Brawn Over Brains : ESPN Insider article

[NLude33]

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/insider/columns/story?columnist=joyner_kc&id=2219537&CMP=OTC-DT9705204233

The last bit of the article:

In the first seven games, Miami had attempted attempted 52 deep and 41 medium passes, the kinds of numbers one would expect from Peyton Manning or Donovan McNabb. Gus Frerotte isn't in that league and was proving it every week with his lack of accuracy.


The Dolphins changed their approach against Atlanta, as they only threw one medium and two deep passes. Atlanta's front seven can be run on and the Dolphins were doing so quite successfully, but there was something I noticed that made me pause.

On more than a couple drives, Miami was gashing the Falcons with the running game but then for some reason got away from the run. It happened on numerous drives and cost the team the game. On the final drive, with the Dolphins trailing 17-10, they put the ball in Frerotte's hands on a third and two at the Atlanta 8-yard line. Frerotte forced a pass into a small window and it was intercepted. I have been a big Scott Linehan fan, but there are times when it looks like Linehan is trying to win with his brains instead of his team's brawn. Five of the Dolphins' final eight opponents currently rank in the bottom 25 percent of the league in rushing yards allowed per game. The Dolphins' success in the second half of the season might hinge on how committed they are to the running game.

 

[jmm13-54]

Interesting..Good Read Thank you...

 

[SCall13]

This may sound extreme to some, but if Miami (Linehan) doesn't change their approach and run the ball, then Linehan should be let go. We have to run more and set up the pass. CLEARLY, Gus is not going to pass this team to victory. If Linehan can't see that, then he is not the O.C. we all thought he was.

 

[pigskinguy]

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/insider/columns/story?columnist=joyner_kc&id=2219537&CMP=OTC-DT9705204233

The last bit of the article:

Everything he says in that article is true. Miam should have success running the ball in the final 8 weeks of the season. And if they continue to put the ball (and game) in Gus's hands, the blame should fall squarely on Saban. Not Linehan. This Saban's team, he should be telling Linehan in no uncertain terms; "Run the ball or else."

I see alot of people here flaming Linehan, and rightfully so. But it is Saban that needs to lay down the law to ol'Scotty.

 

[ether79]

Everything he says in that article is true. Miam should have success running the ball in the final 8 weeks of the season. And if they continue to put the ball (and game) in Gus's hands, the blame should fall squarely on Saban. Not Linehan. This Saban's team, he should be telling Linehan in no uncertain terms; "Run the ball or else."

I see alot of people here flaming Linehan, and rightfully so. But it is Saban that needs to lay down the law to ol'Scotty.

I agree its on Saban to pull the reigns on Linehan in a little bit.

 

[grooves12]

I think many are over-reacting because of the results... it is not like he has abandoned the run. He is doing what all good OC's do and try to keep the offense balanced, and he is doing a very good job of it. The problem is with the quarterback, plain and simple. If we had a QB that could execute the plays he called properly we ould have one of the most varied offenses in the league. Unfortunately... that is not the case. The 3rd and 2 play call can be second guessed over and over, but the rest of his playcalling has been pretty spot on...

If we say well, the running game is executing... just keep pounding it down their throat, eventually that stops working because teams will load 9 in the box, and it clogs up the short passing game. We all saw how effective that was under Wannstedt's regime. At least the THREAT of a deep passing game keeps defenses honest and opens things up underneath, and so far Linehan's play calling has kept defenses off balance.

It is tough to run 25-30 times per hame when you can't convert 3rd downs to keep drives alive, but he is doing the best he can with what he has to work with. If we get better execution from the QB, he looks like a genius. But, personally I don't see how people can be Linehan bashing from essentially ONE play call that may have cost us a game when its plainly obvious there are MUCH bigger problems with the offense. In just about every other game and situation he has seemed to do the right thing... and I think he has been a great addition. But, when you have a handicap as large as Frerotte currently is, sometimes it forcees you to try to get cute to get things to work... and unfortunately we may have to deal with that the rest of the year.

 

[NLude33]

I have noticed big play calling changes the last 2 weeks. Not as many "wasted" downs just thowing the ball deep is a plus, and the running plays have been nice. But all Gus does now is 3 steps and throws to WR #1, that isn't going to score us much.

 

[Shouright]

I think many are over-reacting because of the results... it is not like he has abandoned the run. He is doing what all good OC's do and try to keep the offense balanced, and he is doing a very good job of it. The problem is with the quarterback, plain and simple. If we had a QB that could execute the plays he called properly we ould have one of the most varied offenses in the league. Unfortunately... that is not the case. The 3rd and 2 play call can be second guessed over and over, but the rest of his playcalling has been pretty spot on...

If we say well, the running game is executing... just keep pounding it down their throat, eventually that stops working because teams will load 9 in the box, and it clogs up the short passing game. We all saw how effective that was under Wannstedt's regime. At least the THREAT of a deep passing game keeps defenses honest and opens things up underneath, and so far Linehan's play calling has kept defenses off balance.

It is tough to run 25-30 times per hame when you can't convert 3rd downs to keep drives alive, but he is doing the best he can with what he has to work with. If we get better execution from the QB, he looks like a genius. But, personally I don't see how people can be Linehan bashing from essentially ONE play call that may have cost us a game when its plainly obvious there are MUCH bigger problems with the offense. In just about every other game and situation he has seemed to do the right thing... and I think he has been a great addition. But, when you have a handicap as large as Frerotte currently is, sometimes it forcees you to try to get cute to get things to work... and unfortunately we may have to deal with that the rest of the year.

Yes, but this was addressed in the quote in the original post -- you don't call plays like you have Peyton Manning at quarterback if your quarterback is Gus Frerotte. Good coaches know who their players are and know how to get the most out of them. Bad ones don't.

 

[SCall13]

I think many are over-reacting because of the results... it is not like he has abandoned the run. He is doing what all good OC's do and try to keep the offense balanced, and he is doing a very good job of it. The problem is with the quarterback, plain and simple. If we had a QB that could execute the plays he called properly we ould have one of the most varied offenses in the league. Unfortunately... that is not the case. The 3rd and 2 play call can be second guessed over and over, but the rest of his playcalling has been pretty spot on...

If we say well, the running game is executing... just keep pounding it down their throat, eventually that stops working because teams will load 9 in the box, and it clogs up the short passing game. We all saw how effective that was under Wannstedt's regime. At least the THREAT of a deep passing game keeps defenses honest and opens things up underneath, and so far Linehan's play calling has kept defenses off balance.

It is tough to run 25-30 times per hame when you can't convert 3rd downs to keep drives alive, but he is doing the best he can with what he has to work with. If we get better execution from the QB, he looks like a genius. But, personally I don't see how people can be Linehan bashing from essentially ONE play call that may have cost us a game when its plainly obvious there are MUCH bigger problems with the offense. In just about every other game and situation he has seemed to do the right thing... and I think he has been a great addition. But, when you have a handicap as large as Frerotte currently is, sometimes it forcees you to try to get cute to get things to work... and unfortunately we may have to deal with that the rest of the year.

The balance is better this year than it was under Wanny. The problem is, our QB isn't very good and the pass plays and reverses and such are very inopportune. He is calling bone-headed plays at very bad times. That is the biggest issue and one that needs to be resolved.

 

[Shouright]

This may sound extreme to some, but if Miami (Linehan) doesn't change their approach and run the ball, then Linehan should be let go. We have to run more and set up the pass. CLEARLY, Gus is not going to pass this team to victory. If Linehan can't see that, then he is not the O.C. we all thought he was.

That about sums it up for me. And sometimes I wonder if Saban didn't hire Linehan just so the guy who he REALLY wants as his OC (maybe one of his LSU offensive assistants he brought with him) could get some exposure to how an NFL offense is run by an OC with NFL experience before Saban hands him the reigns.

Saban's coaching staff is set up so that almost every position coach has an "understudy" or apprentice who is being set up to take over someday, but with Linehan I wonder if it'll happen sooner than later because of how he's running the offense this year.

 

[bgbdwolf31313]

Having a balanced offense is nice, but at some point you gotta say they cant stop the run.... so we're gonna run til they stop us.

 

[Shouright]

The balance is better this year than it was under Wanny. The problem is, our QB isn't very good and the pass plays and reverses and such are very inopportune. He is calling bone-headed plays at very bad times. That is the biggest issue and one that needs to be resolved.

My biggest issue with Linehan is that I wonder if he really knows where his players' heads are on the field. Hell, Ricky Williams had to be the one who was quoted in the media as saying that we need an identity on offense and that we should run the ball to get one. Then Linehan passes on 3rd and 2 when I bet that EVERY player on offense wanted to keep pounding Atlanta with the run. Does Linehan have his finger on the pulse of his players AT ALL? He calls plays like Gus Frerotte is Peyton Manning, and he seems unable to grasp the concept that when the players are DOMINATING a defense with a certain style of play, they usually want to KEEP dominating the defense that way until it's stopped, and you can keep them highly motivated by continuing to call those kinds of plays. But here we are at crunch time in games still calling pass plays....

 

[BlackCuda]

Agree

Grooves12, For the most part I agree with you.

You have to keep teams off balance, you have to mix it up.
If we improve our passing this will be a non-issue.

I don't thinbk it was a terrible call, to try and catch them off gaurd.
Gus should have just thrown it away, and or try to run with it.
He tries to force it in and the Def made a good play.

If it would have gone for an incomplete or anything else we would have had another down to pound it with the running game.

I don;t think we should Hang the Coaches yet.

And don't forget, We are getting better

 

[SCall13]

My biggest issue with Linehan is that I wonder if he really knows where his players' heads are on the field. Hell, Ricky Williams had to be the one who was quoted in the media as saying that we need an identity on offense and that we should run the ball to get one. Then Linehan passes on 3rd and 2 when I bet that EVERY player on offense wanted to keep pounding Atlanta with the run. Does Linehan have his finger on the pulse of his players AT ALL? He calls plays like Gus Frerotte is Peyton Manning, and he seems unable to grasp the concept that when the players are DOMINATING a defense with a certain style of play, they usually want to KEEP dominating the defense that way until it's stopped, and you can keep them highly motivated by continuing to call those kinds of plays. But here we are at crunch time in games still calling pass plays....

Agree 100%. He has to have the players scratching their heads. AS frustrating as it is to us, I can only imagine how frustrated they are right now.

 

[Shouright]

Grooves12, For the most part I agree with you.

You have to keep teams off balance, you have to mix it up.
If we improve our passing this will be a non-issue.

I don't thinbk it was a terrible call, to try and catch them off gaurd.
Gus should have just thrown it away, and or try to run with it.
He tries to force it in and the Def made a good play.

If it would have gone for an incomplete or anything else we would have had another down to pound it with the running game.

I don;t think we should Hang the Coaches yet.

And don't forget, We are getting better

Catching teams off guard is what teams need to do when they can't win any other way. When you're dominating a defense with something, THERE'S NO NEED to catch anyone off guard. Why make a call based on what the defense is thinking or doing when you can call a play based on WHAT YOU'RE DOING WELL?

If you're constantly calling plays based on what the defense is thinking or doing, you'll never develop an identity for YOUR OWN team.