Samphin
Dolphins Homer
Well, it is time once again folks. Last week Miami shocked the football world by beating the Broncos in our home and season opener. New York also shocked people, but for mainly, the wrong reasons. They were pummelled by the Kansas City Chiefs and by themselves.
Last week, I mentioned that we needed to force Plummer to throw while on defense and Traylor would need to plug the urn. Miami was succesful on both fronts. Offensively, this column said we would need to pick on Champ Early to see how healthy he was and also, to throw at their rookie corners. We did both, and we all know the results.
This week marks the home opener for the Jets and also the opening of divisional play. Our beloved Miami Dolphins will march into the Meadowlands to take on the hated Jets. There is a lot of history betweens these teams, good and bad for both. The Monday Night Massacre as we call it, is the Midnight Miracle for New York. The Fake Spike game also marks a pivotal point in this series.
However, this is a new year and new years brings new results. So, without further adieu, here are some keys that Miami needs to follow to beat the Jets.
The Problem: Jets defensive line.
The Jets have one of the best defensive lines in football. They were embarrassed last week by the running combination of Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson. This line is not as bad as we saw in week one, not by a long shot. Players like John Abraham and Shaun Ellis both had double digit sack totals in 2004 and John racked one up against KC as well. DT DeWayne Robertson is a young gun who cannot be ignored either. The man is well over 300 pounds and could provide matchup problems in the middle.
The Solution:
Quick Passes. Kansas City succeeded early in snapping the ball and doing 3 step drops. This allows for the o-line to not have to hold their blocks as long and negates the effectiveness of Abraham and Ellis. Gus may go from the shotgun as well but the ball needs to be out quick. Chambers and Booker should be able to get inside position on slants and pick up decent chunks at a time if Gus can get the ball to them again. Plus, New York had a rookie safety and two CB's as well. The more we can matchup our receivers on them, the better.
The Problem:
New York's secondary.
Ty Law is good. He may not be as good as Bailey when he is ealthy, but nonetheless he is good. He had a pick last week and provides an awesome championship presence to the secondary. Justin Miller is a talented rookie who is about as fast as one can be. Had Booker caught that pass against him, I doubt he scores as Miller would have caught him from behind. Both have great closing speed and could very well get themselves right back into position to int, or knock the ball away on a deep pass.
The Solution:
Our Receivers. More specifically, David Boston, Chris Chambers and Marty Booker. New York's secondary is ( with the exception of Law ) very young. In fact, they have two rookie CB's, much like denver and a rookie Safety as well. Another thing we have on them is size. Not one of New York's corners is listed over 5'11". David Boston and Marty Booker are both over 6 feet tall and Chambers is an inch off of that, but can jump like a crazy man. For this game, I think, for matchup purposes, Welker should be behind Boston. Boston provides us a much better matchup when we have three wideouts on the field. Our receivers should be able to get get position on the smaller CB's and be able to outjump them for balls as well. Their safeties are taller but they are very young and that should also be exposed by our veteran route runners.
The Problem:
Jets dominant O-line.
Say what you want, but Kevin Mawae had had Zach Thomas's number seemingly forever. No matter what the situation has been, Kevin seems to find Zach and punish him. This line also has some continuity. Jason Fabini has been there for awhile as well. They also have some talented backups in Scott Gragg and talented versatile players in Pete Kendall. Curtis Martin has was rushing titles following some of these guys and had his career extended beyond the normal flameout point for RB's.
The Solution:
Traylor and Taylor. I hate to sound like a borken record from last week but it is true. Traylor lining up as a nost tackle is a godsend. It forces Mawae to engage him immediately which will free Zach up ( FINALLY ) to roam and shoot the gaps. Thomas is at his best when he has room to use his instincts and he may finally be able to do that. Taylor looked very good against the vaunted line of Denver and this week, will be matched up against Fabini. I expect Taylor and Thomas to have a field day. NOTE: The Jets didn't rush for one first down last week. Hopefully we can extend that out to week 3 three.
The Problem:
Chad Pennington. He fumbled a lot this past week. Don't expect a repeat performance. I would be williing to bet money that Chad, Jay and the entire O is working hard on securing the ball and looking sharp. If the D-line can't generate a pass rush, and Chad is able to remain upright with the ball, we could be in trouble. Coles, Chrebet and Martin are good receivers and personally, I have seen enough of all of them to last a lifetime.
The Solution:
Make him throw deep. Chad has never had the strongest arm, and coming off of shoulder surgery, chances are it isn't any stronger. I would try to play Madison, Howard and Daniels up close to the wideouts. Reason being? For one, it allows for better run support on draws and cut backs. Plus, Chad showed last week that he couldn't seem to hit anyone deep. He threw balls out of bounds, past receivers, basically, everywhere that he shouldn't. I would like to challenge him to beat us with his arm this week. Keep the safeties back for extra help but force Chad to throw past 10 yards and see how he responds. If Fiedler comes in, we are golden. He looked horrible in the limited time he came in in week one. sure he had the TD, but that was after a KC defender dropped a surefire INT, a fumble by Jay, a tipped pass nearly picked off and a lucky bounce into a receivers hands. Force their Qb's to go long and we can be succesfull.
So tose are where I think we should focus our attention on. Notice the running game isn't on there. I think the Jets will be waiting for it this week. We could try to establish it early and test their focus, but I have a feeling the run will come later off of draws and counters. I think if we establish Gus as a legit threat to pass the ball first, Ronine and Sammy will get theirs later.
What do you guys think? Anything else we should be aware of?
Last week, I mentioned that we needed to force Plummer to throw while on defense and Traylor would need to plug the urn. Miami was succesful on both fronts. Offensively, this column said we would need to pick on Champ Early to see how healthy he was and also, to throw at their rookie corners. We did both, and we all know the results.
This week marks the home opener for the Jets and also the opening of divisional play. Our beloved Miami Dolphins will march into the Meadowlands to take on the hated Jets. There is a lot of history betweens these teams, good and bad for both. The Monday Night Massacre as we call it, is the Midnight Miracle for New York. The Fake Spike game also marks a pivotal point in this series.
However, this is a new year and new years brings new results. So, without further adieu, here are some keys that Miami needs to follow to beat the Jets.
The Problem: Jets defensive line.
The Jets have one of the best defensive lines in football. They were embarrassed last week by the running combination of Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson. This line is not as bad as we saw in week one, not by a long shot. Players like John Abraham and Shaun Ellis both had double digit sack totals in 2004 and John racked one up against KC as well. DT DeWayne Robertson is a young gun who cannot be ignored either. The man is well over 300 pounds and could provide matchup problems in the middle.
The Solution:
Quick Passes. Kansas City succeeded early in snapping the ball and doing 3 step drops. This allows for the o-line to not have to hold their blocks as long and negates the effectiveness of Abraham and Ellis. Gus may go from the shotgun as well but the ball needs to be out quick. Chambers and Booker should be able to get inside position on slants and pick up decent chunks at a time if Gus can get the ball to them again. Plus, New York had a rookie safety and two CB's as well. The more we can matchup our receivers on them, the better.
The Problem:
New York's secondary.
Ty Law is good. He may not be as good as Bailey when he is ealthy, but nonetheless he is good. He had a pick last week and provides an awesome championship presence to the secondary. Justin Miller is a talented rookie who is about as fast as one can be. Had Booker caught that pass against him, I doubt he scores as Miller would have caught him from behind. Both have great closing speed and could very well get themselves right back into position to int, or knock the ball away on a deep pass.
The Solution:
Our Receivers. More specifically, David Boston, Chris Chambers and Marty Booker. New York's secondary is ( with the exception of Law ) very young. In fact, they have two rookie CB's, much like denver and a rookie Safety as well. Another thing we have on them is size. Not one of New York's corners is listed over 5'11". David Boston and Marty Booker are both over 6 feet tall and Chambers is an inch off of that, but can jump like a crazy man. For this game, I think, for matchup purposes, Welker should be behind Boston. Boston provides us a much better matchup when we have three wideouts on the field. Our receivers should be able to get get position on the smaller CB's and be able to outjump them for balls as well. Their safeties are taller but they are very young and that should also be exposed by our veteran route runners.
The Problem:
Jets dominant O-line.
Say what you want, but Kevin Mawae had had Zach Thomas's number seemingly forever. No matter what the situation has been, Kevin seems to find Zach and punish him. This line also has some continuity. Jason Fabini has been there for awhile as well. They also have some talented backups in Scott Gragg and talented versatile players in Pete Kendall. Curtis Martin has was rushing titles following some of these guys and had his career extended beyond the normal flameout point for RB's.
The Solution:
Traylor and Taylor. I hate to sound like a borken record from last week but it is true. Traylor lining up as a nost tackle is a godsend. It forces Mawae to engage him immediately which will free Zach up ( FINALLY ) to roam and shoot the gaps. Thomas is at his best when he has room to use his instincts and he may finally be able to do that. Taylor looked very good against the vaunted line of Denver and this week, will be matched up against Fabini. I expect Taylor and Thomas to have a field day. NOTE: The Jets didn't rush for one first down last week. Hopefully we can extend that out to week 3 three.
The Problem:
Chad Pennington. He fumbled a lot this past week. Don't expect a repeat performance. I would be williing to bet money that Chad, Jay and the entire O is working hard on securing the ball and looking sharp. If the D-line can't generate a pass rush, and Chad is able to remain upright with the ball, we could be in trouble. Coles, Chrebet and Martin are good receivers and personally, I have seen enough of all of them to last a lifetime.
The Solution:
Make him throw deep. Chad has never had the strongest arm, and coming off of shoulder surgery, chances are it isn't any stronger. I would try to play Madison, Howard and Daniels up close to the wideouts. Reason being? For one, it allows for better run support on draws and cut backs. Plus, Chad showed last week that he couldn't seem to hit anyone deep. He threw balls out of bounds, past receivers, basically, everywhere that he shouldn't. I would like to challenge him to beat us with his arm this week. Keep the safeties back for extra help but force Chad to throw past 10 yards and see how he responds. If Fiedler comes in, we are golden. He looked horrible in the limited time he came in in week one. sure he had the TD, but that was after a KC defender dropped a surefire INT, a fumble by Jay, a tipped pass nearly picked off and a lucky bounce into a receivers hands. Force their Qb's to go long and we can be succesfull.
So tose are where I think we should focus our attention on. Notice the running game isn't on there. I think the Jets will be waiting for it this week. We could try to establish it early and test their focus, but I have a feeling the run will come later off of draws and counters. I think if we establish Gus as a legit threat to pass the ball first, Ronine and Sammy will get theirs later.
What do you guys think? Anything else we should be aware of?
