I'm Watching 2002 Raiders game and notice.

[minus]

How Ricky was hitting the hole with more power and tryign to get extra yards unlike this year when he would just go down.He just didn't show that effort to get those extra yards and not go down after first contact this past season.I hope Ricky will go back to his agressive style of running like '02 and he will break those long run just like he did '02.

'02

He ran with authority and he was agressive.

 

[Phinfan31]

Well i think alot of it also had to do with no confidence in his line this year...

 

[dolphan39]

Originally posted by Phinfan31
Well i think alot of it also had to do with no confidence in his line this year...

there is a big difference with fighting for extra yards ag LB and Ss and fighting ag DTs and DEs. Ricky definitely got hit too often in the backfield and like sacks ag QBs that will wear you down.

I agree that Ricky did not consistently seem to have that burst we need him to have; and it is exactly why I want to see us spend most of our resources to upgrade the OL and the O as whole at the expense of the D

 

[Dolphins17-0]

Yep, blame falls on everyone.. O-Line was awful, but ricky didn't show the ability to make something out of nothing too many times and he was much more hesistant this year than in the past (probably because he had to wait and wait for the holes)
That being said, ricky is fine, better play from the O-Line and we are a super bowl contending team (10-6 with fiedler/griese, poor o-line, one WR, and a subpar year from ricky)

 

[phins054]

Like 39 said...it makes a difference when DLineman are getting you in the backfield. Ricky took a beating last season and in 02. If he continues to creep up to the 400 carries a season #, he won't last very long. If we're lucky and i mean LUCKY, We will have 2-3 1400 yard years with Ricky. We have to maximize them.

That means upgrading the O-line and WR corps. Yes a QB would be nice too, but we can live with Jay.

 

[Sal Lisitano]

What's really really and I mean really sad about the 2002 season...is that after we beat the Raiders...I honestly felt good about our chances to get a 1st round bye...and they did not even make the playoffs!!! What a damn shame!!!

 

[Danny]

I think Ricky did all he could with no holes to run to this past year.We have to fix the oline and there's no 2 ways about it. The thing is, are they really gonna fix it?They say they'll fix it every year and every year they don't do it. We'll see what happens this off season.

Ozzy rules!!

 

[dolphan39]

the Raiders game was such as false positive - like the Dallas game this year. We just found a weak spot for Chambers to exploit and Jay just threw the ball up and let CC go get it. There are very few times you can do that and get away with it.

And of course our press coverage matches up nicely ag the Faiders two old men at WR

 

[DeDolfan]

Originally posted by Dolphins17-0
Yep, blame falls on everyone.. O-Line was awful, but ricky didn't show the ability to make something out of nothing too many times and he was much more hesistant this year than in the past (probably because he had to wait and wait for the holes)
That being said, ricky is fine, better play from the O-Line and we are a super bowl contending team (10-6 with fiedler/griese, poor o-line, one WR, and a subpar year from ricky)

Minor has a greater ability to make something out of nothing whereas Ricky is a power runner. Not to mean ricky can't cut it back and make som'n but Minor is better suited for that in that he's smaller and more elusive in that sense. Ricky's the type that needs better OL play and can get thru a smaller hole than Minor can because of pure power.

 

[minus]

No doubt the oline deserve most of the blame but Ricky simply wasn't trying as hard as last year when he wanted to prove people wrong.I know Ricky is more agressive runner than what he showed us last year and hopefully he will start next year running "hard" unlike this year when he wasn't running hard according to him.

 

[akfinfan]

Originally posted by Dolphins17-0
Yep, blame falls on everyone.. O-Line was awful, but ricky didn't show the ability to make something out of nothing too many times and he was much more hesistant this year than in the past (probably because he had to wait and wait for the holes)
That being said, ricky is fine, better play from the O-Line and we are a super bowl contending team (10-6 with fiedler/griese, poor o-line, one WR, and a subpar year from ricky)

I would have to say Ricky had a great year 1,370+ yards rushing with one of the crappiest OLINES of the year.

 

[Dolphins17-0]

yards is overrated, yards per carry gives a better idea of how he faired...

rickys yards per carry were 3.5
of running backs that had 185+ carries(25 players), ricky would rank tied for 23rd with troy hambrick and just ahead of eddie george and jerome bettis. That's a sad year.

I'm a huge ricky fan and the OLine gets a lot to blame, but hes still better than that, and he knows it, i expect to see him back better next season.

 

[MaraxusKA]

Ricky Williams was very hesitant this year and it was mainly because he was looking for gaps to open up. Gaps he saw last year became much more scarce this time around. Therefore, he would often pressure himself into trying to do too much on the play, going for huge gains instead of 2-3 yard pickups. Most of the time, it ended up in no gains or a loss of yardage.

A lot of it even has to do with Fiedler's inconsistency. Few teams would stack coverage against him, and instead relied on filling the box with 8 men because of Miami's weak O-line and Ricky in the backfield. Thanks to that, the offense couldn't get it going most of the time and needed a lot of help from the defense to keep the game in their reach.

 

[minus]

Originally posted by MaraxusKA
Ricky Williams was very hesitant this year and it was mainly because he was looking for gaps to open up. Gaps he saw last year became much more scarce this time around. Therefore, he would often pressure himself into trying to do too much on the play, going for huge gains instead of 2-3 yard pickups. Most of the time, it ended up in no gains or a loss of yardage.

A lot of it even has to do with Fiedler's inconsistency. Few teams would stack coverage against him, and instead relied on filling the box with 8 men because of Miami's weak O-line and Ricky in the backfield. Thanks to that, the offense couldn't get it going most of the time and needed a lot of help from the defense to keep the game in their reach.

Which all goes back to oline which also contributed to Jay Fiedler inconsistency.People love to put just part of the truth.

I believe Ricky forgot what made him such a good runner and that was his power and trying to look for long run.

 

[MaraxusKA]

Originally posted by minus


Which all goes back to oline which also contributed to Jay Fiedler inconsistency.People love to put just part of the truth.

It's a chain reaction. While the O-line can contribute to Jay's inconsistency, Jay's inconsistency can contribute to Ricky's lack of running room. When a defense exploits a weakness in the offense, the rest of the offense is capable of crumbling. It's not always the O-line being weak, or Fiedler being inconsistent--- any of those things happening can allow them to be exploited.