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Closing the Door on Buffalo

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I didn't see this posted, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Not the way Miami wanted to end the season obviously, but I will focus mostly on the positives in the game.

Positives
* Byron Jones's sideline interception early in the game. It was a thing of beauty and got Miami off to a good start.
* Van Ginkel's early sack on Allen. He had a nice year for Miami and several other pressures in this game.
* Howard getting his 10th interception in the 3rd quarter. Should be in the running for DPOY.
* Tua's sideline pass to Parker late in the game.
* Perry getting his first NFL touchdown on another nice throw from Tua.
* The first quarter. Miami's defense had Allen off balance early.
* Bowden's long completion. Loved the play design, looking down field and then throwing the other way.
* Second half pass protection by the offensive line.
* First drive of the second half.

Negatives
* So many obviously, but I'm just going to list the main ones.
* Tua's pick 6 interception on a play where Parker slipped. That was probably the play of the game. Miami had cut the lead to 28-13 and just got the ball back early in the third quarter. From there, it was all Buffalo.
* The punt return for a touchdown. Just can't happen in a game like this and it put Miami in a big hole.
* Three interceptions by Tua.
* No pass rush after early success.
* Deep passes were wide open for Buffalo and the Bills exploited that.
* Too many dropped passes by receivers. Tough game for Ford.

Other Notes
* Miami ended 10-6 and just missed out on the playoffs. Most of us thought this was maybe an 8-8 type team.
* For most of the year, the defense ranked #1 in points allowed. This unit came a long way.
* Houston's late loss to Tennessee secured the #3 overall pick for the Dolphins. Can't imagine Grier ever expected to get a top 10 pick from the Texans. Not with Watson as their quarterback.
 
Nice write up! Teams have adjusted to Cover O in two ways.

1) Quick passes to recievers in the flat
2) 9 route on either B.Jones on the boundary or out of the slot against Niedhum...rinse repeat

We absolutely don't have the safety to play single high. B McCain in not that guy and it's a bad bad scheme against a team that likes to push vertically like the Bills do.
 
Last edited:
ANUFan said:
Nice write up! Teams have adjusted to Cover O in two ways.

1) Quick passes to recievers in the flat
2) 9 route on either B.Jones on the boundary or out of the slot against Niedhum...rinse repeat

We absolutely don't have the safety to play single high. B McCain in not that guy and it's a bad bad scheme against a team that likes to push vertically like the Bills do.
Click to expand...
That's a concern since Buffalo is Miami's main competition right now in the AFC East. How do you think Flores will adjust?
 
SF Dolphin Fan said:
That's a concern since Buffalo is Miami's main competition right now in the AFC East. How do you think Flores will adjust?
Click to expand...

Well! You need to start by having an offense that can score. Teams like the Bills are too talented to stop from scoring completely.

Secondly, We have to get much better at playing zone in our defense. We’re not very good at it. Playing man against the Bills with a mobile Qb like Allen and playing single high against their speedy/shifty recievers is asking for trouble.
 
ANUFan said:
Well! You need to start by having an offense that can score. Teams like the Bills are too talented to stop from scoring completely.

Secondly, We have to get much better at playing zone in our defense. We’re not very good at it. Playing man against the Bills with a mobile Qb like Allen and playing single high against their speedy/shifty recievers is asking for trouble.
Click to expand...
Yep. Miami definitely has the opportunity to add a lot of talent to the offense.

The ultimate decision on Gailey will be interesting.

But this defense with a more comparable offense is pretty darn good.
 
SF Dolphin Fan said:
Yep. Miami definitely has the opportunity to add a lot of talent to the offense.

The ultimate decision on Gailey will be interesting.

But this defense with a more comparable offense is pretty darn good.
Click to expand...

Yep! I can’t see how Gailey survives this.
 
ANUFan said:
Yep! I can’t see how Gailey survives this.
Click to expand...
An interesting hire to begin with. It had to be hard for Gailey to get back into the football groove, I can imagine.

I always thought he did a decent to good job with talent he had, but I did find his play calling to be inconsistent. I'm going to trust Flores, but wonder what he is looking for on offense. What's his offensive vision?
 
ANUFan said:
Nice write up! Teams have adjusted to Cover O in two ways.

1) Quick passes to recievers in the flat
2) 9 route on either B.Jones on the boundary or out of the slot against Niedhum...rinse repeat

We absolutely don't have the safety to play single high. B McCain in not that guy and it's a bad bad scheme against a team that likes to push vertically like the Bills do.
Click to expand...
I think the biggest issue with Cover 0 is that DBs get exposed when the pass rush can’t get home. You can’t give Josh Allen 8 seconds to throw the ball from a clean pocket all day and hope to have success with man coverage.
 
ANUFan said:
Nice write up! Teams have adjusted to Cover O in two ways.

1) Quick passes to recievers in the flat
2) 9 route on either B.Jones on the boundary or out of the slot against Niedhum...rinse repeat

We absolutely don't have the safety to play single high. B McCain in not that guy and it's a bad bad scheme against a team that likes to push vertically like the Bills do.
Click to expand...
We need to adjust with zone blitzes 3 low 3 high to throw this off next year
 
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