of producing without their security blanket, Brandon Marshall, on the field or on the sideline, and the running game showed some promise again after some less than stellar outings. All of this was music to Head Coach Tony Sparano’s ears with a crucial five-game final stretch in front of him, especially the growth Henne has shown.
“I think this guy is really a mentally tough guy. I knew that he was a mentally tough guy, I’ve kind of known how he’s built,” Sparano said. “I think that those two weeks were probably a real whirlwind for him there. But I think that from his hand he handled it all really professionally and I think that this kid really believes that he’s going to be a heck of a quarterback in this league.
“I told you guys even before the decision was made that I thought that this guy’s future was going to be bright, I really do. To me, you could step aside sometimes and keep your eyes closed, shut it off, turn it off. A lot of players do that, you know, ‘They didn’t need me this week, they made this decision to do this so I’m not going to (work),’ and he didn’t do that. This guy paid attention, he was diligent about his preparation and really I thought last week did a tremendous job from a preparation standpoint. So as he starts getting healthier and some of that comes off of his plate, that’ll help us a little bit down the road too.”
When Sparano made the decision to start 11th-year veteran Chad Pennington against the Tennessee Titans on Nov. 14, it marked the first time in Henne’s entire football career going all the way back to before high school that he was not the starter for any reason other than an injury. He handled it professionally in his dealings with the media and his approach in practice and in the meeting room.
Pennington hurt his right throwing shoulder on the very first offensive play from scrimmage, stayed in for one more play and completed a 19-yard pass to Brian Hartline and then took himself out. Henne was thrust into action and guided the offense to a 20-10 lead, completing 19-of-28 passes for 240 yards, a touchdown and an interception before going down after taking an awkward hit on his left knee late in the third quarter.
He served as Tyler Thigpen’s emergency third quarterback in a 16-0 home loss to the Chicago Bears four days later and then focused on getting healthy enough to be ready for the Raiders. He was 17-for-30 for 307 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in Oakland.
“Well, I think I took a step back and kind of looked at myself and where we’re at as a team and as a player,” said Henne on how he handled the demotion. “For me now, it’s kind of just go out and make it a new beginning. It’s kind of opening up a new couple flames out there and just having fun with it, realizing that this isn’t life or death right here and that it’s a fun game to play. I take it as a grain of salt and just say, ‘Hey, this is another opportunity and another step in my life that I can improve on and just have fun with.’”
Hartline, Davone Bess, running back Ronnie Brown and the others in the offensive huddle have sensed a new fire in their quarterback and that has rubbed off on them. Bess, playing in front of his family and friends, caught six passes for 111 yards in the 33-17 win over the Raiders, and Hartline added another 75 yards on four catches.
Brown rushed for 85 yards on 24 carries and Ricky Williams added 95 yards on 20 carries, with his 45-yard touchdown run near the end sealing the win. Henne’s leadership was evident, as was his confidence.
“It was good to see because it doesn’t surprise me to say anything would have happened any differently,” Hartline said. “It’s good for him and he’s always been a professional about his work and done a great job, so him coming out and playing the way he did was no surprise to me.”
The biggest difference Sparano saw in his young quarterback between the first eight starts and how he played against the Titans and the Raiders was his demeanor on the sideline during discussions with Sparano himself and quarterbacks coach David Lee.
“What I’ve noticed just in the last couple of weeks is maybe more suggestions coming from him and being a little bit more aggressive in his approach that way, which tells me that he’s confident in what he’s seeing in his preparation on film,” Sparano said. “In other words, I’ve seen this ‘I’m convicted with this, I like this. This is what I like,’ (approach) and that’s what I’ve seen. He comes to the sideline a little bit more vocal right now. Sometimes when that happens you figure out quickly, ‘Look I ain’t going to let that happen again.’”
What that means to Henne is that he’s going to play quarterback the way he’s always played quarterback, with the confidence in his arm befitting other strong-armed quarterbacks of the past and present. That factored into his only interception against the Raiders on a 2nd-and-9 from the Oakland 11. He thought he could muscle the ball to Bess in the back of the end zone and was picked off at the goal line by Raiders rookie linebacker Rolando McClain.
Henne owned up to making what he described as a “dumb” decision on his part because he believed in his arm more than he should have in that situation. After the play Sparano was caught on camera reminding Henne to throw it out of the end zone next time, but that doesn’t mean Henne is going to stop taking chances when they present themselves properly.
“I’m going to try to fit the ball in tight spaces and that’s why they brought me in here, to make some of those throws,” said Henne, who is 212-of-335 (63.3 percent) for 2,447 yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions this season. “I’m not going to shy away from that. I’m going to just stay aggressive out there but just be a little bit smarter in some of those situations.”
The words of a confidant quarterback.
