Mr. Magoo
Ayatollah of rock and rolla
- Joined
- May 1, 2008
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Tampa was humiliated by New England last week. They'll be highly motivated for this game and come out firing.
So what I'll be looking for is what happens after we get down 10 or 14, which is what I personally expect to happen.
As for keys to the game?
1. Stopping the run. The Bucs have a powerful running attack. Blount is a monster and they do a good job up front. The Dolphins made a conscious decision to downgrade their run defense slightly this season by releasing Crowder and going with Burnett. I very much applauded that decision, I think it's appropriate, but the wisdom of it will be tested. The key to making up the difference will be in the strongest group on our team: the defensive line. They've got to play well.
2. Blocking Tampa's front four. The Bucs have invested a lot of money and draft picks on their defensive line. Some might say they've underachieved somewhat, but their talent and pedigree is undeniable. For all the talk of the passing game and the new offense, if our offensive line can't get their **** together, nothing else will matter. Colombo and Carey should be watched closely by all discriminating fans tomorrow. If they're still struggling, it's a pretty big worry. Folded into this are short yardage situations, which of course we struggled with last week.
3. Chad Henne. Of course, Chad Henne. Tampa is fast on defense and plays mostly zone (though they blitz more than they used to in the classic "Tampa 2" days). Some have said that Henne can't read zone coverage. Based on his various strengths and attributes, I think there's some truth to this but have generally felt it's overblown and could be minimized by the instillation of more of a spacing offense. Tampa will be a good test of whether the space Daboll was hired to put into the offense was, you know, actually put there. Decisiveness on the part of Henne himself will also be something to watch (as it of course always is).
4. Mental toughness. As I said above, Tampa will be highly motivated for this game. The Dolphins, on the other hand, are coming off a pretty dominant first half against the Panthers and have shown a tendency in the Sparano era to relax somewhat after good performances. Will this trend continue, or will we come out with the same sense of urgency on the road that we showed against Carolina at home? I have my doubts.
5. Score touchdowns! Even though we dominated the stat sheet against Carolina we struggled putting the ball in the end zone. Some of this was due to Henne missing two deep balls, but the offense once again also stalled once we got close. I'd love to see one touchdown come from a long play and another from the 10 yard line. That would be ideal. Unless I'm forgetting, the Dolphins also did not attempt many fade passes to Brandon Marshall in the red zone last year, which is sort of baffling. I know that none of his three touchdowns were caught this way. I'd like to see this rectified against Tampa.
So what I'll be looking for is what happens after we get down 10 or 14, which is what I personally expect to happen.
As for keys to the game?
1. Stopping the run. The Bucs have a powerful running attack. Blount is a monster and they do a good job up front. The Dolphins made a conscious decision to downgrade their run defense slightly this season by releasing Crowder and going with Burnett. I very much applauded that decision, I think it's appropriate, but the wisdom of it will be tested. The key to making up the difference will be in the strongest group on our team: the defensive line. They've got to play well.
2. Blocking Tampa's front four. The Bucs have invested a lot of money and draft picks on their defensive line. Some might say they've underachieved somewhat, but their talent and pedigree is undeniable. For all the talk of the passing game and the new offense, if our offensive line can't get their **** together, nothing else will matter. Colombo and Carey should be watched closely by all discriminating fans tomorrow. If they're still struggling, it's a pretty big worry. Folded into this are short yardage situations, which of course we struggled with last week.
3. Chad Henne. Of course, Chad Henne. Tampa is fast on defense and plays mostly zone (though they blitz more than they used to in the classic "Tampa 2" days). Some have said that Henne can't read zone coverage. Based on his various strengths and attributes, I think there's some truth to this but have generally felt it's overblown and could be minimized by the instillation of more of a spacing offense. Tampa will be a good test of whether the space Daboll was hired to put into the offense was, you know, actually put there. Decisiveness on the part of Henne himself will also be something to watch (as it of course always is).
4. Mental toughness. As I said above, Tampa will be highly motivated for this game. The Dolphins, on the other hand, are coming off a pretty dominant first half against the Panthers and have shown a tendency in the Sparano era to relax somewhat after good performances. Will this trend continue, or will we come out with the same sense of urgency on the road that we showed against Carolina at home? I have my doubts.
5. Score touchdowns! Even though we dominated the stat sheet against Carolina we struggled putting the ball in the end zone. Some of this was due to Henne missing two deep balls, but the offense once again also stalled once we got close. I'd love to see one touchdown come from a long play and another from the 10 yard line. That would be ideal. Unless I'm forgetting, the Dolphins also did not attempt many fade passes to Brandon Marshall in the red zone last year, which is sort of baffling. I know that none of his three touchdowns were caught this way. I'd like to see this rectified against Tampa.
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