Are the Dolphins elite? What can be learned from their losses to ensure they are | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Are the Dolphins elite? What can be learned from their losses to ensure they are

Mike13

Mike13

I am a golden god
Joined
Apr 27, 2005
Messages
25,055
Reaction score
4,200
Age
36
Location
Miami, FL
Excellent write up describing who we are and how we can get better.

They aren’t going backward just when there’s laundry on the field, they also are losing a lot of yardage on rushing plays. In their wins, 11.57 percent of their snaps resulted in negative yardage, which isn’t bad. But against winning teams, that percentage jumps to 17 percent, which is bottom-of-the-league bad. They don’t seem to trust their offensive line enough to run inside — their run game is predicated on toss plays and tricky receiver handoffs or tap passes behind the line of scrimmage. Those types of plays can lead to explosives with the Dolphins’ speed, but they are also risky, especially when they’re run as much as the Dolphins do and defenses know they’re coming. The better teams also have more team speed, so it’s hard to consistently outrun angles even as fast as Miami is.

Those plays will remain a big component of the offense, but the Dolphins have to turn down the dial a notch. They aren’t going to suddenly become a physical inside run team, but they have to attempt more inside runs than they have. In the Shanahan system, they’ll have run plays with built-in “kills” to pass plays in case the defense loads the box. It could be helpful for the Dolphins to have shot plays with built-in kills to inside run plays if the defense is in a light box. Against the Chiefs, on the potential game-winning drive, Raheem Mostert had runs of 25 and 19 yards on inside runs against light boxes.
Click to expand...
Tagovailoa gets rid of the ball faster than any quarterback in the league, but he will hold the ball at times to wait for deeper routes to develop. In their wins, when he held onto the ball longer than 2.5 seconds, his EPA per dropback was 0.46 — for perspective, 0.2 is elite. In their losses to teams with winning records, when he held the ball longer than 2.5 seconds, his EPA dropped to minus-0.8. To put that in perspective, Zach Wilson’s EPA per dropback is minus-0.26.
Click to expand...

Tagovailoa should keep looking for throws downfield, but he has to be more willing to check the ball down when the opportunities aren’t there. He started doing this in the third quarter against the Chiefs, and the Dolphins were able to move the ball much more effectively. The Dolphins’ aggressiveness and speed have scared defenses into dropping deeper. Now, reap the benefits and take the layups they’re giving you.

I think Tua's mistakes come from wanting to be too aggressive and forcing the issue, yes it is okay to take the shorter route now and again, Brady did that for years.
 
Elite in games we're supposed to win. Not remotely elite in games that present a challenge. Better than never elite at all I guess.
 
This was all very evident against the Chiefs. The constant outside runs were going nowhere and we didn’t bother adjusting until it was almost too late.

Also, I’ve mentioned a few times, get Berrios more involved in the game plan. We need to be more willing to accept some short passing to keep us in manageable third down situations. It really bugs me that we don’t take advantage of a guy who has great hands and can get open for quick short throws.
 
ForksPhin said:
This was all very evident against the Chiefs. The constant outside runs were going nowhere and we didn’t bother adjusting until it was almost too late.

Also, I’ve mentioned a few times, get Berrios more involved in the game plan. We need to be more willing to accept some short passing to keep us in manageable third down situations. It really bugs me that we don’t take advantage of a guy who has great hands and can get open for quick short throws.
Click to expand...
This. And I would also add releasing the TE's after the initial block. Smythe is always open on these types of plays, but we never use him. The linebackers are watching for the RB's to release and we need to mix it up to keep them guessing.
 
Mike McDaniel said:
Elite in games we're supposed to win. Not remotely elite in games that present a challenge. Better than never elite at all I guess.
Click to expand...

Well, at least it better than in years past... We seemed to find ways to lose the 'supposed to win' games as well. So its an improvement.
 
Mike13 said:
mistakes come from wanting to be too aggressive and forcing the issue
Click to expand...
Totally agree. That is also on McD (if not mostly) - he loves that candy jar as much as Tua. Too much sweet is dangerous!

I would love to see a game where Tua has most of his passes as underneath routes and we actually matriculate down the field and THEN pop a banger.

The OG Niners were one of the best at doing that with both Montana and Young feasting with that cast of great offensive players.
 
Don't really see elite but than there are very few in the league who are actually elite, if any. (IMO)
Best Dolphin team in over a decade though and even then some.

Think we still have weakness and to much inconsistency with the OL and DL, LB but High grade OL we'd be very hard to beat. Just a few areas of weakness or rather to much inconsistency to be truly considered elite.
We do have some very elite players but in my opinion the team overall is very good and a team for a playoff spot but as far as SB I still have some concerns.

I think the lack of insight for a very good OL is going to be our biggest weakness and hope that it can surprisingly develope to actually bring us closer to elite, and it developes more the second half.

But for me the trip is most exciting over the destination,
Although if we got to that destination my feeling could change ( easily) JMO, lol
 
Most talented dolphin team I’ve ever followed.

I say you keep evolving into what we could be is the way to look at this, must factor in and project health from where we were which was lots of starters missing lots of games

Defensive players in first year of system

Offense in 2nd year of season

Practice reps matter in these complex systems

Our offense had some communication issues on the road that need ironing out

Let them evolve and learn until we get to the postseason.

I wouldn’t want to play this team on the direction their going
 
Currently they're not elite, however I believe the talent on the current roster plus coaching staff have enough ingredients to make it to that next level - now it's up to them to put it all together on a consistent basis, once they can do that they're certainly in the "elite" conversation. And I haven't felt this way about this organization since the mid to late 90's, so they're certainly knocking on the door after all these years.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom