Magoo's Keys to the Game (Texans Edition) | Page 2 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Magoo's Keys to the Game (Texans Edition)

b0ng said:
Who do the Dolphins run at the DE spots? I remember watching the Texans play the 9'ers in preseason (I know, Alex Smith is real bad) and Ray McDonald was stacking up double teams and shedding blocks like it was child's play. I think if your guys DE's come in to play hard it goes a long long way in shutting down what the Texans try to do on offense.
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The Dolphins feature a rotation of Kendall Langford, Randy Starks, Jared Odrick, Tony McDaniel (if he plays) and Phillip Merling at DE. Langford is the strongest run defender of the group, I'd say. Starks is the most well rounded. For my money he was the best player on the entire team two years ago. Odrick is young and talented. Very energetic. McDaniel is huge and has some physical skills but I don't think he's particularly stout against the run. He's more of a pass rush guy, although they usually have him be the guy who stands in the middle trying to bat down a pass. Merling is a bust of a second rounder from four years ago. He's a 4-3 LDE out of position playing end in a 3-4.
 
Another great write up Magoo.

I fully expect Henne to test the perimeter of the defense rather than the middle.

The Texans have some very athletic LBs who can cover well in Ryans and Cushing.

I particularly would like to see Henne throw to who ever J. Allen is covering and I would love to see them get Marshall lined up on him as much as they can this game.

IF we can get a decent running game going, then we can try and attack the middle of the D.

I think we have a real good shot at getting our first 'W' against the Texans this Sunday.
 
Great write up. Texans really scare me. Their offense has been real good for awhile, but that defense finally has the play calling to match the terrific talent, in the front 7 anyways. The secondary can definitely be exploited. I'm expecting another shoot out. Hopefully the defense shows more of the stuff that had them the 6th ranked defense last year, than whatever the hell they were doing out there week 1. We have the talent and the the DC, so we'll see.
 
Great write up again Magoo, thanks.

I saw somewhere that Houston doesn't matchup their corners to particular WR's, which makes me think we can really attack Jason Allen and Glover with Davone Bess and Brandon Marshall. I don't know if their safeties are as vulnerable to pump fakes as Reshad Jones are, but I could also see us taking advantage of Allen deep with Clyde Gates.

My only question is do you think we can attack the perimeter on runs with Bush?? Even if their NT isn't great, I still think it'd be to our advantage if we can do some off tackle runs for Reggie. Colombo isn't a great pass blocker but he can still run block, and we all know how great Jake Long is run blocking. That was one thing I was disappointed in that we didn't see more of against the Patriots were runs off tackle or counters.
 
Kistner10 said:
Great write up again Magoo, thanks.

I saw somewhere that Houston doesn't matchup their corners to particular WR's, which makes me think we can really attack Jason Allen and Glover with Davone Bess and Brandon Marshall. I don't know if their safeties are as vulnerable to pump fakes as Reshad Jones are, but I could also see us taking advantage of Allen deep with Clyde Gates.

My only question is do you think we can attack the perimeter on runs with Bush?? Even if their NT isn't great, I still think it'd be to our advantage if we can do some off tackle runs for Reggie. Colombo isn't a great pass blocker but he can still run block, and we all know how great Jake Long is run blocking. That was one thing I was disappointed in that we didn't see more of against the Patriots were runs off tackle or counters.
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That's my understanding also. Historically, the Colts have always lined up Reggie Wayne to the left of the defense, yet the Texans seemed content to line up Jackson and Allen against him. At one point they ran cover 6 (quarter, quarter, half) to Wayne's side with a corner (Brice McCain) in underneath coverage. But they didn't run it very well. Wayne was open easily for like a 15 yard gain. And the truth is that even though they were teeing off on Kerry Collins all day in the pass rush, they could never really cover Reggie Wayne, as he ended up with 7 catches for 105 yards and a touchdown.

Brandon Marshall is a bigger, more physically dominating and flat out better receiver than Reggie Wayne at this point in his career, so I don't think it's unreasonable to expect more production than this from him.

As to your other point: perimeter runs. Well, I'm always hopeful, of course. Perimeter plays, whatever their shape, are always the best way to get Bush involved running the ball. But the Texans' front seven is so athletic compared to our offensive line that I'm not sure that's going to work. I know I don't trust Marc Colombo to hit anything on the move, and Jake Long has never been the most athletic linemen and he wasn't himself at all on Monday by his own admission. I actually have more faith in inside trap plays and counters than I do in perimeter runs this week, trying to take advantage of their aggressive front. But no matter what we try, if this game is going to be won, it's going to be won passing the ball.
 
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Incidentally, there's been a lot of talk and worry about the Texans running an effective no huddle attack considering the success the Patriots had against us Monday Night.

For what it's worth, I'm not worried about this aspect of the game, which is why it isn't one of my "keys." That kind of attack takes planning, coordination and specific personnel. You can't just go to your quarterback on Tuesday and tell him that he's going to call the entire game from fixed personnel at the line of scrimmage and at high tempo this week. It just doesn't work that way.

The Texans can no more run the kind of attack that beat us Monday night than the Patriots with their slower offensive line and smaller running backs could have come out trying to run a zone blocking scheme the way the Texans do.

Which is not to say they won't try it here and there just to see how what kind of corrections we've made. But what beat us was the overwhelming pace of it and Brady's mastery of offensive football. Schaub is a good player and the Texans' offense is a well oiled machine but it's also a simple well oiled machine. Their concepts are really not all that difficult figure out and they come out believing they can win on execution.

If we have something to worry about (and I've already outlined the several ways in which we do) it's the thing the Texans already run and run well, not them coming out and changing their entire culture to try and create a repeat of Monday night.
 
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I'm not worried about the no-huddle either. To think that the Texans can come in here and do what the Patriots did makes a mockery of the work and precision needed to install into an offense what the Patriots have.

Also, I suspect that much of what makes the Pats' no-huddle effective is the flexible use of their two stellar tight ends as blockers or receivers, depending on what the defense is showing. I don't think a team can in a week establish in a no-huddle format those kinds of roles for its tight ends, even in the unlikely case that it has two like Hernandez and Gronkowski.

Then of course there's the issue of whether the QB has the intelligence, experience, and command of the offense Brady does.

Lots of things have to fall into place for a team to replicate what the Pats did, which is also why I think the Pats will steamroll through the league this year. They appear to have found an approach that gives them a unique advantage over other teams, which is typical of Belichick.
 
:up: Excellent write up. It's worthy of the FH trifecta. (5 stars, a thanks, and a rep bump.) :D
 
CalDolFan10x14 said:
Ummm...that goes without saying. Thanks for the info Mr Jets fan!
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Actually, it's not as predictive as you'd think. There have been only eleven 500 yard passing games in the history of the NFL. Of them, five were losses.
 
Well after watching the Colts today, idk if the Texans D-Line is really that great. Cleveland D-Line is looking like the 85 Bears with the way the Colts Tackles are playing.
 
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