Samphin
Dolphins Homer
Well, better late than never fin fans. Usually this is up by Wednesday but I don't think my PC liked us losing to Buffalo, because shortly after the game was done, it completely crashed on me. :confused: Anyhow, as a result of that and the fact that is was my birthday on Oct. 13, my priorities have been out of whack. I knew I needed to do this column though. If for no other reason than to fish for some Happy Birthdays! :birthday: Ok, so without anymore delays....The Keys to the Game:
Problem: Cadillac Williams
Carnell Williams and Ronnie Brown will forever be linked in their NFL careers. Both came out the same year, from the same school and were both top five picks. Without question people will compare and contrast the two for years. Extremely early returns showed the Carnell seemed to adapt to the pros faster, for a number of reasons ( in camp on time, given the ball more, faced worse defense, etc. ). However, he has been slowed by injuries and now questions about his durability have showed up ( which were usually only there for Ronnie for some strange reason ). For this game, Carnell is listed as questionable, but I would be willing to bet he suits up. Gruden even personally raised him to probable before backing off those statements.
Anyway, Carnell is a very good back who can outrun defenders and, on occasion run over them. He is very effective when he gets in the open field and has taken a few long runs to the house. He also seems to get better as the game goes on. His time could me limited and split with Pittman, but I expect a healthy dose of the Cadillac come Sunday.
Solution: Keep him inside and hit him HARD
Sounds so simple right? It is the same strategy I begged for Miami to use against Willis McGahee. Willis didn't have a great game against the D, but he was effective enough outside to get quality yards. A few times he got one on one with Sam Madison which led to Madison trying to tackle him with his fingers ( :yell: ). Miami is second in the league against the run this year which will help. Taylor and Carter need to contain the outside and let Seau ( if he plays ) Thomas and Traylor lay the lumber on Carnell. I don't want to see arm tackles or them just kind of guiding him to the ground either. We need to play physical and hit him hard, so that each time he gets the ball, he is a little weaker and may fumble, or sit out to catch his breath or what have you. The less we see of Caddy the better because that means Griese will have to make that many more plays. We all know that it is better to take chances against Griese than Caddy right? Right.
Problem: Michael Clayton
Michael Clayton is another talented skill position player that can change a game in an instant. He led all rookie receivers is just about everything last year and should see great things in the future. He is a big target who can run. Traditionally, well, at least this season, Miami has had problems defending elite wideouts ( Steve Smith, Eric Moulds ). Clayton provides yet another mismatch for our defense, and if left unchecked, could prove to be the gamebreaker.
Solution: Play him tight, play him physical
Anyone else seeing a theme? This needs to be a physical matchup. Probably the most physical to date this year. Saban, I think, knows this and will be prepared. I think you may see Travis Daniels on Clayton quite often. He has seen him and practiced against him in college and saban coached him as well. They know what Clayton can do. Gruden's offenses have a lot of ball control passes in them, a hybrid West Coast offense if you will. These timing routes are critical to the success. If we stay back and let them catch everything underneath, it will kill us. Instead, Daniels/Madison or whoever covers Clayton, needs to play tight and jam him at the line. Throw off the timing and once again, Griese will be forced to MAKE plays, not just follow the designed ones.
Problem: Bucs Defense
Where to start. Well, they aren't as good as they were during the Super Bowl run, but, they are still one of the most talented group of players in the league. In fact, they are the number one ranked defense in the league. They average only 157 yards passing and a whopping 61 yards a game rushing. Folks, that is not a lot of yardage. To top it off, they also do a dang good job of forcing turnovers as well. If that wasn't enough, they stop about 75% of all third down conversions so far this year. This will be the toughest defense we will face this year. Ronde Barber, Dexter Jackson, Simeon Rice, Anthony McFarland, Derrick Brooks and the others do an excellent job.
Solution: Pick up the pace
I would like to see a little something different this game. Without seeing all of their other games, I would like to see Miami try a no huddle offense against them. For all of their playmakers on defense, we have quite a few on offense. Chambers, Booker, Brown, McMichael and of course, the return of the beast, RICKY. Saban has these guys in shape and I would love to see us keep the defense running and not be able to make critical substitutions. It may not work, but hell, nothing else has seemed to work against them thus far either.
Problem: Tampa's run D
As I previously said, Tampa is number one against the run and stops teams to a little over 61 ypg. The front seven are very talented and have been able to snuff out talented runner's like Curtis Martin, Willis McGahee, Ahman Green and Kevin Jones. Ronnie is a rookie and you just know Tampa is licking their chops hoping to prove thet their rookie from Auburn is better.
Solution: RxR Express
Ricky and Ronnie. Ronnie and Ricky. What ever order you want to put them in, doesn't matter to me, as long as both are in and able to pound the rock. Ronnie is bigger and has shown a tremendous ability to hit a pile...and move it another two or three yards. He has put some superstar players ( read: Champ Bailey ) on the sidelines with seperated body parts. Also, don't forget about the exiled son of Miami. You might as well change his number to 666, because the BEAST is back. Ricky Williams will be suited up and raring to go for the first time in a year and a half. Based on his trianing camp and preseason, he looks better than ever and with fresh legs/arms/body/mind, he should be a force again, and fast.
Miami needs to concentrate on moving the ball effectively on first and second down based on Tampa's D on third down. To do this, I think we need to see a lot of formations that have Ronnie and Ricky in the backfield, with Randy, Chris and Marty on the outside. Out of this formation, we need to see motions, playactions and misdirections virtually at all times. Miami needs to keep Tampa guessing and mixing up who gets the ball between the two RB's. On first down give it to Ricky, on second to Ronnie and so on and so forth. The key to this game, believe it or not, will be to attack Tampa's strength with our strength. Try to knock down that wall by running through it.
I expect this to be a low scoring affair with both defense being in the top five as they are. Plus, neither team having a real dominant QB, this should lead to a lot of defensive plays and a lot of 3 and outs. It should be fun for everyone with a lot of interesting little storylines playing out. Can Miami finally win on the road? Will Caddy and Ronnie live up to the hype? How will Ricky look? Will Griese burn his former team? Plus, not to mention the interstate rivalry that is already here.
It should be a great game fin fans. Here's to Miami coming out on top.
Problem: Cadillac Williams
Carnell Williams and Ronnie Brown will forever be linked in their NFL careers. Both came out the same year, from the same school and were both top five picks. Without question people will compare and contrast the two for years. Extremely early returns showed the Carnell seemed to adapt to the pros faster, for a number of reasons ( in camp on time, given the ball more, faced worse defense, etc. ). However, he has been slowed by injuries and now questions about his durability have showed up ( which were usually only there for Ronnie for some strange reason ). For this game, Carnell is listed as questionable, but I would be willing to bet he suits up. Gruden even personally raised him to probable before backing off those statements.
Anyway, Carnell is a very good back who can outrun defenders and, on occasion run over them. He is very effective when he gets in the open field and has taken a few long runs to the house. He also seems to get better as the game goes on. His time could me limited and split with Pittman, but I expect a healthy dose of the Cadillac come Sunday.
Solution: Keep him inside and hit him HARD
Sounds so simple right? It is the same strategy I begged for Miami to use against Willis McGahee. Willis didn't have a great game against the D, but he was effective enough outside to get quality yards. A few times he got one on one with Sam Madison which led to Madison trying to tackle him with his fingers ( :yell: ). Miami is second in the league against the run this year which will help. Taylor and Carter need to contain the outside and let Seau ( if he plays ) Thomas and Traylor lay the lumber on Carnell. I don't want to see arm tackles or them just kind of guiding him to the ground either. We need to play physical and hit him hard, so that each time he gets the ball, he is a little weaker and may fumble, or sit out to catch his breath or what have you. The less we see of Caddy the better because that means Griese will have to make that many more plays. We all know that it is better to take chances against Griese than Caddy right? Right.
Problem: Michael Clayton
Michael Clayton is another talented skill position player that can change a game in an instant. He led all rookie receivers is just about everything last year and should see great things in the future. He is a big target who can run. Traditionally, well, at least this season, Miami has had problems defending elite wideouts ( Steve Smith, Eric Moulds ). Clayton provides yet another mismatch for our defense, and if left unchecked, could prove to be the gamebreaker.
Solution: Play him tight, play him physical
Anyone else seeing a theme? This needs to be a physical matchup. Probably the most physical to date this year. Saban, I think, knows this and will be prepared. I think you may see Travis Daniels on Clayton quite often. He has seen him and practiced against him in college and saban coached him as well. They know what Clayton can do. Gruden's offenses have a lot of ball control passes in them, a hybrid West Coast offense if you will. These timing routes are critical to the success. If we stay back and let them catch everything underneath, it will kill us. Instead, Daniels/Madison or whoever covers Clayton, needs to play tight and jam him at the line. Throw off the timing and once again, Griese will be forced to MAKE plays, not just follow the designed ones.
Problem: Bucs Defense
Where to start. Well, they aren't as good as they were during the Super Bowl run, but, they are still one of the most talented group of players in the league. In fact, they are the number one ranked defense in the league. They average only 157 yards passing and a whopping 61 yards a game rushing. Folks, that is not a lot of yardage. To top it off, they also do a dang good job of forcing turnovers as well. If that wasn't enough, they stop about 75% of all third down conversions so far this year. This will be the toughest defense we will face this year. Ronde Barber, Dexter Jackson, Simeon Rice, Anthony McFarland, Derrick Brooks and the others do an excellent job.
Solution: Pick up the pace
I would like to see a little something different this game. Without seeing all of their other games, I would like to see Miami try a no huddle offense against them. For all of their playmakers on defense, we have quite a few on offense. Chambers, Booker, Brown, McMichael and of course, the return of the beast, RICKY. Saban has these guys in shape and I would love to see us keep the defense running and not be able to make critical substitutions. It may not work, but hell, nothing else has seemed to work against them thus far either.
Problem: Tampa's run D
As I previously said, Tampa is number one against the run and stops teams to a little over 61 ypg. The front seven are very talented and have been able to snuff out talented runner's like Curtis Martin, Willis McGahee, Ahman Green and Kevin Jones. Ronnie is a rookie and you just know Tampa is licking their chops hoping to prove thet their rookie from Auburn is better.
Solution: RxR Express
Ricky and Ronnie. Ronnie and Ricky. What ever order you want to put them in, doesn't matter to me, as long as both are in and able to pound the rock. Ronnie is bigger and has shown a tremendous ability to hit a pile...and move it another two or three yards. He has put some superstar players ( read: Champ Bailey ) on the sidelines with seperated body parts. Also, don't forget about the exiled son of Miami. You might as well change his number to 666, because the BEAST is back. Ricky Williams will be suited up and raring to go for the first time in a year and a half. Based on his trianing camp and preseason, he looks better than ever and with fresh legs/arms/body/mind, he should be a force again, and fast.
Miami needs to concentrate on moving the ball effectively on first and second down based on Tampa's D on third down. To do this, I think we need to see a lot of formations that have Ronnie and Ricky in the backfield, with Randy, Chris and Marty on the outside. Out of this formation, we need to see motions, playactions and misdirections virtually at all times. Miami needs to keep Tampa guessing and mixing up who gets the ball between the two RB's. On first down give it to Ricky, on second to Ronnie and so on and so forth. The key to this game, believe it or not, will be to attack Tampa's strength with our strength. Try to knock down that wall by running through it.
I expect this to be a low scoring affair with both defense being in the top five as they are. Plus, neither team having a real dominant QB, this should lead to a lot of defensive plays and a lot of 3 and outs. It should be fun for everyone with a lot of interesting little storylines playing out. Can Miami finally win on the road? Will Caddy and Ronnie live up to the hype? How will Ricky look? Will Griese burn his former team? Plus, not to mention the interstate rivalry that is already here.
It should be a great game fin fans. Here's to Miami coming out on top.
