Zim’s Grades For The Game: Week Nine Edition. | Page 2 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Zim’s Grades For The Game: Week Nine Edition.

Miami151 said:
Nice write-up, Zim. Is the coaching grade the most difficult to rate with the staff’s inconsistency and inexperience? IMO, they earned the C-.
I believe McDaniel and his process will continue to improve as he works through more games. We’ll see if the holdover staffs (D, ST) can meet the standard he is establishing. As a fan, I’m hopeful they can!
Click to expand...
Actually…. It kinda is. The coaches are the only guys that you can’t see how they performed. I basically grade on how we looked overall and if there were any glaring coaching missteps.

Regardless, this thread is just one man’s opinion meant to start a conversation. I’m just glad some of you guys actually read it.
 
Thanks for the weekly write up.

I want to give the O-line lots of credit. I don't think I've seen this type of pocket and protection since the Marino years. It was really refreshing to see consistent protection for Tua. On a few plays, Tua was elusive enough to avoid some lapses in protection.
 
Line did not give up a sack yesterday which was awesome! I would say that doesn't mean they are a great line, but at least when they have Armstead in there they are doing enough. With our speed, QB, and play calling we are getting rid of the ball at one of the quickest rates in football. We're not asking the line to do too much but the line is doing what it's being asked of it. They are still very shaky in the run game and while we had some really good gains, a lot of our successful runs seem to be a product of the pass game.
 
Sirspud said:
Line did not give up a sack yesterday which was awesome! I would say that doesn't mean they are a great line, but at least when they have Armstead in there they are doing enough. With our speed, QB, and play calling we are getting rid of the ball at one of the quickest rates in football. We're not asking the line to do too much but the line is doing what it's being asked of it. They are still very shaky in the run game and while we had some really good gains, a lot of our successful runs seem to be a product of the pass game.
Click to expand...
I'm afraid that if bad weather should put a damper on the passing game, the o-line's poor performance in the running game is going to be magnified.
 
The coaches deserve high praise for the OL improvement. Where is the praise for the coaches getting the players to improve?

The coaches deserve high praise for the offensive play calling and getting us 35pts in the first 3 quarters.

The coaches deserve high praise for getting the defense to make a final stop in the 4th after playing below average the rest of the game.

The coaches deserve to keep this team truly believing “next man up” and coming out with a win, on the road, against a QB who had a record setting performance.

This team, and these coaches, deserve to be praised for NOT losing to a mediocre team like they always have. We were always 7-9 and 8-8 and 9-7 for years because we lost crap games like the Lions or Steelers or Bears. We had “should’ve won” games every season… and this year we are winning those games.

There is no easy wins anymore… certainly not against a team that was trending up, playing at home.

Give this team their due. Give these coaches some credit. This is the best coaching staff we’ve had in 25+ years… and best team, too.
 
Atila said:
It’s funny, year in and year out I’m usually the one trying to get people to temper their expectations so they don’t have their yearly meltdowns.

This is the first year we’re ACTUALLY legit and still people are in full complainer mode.
Click to expand...
To be honest, I think Zim's grades are pretty fair and accurate here. I don't think he's complaining at all.

But you're complaining about his grades. So, there's definitely some complaining in this thread alright.
 
Thanks for the write up @DZimmer000, always one of my favourite threads during the week.

I love how you take the time to give a good write up, which many of us enjoy reading, stress that it's just your opinion .. and then people complain about your grades. Cracks me up each week.

Team is exciting, at the very least. McDaniel has them believing. I reeally worry about our D. Hopefully as he settles, Chubb will help. And maybe after the bye, Byron comes back. Hopefully X can get a bit healthier anyway. But I think we're badly missing a pass rush at the moment, it's really killing us.

McDaniel makes some baffling in game decisions. His clock management is very very bad in my opinion. And every week, he's costing us timeouts by not getting playcalls in, in time. That needs to be fixed, and soon. Hasn't cost us yet, but good chance it will.

We did enough to get back to back road wins anyway, that's all that matters. Tough matchup now in my opinion, now that we finally go back home, as, thanks to the NFL, they give us a team coming to us off the back of a bye. Nice and rested.
The NFL scheduling really annoys me - I wonder if fans of all teams are the same. But like, Miami every year is on the road on TNF. That's such a huge disadvantage. This year we have a run of 2, and then 3 road games in a row. Late in season, we face Niners, Rams, Bills, all on the road consecutively. If we can win one of those, I think we'll be lucky, as road games are tough.

Sorry, total tangent!
 
Thanks Zimm. A few random bits:

1 X is still a great CB. He’s playing hurt. He had a pick taken away on a horrible call. He was only thrown at 2x and yes, he got beat on a perfect throw. No DB was stopping that. He was in coverage on the 4th down pass that ended the game. With a 2 throw sample size (which is about how he’s being targeted week to week) I don’t understand how anyone can be sour on him. I’ll take that Ocean Front property!

2. The DL was stout against the Bears RBs. We should give them that.

3. TEs - too generous IMO. Smythe was checking out the cheerleaders when they crucial 4th down pass came his way. That could have cost us the ball game.

4. The OL grade could be higher IMO. Tua doesn’t out those stats up without great pass pro - there was a nice pocket all day and as you said the run game was good plus zero sacks. I give it an A-

5. Agree w the WR grade - duh! Also contributing there are C Wilson and Sherfield. Nice complimentary game from them
 
dirkey said:
Thanks for the write up @DZimmer000, always one of my favourite threads during the week.

I love how you take the time to give a good write up, which many of us enjoy reading, stress that it's just your opinion .. and then people complain about your grades. Cracks me up each week.

Team is exciting, at the very least. McDaniel has them believing. I reeally worry about our D. Hopefully as he settles, Chubb will help. And maybe after the bye, Byron comes back. Hopefully X can get a bit healthier anyway. But I think we're badly missing a pass rush at the moment, it's really killing us.

McDaniel makes some baffling in game decisions. His clock management is very very bad in my opinion. And every week, he's costing us timeouts by not getting playcalls in, in time. That needs to be fixed, and soon. Hasn't cost us yet, but good chance it will.

We did enough to get back to back road wins anyway, that's all that matters. Tough matchup now in my opinion, now that we finally go back home, as, thanks to the NFL, they give us a team coming to us off the back of a bye. Nice and rested.
The NFL scheduling really annoys me - I wonder if fans of all teams are the same. But like, Miami every year is on the road on TNF. That's such a huge disadvantage. This year we have a run of 2, and then 3 road games in a row. Late in season, we face Niners, Rams, Bills, all on the road consecutively. If we can win one of those, I think we'll be lucky, as road games are tough.

Sorry, total tangent!
Click to expand...
I don’t see it as complaining. It’s an awesome thread each week that allows for some debate which is good. Also one of my favorite threads
 
DZimmer000 said:
Another game for Tua, Another win. Sick stats for Waddle and Hill. An extremely close win….But a win nonetheless. On to the grades:

QB — The Good: Again…..Great Game from Tua. Monster Stats. He’s rolling right now and if he keeps playing like this, he’s gonna have to get into The MVP category. Period.

The Bad: 1 underthrown ball to Waddle is all. MAYBE you can criticize the 2 minute offense at the end of the half…..But how much of that is on McDaniel??

The Grade: A . Again.

RB’s — The Good: Jeff Wilson and Mostert each ran the ball 9 times. Wilson Looked very good. Running angry. 51 yards for his first game as a Dolphin is nice with a 5.7 Average.

The Bad: Mostert was bottled up. While he didn’t play bad…..Wilson did outplay him

The Grade: B . McDaniel had a nice mix of run and pass yesterday. I like our backs and I honestly don’t think we don’t need to look for one in the off-season unless one drops to us.

TE’s — The Good: The Run and pass blocking from this group was good yesterday. That about covers it.

The Bad: Gesicki had 1 catch for 3 yards. That’s it. Long 0 catches for 0 yards. Same for Smythe. I’m pretty sure Gesicki going elsewhere next year is a forgone conclusion. I just hope it’s not in the AFC East. But then again….If he’s only catching 1 ball a game….Who cares where he goes?

The Grade: C . The blocking is what got this group this grade and besides, they did help in the overall scheme. This is probably a little too high of a grade….But when an offense scores 35, I’ll be generous.

WR’s — The Good: Broken Record Time. Hill is devastating to defenses. Waddle is playing almost as good….And that’s scary. I honestly would not want to play in a defensive backfield against this team. I probably would get the old “Dolphin Flu” that day. I’m serious.

The Bad: Hill’s Backflip got a 6.8 from the Russian Judge. Do better Tyreek.

The Grade: A + . I’ll say no more.

OL — The Good: 0 sacks? A decent rushing day? Who stole our shitty OL and replaced it with a confident, professional and competent bunch of guys? I want to buy that guy a drink or two. Nice game by this unit. Armstead really makes a HUGE difference and he didn’t really have his best game.

The Bad: Armstead got beat a few times. No harm done. We also didn’t get push on 4th down a couple times. There really is room for improvement.

The Grade: B - . This unit can improve….And if they really take another step forward, we are going to be the team that NO ONE wants to play…..If we’re not already.

DL — The Good: I’m not sure there was any good yesterday to be honest.

The Bad: Pressure on the QB? Not Much at all. Stopping the run? Nope. Fields set an NFL record on this group yesterday. Actually and embarrassing effort. Anyone that was happy with how they played yesterday, please explain yourself.

The Grade: D - . They didn’t get an F because they helped make a stop on the last Bears drive. Kinda. Sorta. Not really.

LB’s — The Good: Riley and Ingram had a sack each. Jaelan Phillips played well actually. He’s was just a few steps slow when chasing fields. However, he was very active.

The Bad: I’m pretty sure we can close the book on Baker. He did have 5 Solos, but those were mostly down field. He hasn’t made a game changing play in a LONG time. Roberts is also slow afoot. This unit is gonna need an overhaul this offseason.

The Grade: D + . Phillips play along with the 2 sacks keeps these guys from F territory. I keep asking to see more from these guys….But I am really losing hope that will happen.

DB’s — The Good: Our DB’s only gave up 123 yards of passing!! AWESOME!

The Bad: That because Fields was too busy setting a ****ing NFL record for a QB rushing the ball. Why throw it? We couldn’t stop him. Crossen should have been called for the PI at the end of the game. AND….If anyone thinks X is still a top tier corner…I’ve got ocean front property in Nebraska to sell them.

The Grade: D - . Not a good day for these guys as they watched Fields run by them all day.

ST’s — The Good: a Blocked punt for a TD was HUGE yesterday. That ended up being the difference. The punt game was OK.

The Bad: Sanders is just not performing. It might be time to bring in some competition just to wake him up a little. Horrible miss by him yesterday. Our return game is complete **** too.

The Grade: B - . The TD was HUGE. Thank God for Phillips and Van Ginko.

Coaching — The Good: McDaniel’s play calling was good for the most part. The Bears defense had no answers most of the day. The good news is McDaniel realizes he has the horses and he’s letting them run. Good on him.

The Bad: Boyer is a complete clown. I have definitely soured on him. Dear Josh, PLEASE USE THE AMOEBA DEFENSE YOU MORON! He has to do something different because we almost lost to 1 guy. 1 second year QB. With only 123 yards passing. UGH!! Also…It’s now official. McDaniel has no idea how to run a 2 minute drill. None. The Time management part of his Genius Brain hasn’t developed yet apparently.

The Grade: C - . Only because the offense lit it up. Pathetic on defense yesterday.

The Conclusion: We’re in a good position right now. 6-3 at just past the halfway point is a good record. Concerning is the play of our defense all year. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s anything we can fix this year. Let’s hope Boyer mixes it up next week against the Browns.
Click to expand...
I wanted to separately comment on ST and coaching. How much of our terrible ST play IS coaching? This guys units have been ranked 29-32 in returns since he’s been here. The 2 minute drills - McCoach and Tua need to get on the same page. Why no timeout there - again? It’s like they are unsure who’s I charge in these situations. Painful. The D - I’m not ready to give up on Boyer. He’s got some scrubby DBs back there (as much as we love them) and can’t run the same D when we have Byron and C on the boundaries. In fact, the D looks like it did the pre Byron season where people avoided X to pick on Rowe. It’s not rocket science. This D needs 2 cover corners to function. Having said that, is he making the necessary adjustments? IDK but we are 6-3 and his D has been put in tough spots at the end of games by our O being too aggressive/not putting games away on 4th down gambles so I don’t see it as dire as some - yet
 
DZimmer000 said:
Actually…. It kinda is. The coaches are the only guys that you can’t see how they performed. I basically grade on how we looked overall and if there were any glaring coaching missteps.

Regardless, this thread is just one man’s opinion meant to start a conversation. I’m just glad some of you guys actually read it.
Click to expand...
Good point. I wonder, for example, how much the missed tackles are a coaching issue or more on the players? Probably a little but of both.

Players were in position to make plays. To me, Baker had the angle/position on that Fields 61-yard run. Make the play and it's maybe a 7-yard gain.

Tindall saw the field, but seems lost/out of position. But that is something to watch as he grows into the defense. Many of us fans thought he could help with those athletic quarterbacks. Perhaps that was part of the defensive plan.
 
eMCee85 said:
The only thing I would disagree with is the praise for Phillips play. He got caught a few times standing there flat footed and waiting to see the play unfold opposed to just picking going after the qb or the rb... he should pick one and commit too it. It is why he got caught chasing fields all those times.

I'm still not sold on Phillips. I think he's at his ceiling and won't improve much. Obviosly I hope I'm wrong but that's just my opinion
Click to expand...
I kinda agree with you about phillips. I just am not seeing the bend or anything special to beat the tackle on constant basis. would help if we got some interior pressure though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom