Dolfan1000
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I got to watch the game live.. I actually watched with some friends who dont see much Dolphins football because they are usually watching their respective teams on Sundays. But since they had nothing better to do, they watched. It was a putrid game from start to finish. After Ronnie's TD, I knew we needed a big stop from the D and we would be back in the game, but alas we did not get it. Here are some observations:
1) The Chiefs gameplan obviously included "Pick on #25" because that is just what they did. The guy just plain sucks. Yet another Spielman blunder. Our biggest need this offseason is a shutdown corner. You know, I remember during the offseason a lot of people were saying 'Well, you dont need a top corner anymore as long as you get pressure on the QB. Just look at the Pats." Well, thats all fine and dandy and probably true, but for some reason we are getting little pressure on the QB on third downs. Anyway, Howard was just pitiful. I wonder why Kiwaukee Thomas was left inactive just to accomodate Eddie Moore or Derek Pope. I would have liked to have seen us dress the extra CB. I thought Daniels looked OK, I still like what I see from Schulters and T.Jones, and Madison was his usual mediocre self. It just seemed like the KC receivers were getting wide open- no chance for the CB to make plays on the ball. And then there were just far too many missed tackles, especially on their TEs and Dante Hall. Tough guys to tackle, I know, but the plays have to be made. 3rd down was a huge problem tonight, mostly because we did not blitz nearly enough. When we did, it was usually effective and Green would throw incompletions. I find our most successful blitzes are when we send either 2 LBs up the middle, or a corner, or a safety and a LB... not the full house ones. We get burned on those way too easily; its as if the QB knows its coming. The again, Richardson and that OL did a great job blocking all night like they usually do. It seemed our D was the most vanilla I have seen all year tonight. Few blitzes, and when we did they were not well-disguised, not successful and predictable. Not a good combo. Perhaps this was due to a lack of preparation, I honestly dont know. Oh, and whats the deal with the lack of pass rush from the Dline alone? Can we only get pressure when we blitz? This needs to be worked on.
The rest of the defensive analysis... The Dline was not very good tonight, against the run or against the pass. Not enough sacks are coming from just rushing four, which is a bad sign. JT looked pretty good- much better then what I expected considering his injury, and I still really like the additions we made at this position. I dont know why I saw so much of Jeff Zgonina- the guy is just too small and gets run over. We also got a healthy dose of Matt Roth tonight, which was nice to see. He is a fairly good tackler, although Saban was just LIVID with him when he missed a tackle late in the game that allowed KC to pick up a first down and keep the drive going. Wouldnt want to be him walking back to the sideline after that play. It seemed like KC concentrated on running behind Roaf but also on sweeps to the outside all night. And just when it seemed like we had it stuffed, their RB would escape for a 5-6 yard gain. The tackling was very poor on those runs to the outside, even by Zach. He missed at least three that I can remember off hand. Could this have to do with missing JR? Maybe. Although I'm still a Spragan fan- he doesnt make any super fantastic plays, but he is pretty consistent.
The linebackers played poorly... even Zach had his first bad game of the year. He missed more tackles then normal and I want to see more vocal leadership out of the guy. If a teammate misses a tackle that allows for a big gain and you are trying to stop the opposition so your offense can get back on the field, SAY SOMETHING. No need to blame, but just get the troops going, get the focus back and reinforce the importance of every individual play. Maybe Zach does this and the TV cameras miss it, but I dont see it and I would like to. Overall though, you cannot fault the guy- he is having a pro bowl year. I already sort of talked about Spragan, he is just a good, not great, player. I like his size and the fact that hes pretty young but also has a good amount of experience. Channing.. Hmm.. Hard to say. He had his moments. He hits hard and plays with passion, but he did overpursue at times on sweep runs to the outside and he missed a few key tackles because of being out of position. Hes a rookie though, so its understandable. I saw JR giving him tips on the sidelines, which was great. Hard to be bad when you're learning from one of the best.
The secondary I talked about.. But a few more individual points: I still like Yeremiah Bell, thank goodness we signed Schulters because we would be in trouble if Tillman was a fulltime starter at FS- he is a good ST player but nothing more. We had trouble tackling all night, whether it was Dante Hall who is a shifty guy or their big TEs Gonzalez and, more surprisingly, Dunn. I am shocked at the lack of big plays coming from the secondary (INTs, FFs) but I guess that comes from not getting sufficient pressure on the QB. Like I said, we ran a pretty vanilla D tonight, probably due to a lack of preparation because of the short week, and when we did those full houses blitzes they picked them up nicely leaving the secondary shorthanded. Is there a reason we cant stop a team on the first drive of the game? It just starts the game off on the wrong foot and already puts the offense in a hole. Lets work on winning those coin tosses, Nick, so we can strike first.
The offense.. oh where do I begin.. I didnt see the problems with the Oline that many of you saw. I still see improvement from them. Early on in the first few drives, Gus was under hardly any pressure and the balls were getting tipped at the line of scrimmage. This happened at least three times, and I have no idea why the adjustment was not made. But rest assured, this had little to do with the Oline. Gus was practically untouched. He didnt seem comfortable right from the start. I think we got sacked twice, although keep in mind one positive from Gus tonight was his ability to scramble and get the throw off. He pulled off some nice little escapes a few times. The run blocking was much improved, but still not consistent enough. We MUST get rid of these plays of negative yardage/1-2 yard gains. Its impossible for the coaching staff to have faith in the run and run on certain longer yardage downs when 1/2 the time our running plays are just minor gains (under 3 yards). We need more consistent 5-6 yard gains to set up positive down and distance but also to give the offense options. I would also like to see us run to the outside more. I believe we have two very good between the tackles type tailbacks, but Ronnie has certainly surprised me with his speed to the outside and we know Ricky can do the same. More pitches, sweeps and plays like we saw on Ronnie's TD tonight.. please. Takes some pressure off of the OLine as well.
Speaking of the RBs.. Ronnie wins my player of the game (as if it were a difficult choice). His run was stunning. What a guy. I am noticing a confidence and swagger in the guy, which is a great sign. After our 2nd game, he has put up some consistent numbers for the most part (when you take into account receiving and rushing yards). He also had few (if any) negative plays tonight, which is another sign that he is improving tremendously. Ricky.. well.. he doesnt look *quite* himself yet, but I am still excited about the possibilities that this combo can provide. I still like him better running to the outside, at least for now, until he becomes more familiar with the blocking schemes... Linehan must run the ball more. You are all correct. However, keep in mind that in the last three games we have fallen behind big and early. Also keep in mind that, like I said, we still do run the ball at times and pick up tiny gains way too often- it is just not consistent enough. So, I can pretty much guarantee that if Linehan had run the ball say 15 more times, and we still lost the game, we would be saying "Come on Scott! What happened to the vertical passing game! This is Wanny Ball!" etc. Part of being an offensive coordinator is using your weapons properly, but another is adjusting the gameplan depending on the score. We needed points, and as bad as Gus played, we were more likely to get them with long bombs at then point then simple runs up the middle. However, I must note I am still baffled by the 2 and 1/3 and 1 long throws down the field. I thought to myself, "OK, maybe this is a good move if we are going to just run the ball on 4th and 1 anyway.." Then I saw Jones ready to punt, and I was just confused. All I am trying to say, however, is that the playcalling has been noticeably different since the bye, and it is in these 3 games that we have fallen behind early. I would love to see us pound the rock 25-30 times per game, but I just know that we need leads or at least close games to do so.
The WRs on this team are really an enigma. First of all, Wes Welker is our 3rd receiver- It is official. The guy is the runner up for player of the game. He makes clutch catches and his returns were so fun to watch tonight. He and Gus seem to have developed a trust in one another- its as if he trusts Wes more then he does Chambers or Marty. Chambers... He was invisible for much of the game, but Pat Surtain will do that to a WR. He needs to step up. But there were lots of times where I saw him open and the ball was either over/underthrown or just not thrown his way. And that play in the endzone was 100% Gus' fault. One of the easiest passes possible (he was wide open) and Gus just one hopped it. Chris was visibly upset, as it would have made it a 14-10 game going into the half with all of the momentum on our side. Watching shots of Chris on the sidelines and in between plays, he seemed very frustrated tonight and with good reason. He made a nice catch on Sage's pass, but it was "garbage time". Make those when it counts, and you'll be fine, kid. I hope Marty's injury is just a day to day type thing because I still think he provides a reliable option in the shorter passing game.. The "drop" he had tonight was a play that he maybe should have made, but the ball was thrown WAY behind him. It was an easy 25 yard gain had the ball been thrown on target. Our passing game tonight just got sloppy in general. Early on, we tried to work the short slants and let our WRs athleticism do the work, but it didnt seem to work early and we abandoned it somewhat. I still believe it is not only Gus' strength, but our WRs and McMike as well. We got back into it later on and we put together a drive or two. It is what we did against Denver, and it is what we will need to do to be successful. It also sets up the run game nicely, and also keeps the CBs and Safeties honest and respecting the short passing game.. which opens up the long bombs. It seemed like tonight KC knew "OK, they are going to drop back and throw bombs. Dont bite on short routes."
I have faith in Saban. I have faith in this team. It is frustrating because it seems like we have waited so long for this turnaround, and to be told that we have to "be patient" just sucks at this point. But, we do have a lot of talent on this team, whether you choose to believe it or not. We still have one heck of a coaching staff, starting with the guy at the top who will teach these guys how to win. He has won everywhere he has gone and he will win here. I still like Linehan's aggressive approach, and aside from one or two calls that I mentioned, he still gave our WRs and TEs chances to make big plays that we couldnt capitalize on for a variety of reasons. I admit I am slightly disappointed in the D, as it is not quite as "crazy" (I guess thats the best word) as advertised. This could be due to Saban not having the personnel- I doubt it- why would he go into this year planning on running a defense that he lacked the personnel to run? Realistically, I think Saban is bringing the system along slowly and implementing new pieces every week.. which is probably best in the longterm. And lets not kid ourselves- we have not been executing at all which is also making the D seem worse then it actually is. I love the blitzes. I love the 4-3/3-4 hybrid. I love the personnel switches. I have a feeling that a lot of the problems we are encountering are because of a lack of experience in the system, maybe a lack of talent and a lack of EXECUTION.
Go Dolphins. Lets kick some Saints arse next week.
1) The Chiefs gameplan obviously included "Pick on #25" because that is just what they did. The guy just plain sucks. Yet another Spielman blunder. Our biggest need this offseason is a shutdown corner. You know, I remember during the offseason a lot of people were saying 'Well, you dont need a top corner anymore as long as you get pressure on the QB. Just look at the Pats." Well, thats all fine and dandy and probably true, but for some reason we are getting little pressure on the QB on third downs. Anyway, Howard was just pitiful. I wonder why Kiwaukee Thomas was left inactive just to accomodate Eddie Moore or Derek Pope. I would have liked to have seen us dress the extra CB. I thought Daniels looked OK, I still like what I see from Schulters and T.Jones, and Madison was his usual mediocre self. It just seemed like the KC receivers were getting wide open- no chance for the CB to make plays on the ball. And then there were just far too many missed tackles, especially on their TEs and Dante Hall. Tough guys to tackle, I know, but the plays have to be made. 3rd down was a huge problem tonight, mostly because we did not blitz nearly enough. When we did, it was usually effective and Green would throw incompletions. I find our most successful blitzes are when we send either 2 LBs up the middle, or a corner, or a safety and a LB... not the full house ones. We get burned on those way too easily; its as if the QB knows its coming. The again, Richardson and that OL did a great job blocking all night like they usually do. It seemed our D was the most vanilla I have seen all year tonight. Few blitzes, and when we did they were not well-disguised, not successful and predictable. Not a good combo. Perhaps this was due to a lack of preparation, I honestly dont know. Oh, and whats the deal with the lack of pass rush from the Dline alone? Can we only get pressure when we blitz? This needs to be worked on.
The rest of the defensive analysis... The Dline was not very good tonight, against the run or against the pass. Not enough sacks are coming from just rushing four, which is a bad sign. JT looked pretty good- much better then what I expected considering his injury, and I still really like the additions we made at this position. I dont know why I saw so much of Jeff Zgonina- the guy is just too small and gets run over. We also got a healthy dose of Matt Roth tonight, which was nice to see. He is a fairly good tackler, although Saban was just LIVID with him when he missed a tackle late in the game that allowed KC to pick up a first down and keep the drive going. Wouldnt want to be him walking back to the sideline after that play. It seemed like KC concentrated on running behind Roaf but also on sweeps to the outside all night. And just when it seemed like we had it stuffed, their RB would escape for a 5-6 yard gain. The tackling was very poor on those runs to the outside, even by Zach. He missed at least three that I can remember off hand. Could this have to do with missing JR? Maybe. Although I'm still a Spragan fan- he doesnt make any super fantastic plays, but he is pretty consistent.
The linebackers played poorly... even Zach had his first bad game of the year. He missed more tackles then normal and I want to see more vocal leadership out of the guy. If a teammate misses a tackle that allows for a big gain and you are trying to stop the opposition so your offense can get back on the field, SAY SOMETHING. No need to blame, but just get the troops going, get the focus back and reinforce the importance of every individual play. Maybe Zach does this and the TV cameras miss it, but I dont see it and I would like to. Overall though, you cannot fault the guy- he is having a pro bowl year. I already sort of talked about Spragan, he is just a good, not great, player. I like his size and the fact that hes pretty young but also has a good amount of experience. Channing.. Hmm.. Hard to say. He had his moments. He hits hard and plays with passion, but he did overpursue at times on sweep runs to the outside and he missed a few key tackles because of being out of position. Hes a rookie though, so its understandable. I saw JR giving him tips on the sidelines, which was great. Hard to be bad when you're learning from one of the best.
The secondary I talked about.. But a few more individual points: I still like Yeremiah Bell, thank goodness we signed Schulters because we would be in trouble if Tillman was a fulltime starter at FS- he is a good ST player but nothing more. We had trouble tackling all night, whether it was Dante Hall who is a shifty guy or their big TEs Gonzalez and, more surprisingly, Dunn. I am shocked at the lack of big plays coming from the secondary (INTs, FFs) but I guess that comes from not getting sufficient pressure on the QB. Like I said, we ran a pretty vanilla D tonight, probably due to a lack of preparation because of the short week, and when we did those full houses blitzes they picked them up nicely leaving the secondary shorthanded. Is there a reason we cant stop a team on the first drive of the game? It just starts the game off on the wrong foot and already puts the offense in a hole. Lets work on winning those coin tosses, Nick, so we can strike first.
The offense.. oh where do I begin.. I didnt see the problems with the Oline that many of you saw. I still see improvement from them. Early on in the first few drives, Gus was under hardly any pressure and the balls were getting tipped at the line of scrimmage. This happened at least three times, and I have no idea why the adjustment was not made. But rest assured, this had little to do with the Oline. Gus was practically untouched. He didnt seem comfortable right from the start. I think we got sacked twice, although keep in mind one positive from Gus tonight was his ability to scramble and get the throw off. He pulled off some nice little escapes a few times. The run blocking was much improved, but still not consistent enough. We MUST get rid of these plays of negative yardage/1-2 yard gains. Its impossible for the coaching staff to have faith in the run and run on certain longer yardage downs when 1/2 the time our running plays are just minor gains (under 3 yards). We need more consistent 5-6 yard gains to set up positive down and distance but also to give the offense options. I would also like to see us run to the outside more. I believe we have two very good between the tackles type tailbacks, but Ronnie has certainly surprised me with his speed to the outside and we know Ricky can do the same. More pitches, sweeps and plays like we saw on Ronnie's TD tonight.. please. Takes some pressure off of the OLine as well.
Speaking of the RBs.. Ronnie wins my player of the game (as if it were a difficult choice). His run was stunning. What a guy. I am noticing a confidence and swagger in the guy, which is a great sign. After our 2nd game, he has put up some consistent numbers for the most part (when you take into account receiving and rushing yards). He also had few (if any) negative plays tonight, which is another sign that he is improving tremendously. Ricky.. well.. he doesnt look *quite* himself yet, but I am still excited about the possibilities that this combo can provide. I still like him better running to the outside, at least for now, until he becomes more familiar with the blocking schemes... Linehan must run the ball more. You are all correct. However, keep in mind that in the last three games we have fallen behind big and early. Also keep in mind that, like I said, we still do run the ball at times and pick up tiny gains way too often- it is just not consistent enough. So, I can pretty much guarantee that if Linehan had run the ball say 15 more times, and we still lost the game, we would be saying "Come on Scott! What happened to the vertical passing game! This is Wanny Ball!" etc. Part of being an offensive coordinator is using your weapons properly, but another is adjusting the gameplan depending on the score. We needed points, and as bad as Gus played, we were more likely to get them with long bombs at then point then simple runs up the middle. However, I must note I am still baffled by the 2 and 1/3 and 1 long throws down the field. I thought to myself, "OK, maybe this is a good move if we are going to just run the ball on 4th and 1 anyway.." Then I saw Jones ready to punt, and I was just confused. All I am trying to say, however, is that the playcalling has been noticeably different since the bye, and it is in these 3 games that we have fallen behind early. I would love to see us pound the rock 25-30 times per game, but I just know that we need leads or at least close games to do so.
The WRs on this team are really an enigma. First of all, Wes Welker is our 3rd receiver- It is official. The guy is the runner up for player of the game. He makes clutch catches and his returns were so fun to watch tonight. He and Gus seem to have developed a trust in one another- its as if he trusts Wes more then he does Chambers or Marty. Chambers... He was invisible for much of the game, but Pat Surtain will do that to a WR. He needs to step up. But there were lots of times where I saw him open and the ball was either over/underthrown or just not thrown his way. And that play in the endzone was 100% Gus' fault. One of the easiest passes possible (he was wide open) and Gus just one hopped it. Chris was visibly upset, as it would have made it a 14-10 game going into the half with all of the momentum on our side. Watching shots of Chris on the sidelines and in between plays, he seemed very frustrated tonight and with good reason. He made a nice catch on Sage's pass, but it was "garbage time". Make those when it counts, and you'll be fine, kid. I hope Marty's injury is just a day to day type thing because I still think he provides a reliable option in the shorter passing game.. The "drop" he had tonight was a play that he maybe should have made, but the ball was thrown WAY behind him. It was an easy 25 yard gain had the ball been thrown on target. Our passing game tonight just got sloppy in general. Early on, we tried to work the short slants and let our WRs athleticism do the work, but it didnt seem to work early and we abandoned it somewhat. I still believe it is not only Gus' strength, but our WRs and McMike as well. We got back into it later on and we put together a drive or two. It is what we did against Denver, and it is what we will need to do to be successful. It also sets up the run game nicely, and also keeps the CBs and Safeties honest and respecting the short passing game.. which opens up the long bombs. It seemed like tonight KC knew "OK, they are going to drop back and throw bombs. Dont bite on short routes."
I have faith in Saban. I have faith in this team. It is frustrating because it seems like we have waited so long for this turnaround, and to be told that we have to "be patient" just sucks at this point. But, we do have a lot of talent on this team, whether you choose to believe it or not. We still have one heck of a coaching staff, starting with the guy at the top who will teach these guys how to win. He has won everywhere he has gone and he will win here. I still like Linehan's aggressive approach, and aside from one or two calls that I mentioned, he still gave our WRs and TEs chances to make big plays that we couldnt capitalize on for a variety of reasons. I admit I am slightly disappointed in the D, as it is not quite as "crazy" (I guess thats the best word) as advertised. This could be due to Saban not having the personnel- I doubt it- why would he go into this year planning on running a defense that he lacked the personnel to run? Realistically, I think Saban is bringing the system along slowly and implementing new pieces every week.. which is probably best in the longterm. And lets not kid ourselves- we have not been executing at all which is also making the D seem worse then it actually is. I love the blitzes. I love the 4-3/3-4 hybrid. I love the personnel switches. I have a feeling that a lot of the problems we are encountering are because of a lack of experience in the system, maybe a lack of talent and a lack of EXECUTION.
Go Dolphins. Lets kick some Saints arse next week.
