Missing the Obvious

[ForksPhin]

Every person who follows the NFL closely knew that the biggest worry Miami had coming into this game was how to slow down the Bills pass rush. Four guys with 8+ sacks. Mario Williams. On and on.

How is it possible that the Dolphins offensive coordinator and head coach thought they could rely on Daniel Thomas to slow the Bills pass rush down? Literally, there was nothing in the gameplan outside of relying on running backs to block. I didn't see Dion Sims or Michael Egnew on the field all day. I didn't see screens. I didn't see read option runs. I didn't see rollouts. I saw a team with the worst offensive line in the NFL think that it could play the best pass rush in the NFL straight-up.

And once it was obvious in the first quarter that this wasn't working, there was no adjustment.

 

[Finland]

Agree with the post.

 

[Shouright]

The better question is why the team attempted 33 passes and only 12 runs in such a situation.

 

[J. David Wannyheimer]

Honestly not sure who to blame here. Jeff Ireland for sticking the coaches with this trash at OL, or the coaches for not seeming to realize they have a trash OL.

 

[ForksPhin]

It is sad that losses like this make you question the competency of the coaching staff. You wish you could just feel comfortable for the first time in 13-14 years that we had the right coaches.

---------- Post added at 05:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:18 PM ----------

The better question is why the team attempted 33 passes and only 12 runs in such a situation.

True. With the number of 3 & outs the offense had, they literally could have run every down and it probably wouldn't have made an impact on the outcome. No adjustments all day.

 

[Shouright]

True. With the number of 3 & outs the offense had, they literally could have run every down and it probably wouldn't have made an impact on the outcome. No adjustments all day.

Except that it would've made them less predictable and put less of the burden on Tannehill in the face of a very strong pass rush. Instead, we played right into their strength, with a developmental QB. Not real smart.

 

[ForksPhin]

Except that it would've made them less predictable and put less of the burden on Tannehill in the face of a very strong pass rush. Instead, we played right into their strength, with a developmental QB. Not real smart.

It was a sad performance by Tannehill. It was the kind of game where one play on offense might have changed the whole game. Once again, he missed Wallace wide open twice on deep balls. I will never understand why he doesn't throw the ball sooner on these deep patterns. And then he hits Hartline in stride, and Hartline drops it. Just a disaster or epic proportions today.

 

[Shouright]

It was a sad performance by Tannehill. It was the kind of game where one play on offense might have changed the whole game. Once again, he missed Wallace wide open twice on deep balls. I will never understand why he doesn't throw the ball sooner on these deep patterns. And then he hits Hartline in stride, and Hartline drops it. Just a disaster or epic proportions today.

Tannehill is still a tad late on most things he does. He's still developing. But the gameplanning needs to take that into account far more than was evident today.

 

[Nawledge]

i agree, terrible gameplanning. Sherman is the main problem in my opinion. Philbin gets blame for allowing it to happen. Sherman has no flow to his playcalling. He doesnt do anything to keep defenses honest. He doesnt put the players in positions to succeed regularly. We get a lead, he gets conservative.

 

[72TributeBike]

Tannehill is still a tad late on most things he does. He's still developing. But the gameplanning needs to take that into account far more than was evident today.

Tannehill was tapping the ball all game...from beginning to end.

That was one of the bad habits he was supposed to have dropped. NOPE!

Tannehill was holding onto the ball to long.

The "anticipatory throws" he was supposed to have developed. NOPE!

Tannehill's lack of pocket presence was a disaster.

The shuffling and dodging he was supposed to have developed. NOPE!

Tannehill will go into his 3rd year and perhaps never develop these necessary skills on a game-to-game basis.

 

[ANUFan]

The better question is why the team attempted 33 passes and only 12 runs in such a situation.

Because we have Tunnel Vision on offense~ Our O.C cannot adjust his game plan if his life depended on it.

 

[Cougar Guy]

On the one miss to Wallace where he overthrew him, I thought Wallace actually let up a bit and that had he kept running it would have hit him in stride. Doesn't matter much now though.

I also agree with the OP. This game was just a disaster all the way around. The offence though, was truly horrific. We should've known that we weren't going to have time to get much going deep (at least without working the short stuff first), so why not run the ball more, throw in some draws, some screens some quick slants, etc. I thought this was a game where we had to nickel and dime them, especially given the conditions, and give the guys a chance to make some plays after catching the ball. By doing that it should've helped slow down the pass rush, which may have given Tanny some time to do something downfield later on. It was a pathetic and dismal effort.

I'm not giving a pass to anyone today except Fields. The rest of the roster did not compete anywhere near enough to put us in a position to win.

 

[Nawledge]

Tannehill was tapping the ball all game...from beginning to end.

That was one of the bad habits he was supposed to have dropped. NOPE!

Tannehill was holding onto the ball to long.

The "anticipatory throws" he was supposed to have developed. NOPE!

Tannehill's lack of pocket presence was a disaster.

The shuffling and dodging he was supposed to have developed. NOPE!

Tannehill will go into his 3rd year and perhaps never develop these necessary skills on a game-to-game basis.

So it has nothing to do with the o-line? He had some time the past few weeks, this game not so much. You do the math.

 

[PCmor]

They might have been better off sticking Clay in the backfield the entire game they was Thomas blocked.

I swear, Thomas must have a really comprehension issue or he's getting no coaching about it. He's indecisive on his blocking assignments, and, when he does get it right, he's too high in his stance to have any leverage.

 

[SQuinn17]

I feel like we used exactly the same pathetic game plan as the first time we played these guys.