Listing the Five Biggest Problems with the Miami Dolphins in 2014

There are a lot of things wrong with the Miami Dolphins right now, so it is somewhat difficult to discuss their issues as one big entity.

Therefore, I have undertaken the task of dividing those issues into five major components and tried to delve deeper into each one individually.

These are not the "only" reasons the Dolphins have a 2-3 record right now and a sub-.500 record since Joe Philbin and Ryan Tannehill started their respective careers in Miami together in 2012.

But they are undoubtedly the biggest and easiest problems to point out at this point. Let's take a look at them now.

Joe Philbin

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How does Joe Philbin still have a job? His current record as a head coach is 17-20, and the team looks no better right now than it did in 2012, when Philbin took over and led the Dolphins to a 7-9 record.

In other organizations, that level of mediocrity would not be accepted, but apparently that isn't the case in Miami.

His game management and decision making has been poor in the past, but it was especially awful in the loss against Green Bay. Players have questioned Philbin and the coaching staff multiple times this season, once early in the year (h/t Miami Herald) and then again this past Sunday (h/t ESPN).

Philbin also badly mismanaged the entire Richie Incognito situation, which highlighted the lack of leadership and control the head coach had over his locker room.

He also kept Mike Sherman on board for two years as offensive coordinator. More on that to come. 

Tackling

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There are not any great statistics to back up this claim, but the Dolphins have to miss the most tackles of any team in the entire NFL.

From top to bottom, they seem to be entirely incapable of wrapping up one-on-one and bringing a guy to the ground. It's embarrassing to watch, but still, go watch this in case you aren't convinced.

And even if you think that is just one specific instance, go do a Google search for "Miami Dolphins missed tackles." Actually, here, I'll do it for you.

It's hard to assign particular blame here, but Kevin Coyle has to assume some of it, and Philbin does as well. And obviously, the leaders on defense (and everyone else on the defense) needs to figure this out.

Ryan Tannehill

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Ryan Tannehill is the big name on this list, and the third-year quarterback is perhaps the biggest enigma on this entire list.

He isn't particularly visible in the media, he doesn't appear to be a fiery leader and he hasn't shown much improvement over the past two-plus years.

As a rookie, it was easy to see why some scouts liked him: He was tall, athletic and had a strong arm. But as the years have passed, it's even easier to see why many other people considered him an overrated prospect and a huge reach at eight overall.

He locks into his primary target and struggles to adjust when that first option is taken away. His accuracy is shockingly inconsistent; there are so many easy passes that he misses badly on. He has also failed to show any tendency of "clutch-ness" either. His deep balls, well, they're pretty bad also.

So what do we make of Tannehill? It would be hard to dump him this early in his career, especially since he has shown some promise. But at the same time, I cannot envision him improving enough to take the Dolphins to a Super Bowl, and that's the whole point, right?

Zac Taylor

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I said I was going to say more about Mike Sherman, and it will come indirectly here by highlighting a far-too-overlooked circumstance on Miami's coaching staff.

Sherman has been fired, thankfully, and is now out of the picture. But a small part of him remains, as his son-in-law Zac Taylor is still Miami's quarterbacks coach. Taylor was previously an assistant coach under Sherman at Texas A&M, and that role seems somewhat appropriate for a former good college quarterback.

But Sherman never played a snap in the NFL and was a fourth-stringer in the CFL, according to his Wikipedia page. That's not the kind of resume you would expect for an NFL quarterbacks coach, which is an increasingly important job.

In fact, Miami's current offensive coordinator, Bill Lazor, was the quarterbacks coach for the Philadelphia Eagles last season and helped Nick Foles and the Eagles turn things around big time. He was an NFL assistant and collegiate offensive coordinator for a long time before getting that chance, and Taylor is clearly not qualified for the position.

So while Tannehill needs to be better, it definitely has hurt him to have an unqualified position coach who is only five years older than him.

Stephen Ross

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So what is the conclusion here?

Stephen Ross has no idea what he's doing. He hasn't run this organization into the ground, but he also hasn't improved it at all either.

From the top to the bottom, the blind are leading the blind, as they say. Unfortunately, this is the least-fixable issue here.