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- Apr 29, 2003
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First, the fans on here who blasted other fans for not picking the Dolphins 1st in the division ought to step up and recognize that this team is not going to go 19-0, nor can they be favored to win the division. I'm not saying they can't still become a good team - they went from 3-7 last year to 9-7, so they can still be competitive. Nevertheless, the non-realists ought to become a bit more realistic.
As to the team:
This was not a Daunte Culpepper loss. It was a team loss if there ever was one. And, it was not a "the other team was just better," loss. It was a game simply given away b/c of a lack of heart, motivation, concentration, focus, intelligence and poor coaching preparation. There were breakdowns in almost every area. With each area, however, I also think there is still hope.
O-Line - this OL has played horribly. They gave up a blitz sack that was virtually identical to one that the Steelers gave up - by stacking the LG-C with two DT's and rushing a DE to the outside for the LT to take, it created a huge gap that allowed a blitzing DB to get to Daunte. It's a smart defensive move, but the Dolphins should not give that up two weeks in a row. That's bad coaching or dumb players - or both. Overall, however, no part of the OL played well. They were often physically pushed back. LJ Shelton was burned several times. Their protection was awful at times. And, their run blocking never really opened any big holes.
QB - Clearly, Daunte played bad. It started bad and went downhill from there. Had he gotten off to a better start (like completing the pass where he dropped the ball behind him) - things might have gone differently. I think Daunte is like many QB's - very fragile when things go wrong - but, when he gets rolling, he's hard to stop. He's a momentum QB, imo. He needs mental toughness and hard work. He clearly can throw great passes. But, it was more his mental mistakes that killed us. That can be corrected. He needs to be patient enough to throw the ball out of bounds in the red zone. I also noticed that he panicked under the rush and missed a WIDE-open WR across the middle (I believe it was Chambers) - when he tucked the ball down trying to run and got sacked. His pocket instincts just are not there. He doesn't appear to have a feel for the rush - how close/far away they are. He tucks to run too soon; runs in traffic that even Mike Vick would struggle to get out of; or fails to tuck when a guy is on his back (hence the 2nd fumble of the game). Now is not the time to pressure him about his job. He needs to develop more discipline and some time to develop his instincts.
RB's - Brown played very well, again. He had very little room to run yet bulled his way to 68 yrds in the first half. These were almost all a result of his plowing through and breaking tackles. He also showed great hands in the passing game. Give him a game where the line blocks and Daunte doesn't self-destruct the offense - and RB will have a great game. Suggs looked decent as a backup.
WR's - They seemed to play pretty well - there were some open guys that Daunte missed. Chambers catch in the endzone is as good a catch as you'll ever see. Yet, there are times when he seems to disappear and can't find separation from the DB. He needs more consistent route running.
D:
DL - Mixed bag here. There were some good plays - especially in the 2nd half by Roth and Zgonina on the inside. Carter had some decent pressure on a few pass plays. But, JT was pretty much a non-factor on many plays. He just didn't play like a big threat. Perhaps it's his back, but he had a bad game, imo. There really weren't many big plays in crucial situations. A guy like Losman should never have been given the chance to build that kind of confidence. The run D was pitiful. The Bills OL opened hole after hole.
LB's - Really bad day. Our LB is non-existent right now. No big plays. Some decent tackles. But, for the most part they were run over. Several missed tackles on McGahee. No real penetration into the backfield. We really have no blitz capable LB's. Zach's blitzing skills, to be honest, are poor. He made a few good plays but also made a lot of tackles 7-8 yards downfield. If the D-Line is not playing great, these LB's do not have the size/speed to overcome that. This is the reality of their limitation.
DB's - I thought they were pretty decent - much better than the previous week - other than the killer pass interference. That hurt. Of course, why they gave Allen single coverage on Lee Evans is unclear. Evans is a solid deep threat. Even at that, Losman had all day long on that play and one could sense a DB was going to be hung out to dry w/out the D-line pressure. But, they only gave up 83 yards passing on 18 passes - that's pretty decent. Still, the DB's are not making big plays. We have ZERO INT'S in two games.
Overall, the defense is not in any way disrupting the other team's offense. They are not in any way dictating play. They are not forcing any fumbles or INT's. There is no real consistent pressure on the QB. Daunte had far more pressure than Losman.
Coaching -
I'm a huge Saban supporter. Have been from the beginning. However, this was a poorly coached game. Daunte was not mentally prepared. They did not adjust from the Pittsburgh blitzes. The defenses own blitz packages are pretty bad, overall. Jeremiah Bell did have a good blitz. But, our LB's were consistently picked up by the Bills linemen and backs. I'm wondering if Capers system is too predictable - or more predictable than the Belichick style.
Don't say this is a "panic" post. It is not. It is laying out the reality of how the team played and the weaknesses shown. They will have to step up and play much better - though I think there are some limitations with the talent on the team. Especially on the O-line and at LB.
Perhaps if we get 1-2 wins and have a good game the confidence will build and our schemes will start to develop. Right now, this team needs to do two things:
1) Fight to win every play - they played with little heart or emotion.
2) Play much smarter in key situations.
If we play with heart and some brains - we should win against Tennessee next week.
As to the team:
This was not a Daunte Culpepper loss. It was a team loss if there ever was one. And, it was not a "the other team was just better," loss. It was a game simply given away b/c of a lack of heart, motivation, concentration, focus, intelligence and poor coaching preparation. There were breakdowns in almost every area. With each area, however, I also think there is still hope.
O-Line - this OL has played horribly. They gave up a blitz sack that was virtually identical to one that the Steelers gave up - by stacking the LG-C with two DT's and rushing a DE to the outside for the LT to take, it created a huge gap that allowed a blitzing DB to get to Daunte. It's a smart defensive move, but the Dolphins should not give that up two weeks in a row. That's bad coaching or dumb players - or both. Overall, however, no part of the OL played well. They were often physically pushed back. LJ Shelton was burned several times. Their protection was awful at times. And, their run blocking never really opened any big holes.
QB - Clearly, Daunte played bad. It started bad and went downhill from there. Had he gotten off to a better start (like completing the pass where he dropped the ball behind him) - things might have gone differently. I think Daunte is like many QB's - very fragile when things go wrong - but, when he gets rolling, he's hard to stop. He's a momentum QB, imo. He needs mental toughness and hard work. He clearly can throw great passes. But, it was more his mental mistakes that killed us. That can be corrected. He needs to be patient enough to throw the ball out of bounds in the red zone. I also noticed that he panicked under the rush and missed a WIDE-open WR across the middle (I believe it was Chambers) - when he tucked the ball down trying to run and got sacked. His pocket instincts just are not there. He doesn't appear to have a feel for the rush - how close/far away they are. He tucks to run too soon; runs in traffic that even Mike Vick would struggle to get out of; or fails to tuck when a guy is on his back (hence the 2nd fumble of the game). Now is not the time to pressure him about his job. He needs to develop more discipline and some time to develop his instincts.
RB's - Brown played very well, again. He had very little room to run yet bulled his way to 68 yrds in the first half. These were almost all a result of his plowing through and breaking tackles. He also showed great hands in the passing game. Give him a game where the line blocks and Daunte doesn't self-destruct the offense - and RB will have a great game. Suggs looked decent as a backup.
WR's - They seemed to play pretty well - there were some open guys that Daunte missed. Chambers catch in the endzone is as good a catch as you'll ever see. Yet, there are times when he seems to disappear and can't find separation from the DB. He needs more consistent route running.
D:
DL - Mixed bag here. There were some good plays - especially in the 2nd half by Roth and Zgonina on the inside. Carter had some decent pressure on a few pass plays. But, JT was pretty much a non-factor on many plays. He just didn't play like a big threat. Perhaps it's his back, but he had a bad game, imo. There really weren't many big plays in crucial situations. A guy like Losman should never have been given the chance to build that kind of confidence. The run D was pitiful. The Bills OL opened hole after hole.
LB's - Really bad day. Our LB is non-existent right now. No big plays. Some decent tackles. But, for the most part they were run over. Several missed tackles on McGahee. No real penetration into the backfield. We really have no blitz capable LB's. Zach's blitzing skills, to be honest, are poor. He made a few good plays but also made a lot of tackles 7-8 yards downfield. If the D-Line is not playing great, these LB's do not have the size/speed to overcome that. This is the reality of their limitation.
DB's - I thought they were pretty decent - much better than the previous week - other than the killer pass interference. That hurt. Of course, why they gave Allen single coverage on Lee Evans is unclear. Evans is a solid deep threat. Even at that, Losman had all day long on that play and one could sense a DB was going to be hung out to dry w/out the D-line pressure. But, they only gave up 83 yards passing on 18 passes - that's pretty decent. Still, the DB's are not making big plays. We have ZERO INT'S in two games.
Overall, the defense is not in any way disrupting the other team's offense. They are not in any way dictating play. They are not forcing any fumbles or INT's. There is no real consistent pressure on the QB. Daunte had far more pressure than Losman.
Coaching -
I'm a huge Saban supporter. Have been from the beginning. However, this was a poorly coached game. Daunte was not mentally prepared. They did not adjust from the Pittsburgh blitzes. The defenses own blitz packages are pretty bad, overall. Jeremiah Bell did have a good blitz. But, our LB's were consistently picked up by the Bills linemen and backs. I'm wondering if Capers system is too predictable - or more predictable than the Belichick style.
Don't say this is a "panic" post. It is not. It is laying out the reality of how the team played and the weaknesses shown. They will have to step up and play much better - though I think there are some limitations with the talent on the team. Especially on the O-line and at LB.
Perhaps if we get 1-2 wins and have a good game the confidence will build and our schemes will start to develop. Right now, this team needs to do two things:
1) Fight to win every play - they played with little heart or emotion.
2) Play much smarter in key situations.
If we play with heart and some brains - we should win against Tennessee next week.
