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Miami Dolphins Must Establish Ground Game Early vs. Dallas Cowboys

DKphin

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The Miami Dolphins have put together two solid games offensively to start their NFL Preseason schedule, but the team’s ground game has been lacking in comparison to Bill Lazor‘s air assault.
Miami’s offensive line has been the focal point for much of the offseason, but the team must shift its focus to the running back position and try to find an answer on the ground. RB Lamar Miller, who looked great this offseason, has struggled to separate himself from would-be-backups Mike Gillislee, Damien Williams, Orleans Darkwa and the oft-injured Daniel Thomas while offseason acquisition Knowshon Moreno was sidelined due to offseason knee surgery.
Miller’s statistics during the preseason leave something to be desired, as do the rest of the backs on the current roster. Miami’s backs have rushed for a combined six, yes, SIX first downs this preseason — wait, I thought Miami fired Mike Sherman?
While the offensive line has done well this preseason protecting QB Ryan Tannehill the unit has struggled to get a solid push up front, specifically the interior unit.
All Pro C Mike Pouncey is rehabbing an injured hip. While his replacement, Samson Satele, has looked okay filling in for Pouncey, he lacks the all-around ability that Pouncey brings to the table for Miami on the ground.
Next to Satele, Miami has ushered in LG Daryn Colledge, who was thought to be the starter to open the season but struggled last week, leading to the team allowing rookie G Billy Turner to see some snaps as the second-team left guard, potentially challenging Colledge for the starting left guard spot.
The team also has an unsolved mystery at right guard with second-year Dallas Thomas in a tight battle with veteran Shelley Smith. Thomas, similar to Colledge, was to be the team’s opening day right guard but due to struggles in his first two preseason games, he has been demoted to the second-team while Smith has been working with the starting unit.
Miami will receive a boost at running back this week, however, with the return of Moreno and Daniel Thomas.
Head Coach Joe Philbin has not stated how much either player will play in their first game of the preseason, but look for Thomas to see much more work than Moreno in an effort to see whether Thomas is worthy of a spot on the 53-man roster.

Miami should come out against the Dallas Cowboys Saturday night with one thing on their mind: run the football.
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http://www.rantsports.com/nfl/2014/...stablish-ground-game-early-vs-dallas-cowboys/
 
Nice thing is the Dallas defensive front is about a third as talented as the Tampa one so we should see a few decent runs.
 
It is amazing to me how many of our runs get absolutely obliterated in the backfield.
 
Any success our offense has will be discredited because of how god awful this Dallas defense is...puts a little bit of pressure on us to perform.
 
We must run the ball and abandon the pass for this game. Run the ball 75% of the game. We have to establish some consistency blocking. It should be the focus.
I do not care if we win or not, I want 200 yards rushing. It will pay dividends going into game 1.
Keep all the trick plays under wraps for the Patriots game.

---------- Post added at 06:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:53 PM ----------
russianbear said:
Any success our offense has will be discredited because of how god awful this Dallas defense is...puts a little bit of pressure on us to perform.
Click to expand...

True, but it would give our team some confidence going forward. The running game as been abysmal at best since last year.
The pundits have nothing good to say anyway.
 
LANGER72 said:
We must run the ball and abandon the pass for this game. Run the ball 75% of the game. We have to establish some consistency blocking. It should be the focus.
I do not care if we win or not, I want 200 yards rushing. It will pay dividends going into game 1.
Keep all the trick plays under wraps for the Patriots game.

---------- Post added at 06:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:53 PM ----------



True, but it would give our team some confidence going forward. The running game as been abysmal at best since last year.
The pundits have nothing good to say anyway.
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I'd love to see a trainload of running.
 
So, what happens when even Dallas shuts down the run game?
 
Dr. Phin said:
So, what happens when even Dallas shuts down the run game?
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Keep in mind that Dallas destroyed the Eagles and this offense in their first meeting last year and almost beat them with Kyle Orton in the 2nd meeting. The Eagles seemed to be the only team Dallas' defense looked good against. That may be a function of Monte Kiffen knowing Chip Kelly from their days in the PAC-12 and knowing how to play against him. This should be an interesting game.
 
No, we dont have to run the ball early. There is no rule in football that says success is based on running the football early. This is just media pushing crap.
 
LANGER72 said:
The pundits have nothing good to say anyway.
Click to expand...

It really doesn't matter what/how Miami does in their eyes... it will be all about Romo.

p.s. Have you ever noticed any story (on Tony R) outside of highlights is done by a female reporter?

---------- Post added at 03:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:32 PM ----------
finfan54 said:
No, we dont have to run the ball early. There is no rule in football that says success is based on running the football early. This is just media pushing crap.
Click to expand...

Success is based on scoring more pts than your opponent and as (Former Eagle QB) Ron Jaworski likes to say, "Points come out of the passing game"
 
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