Miami Dolphins 2011 Predictions: Chad Henne Will Have Fins Fans Pining for Orton

With the Kyle Orton trade rumors slowly dying off, Dolphins fans will have to come to terms with the fact that their offense will more than likely be led by the erratic Chad Henne yet again.

Of course, having Henne as your starting signal caller isn't necessarily the worst thing in the world. Henne has a strong arm, can make all the throws a quarterback needs to make and he does have some leadership skills you like to see.

It's just that he is afflicted with a disease seen all too often in quarterbacks with gifts similar to his—He is prone to making crippling mistakes.

Last season, Henne threw for 3,301 yards, 15 touchdowns and he completed over 61 percent of his passes. Those numbers are fine. It's the 19 interceptions that was the problem.

More so than just the sheer total of interceptions is the timing of them. Take, for instance, the Dolphins December 5th game against the lowly Cleveland Browns. They lost that game 13-10. If it weren't for Henne's three interceptions in that game, Miami wins that game.

Then there's the game on December 26th against the Detroit Lions. The Dolphins lost that game 34-27. Henne wasn't all that bad in that one. He completed over 65 percent of his passes and he threw for 278 yards. But had had two interceptions to go along with just one touchdown pass.

If they win those games, they are 9-7 and the playoffs are within reach. As it was, they finished 7-9 and the playoffs didn't happen.

While it's tough to know for sure, I think Orton would have gotten last year's Dolphins to the playoffs. Orton wouldn't have had three games with three interceptions. Sure, he probably doesn't throw for as many yards as Henne, but yardage wasn't the problem.

The Dolphins got 1,400 yards from their running back tandem, a 1,000 yard season from receiver Brandon Marshall and a breakout year from linebacker Cameron Wake. It all went to waste because Chad Henne passed the Dolphins out of ballgames.

The Dolphins running back platoon of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams has been broken up, but with Reggie Bush in their place, Miami returns largely the same team.

Unfortunately, with Chad Henne calling the shots, they'll get largely the same outcome.

Kyle Orton isn't going to go out and make them Super Bowl contenders. He isn't going to go out and have a Pro Bowl season. He certainly isn't going to remind anyone in Miami of Dan Marino.

But what he would do is allow Miami's other weapons to push Miami over the hump and into the postseason.