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For such a long time we have been saying the problem was the OL. The team has been laughably trying to fix it, but never succeeding. Then Laremy Tunsil fell into our laps. Now we have had two straight games of Albert, Tunsil, Pouncey, and James healthy. And Mike Pouncey has been playing some of his best football in a while. Even with an atrocious amount of penalties, we won ... no, we dominated for the 2nd week in a row. Two consecutive 200 yard rush games. Two consecutive good games from Tannehill (despite even more sure-TD's dropped). We scored 30 and 28 points in spite of all the penalties and drops. Why?
Because when the OL shows up to play, we're a good football team. No more Dallas Thomas. No more Billy Turner. No more Jamil Douglas. Heck, we played guys like Sam Young and even they looked OK. Even with Bushrod having probably the worst day in his career penalty-wise, we dominated. No more softies. No more being walked into the backfield. No more non-existant pockets.
Sure, there were mitigating factors as well. Tannehill rolled out just like so many of us have been clamoring for him to do. And it worked beautifully. Jay Ajayi continued to break through arm tackles and finish runs forward, like we knew he would. Gase took shots long, with multiple long attempts to Stills and Parker, like 4 that I counted while watching live. One actually connected for a TD, and that was because Stills was covered deep so Tannehill threw the comeback. Yes, it helped that the previously 4-2 Bills were without their All-Pro DL Dareus.
But, that same Bills team was demolishing people. That same Bills team accomplished what no other opponent could accomplish, beating New England.
We went toe to toe with Rex Ryan's defense and beat them physically. We played smash-mouth football and dominated them. We took shots deep when they crowded the line of scrimmage, and made them pay for packing the box against the J-Train. In short, the Miami Dolphins executed Adam Gase's offense, and it looked very good. This is all without a signature TE that Gase's offense features.
When John Madden said it, everyone just agreed it was true; "the game is won in the trenches." When Mike Ditka built his Bears offense through an OL to compliment Walter Payton, everyone thought it was just common sense. When Bill Parcells loaded up on guys like Jumbo Elliott it was just smart team-building. When he drafted Jake Long, who was excellent before he got injured, it all seemed pretty logical. So, when Adam Gase's offense morphs from the ugly duckling to the fighting Aflac duck ... don't be surprised that it is a product of good OL play.
What do the Ajayi doubters think now? Any re-consideration from the people who were ready to make a judgement on Gase after the Tennessee game?
My opinion ... Yeah, it is the OL.
Because when the OL shows up to play, we're a good football team. No more Dallas Thomas. No more Billy Turner. No more Jamil Douglas. Heck, we played guys like Sam Young and even they looked OK. Even with Bushrod having probably the worst day in his career penalty-wise, we dominated. No more softies. No more being walked into the backfield. No more non-existant pockets.
Sure, there were mitigating factors as well. Tannehill rolled out just like so many of us have been clamoring for him to do. And it worked beautifully. Jay Ajayi continued to break through arm tackles and finish runs forward, like we knew he would. Gase took shots long, with multiple long attempts to Stills and Parker, like 4 that I counted while watching live. One actually connected for a TD, and that was because Stills was covered deep so Tannehill threw the comeback. Yes, it helped that the previously 4-2 Bills were without their All-Pro DL Dareus.
But, that same Bills team was demolishing people. That same Bills team accomplished what no other opponent could accomplish, beating New England.
We went toe to toe with Rex Ryan's defense and beat them physically. We played smash-mouth football and dominated them. We took shots deep when they crowded the line of scrimmage, and made them pay for packing the box against the J-Train. In short, the Miami Dolphins executed Adam Gase's offense, and it looked very good. This is all without a signature TE that Gase's offense features.
When John Madden said it, everyone just agreed it was true; "the game is won in the trenches." When Mike Ditka built his Bears offense through an OL to compliment Walter Payton, everyone thought it was just common sense. When Bill Parcells loaded up on guys like Jumbo Elliott it was just smart team-building. When he drafted Jake Long, who was excellent before he got injured, it all seemed pretty logical. So, when Adam Gase's offense morphs from the ugly duckling to the fighting Aflac duck ... don't be surprised that it is a product of good OL play.
What do the Ajayi doubters think now? Any re-consideration from the people who were ready to make a judgement on Gase after the Tennessee game?
My opinion ... Yeah, it is the OL.
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