Seven-step drop: Win in perspective

[DKphin]

• The sense I got in the Dolphins locker room is they put this win in the proper perspective. Miami was not overly happy they blew out the Raiders and ended its two-game losing streak. The players, from what I saw, left the game feeling this is what they were supposed to do. The Dolphins finally didn’t play down to their competition, which is a trend they’ve struggled with the past few seasons. Miami knew Oakland was an awful team (simply watch the tape), and the Dolphins let their talent take over in this game.
• By the way, Miami’s next opponent looks dangerous. The Green Bay Packers (2-2) dismantled a pretty good Chicago Bears team, 38-17, on the road. The Dolphins will get two weeks to prepare for Green Bay and quarterback Aaron Rodgers. That will be a much stronger gauge of where the Dolphins currently stand.
• Miami finally got more explosive plays from its offense. The Dolphins got a season-high four plays of 20 yards or more. That was an area Miami first-year offensive coordinator Bill Lazor wanted to improve. Lazor had more aggressive play calling and the Dolphins were able to execute. It helped that third-year quarterback Ryan Tannehill was on his A-game. Tannehill completed a career-best 14 straight passes at one point in the first half.
• Dolphins starting safety Reshad Jones comes off suspension Monday. His role is still to be determined, but my guess is Jones will return to the starting lineup. Miami’s secondary has been inconsistent this year, although the group had its best performance Sunday against Oakland. Jones brings experience and a knack for making plays to the group. The addition probably means safety Jimmy Wilson returns to the nickel cornerback role he was successful in in the past.
• Miami running back Lamar Miller continues to run well. He's breaking more tackles and that's leading to the bigger "chunk" plays the coaching staff wants from Miller. He rushed for 64 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries against Oakland. Outside of a fumble at the 1-yard line, it was another solid performance.
• I'm not sure Jarvis Landry's feast-or-famine approach to punt returns is good for Miami. Landry has made a few good punt returns. Yet, he’s also fumbled twice in four games, including Sunday against the Raiders. Turnovers on special teams are big momentum shifters. They need someone who is cautious with the football. The Dolphins should consider putting Marcus Thigpen back at that position after being re-signed last week.
• Finally, Dolphins Pro Bowl cornerback Brent Grimes had his best game of the season. He recorded five tackles, an interception and two passes defensed. The Dolphins appeared to play more man and press coverage in this game, and Grimes was able to stick to receivers. He nearly took his interception to the house but was stopped just short of the end zone.

http://espn.go.com/blog/miami-dolphins/post/_/id/10358/seven-step-drop-win-in-perspecitve

 

[Geforce]

• Miami finally got more explosive plays from its offense. The Dolphins got a season-high four plays of 20 yards or more. That was an area Miami first-year offensive coordinator Bill Lazor wanted to improve. Lazor had more aggressive play calling and the Dolphins were able to execute. It helped that third-year quarterback Ryan Tannehill was on his A-game. Tannehill completed a career-best 14 straight passes at one point in the first half.

http://espn.go.com/blog/miami-dolphins/post/_/id/10358/seven-step-drop-win-in-perspecitve

This is what I have been waiting for all year...explosive/game changing plays by both the offense and defense.

Also

3. Game Changing Plays

By my count, the Dolphins had at least 13 plays of over 15 yards of more. I really think that it’s easier to call a game as a coordinator when you execute the plan on the offensive side of the football, and that amount of big plays is definitely part of the plan. They made it much easier on offensive coordinator Bill Lazor to apply multiple sets and motions to formations to confuse the Raiders defense. It’s easier to have tempo when you’re executing at the level that the Dolphins were executing at.

Two examples of this included when Tannehill hit Hartline down the seam in the 3rd quarter. That play had been called originally for Charles Clay to get open across the middle. Usually Charles flashes quickly and Ryan dumps it off. But with Tannehill executing so well, he was able to and feel confident enough to make a bigger play downfield. It was the willingness the coordinator to call a play with those options, and then Tannehill’s able to take it to the next level and take it to the second read for a bigger gain.

The other example was on Mike Wallace’s touchdown, the Dolphins utilized a three man bunch set out wide, and the Raiders only sent two defenders to cover three people. Tannehill noticed the mismatch, and quickly faked the ball to Lamar MIller and got the football out to the Wallace, where his second effort and good blocking got him into the end zone.

http://www.thefinsiders.com/blog/2014/3-takeaways-from-dolphins-vs-raiders