Miami Dolphins
by Chris Kouffman
Sunday showed a perfect example of what an up and down year it has truly been for the Dolphins. After blowing a brain fart in Cleveland, the Dolphins made a cross-country trip against a Raider team that had won 3 of its last 5 games, and stomped them in convincing fashion.
Coming off a loss at Tampa Bay, with a home record of 2-0 and an away record of 0-3, an astute person could easily predict a reversal of fortune; Miami was predictably due to lose perhaps 2 or 3 of their next 3 home games (against Kansas City, Atlanta, and New England), and to win perhaps 2 or 3 of their away games (at New Orleans, at Cleveland, and at Oakland). I did made such a prediction, and now find myself perplexed at the fulfillment of it. If I had to pick an away loss, it would have been at Oakland, not at Cleveland, of all places. But, this is still the same team that could beat the playoff-bound Broncos and Panthers, but could not beat the cellar-dwelling Jets and Bills. As such, surprises should not really be a surprise anymore.
Looking at the past five games of the Dolphins, they really only lost one game in convincing fashion. The Dolphins had a legitimate chance of bringing both the Falcons and the Patriots games into overtime, before bad play calling and skill position play squandered opportunities inside the opponents’ 10 yard line. The Dolphins beat the Saints and Raiders in convincing fashion. Could the Browns game have truly been anomalous? Perhaps it could be, if you take into account the Ray Lucas-like performance of backup QB Sage Rosenfels, and the fact that Gus Frerotte had not been able to practice the entire week before coming into the game down 19-0 late in the 3rd quarter.
However, I am not quite drinking that kool-aid yet. The entire team (with exception to the offensive line and running backs) played poorly against Cleveland, so there had to be more going on than just bad quarterback play. Nonetheless, one truly poor outing out of five outings is not terrible for a team that was 4-12 a year ago. The Dolphins, somehow, find themselves tied with the Bills only 2 games back from the division lead, with 5 games left to play. Zach Thomas is so convinced that the playoffs are possible, that he is rushing back to play after suffering a torn labrum against the Browns. If the Dolphins are going to win out in order to get a legitimate shot at the division lead, it is that kind of attitude that must pervade through the locker room.
The Dolphins offense almost appeared to be coordinated by a different person this Sunday. Scott Linehan, supposedly at his own discretion, made a decision to call the game from the sideline rather than from the booth. The truth of the matter is that this was not entirely at Scott’s own discretion at all. When Nick Saban was a defensive coordinator under Bill Belichick, Bill forced Saban to call the game from the sidelines rather than from the booth, even though you cannot see things as clearly from the sidelines. It has come to be something that Nick believes in, because you have more direct ability to “influence†the players with direct communication rather than a headset. There have been rumors of tensions between Nick Saban and Scott Linehan lately over Scott’s dubious play calling during crucial situations. More than likely, Nick Saban “suggested†a move to the sidelines for the sake of “better communication,†and Scott Linehan accepted the invitation, at his own “discretion,†of course.
The move served four main purposes. First, it allowed for drastically improved communications between players and the coordinator. This can have a very real effect. Had Marty Booker been allowed direct access to Scott Linehan after attempting to catch a fade pass in single coverage on a strip of end zone that was emblazoned with the bright sunlight, he may have been able to effectively convince Scott NOT to try the exact play a second time in a row, with the same frustrating results.
Second, the move allows Scott Linehan to feel the flow of the game more, identify momentum swings, see more clearly which players on defense (and offense) are flagging or tired, and to see which players on offense (and defense) appear to be amped up and revving their engines. One could argue that had Linehan felt the incredible energy exuded from the running backs and offensive linemen against the Atlanta Falcons as the Dolphins gained first downs to pound on the door to the end zone, Linehan would not have called three straight pass plays to end the drive in a trademark Frerotte red zone interception.
The third advantage of the move is commonly viewed as a disadvantage. A coordinator up in the booth can see the entire field, see all the angles, and diagnose problems and areas of opportunity. However, these are advantages that tend to tempt coordinators into deviating from the game plan, or getting too smart for their own good. This has been happening for Scott Linehan all season long. He spends far too much time thinking that he is going to outsmart you, while not having the personnel to execute his ideas. From the sidelines, Linehan is forced to call the game based on the way things feel instead of the way they look. He is forced to cling to the game plan like a warm blanket, rather than disregarding it 2 quarters into the match.
The fourth and most significant advantage of the move is how it increases Nick Saban’s informal input into how the game is called. No longer is Nick faced with formally forcing his will onto Scott via the headset or phone, or by overruling play calls. Such things would give Nick the unwanted reputation of being authoritative and a micromanager, titles that he struggles to fight off as things stand already without rumors of him stepping all over his offensive coordinator. Doing so would stain his reputation even further when you consider Linehan’s good standing within league circles, and the common view that Nick Saban knows defense but does not know offense entirely well. With Scott on the sidelines, he knows that he is under Nick Saban’s thumb and may take fewer chances. Nick can also have informal discussions with Scott between series, where plenty of suggestions can be discussed free of awkwardly-given orders and overrules.
The game plan itself was not consistent with how things had been run prior to the Oakland game. The mantra for the week was “F.T.S.†which stood for Feed the Studs. They wanted to get the ball into the hands of Chris Chambers, get the ball into the hands of Randy McMichael, Ronnie Brown, and Ricky Williams. All Frerotte had to do was get it into their hands. The game involved about the most balance we have seen from Miami all season, with 30 runs compared to 34 pass attempts (including sacks). Chambers enjoyed his highest yardage production of the season, despite having a few of his trademark dropped easy passes.
The feeling among Dolphin fans is that with Linehan moved to the sidelines, we may have seen a silver lining to his relationship with the Dolphins. Linehan will have no problems as a coordinator so long as he has the personnel to run the offense the way he wants it to run. Specifically, he wants a capable quarterback with a big arm and plenty of mobility. The Dolphins do not have that. They have Gus Frerotte (a decidedly incapable QB with virtually no mobility) and the R&R weapons…which is an alien setup for a guy like Scott Linehan. He continues to call the games the way he wants to call them in a very inflexible manner, and needs to be reined in by a good head coach until such time as the personnel is in place to run things the way Scott wants to run them.
Knee-jerk reactions and up and down seasons aside, prior to the year if you had to pick a team that was likely to start out crappy and finish strong, the Dolphins would have had to be considered in that group. The profile fits among teams with new and capable head coaches. At some point in the season, 2/3rds or 3/4ths of the way in, the team could finally turn the corner and “buy in†enough to start a winning streak that carries momentum into the next year. This is the best the Dolphins have to hope for. They have a looming schedule that probably does not allow for winning their final 5 games, so they have to accept that winning now does more than just cost them position in the Matt Leinart sweepstakes. They have to accept that winning now carries momentum into next season, even if they have no hope of going to the playoffs. It is rare for teams to go from horrible to dominant in one off season, and even rarer for such teams to do so after finishing the first year poorly. The Dolphins showed this week that they have a thirst to be dominant, despite the national media making Nick Saban out to be a villain for saying that the standings, the score, and the results do not matter. One of the best early tests of a good team is to be consistent. Winning two in a row would be yet another step on the path toward dominance.
For the upcoming Bills game, look for Gus Frerotte to have a bit of a letdown performance after having put together two good starts in a row against the Patriots and Raiders. With Marty Booker ailing and possibly in the doghouse due to dropped passes, look for Randy McMichael to be a bigger part of the game plan like he was against the Raiders. Also look for a good legitimate dose of the ground game (unlike the first match), as Ronnie showed in the first match that he is capable of dominating the Bills. The Dolphins will also look to harass J.P. Losman with blitzes until he proves he can make throws on the run. If the defensive line plays with as much dominance as they did against the Raiders, the Bills (and many other teams) do not stand a chance. However, I would look for a little bit of a letdown from the line after the performance last week. Overall, the Dolphins should win a close match with the Bills.
