Alex: Dolphins' defense not quite zoned in on changes | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Alex: Dolphins' defense not quite zoned in on changes

dolphan39

dolphan39

Maria & LauRen Aha!
Joined
Sep 4, 2001
Messages
13,892
Reaction score
2
Age
60
Location
CT
Dolphins' defense not quite zoned in on changes By Alex Marvez
The Dolphins used extensive zone coverage against Houston, believing the Texans would attempt to showcase their deep passing game with the strong-armed Carr and speedy wide receivers Bradford and Andre Johnson. But they were caught off-guard by a short passing attack that saw Carr getting rid of the football almost a second earlier on average than in 2002 when he was sacked a record 76 times.
Click to expand...
yup, coaching was not to blame at all :nono:

Also on that page:
Updated Sept. 9
Q: Why did the Dolphins' coaching staff fail to make any adjustments against the Texans?

A: A fair question to which Dave Wannstedt has generally placed the blame on his players. Wannstedt hasn't said the Dolphins were playing too much zone coverage against a short passing game (which they were) or that the passing game looked way too similar to the one that helped prematurely end the team's 2002 season (which it was). Offensively, the Dolphins are in big trouble if the wide receivers can't find success against man coverage with so many teams poised to stack eight defensive players in the box. ... MORE!

More of Marvez's weekly Q&A, exclusive Dave Hyde and Ethan Skolnick columns, practice reports, etc., are available exclusively in 'Fins Insider, our premium Dolphins offering. For more information, please visit 'Fins Insider!

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/finsinsider
Click to expand...
 
D39, you beat me to this thread about the zone and man coverages the Fins used. It was a very good article in today's paper. Basically they are admitting that they are not used to the mixed zone and man coverages that were thrown in on Sun. but later it will benefit them? WTF?! They better learn awfully quick or Offenses are gonna pick em' apart every time. IMO, the Fins blitzed too much and the slants and screens chewed them up. It looked too much like the Pats/Fins game of last season except the blitzing. If the zone scheme wasn't working, then how come they didn't just stick to man-man coverage, something they're pretty good and used to?
 
M-Real, I wondered that also, maybe we should just go back to our basic defense that was #3 overall last year.....I think it be easier for the new guys to learn and also with all the additions we'd have a tougher defense than last year......you see its not so much the players that lost us the game, but its the schemes, getting adjusted to the new schemes is whats killing us.
 
One can't help but wonder what the HELL they were doing all offseason if they weren't learning the new defense.
 
Last year everyone was screaming that we are to vanilla on defense and we need to blitz more and zone more. It's going to take sometime but it will eventually do us some good. I think most of us and I am one of them, are just spoiled over the last few years early success. But most SB teams go through something like this during the course of the year. We are going to right the ship and be well on our way in my honest opinion. I think what happended to us on might have been a blessing in disguise..
..
 
Originally posted by Predaphin34
M-Real, I wondered that also, maybe we should just go back to our basic defense that was #3 overall last year.....I think it be easier for the new guys to learn and also with all the additions we'd have a tougher defense than last year......you see its not so much the players that lost us the game, but its the schemes, getting adjusted to the new schemes is whats killing us.
Click to expand...

That's just it! It was the defensive players that were crying about the basic defense. That's what they used as an excuse for our collapses. They cried for changes in defensive philosopy. They were all happy as hell in training camp about the changes. Pred is right. We supposedly added the veterans and depth we need to stop the Dec. crashes. Go back to the vanilla defense that has kept us near the top of the league in that catagory.
 
We were complaining last year that we needed some changes but we didn't want to go to straight zone coverages with an occasional blitz. Our strength is the bump n run cover 2 man. That should be the defense we use 60-75% of the time. Zones & blitzes are just supposed to be a change of pace. Kinda like a pitcher in baseball. 60-75% of their pitches are fastballs, the other junk is just a change of pace to trick the opposition.
 
We have the speed on the team to do both schemes effectively, but with zone if ya miss your tackles you're screwed. We weren't the #3 ranked D. for nothing, and AJ has a point, what were they practicing if not the zone? If they're gonna blitz the LB's good then, but leave the SS and FS free to roam and play press coverage or zone. Our CB's are very fast and can handle the WR's. Knight missed the tackle and there was noone behind him to stop that guy. Even I was surprised to see an open backfield. Where the hell was Marion?
 
Although I would like to see zone coverage every now and then, I still want us to stick to man to man most of the time. FYI, the play where Corey Bradford scored the touchdown was a zone coverage. A lot of people wanted to blame Madison because he was the one chasing him from behind, however, it was Sammy Knight's responsibility and Madison was trying to make up for Knight's mistake. Unfortunately, he got caught up on the da** infield. I sure hope the Marlins don't go to the playoffs.
 
Very good points made from everyone! S29 is right, that is our strength so why have we veered from it. Use it 80% of the time(our strength) and when teams start to try and exploit it again, mix in the zones, blitzes, etc. Make those teams constantly wonder what we are gonna do next. TB does it constantly, throwing stuff out there that works. Stack 2 LB's on the left to blitz, leave one on the right(the fastest one) and bring up the FS to back him up and leave the SS to play man press with CB's.
 
Let's figure out the total Wannyspeak/prima donna player nonsense that is being spewed. I don't get it.

First you say that Carr is releasing the ball so quickly that the rush doesn't have a chance to get to him (I think that is called good coaching/making adjustments, or something like that).

Then you say that we are not quite up to snuff yet on the intracacies of the zone-defense. Uhm, pardon me, but is this some new fangled wrinkle that has just been invented last week by this genius coaching staff? Seems to me, I've heard of this zone thingy once or twice before.

Oh yeah, if they are not up to speed on perfecting the zone, then why didn't they use the four pre-season games to perfect it? Instaed of, it's only presason, it doesn't mean anything. How many times did we hear during the presason "Well, we were only running our base D, we didn't really game plan"?

Wouldn't that be a good time to try to get some perfection on this previously unseen new defensive wrinkle? Seems that way to me.

The other thing that bothers me about this whole organization is the total lack of adjustments that are not being made. Lemme see here. The QB is releasing the ball in just under 2 seconds. The receivers are open because the pass rush is nonexistent, and the DB's are still trying to get used to this new zone thingy.

Would it not then make sense to go back to the man press coverage so you would have a defender in the WR's face? I think so.

I could be wrong, but this is what is known as an adjustment. Something coaches do all the time. When something is not working for you, try something else.

When your opponent throws something different at you, retaliate, don't just rationalize. "Well, we are not used to the zone yet". "We've got to get better" (Oh, really). "He was using 3 step drops the whole game".

The best one was from Norv on the lack of passing game stating that we were close on a lot of plays, and we just missed making some big plays.

Excuses, Coachspeak, and prima donna players. That's what permiates this team.
 
Originally posted by CRAZYDOLFAN305
Last year everyone was screaming that we are to vanilla on defense and we need to blitz more and zone more. It's going to take sometime but it will eventually do us some good. I think most of us and I am one of them, are just spoiled over the last few years early success. But most SB teams go through something like this during the course of the year. We are going to right the ship and be well on our way in my honest opinion. I think what happended to us on might have been a blessing in disguise..
..
Click to expand...

Right on! ....I TOTALLY Agree with you on this one......just like the texans caught us slipping, we'll be catching other teams slipping as well, just wait and see.
 
So wait wait wait...we are now a Cover 2 Defense??
 
I agree with CrazyDolphan... We wanted a less 'vanilla' defense.

Problem is we are still learning it. As much as you practice it, it is not the same as playing in a game. That only comes with time. I personally would have liked to see it used a bit more in preseason and thus took the mistakes of the learning curve in preason. However, I am not ready to throw it out and go back to only press coverage. This will be a great defense, just it is taking longer than any of us wanted.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom