Random Thoughts with Indy on Deck | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Random Thoughts with Indy on Deck

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I know with an extra game this season, teams have a little more of a chance to turn it around. But this feels like a must win for Miami already.

Dropping to 1-3 with the super bowl champion Buccaneers on deck just doesn't make you think playoffs. Of course, the Dolphins haven't looked like a playoff team in the early going either.

On the other hand, 2-2 and a rebound win could start to swing the pendulum. Have to think the season hinges on whether or not the offensive line develops.

Waddle
First the good news. Waddle is among the NFL leaders with 22 receptions after three games. The bad? He only has 167 yards. I love that Miami is targeting Waddle, but how about some slants, or patterns that have him moving near full speed instead of coming back for the ball, slowing etc. Also, he can catch deep. Like everything else offense, it seems like a work in progress.

Adding to Challenges
I think the potential PI against Fuller in overtime should be a call that coaches can challenge.

Where's the D
Lots of talk about the struggles on offense, but the defense hasn't been great either. Miami has made some big plays on defense. The X. Howard, strip and fumble recovery in the opener as an example. But we aren't seeing a unit as aggressive as last year either. Thoughts?
 
Hopefully we can see a consistent lineup develop on the OL so Tua doesn't get killed when he comes back, and we can see some improvement by our coaching staff. We have a very favorable schedule coming up with winnable games against the Colts, Jags, Falcons, Texans, Panthers, Jets X2, and Giants. If we take care of business, that puts us at 9 wins with a lot of positive momentum. If we can pull an upset or 2 in addition, we still have a great shot at making the playoffs.
 
Looking at our schedule, after Tampa it becomes a lot more of a cake walk minus the Bills and Ravens. There really isn't a remaining game we shouldn't be favored in except MAYBE the Titans and we can beat them IMO.

I think its really important to find a way to win the next two, we may have an easier schedule after that but you can't just rely on running the table against bad teams.

We need to go at least 2-2 the rest of the way against Tampa, Buffalo, Baltimore and Tenessee to have a chance at the playoffs. If we can go 3-1 that would set us up nicely.

Looking at it that way, going 2-2 but having a 1-2 record now, that is 3-4, with the remaining 10 games all games that we can or should win.

I think 11 wins is mandatory to make the playoffs this year and we need a margin of error in those "should win" games. There is a good chance we drop at least one or two.

I don't see us beating Baltimore or Buffalo which in my eyes makes the Tampa game HUGE along with the Colts if we want to right the ship.
 
A few years back we were 1-4. Gase sucks (turns out he really did, heh-heh), Tannehill sucks, hell, everybody sucks. Except Wake…

Then we finished out 10-6 and in the playoffs. I imagine even the most seasoned player at that time thought Holy ****!!

If Gase can turn those guys around, then Flo will do likewise but with better results.

If we dumped to the Jets and Giants, I would be much more concerned. We **** the bed with Buffalo, but played FAR better than expected against Oakland (yes, OAKLAND!!). With a backup QB, **** OC play calling, and a wasted ref.

For all of you screaming melt the team, did you REALLY think we’d actually compete as we did against Oakland? With a backup QB, non existent line, overworked D?

We did OK. And we’ll get better. The Colts don’t scare me…

And if Flo ups the ante on the pass rush, neither does Tampa. If we know one thing about Brady (and who would know better than Dolphins guys?) if we hit him, he’ll rattle.
 
I am still sore from the Bills game more than LV. At least against LV we didn't allow any free runners to the QB.

I think the colts game is the season in terms of being relevant in December. If we can beat the colts, lose to the Buccaneers our seasons goes from being in the dumps to hopefully building an identity.

By week six (Jacksonville trip):
  1. Tua returns 🙏
  2. The offensive line settles down.
  3. Tua hits our receivers in stride: Fuller, Parker and Waddle leading to more yards/scores.
  4. Scrap the 2-OC experiment and get a leader.
  5. Raekwon Davis returns???
We are unfortunately at a crossroads again. New regime and/or new QB in the draft next year if this season goes South. The week six game will set the stage for our direction.
 
Random thoughts....

Tua is being held out on purpose. He could play but why risk him getting injured? He won't play well until the line gets set.

Jalean Phillips looks good blitzing, but his speed serves better in coverage. Baker and Robert's couldn't keep up with Waller.

I'd still rather see Eichenberg and Jackson swap spots. Or Hunt at RT.

Gaskin looks more effective than Brown to me. Better vision. "Gas can" needs to eat...
 
claytonduper said:
I am still sore from the Bills game more than LV. At least against LV we didn't allow any free runners to the QB.

I think the colts game is the season in terms of being relevant in December. If we can beat the colts, lose to the Buccaneers our seasons goes from being in the dumps to hopefully building an identity.

By week six (Jacksonville trip):
  1. Tua returns 🙏
  2. The offensive line settles down.
  3. Tua hits our receivers in stride: Fuller, Parker and Waddle leading to more yards/scores.
  4. Scrap the 2-OC experiment and get a leader.
  5. Raekwon Davis returns???
We are unfortunately at a crossroads again. New regime and/or new QB in the draft next year if this season goes South. The week six game will set the stage for our direction.
Click to expand...
Will be interesting to see if Flores makes changes again on the offensive coaching staff.

Hopefully things will turn around. There were some positives from the Raiders game. Miami stuck with the run and had some success. I think that is the key on offense.
 
It is a must win for Indy as well. They have the better QB, RB, OLine, coach in this game. Both are mediocre teams that might be 8/9 win teams. Would not be surprised if Indy wins this game. Being at home means nothing for Miami. The other teams have thousands of fans there every game.
 
What happened to the "Amoeba" Defense that we were playing early last year when almost everyone was up on the line and moving around everywhere? That's when we were causing so much havoc and creating so many turnovers. Seems like they got away from that later on last season.
 
Brissett looked like he had accuracy issues to me, the receivers all seemed to be going to the ground to make a catch, they are not catching it in stride and getting YAC.

So I agree with you about wanting to see full speed catches from Waddle, I don't think it will happen much until Tua is back.
 
SmokyFin said:
What happened to the "Amoeba" Defense that we were playing early last year when almost everyone was up on the line and moving around everywhere? That's when we were causing so much havoc and creating so many turnovers. Seems like they got away from that later on last season.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I forgot what it was called, but definitely created confusion. Seems like it's been more vanilla, with some good timed blitzes sprinkled in.

It's not a bad defense. Even yesterday there was the pick 6 from Roberts and a few crucial stops. But hasn't looked at all dominant yet. Maybe Davis will return quickly.
 
sn9ke.eyes said:
Brissett looked like he had accuracy issues to me, the receivers all seemed to be going to the ground to make a catch, they are not catching it in stride and getting YAC.

So I agree with you about wanting to see full speed catches from Waddle, I don't think it will happen much until Tua is back.
Click to expand...
Good observation. Waddle had to stop a few times, or adjust to make the catch.

If I'm Flores, I'm not rushing Tua back, though.
 
Ninja Foot said:
Random thoughts....

Tua is being held out on purpose. He could play but why risk him getting injured? He won't play well until the line gets set.

Jalean Phillips looks good blitzing, but his speed serves better in coverage. Baker and Robert's couldn't keep up with Waller.

I'd still rather see Eichenberg and Jackson swap spots. Or Hunt at RT.

Gaskin looks more effective than Brown to me. Better vision. "Gas can" needs to eat...
Click to expand...
What? No idea what you're talking about with Phillips. Phillips isn't blitzing, he was playing more like a true DE where he belongs. And he's fast, but at 6'5" he's not covering TE or WR fast.
 
I’d call it a must win for sure. And a winnable game at that. Wentz can be rattled but their defense is strong. We need to bring pressure on d and draw up some better plays for our dynamic skill set players in offense.
 
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