New York Times Article: Dolphins Season Preview

[pnayan]

Excellent In-Depth artlice on the upcoming season...writer seems to have a really good pulse on the dolphins...

Offense
One thing that stands out about Chad Henne is how much better he performs when the Dolphins spread the field. This was evident on film and paper last season (Henne’s passer rating when two wide receivers were on the field was 67; with three receivers it was 79; with four or more receivers it was 83). Henne does not see the field particularly well on slow-developing plays (play-action, max-protect, seven-stop drops, etc.). In these situations, his confidence rattles, leading to the erratic accuracy and turnovers (which, for Henne, tend to pour when they rain).

It used to be, getting a quarterback in rhythm involved throwing lots of screen passes and dumpoffs in the flats. But nowadays, the best way to calm a quarterback is to spread the field, as that creates natural throwing lanes and paints a clearer picture of what’s now a stretched-out defense. This is what Dan Henning did not do.

Brian Daboll has the personnel to make this work. (Whether Henne succeeds is another question, but this gives him the best chance.) At Daboll’s disposal is a classic trio of wide receivers: a possession target in Brandon Marshall, a surprisingly swift route runner in Brian Hartline and a supremely quick space-eater in slot ace Davon Bess. It’s critical that Marshall stay focused and commit to playing within the confines of the offense. It frustrates him that he can’t break off routes and freelance here as he did in Denver with Jay Cutler, but that’s the reality. Henne isn’t Cutler; again, he’s a guy who needs as clear a picture of the field as possible. Having receivers run expected routes is a big part of creating that clarity.

The addition of Reggie Bush is huge for creating mismatches out of spread formations. The Dolphins would be wise to forgo the nonsense of making Bush a more traditional running back. Even casual N.F.L. fans know by now that Bush is not a 20 carries-between-the-tackles-type runner. And the Dolphins have not had great success with this type of running style the last two years anyway. In Bush they have a one-of-a-kind mismatch creator who can make defenses vacillate between using base and nickel personnel. He can also freeze any second level defender who’s told not to let N0. 22 (Bush’s new number, apparently) get in the flats. These are attributes the Dolphins must use to their advantage

Defense
No one talks about it, but Dolphins defensive coordinator Mike Nolan, a 3-4 connoisseur, has three outstanding horses in his front seven. Cameron Wake is as good an outside linebacker as the N.F.L. has to offer. He can rush the passer with the power of a bull or the fleetness of deer (whatever’s needed). He’s athletic enough to burst into throwing lanes and, more notably, he can set the edge against the run.

Inside linebacker Karlos Dansby more than lived up to his five-year, $43 million ($22 guaranteed) contract last season. Though not a particularly physical player, Dansby is one of the premier closing tacklers in the game. He moves with an Olympic skater’s grace and has the instincts to sniff out both the run and pass.

It helps that he plays behind Paul Soliai, the third (and most unheralded) star of Miami’s front seven. A fourth-round pick out of Utah in ’07, Soliai battled weight and consistency issues early in his career before blossoming into a plugger in ’10. A rare ability to laterally bulldoze his way through traffic helped earn him a franchise tag (face value $12.4 million) this past off-season.

Full Article...

http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/14/2011-miami-dolphins-season-preview/

 

[Buff]

A positive article from the press.

now watch the usual suspects rip it to pieces.

 

[ROADRUNNER]

In New York of all places...............

 

[armyphin]

My homer pre-season excitement jumped up a notch. Must be the early morning caffeinated kool-aid I'm drinking. Or maybe it's because I was typing naughty words into google images?

The big question, the offense. We're not going to know what we have until week one. Captain obvious says Play to the QB's strengths.

Thanks for the article link.

 

[LANGER72]

I was expecting the usual NY bias. I almost didn't bother reading. I am glad I did...a very accurate and honest assessment. It gives me a little bit of hope that we can move the ball. Someone needs to put this NYT article on Sparanos desk.

 

[ANUFan]

Very very accurate about Henne being much better when the field is spread.

 

[earthwake]

Good article, I am certainly sick of the 7-9 seasons, want to feel positive about this team again.

 

[DisturbedShifty]

I too agree with the article. I mean they always say this league is pass happy. So why not actually fall into same niche? I understand having a running game. But the fact they brought in Reggie Bush, and left him out for last weeks pre-season game (so they don't give away too much), means the probably want to pass more. If, as stated, they play top the quarterback's strengths, then the Phins might have a serious shot at contention this year. But we shall see what happens.

 

[normaldude]

One thing that stands out about Chad Henne is how much better he performs when the Dolphins spread the field. This was evident on film and paper last season (Henne’s passer rating when two wide receivers were on the field was 67; with three receivers it was 79; with four or more receivers it was 83). Henne does not see the field particularly well on slow-developing plays (play-action, max-protect, seven-stop drops, etc.). In these situations, his confidence rattles, leading to the erratic accuracy and turnovers (which, for Henne, tend to pour when they rain).

With 4 WR sets, if it's Marshall, Clyde Gates, Bess, Reggie Bush, then we'll have 2 great possession receivers, and 2 blazing fast guys with 4.3 speed.

Maybe that's the way we need to go.

 

[yardlaw]

Wow, I'm impressed. A fair balanced article on the Fins from a NY media outlet nonetheless. Interesting stuff on Henne's QB rating in spread formation, hopefully we see a lot more of those this season, good way to keep our best offensive players on the field especially Bush.

 

[mrhankey81701]

I gotta be honest with you the New York Times has the absolute worst sport section in any paper

 

[67Stang]

The thing that seriously pissed me off last year was more than a few times Henne would start to get in a groove, it would be like bam, bvam ,bam.....then Henning would bring in the Wildcat for 2 plays or run a stupid reverse, or run 2-3 times in a row. It was like he sensed hey, we are building a rhythm.....There will be none of that here. Let me see what I do to cause a train wreck.

 

[hoops]

jeez...listening to this guy break down the roster you would think we had the most talent in football...incognito "stellar" get the heck out of here...evidently hartline runs marvin harrison quality routes...lmao

and then at the end after puffing our chests he picks us 3rd in the division...at least he's gettin that right

 

[mega-fin-love]

I can't disagree with one thing in that article. Pretty shocking actually. Had it said at the very end " Henne Fu@ki^g blows " it would have been perfect haha

 

[Vaark]

jeez...listening to this guy break down the roster you would think we had the most talent in football...incognito "stellar" get the heck out of here...evidently hartline runs marvin harrison quality routes...lmao

and then at the end after puffing our chests he picks us 3rd in the division...at least he's gettin that right

but aside from being a bit calmer and better-informed, really how is this less measured and realistic than all the Henny Penny Sky-Is-Falling off the deep end rants that plague this site?