Miami Dolphin Talk

The losses can’t pile up quickly enough around here these days.

The Dolphins fan hasn’t just given up on this season four games in, but the desire to land the first pick in the draft has grown to such levels that some are lamenting last week’s bye as a missed opportunity to pile on another L.

It would appear the Dolphins have fixed themselves in the race for the worst — the Chase for the Luck, if you will — what with an already besieged team heading into New York to face the rival Jets who are desperate to break a three-game skid, and doing it with a backup quarterback at the helm not just for this game but seemingly for the rest of the season.

But, of course, there’s one factor that could blow up this whole stinking operation right before our eyes. One person who could turn this business of being bad right on its head.

That person is Matt Moore. The backup could mess everything up.

Because it doesn’t seem like many people are asking themselves this question:

What if Matt Moore is actually good?

I know, I know. Everyone has already solidified their opinions on Moore based on his two brief stints as the Carolina Panthers’ starter. Everyone has pretty much decided that this 27-year-old out of Oregon State has some intriguing abilities, decent athleticism, a nice arm and a confidence that could benefit him or destroy him on any given Sunday. But there’s no reason to think he can’t vastly improve.

It certainly wouldn’t be the first time a quarterback in his late 20s finally grew into a high-quality signal caller. Trent Green was 28 when he started starting and became quite respectable. Kurt Warner was 28 when he took over for an injured Green in St. Louis and was much more than respectable. Brad Johnson was 28 before starting and then extended his career until he was 40. And Moore is only 27 with 13 starts under his belt.

There’s nothing that stands out about him as being terribly flawed, so there’s nothing from keeping him from being one of those late bloomers.

And maybe he’s everything that Chad Henne wasn’t for this team. Henne wasn’t an instinctive quarterback. His lack of feel for the position was obvious whenever he was forced to adjust mid-play.

Henne certainly didn’t have the guts to sling footballs into tight windows, despite having the arm for it. He was more a fan of the safe play, and even that didn’t keep him from throwing the untimely interception now and again.

And it’s safe to say, based on the detailing of his strained relationship with Brandon Marshall, that there lacked a rapport or connection between Henne and his receivers.

Maybe this relative unknown has all of those skills and characteristics that Henne lacked, and maybe that will translate into success for this Dolphins offense.

Perhaps Moore can do more with Brandon Marshall and Reggie Bush and improved talent surrounding him than with the group he had during his 1-4 stint late last season as the Panthers’ quarterback.

The problem with that is, it would pretty much be every Dolphins fan’s worst nightmare at the moment.

Success from Moore could turn the Fins from awful to mediocre. Finding out the Dolphins have a quarterback on their hands would not only mean the Dolphins will crash and burn in the Chase, but also it would further infuriate those who aren’t particularly high on this coaching staff.

Let’s just say Moore does turn out to be a good fit. Let’s say he uses his 12-game opportunity and proves he can be a Matt Hasselbeck type. Then what does that say about the coaching staff who watched him in practice daily and still chose Henne to start over him? It would only serve to strengthen the idea that the talent evaluation and personnel decisions are highly questionable around this team.

It would be the always rare lose-lose-win scenario, with Moore being the winner and the Dolphins and their fans the losers — a position both parties are quite familiar with.

Dolphins-Jets shouldn’t be about this. It should be what it always has been, even in the down years — a shining example of hate on a football field.

Instead, it’s about whether or not the backup quarterback can keep up this ideal losing pace.

And if it’s not about that for you yet, then look at the Jets. They’re a perfect illustration of how badly even a complete team needs a franchise quarterback. Mark Sanchez isn’t why the Jets haven’t broken through and actually reached a Super Bowl the past couple years, but he hasn’t been good enough to carry them there, either. And it has to gnaw at fans in New York who recognize just how good this team has been in other areas but not in the most important spot on the field.

If Moore transforms the Dolphins from dreadful to decent, it’s likely Miami will be familiar with that feeling for a while longer.

If it’s a good/bad sign Dolfans are looking for, consider that in his first season as Oregon State’s starter, he threw 11 touchdowns to 19 interceptions. His second season, he went for 18 touchdowns and just seven picks.

With 13 starts under his belt, this could be looked at as his second season in the NFL.

Uh-oh.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/14/2453195/miami-dolphins-fans-rooting-for.html