Red Zone

[Charlie Rivers]

Are our issues in the red zone mostly mental or simply just bad play calling: toughness or the lack of a power running back(s)...? (other?)

I do not think it's play calling or the running game. You?
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:snoopy:

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[greasyObnoxious]

we didn't have any red zone targets. big body, catch radius, jump ball guys. now we do

 

[Hc90]

The basic answer is the following .

#1 no power back

#2 ( main reason why )

The Dolphins had the smallest ( height ) receiving corps in the whole nfl last year . Even Clay was short for a tight end.
In the red zone it's hard to get behind a defense or find holes since it's a shorter field and the defense has an extra defender (sidelines AND endzone ) . A lot of success in the red zone comes by beating the defense over the top with height which we lacked . We also had a number one receiver who was VERY soft on top of being short .

 

[Fins1971]

The red zone running game was above average with 11 TD's so I'd have to agree with OP on that point.
Lack of Tall receivers was probably the biggest issue and then just some plain drops by our receiving crew.

 

[russianbear]

power running back is a phrase I keep hearing that I just don't see any significance in. we were above league average in short distance run conversions, above league average in red zone running as mentioned above....our scheme builds space that lamar miller works well with....he doesn't need to bulldoze to get the yards in most cases.

i think our issues in redzone are from not having any red-zone mismatches.....whether it's a power back (lynch) or a te (gronk), you got to have someone who can line up and just beat the opposing defender. Landry was good for us last year in those situations, he's great at fighting for the ball and getting to the inside spot, but without someone who can challenge outside you saw a lot of looks w/ bodies stuffed right in the middle. wallace didn't have the route running ability to beat anyone in a 5-10 yard box consistenly, Hartline couldn't do jack without soft coverage between the 20s or a busted coverage all together, and clay wasn't exactly a world beater with his route running either. if you don't have physical size, or great route running, you aren't gonna consistently beat people in a 10 yard box. i would've liked to see them wheel tannehill out a few more times like they do with russell wilson in seattle...but hey..... luckily now we have parker and cameron who can both serve as good red zone bodies. i think we'll be a lot more succesful in the redzone this year.

 

[Brazzi]

1. Team did not have enough redzone practice time w the new system last yr.

2. The oline was a disaster for a good part of the season and in short field situations it showed with penalties and poor blocking.

 

[Fin Thirteen]

No mismatches
No contested catch ability / endzone fade option.
Poor playcalling.

 

[zach attach]

The recent teams we have fielded seem to have an issue with just being ok with field goals. The mentality must stop. Philbin needs to learn to trust his players and make touchdowns, not settle on fgs. If we have to get a few 4 and outs along the way, so be it, but the attitude must change.

 

[darefugee]

The recent teams we have fielded seem to have an issue with just being ok with field goals. The mentality must stop. Philbin needs to learn to trust his players and make touchdowns, not settle on fgs. If we have to get a few 4 and outs along the way, so be it, but the attitude must change.

Totally agree. Further, our guys need to extend that attitude to the entire game, not necessarily just scoring opportunities. Our whole organization from the top down needs to make sure the other guys know that no matter what the final score ends up, that we're going to beat the living hell out of them physically and mentally. They must fear meeting us, NOT look forward to a weekend in Miami. When we and they know we're going to beat their brains in, we'll make a significant leap.

Unfortunately, I have doubts that the current coach(es) are not well suited for this. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[Fin Thirteen]

Truth is, this team loses its cojones in the redzone and in game-deciding situations. We have to continue to apply the assets that get us into the redzone when we reach there, not go into our shells. The number of times we got to the 12-15 range and then ran it on first and second downs to bring us to the 4 drove me nuts. All we did is burn downs and compress the redzone further. Hopefully, with more mismatches this season, we can feel more secure taking shots. But, even if we hadn't upgraded the receivers/TEs, we still need to grow some testicular fortitude.

Helping the team is that Tannehill showed some more touch on his throws last season, which I hope continues so we can capitalise better.

 

[zach attach]

Totally agree. Further, our guys need to extend that attitude to the entire game, not necessarily just scoring opportunities. Our whole organization from the top down needs to make sure the other guys know that no matter what the final score ends up, that we're going to beat the living hell out of them physically and mentally. They must fear meeting us, NOT look forward to a weekend in Miami. When we and they know we're going to beat their brains in, we'll make a significant leap.

Unfortunately, I have doubts that the current coach(es) are not well suited for this. I hope I'm wrong.

Yes, this. Look at the Pats. Teams do not want to play them with Belichick and Brady making plans to scrap their defenses. Also, Gillette stadium warrants concern going in.

I hope we have some sweltering heat for the September games in Miami. If we run a balanced offense leaning toward a high octane passing game, then hopefully teams will fear playing us. Right now, it doesnt seem so.

 

[Sarnics13]

#1- Receivers blew in the redzone

#2- OL blew everywhere on the field

It's evident that our redzone production should improve greatly this year.