The Trenches: The Dolphins are a Very Talented Team

The play in these two areas should not go unnoticed. Even rookie Kheeston Randall has gotten into the act, playing pretty well in the space vacated by Tony McDaniel.

In his press conference yesterday, Joe Philbin said, "Our identity right now is we've got to run the ball effectively and stop the run."

This from a coach who - when he was hired - acknowledged that this is a passing league and the Dolphins would be throwing the ball around 60% of the time.

I think he would still like to get to that point offensively, but with a rookie QB and the state of our receivers/tight ends, he recognizes where our strength lies and is playing to it.

New York will very much be a litmus test for ground game. The Texans game convinced me we can line up and run on just about anybody, but the Jets add that schematic dimension to the equation.

Offensively it's a Tony Sparano offense. They want to run it and throw deep. That is exactly what Joe Philbin says we aim to stop defensively, stop the run and take away the deep ball.

 

I agree. We have the best DT tandem in football, then you add Cam Wake to that mix, and yeah, you can argue that the Dolphins have the best defensive line in football. Long and Pouncey might be the best at their positions, and Incognito is very good. 3/5ths is not bad.

This reality suggests that this team is a lot closer than people think, and is the reason why you should be adding to this mix and not subtracting.

 

This is the third time in, what, four years that we've beaten the Raiders, and by virtually the same score. Nothing's changed; the 2012 Dolphins have repeated the results of prior Sparano squads. That's not indicative of improvement, let alone being anywhere near close to the playoffs.

This team still lacks the game-changing talent necessary to become just merely good.

 

I'm worried about Long though.

He still shows up in the run game. But we're seeing him beaten and overpowered in pass pro.

I don't think he's quite right physically (again).

 

I think you need to re-read that bolded sentence.

I'm not saying the Dolphins are good. I'm saying they are so lacking in true game-changing talent they cannot be considered merely good, let alone great. And forget about elite. In other words, the Dolphins are not very talented, therefore they are bad, and repeating the same results from the last two Raiders games doesn't change that.

 

The offensive line is far better than last years since they have at least put the parts in place on the right. Martin looked much better yesterday and Jerry had a good game. If they can get Jerry motivated and keep him that way we should be a pretty good offensive line for the foreseeable future. Now they need to stop getting Long dinged up in the preseason.

 

I wouldn't go that far.

 

I agree 100%.

The only thing I'm worried about is Odrick. While good in the run game, he has been non existent in the passing game. With the way to Soliai and Starks are playing inside, I don't see Odrick moving back inside or getting many snaps in there. I don't know what they are going to do with that situation. But Odrick is an extremely good talent and a really good pass rusher from the inside, and he is just being neutralized by this coaching staff. Again, not sure of their options though.

 

I agree. But this is a passing league, and pass rush from that side on the DL especially should be more about pass rush.

 

It's still early, but after Week 2 it looks like it is not quite the passing league that it looked like last year. Compare the passing numbers of Brady, Brees, Rodgers, Stafford, Newton, etc. to last year and there is a big difference. Not sure why. But trends tend to come and go in the NFL and maybe power football isn't dead. We are very strong in the trenches and if we can avoid turnovers (and actually get a few), this season could play out very differently than most people thought. Again, it's early, but looking at the upcoming schedule virtually every game looks "winnable" except maybe the Niners game on the road. Even the Pats look vulnerable.

 

Couple of stats

Reggie Bush is currently the NFL's second-leading rusher, and averaging a healthy 6.0 ypc.

The Dolphin defense is #4 in yards per game (53), and #1 in yards per attempt (2.2). Impressive considering the Dolphins two opponents ranked 2nd and 7th rushing in 2011.

One thing I've noticed thru two games, Cam Wake is lining up pretty consistently on the left side. Not just on third downs as in years past. And it doesn't matter if it's the strong side or not. I think you have to call him the LE now. Just interesting how we have the 260-pound guy known for pass rush over there and the 300-pound defensive tackle over left tackle.

As for John Jerry, Joe Rose said this morning that he's no longer being fined for his weight, which suggests he's officially on weight and no longer out of shape.

 

Who was saying things he knew were going on TV, maybe in hopes of motivating the kid? Not saying JJ can't be boss, but I don't know if I take anything from Hard Knocks as gospel.

 

Jake Long had a good game vs. the Raiders with a single bad series. If he was wrong physically, it didn't last.

They're not mis-using Jared Odrick. He's not being treated like a normal 4-3 DE, and you shouldn't have the same expectations.

 

Bingo.

It's said/ironic that the talented areas on this team - run and run D - are now antiquated strategies for success in the NFL.

 

If he's fine, he's no longer the best LT in the league IMO. Not right now. We've seen him beaten and penalized in both games this season.

 

Direct result of the previous regime.

That said, it's exactly what we have to do and stop to win this Sunday.

Still, if you can make an offense one-dimensional, that's very good. And with a rookie QB, you love having that running game.

 

Im not treating him like a normal 4-3 DE. Im treating him like Jared Odrick. Who is a really good pass rusher and a really good player. In 2 games he has been less then visible in the passing game. Which is the definition of mis-using him. When your 2nd best pass rusher is non-existent because hes playing out of position, again thats the definition of being mis-used.

Like I said that, with the way the interior has played, this coaching staff doesn't have much options. But how often are we seeing him being rotated inside where he is at his best?

 

In theory you could make that argument, but the reality is that A) there are teams that are very successful defensively with run-stoppers at one DE position and B) its very hard to find one great passrusher, nevermind two.

While Odrick isn't much of a passrusher, he is great against the run. Ultimately that helps the pass defense, even if its more an indirect effect.

Ideally, Shelby will continue to impress in the snaps he's given, and he will start getting more reps. But I don't think this is an issue that you necessarily look at negatively.

 

This is something that worried me coming in to the season...where was the secondary rush coming from because its sure not coming from Odrick at RDE. In week 1 vs the Texans Odrick didnt so much as get QB hurry, let alone a hit or sack in 31 pass attempts. Wake, Starks and Shelby were the only ones able to consistently generate QB pressure. We need another pass rusher.

True but under ideal circumstances hes best as a DT rotating with Starks and Soliai. Thats a pretty good trio right there. We need to address RDE with a pass rusher this offseason. That would push our DL from very good to great. And if youre running a 4-3 you need that 2nd great pass rusher because thats the whole point of a 4-3...that you can consistently generate rush using pretty much the same 4 DL.

Two things imo contribute to this more then anything right now:
1. Defenses having a full offseason and training camp with no silly lockouts.
2. Scab refs allowing contact downfield like its 80's style football. I heard Carl Banks talking about it on the Giants radio broadcast and I heard it mentioned during the Sunday Night game....these refs are allowing DB's to make contact downfield regularly. And when they do call something its been defensive holding not PI. Defensive holding is a 5 yard penalty and a first down while PI is at the spot of the foul. So if your a DB why not just a hold a guy when youre beaten instead of giving up the big play? We arent seeing big plays at the same rate we were (tell that to Eli Manning and his 510 yards yesterday lol) unless its via exceptional QB play. IMO defensive backs were playing scared the last few years but now theyre testing these replacement refs who arent used to calling NFL games and NFL rules necessarily and theyre getting away with things they couldnt get away with under the regular refs.

 

I'm not sure what you think the gold standard is, but not getting beaten or penalized isn't remotely close to a realistic standard. An elite tackle at the top of their performance isn't going to have more than 3-5 games a year where he doesn't get beaten or penalized.

 

He's not being played out of position. What he's asked to do is pretty much completely within his skill-set. He's very often lined up tight and/or with an OLB outside of him(who is frequently the edge rusher), and a lot of the time he isn't he's stunting to the interior. He's not being asked to edge rush too much.

Pretty often?

 

Dude, it's a passing league. I'm not sure why you think after two weeks it's not, given the high scores we've seen. That's not all from guys tearing it up on the ground. You saw the Giants/Buccs game yesterday, yes?

 

There have been some bad calls by the replacement refs, but there will always be bad calls. I don't have a problem with how they are calling the PI and holding. And I'm not so sure it is really true that they are calling a lot more defensive holdings than PI. I think the NFL got too pass happy last year and a return to balance would be a good thing for the league.

 

It was a honest question from me. At times watching from a bar its tough for me to see rotating on the inside

 

I still think the fact that Miller picked up the wrong guy on a blitz is what made Long look bad to a lot of fans.

 

I don't mean to give you a bunch of **** or anything like that, but there's a lot of people who have this opinion and a lot of it has essentially come off of working assumptions. I don't think this year is going to be any less productive than last for Odrick.

 

That's just not true.

Elite tackles allow less than 3 sacks a year (Long has done the same) and get penalized less than 4 or 5 times in a season.

 

Well, I think he did legitimately have a bad series. He gave up a sack, then on the next play got pushed into the pocket by Matt Shaughnessy who isn't that good of a player.

It's just it's literally that and a holding penalty people are claiming he's declined on which is kinda well questionable.

 

Pressures and hits count as beating. Elite tackles have a couple games a year when they give up literally nothing to defenders.

 

Im not saying its strictly because of the refs or even that the calls they make are bad. Im saying they seem more inclined to call the holding penalty then the PI penalty. I tried googling it for actual stats but that data doesnt seem to be available for up to date info. But it sure does seem that way.

I do agree that a return to balance would be good for the league....

 

And is just a rookie with few college games even under his belt. Ireland drafted a rookie QB when our MVP was our QB? Fire him.

Fire Ireland for attempting to upgrade Columbo with a draft pick wth was he thinking?

On a serious note nice write up though OP. There are good signs of the pieces coming together if they maintain whats here and add to the puzzle next year I can see a tougher team hitting the field.