Miami Dolphins offense headed toward an overhaul | Page 6 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Miami Dolphins offense headed toward an overhaul

roy_miami said:
Marino never took a lot of sacks, including the season his o-line consisted of all backups. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady are the same way. Its almost as if the QB can somehow impact how many sacks he takes.
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Shula always got criticized that he went for OL that could only pass block leaving Miami with no running game. The Dolphins always allowed the fewest sacks but couldn't produce a 1,000 yard rusher for years. Then Marino went down before the half in a game against the Browns and was replaced by Brock Hoard I think. The Browns sacked him 6 times in the 2nd half, almost half a year's worth of sacks in one half. It turned out that Miami's OL couldn't run block OR pass block. The low sack totals were due to the awareness of the QB, his ability to get rid of the ball in a flash and although he wasn't mobile he had the uncanny ability to make the 1st free rusher run right past him while keeping his eyes downfield.
 
roy_miami said:
Yeah and the o-line has sucked all along. In spite of that magical 8 game stretch by Tannehill (and Moore). And the fact we were a top team in big plays. At that point it was taken as fact we had the talent, just needed real coaching, and 6-8ish games to learn the offense. And Gase was the QB whispering guru who even made Jay Cutler look respectable that one year. Now its like: what can he do, his starting QB went down, can't expect any coach to have success with a backup QB. Even though its the very same Jay Cutler that Gase coached "to his best season ever."

Very weird indeed.
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I suspect the issue there is that it isn't the very same Jay Cutler, number one because he's older, and number two because he's made his $10M for this year, will very likely retire afterward, and therefore has no incentive to play any certain way.

See here for evidence of how the performance of NFL quarterbacks typically declines suddenly, rather than gradually as one might expect:

The bottom line is that very successful quarterbacks like Manning aren't going to become bad slowly. All of sudden one year, they'll have significant drop-off in performance. If they were 26 and had the same kind of season or had a similar injury, they'd no doubt be back at camp the following July. But at 36, that job in the broadcast booth will seem quite enticing. Successful, established QBs will generally continue to be successful until one day they're not. We won't see it coming. But of course, everyone will pretend they did.
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http://www.advancedfootballanalytic...rch/payroll-personnel/93-how-quarterbacks-age
 
Imo we have a tackle and two guards. I say kick tunsil inside, he played way better at the guard position last year. James and Asiata are still up in the air. Especially james. He's so inconsistant. But probably something g a good o line coach can fix. So invest in a center and LT. No first rounders tho
 
roy_miami said:
Marino never took a lot of sacks, including the season his o-line consisted of all backups. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady are the same way. Its almost as if the QB can somehow impact how many sacks he takes.
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I wouldn't include Tom Brady among those QBs. He's already been sacked 16 times this year in 5 games. He's had a couple of years where he's been sacked 40+ times. Marino had a quick release and knew what the defense was doing so he got rid of the ball quickly...but Marino also threw a lot of INTs. Manning was way ahead of the defense pre-snap and he also had a quick release but because he had such a high football IQ defenses couldn't fool him and he didn't throw many picks.
 
1.the biggest problem on dolphins is head coach. acting like he win superbowl last yr..
2. bring in cutler. cutler is soft. doesn't seem like he want to play football any more.
3. dolphins know that line need og since last yr...
 
AJ Duhe said:
This thought from the article pisses me off:

"If the Dolphins suddenly have to spend significant resources in either draft picks or free agency to address the guard position -- which has been a trouble spot for years -- then it would prove last offseason’s thinking that guard could be addressed on the cheap was a mistake"

WE KNEW THIS! The FO and Gase kept telling the media not to worry, they felt good about the position. Most fans knew that going into the season with one FA signing and a lower round draft pick wasn't going to be enough. Now they seem surprised that the unit is underperforming.
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"If the Dolphins suddenly have to spend significant resources in either draft picks or free agency to address the guard position -- which has been a trouble spot for years -- then it would prove last offseason’s thinking that guard could be addressed on the cheap was a mistake"

WE KNEW THIS! The FO and Gase kept telling the media not to worry, they felt good about the position. Most fans knew that going into the season with one FA signing and a lower round draft pick wasn't going to be enough. Now they seem surprised that the unit is underperforming.[/QUOTE]

I think the front office and Gase are correct in thinking that Guards can be addressed on the cheap. However, this is assuming the rest of your offense is competent. If you can't throw the ball because the QB is no good, receivers can't get open and are running the wrong routes and the TE's suck.... Your oline has to be GREAT at run blocking in order to open holes when the defense stacks the box and focuses on stopping the run.

The problem we're having now is that the passing game is so inept that teams are focused on stopping the run and forcing us to pass and we can't take advantage of it because our WR, and QB and TE aren't performing. Why can teams like NE, Philly, NO etc.... successfully run WR screens and quick passes? Because their WR's can block and get open quickly. Ours can't and that puts added pressure on the oline.
 
If Gase never recruited Cutler, and stuck with Moore taking over for Tannehill's injury, we would be happy to be 2-2 but understandable with the poor offensive performance. We were sold on this Cutler experiment.
 
These are for the most part made up excuses by the FO. The main problem is our QB play. By all means try and revamp the o line in the offseason, trade landry if the value is good, cut that bum Thomas, and draft a qb to develop behind tannehill, but let's not act like cutler isn't the main issue. Very few teams who lose their qb in training camp have good offenses.
 
This forum exaggerates Oline problems. Brady is 40 and getting his ass beat and they manage more than 6 points a game. Perfect protection WILL NEVER HAPPEN.
 
Don't worry Ted Larsen will save us!
 
DolfanISS said:
This forum exaggerates Oline problems. Brady is 40 and getting his *** beat and they manage more than 6 points a game. Perfect protection WILL NEVER HAPPEN.
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O-line is not playing well. Not only have they had issues pass blocking but we can't run the ball either. Ajayi averaged 4.9 ypc last year, this year he's at 3.4 ypc. Pretty significant drop.

Brady, however, is not afraid to take a hit and deliver a pass. Cutler is moving around the pocket sometimes even when there's not pressure. He's anticipating getting him and looking at the O-line cause he's so afraid of contact. Won't go through his progressions, and throws while he's backpedaling or he'll just flat out throw it in the dirt to avoid getting hit. Tannehill took a lot of shots last year but he at least gave his receivers a chance to make a play, Cutler has no interest in getting hit to make a play. Probably a good reason he only has one playoff appearance in his career.
 
I think we will have a lot of flexibility to make over the offense in 2018 and address some key issues if we're simply willing to do any of the following:

1. Cut Julius Thomas
2. Cut Mike Pouncey
3. Restructure Tannehill

That should free up enough money to go diving for replacements for the interior OL. Find a credible tight end (not even a good one, just someone who is CREDIBLE) and the offense should be OK. We will need to get some insurance for Tannehill, but that should not be a bank breaker.
 
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