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Ronin's Post Lions Thoughts

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by RoninFin4, Nov 10, 2014.

  1. RoninFin4

    RoninFin4 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Well, that was a long drive back for yours truly as I was able to make it up to the game in Detroit. Toledo is basically a construction battlefield on I-75 South, and getting stuck behind a massive wreck meant while I left Detroit around 4:30pm, I didn't make it home until 11pm, so needless to say, I didn't write this last night. Ford Field, albeit surprisingly small, is now the loudest stadium I've been to (includes other domes such as Reliant, RCA Dome and Lucas Oil). It was loud. Very loud. The Dolphins were well represented in Ford Field and generally Lions fans were very amicable towards me. If you ever visit Detroit and/or are a hockey fan, check out the HockeyTown USA Bar. It's right across the street from Comerica Park (Tigers), which is right next to Ford Field.

    *Ronin's note - I was sitting in the endzone in which Calvin Johnson hauled in his TD pass - so opposite the endzone where Detroit scored the game winner - so if I've missed something or saw it weird, my apologies. That said, I did get a great view of the O-line play and plays as they developed down the field. I'm mixing up the categories today to Good, Bad and Oh No...Here we go.

    Good
    - I think Kevin Coyle did a good job of adjusting and using multiple defenders to mitigate Calvin Johnson AFTER the long TD. He's an absolute freakazoid. Detroit warmed up in the endzone closest to me...some things he does, well he's the only one who can. Simply amazing hands. The one-handed INT that Grimes had is pretty much a routine catch for Calvin Johnson in warm-ups, so keep that in mind.
    - Dion Jordan, for my money, played his best game as a Dolphin. No, he's not a good pass-rusher, and I'm starting to doubt he ever will be. He gets some push in the bull-rush just as he's big and strong with those long arms, but he has NO moves. None. That said he played the run well, snuffed out a screen, knocked the ball out of Calvin Johnson's hands on the last possession in the endzone and nearly had a TD on the blocked field goal. Miami utilized a formation with Odrick at DE, Mitchell at 1T, Starks at 3T and Wake at DE with Jordan playing SAM LB, a la what Denver does with Von Miller. I could get behind this formation as Philip Wheeler, while he's been better, doesn't cover the ground that Jordan does. I'd be a little concerned with him there with OV at DE when teams run power at Jordan as a SAM LB, but I think you have to look at moving him there where he can do things other than rush the passer. He's just not good at it.
    - Brent Grimes was really good today. There wasn't anything else he could have done on that Calvin Johnson TD. Johnson made a ridiculous re-route, mid-stride, to get under that and Brent Grimes was STILL in good position...too bad he's only like 5'8". Yes, I know they list him at 5'10". He's not. Unbelievable INT and he did a nice job of limiting CJ the rest of the game. He even matched him on both sides of the field once Finnegan went out.
    - Cameron Wake is a stud. Is every week. He wrecked Larry Warford and LaAdrian Waddle. He abused Cornelius Lucas. He played the run pretty well.
    - Run defense. They started out slow and were giving up over 6 ypc to both Bell and Bush in the first half. Miami shut down the run in the 2nd half and held Detroit to 63 yards after allowing 42 in the first half. It's improving, and that's going to be important down the stretch.
    - Ja'Wuan James. It sucks that Branden Albert is done, but Ja'Wuan James is a left tackle in waiting. He's pretty smooth athletically and didn't have as much trouble with Ziggy Ansah as Albert did, which was surprising.
    - Tannehill, minus the AWFUL throw on the INT, which there was clearly a miscommunication on as Gator Hoskins didn't see that ball coming (that happened right in front of me), but that was still a poorly thrown ball; I thought he moved in the pocket well and made good decisions. He played well enough for Miami to have won the game.
    - Damien Williams. How in the world is this kid not getting the ball more consistently than Daniel Thomas? He was about the only spark Miami had other than Jarvis Landry.
    - Jarvis Landry. "Juice". Anyone else catch him one-hand the kickoff that went out the back of the endzone? This kid just makes things happen.

    Bad
    - The first two in this category go hand-in-hand. First, Bill Lazor's gameplan was not very good. He was unable to get Detroit off balance by moving Tannehill around, and while Detroit's LBs are blazing fast, the didn't try to get Tannehill involved with his legs very well, especially early.
    - The redzone play-calling and execution is BAD. Say what you want about Mike Sherman, but Miami scored TDs in the redzone with his offense. They have trouble with Bill Lazor's. I'm not sure whether it's not having a big back with power. That's not Lamar Miller. Damien Williams, despite being big, is better on the outside, and Daniel Thomas is what he is. But, Miami couldn't get guys open against Detroit. They struggled against San Diego, and this is going to hurt them down the stretch if they don't get this fixed fast.
    - Charles Clay. Oh, if you could have just hung onto that 3rd down pass. Tannehill saw that a tad late but the ball was there, in your hands...
    - Dallas Thomas, Samson Satele and Mike Pouncey were ALL absolutely BEASTED by Ndamukong Suh one-on-one at least twice. Pouncey...I've never seen him get thrown around like he did in the first quarter. Ever. I think he's clearly BOTH better and more comfortable at center. I think when Shelley Smith came in at LG, Satele and Pouncey were able to double Suh as Smith held his own against Mosley better than Dallas Thomas did at LG. That said, Dallas Thomas was serviceable at right tackle. Not bad. Not good. Certainly not great. But he was serviceable. More on this later.
    - Jimmy Wilson's jock strap is still somewhere in the middle of the Ford Field turf. He was abused by Golden Tate in the slot all day.
    - Jamar Taylor is tough to get a read on. He doesn't get beat deep or get fooled by double-moves the way Will Davis does, but I don't think he's able to process everything quickly enough right now. His technique is fine, and he's the most physical corner by a long shot, even more so than Finnegan, but he just can't see-and-go yet the way Grimes and Finnegan can.
    - I can't fault Reshad Jones too much on that final TD. He took a bad initial angle to cover Theo Riddick but got himself back into position. Matthew Stafford was essentially Brett Favre for one play throwing it against the grain, side-armed, falling away, and it was perfectly spiraled strike to where Riddick could make that catch.
    - I don't really have any issue with the timeouts on the last drive. If Miami had held them to a FG, they still would have had a chance to get into range for Sturgis to try a long, game-winner. Detroit simply made a good play and got lucky on that final drive. Calvin Johnson makes a catch not many receivers are big and tall enough to even reach for first down. Golden Tate's elbow was "golden" on that first down, and the refs missed Olivier Vernon darn near getting gang-raped on the final TD pass; how they don't call holding there is beyond me.
    - Joe Philbin may have the worst/most awkward running form I've ever seen. I'm being serious. Two-legged elephants move better. Holy cow.
    - To me, this game is more about poor offensive execution and personnel not meshing with the scheme on offense. I can't fault the defense too much, other than Miami needs better players in the secondary moving forward. The front seven is Super Bowl quality. I'd say Grimes and Jones are as well. Finnegan is good, but Delmas, Taylor, Wilson, Davis...they drag that unit down.

    Oh No...
    - While Miami may have discovered they have a left tackle in waiting in Ja'Wuan James, you're forced to put Dallas Thomas, presumably, at right tackle. He held his own against the likes of Jason Jones, George Johnson and Darryl Tapp. I don't know if you all noticed, but the next two games he'll be squaring off against Mario Williams and Von Miller. Yikes.
    - Anyone know what happened to Cortland Finnegan? I can't pinpoint when he was injured.
    - Of all the weeks to have a Thursday Night game, a massive, massive game, loaded with playoff implications - let's face it, a loss probably shuts Miami out of the playoffs all things considered - the Thursday game comes on the week Miami's the most beat up they've been all year. Crap.
    - I think Miami's got 3 main areas they're really going to have to dump resources into this offseason and two of them are areas which most on here seemed to think Miami was loaded at talent with. 1) Secondary. Grimes and Jones are fine. You certainly shouldn't have a reason to bring back Louis Delmas as a starter. Cortland Finnegan seems like low hanging fruit in terms of being a cap casualty. Will Davis is no good. Jamar Taylor is...I don't know...hopefully he can develop but that's an area of need. 2) O-line. Moving Pouncey back to C will help things. Getting Branden Albert back healthy is a key, but you really have to figure out what to do at guard. I think Billy Turner gets one spot, but until he's seeing game action, that's a question mark. You're delusional if your plan is to trot Daryn Colledge or Dallas Thomas out there, and Shelley Smith is just a guy. 3) Wide Receiver. That's more of a mess than it should be. Mike Wallace is overpaid and does not run good routes - that was plainly evident from my vantage point yesterday. Brian Hartline is overpaid and really seems checked out. Brandon Gibson is more low hanging fruit. Moving forward I think you're stuck with Wallace another year, but aside from that only having Landry and Matthews isn't enough; you're going to have to invest here.
    - The latter of these is a real eye-opener for me, as I'm starting to feel like this offense *can* be really good, but the personnel just doesn't matchup as best it should with respect to the receiver position. And, for what it's worth, if Melvin Gordon is on the board in round 1 when Miami's on the clock. Take him. Take him without question as he would fit PERFECTLY into this scheme and, while Lamar Miller is improving, Melvin Gordon is the prototype for this offense with a nose for the endzone.

    Overall, yesterday was a rough loss though not necessarily damaging in and of itself in terms of the playoffs and/or division. However, it's going to be rough moving forward without Branden Albert in the lineup because it means you're going to end up with Dallas Thomas or Nate Garner playing RT and the next two, CRUCIAL, games, that RT is going to draw Mario Williams and Von Miller. Brutal. Same if Finnegan is out for a lengthy chunk of time. The only solace I take from this is that I think the team will be pissed off when the review the tape of yesterday and see the missed opportunities they had - the overthrow to Wallace, Charles Clay not being able to hang onto a ball, poor play-calling, poor personnel groupings (Gator Hoskins as a hot route option? Really?), and missed tackles in the secondary (WILSON, Taylor, Delmas). This is a week that you're going to want to get back out there early from a players' standpoint (from a team standpoint, I'm anxious due to injuries with a Thursday-nighter looming) and essentially, like it or not, this game is probably a playoff eliminator if you lose. I'll be interested to see how the team responds.

    Good luck to us all on Thursday night, this is THE big one.
     
    fin13, VManis, Hiruma78 and 30 others like this.
  2. Stitches

    Stitches ThePhin's Biggest Killjoy Luxury Box

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    Melvin Gordon, yes please.
     
    RoninFin4 likes this.
  3. gilv13

    gilv13 Well-Known Member

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    I agree with all of this.
     
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  4. 77FinFan

    77FinFan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Good write up and thanks for doing it. Got caught up in that traffic as well and it was a drag.

    I was at the game and the Hockeytown Cafe before hand and it's a nice bar. The stadium is nice and it was loud. The fans were generally good natured, ribbing back and forth and even willing to answer questions. The offense really needed to put it in the end zone on that 2nd to last drive. We had to have 6 to win that game.
     
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  5. RoninFin4

    RoninFin4 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Not sure what time you where there or where in the place you were; place is pretty big; but did you happen to see/hear the group of Dolphins and Lions fans that were cracking themselves up over the guy who was babbling on about having paid $75 to see Ron Jeremy (he meant Ron White, the comedian)?
     
  6. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    nuff said about that..winning and getting ahead in the misdirection game is what this chess game is all about, and what he failed doing..

    I saw that landry catch in the end zone, it was his best one this year..

    I guess were gonna see more of college and smith before we see turner.

    now that Albert is gone, Ryan is going to have to do more when it comes to some improvisation, no more can he lets stretches of games go by without seeing an open lane and not running to punish the defense.

    I would venture to say that ryans ability to put the team on his legs a bit and run 3 or 4 times on his own for some critical 3rd down conversions will be the key to us winning or losing..

    its time ryan, no more blocking that part of your game out, we need you to embrace it.
     
  7. Alex13

    Alex13 Tua Time !!! Club Member

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    yada, yada, yada, if there is room for it hell yeah, but there was no room for his legs yesterday...NONE, the lions put a spy on him and the DE´s never went for the back, they always ran to Tannehill first, people need to finally stop to pretend this is madden out there, lazor should have adjusted to that, but to me it was clear from the get go, if we win this game, it has to be through the air
     
    jldolfan likes this.
  8. CrunchTime

    CrunchTime Administrator Retired Administrator

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    They did have a spy on Tanny and since our RBs were not a threat they concentrated their efforts on him.Thats why its important to have balance in order to make Tannys running game more productive.
     
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  9. ToddPhin

    ToddPhin Premium Member Luxury Box Club Member

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    I was thinking about Melvin Gordon this weekend, too, Ro. I like Lamar, and he's been doing a solid job of picking up positive yardage, but it seems like he lacks vision and instincts at the second level which is leaving explosive play opportunities on the field that Gordon would capitalize on. Maybe it's just me but I feel like Lamar has lost a step since college. Where's that breakaway 4.34 speed? Maybe Gordon's questionable hands and lack of use in the passing game lets him slide to round 2.
     
  10. RoninFin4

    RoninFin4 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Lamar Miller seems to have gotten bigger, and perhaps that's why he seems slow. He also limped off the field at one point yesterday favoring his left leg, so perhaps he was banged up in-game more than what reports are leading on.

    I was actually at the Wisconsin vs. Illinois game earlier this year. Melvin Gordon's got pretty good hands; he just hardly ever has to use them because that line run-blocks really well and both of Wisconsin's QBs are trash. But damn, Melvin Gordon in Miami's offense would be a nightmare - so explosive, great vision, and he's surprisingly powerful between the tackles. That power was the one thing I came away from the Illinois game thinking. The rest of the stuff would have been very impressive...if it weren't something he wasn't doing every week.
     
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  11. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    ok so let me get this strait, so no room for our qb to run, and no deep ball game..ok, so we just dink them to victory every week eh?
     
  12. Fin D

    Fin D Sigh

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    There is no one way to win all games.

    Sometimes you have to change.

    Thinking the QB running always wins games is as stubborn as thinking the QB never has to run to win games.
     
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  13. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    what I'm saying is folks don't want ryan to use his legs, or don't seem to want to embrace a true dual threat presence at the position, and he's not good at throwing the deep ball..I guess that leaves us with short to intermediate work from the pocket and the run game.

    you get what you deserve, you don't use it, you better your chances at losing
     
  14. Fins Hipster

    Fins Hipster Banned

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    Does the coordinator have to gameplan the use of Tannehill's legs into the gameplan for him to use them, or can he use them on his own? I don't suspect the team is telling Tannehill not to evade pressure with his legs and find the open man downfield. The question is, can he do that? Can he make a play in that way?That was the missing piece on offense in this game. The Dolphins averaged 3.8 yards per play in this game, which is nearly a yard less than that averaged by the worst team in the league this year. They were shut down in the running game and the passing game, and the only way around that would've been for Tannehill to evade pressure and create plays downfield. He didn't do that.
     
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  15. 77FinFan

    77FinFan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    No, I missed that little gem. You guys must have been howling.
    Way up in the nosebleeds w/ Lions fans doing some ridiculous "Boik!" chant when their RB got the ball. Very annoying. I was in 334, visitor side down around the 20.
     
  16. 3Pmi

    3Pmi IT Specialist Staff Member Administrator

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    They were actually chanting "Joque", which is their RB's first name. Pronounced like "Boik", only with a J.
     
  17. 77FinFan

    77FinFan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Yeah, that was it. Pretty damn annoying I'll tell you that.
     
  18. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    its his choice to tuck the ball and run past the los of scrimmage, if he sees a lane and is aware enough of the importance and what it can do to a defense, he should absolutely do it, he has enough speed to do it..problem is he doesn't do it, he's hung up on not being that, so he doesn't, he puts up 0's in that dept, and its hurting us..

    its an element to a qbs game that he completely disregards...sucks for us.
     
  19. Paul 13

    Paul 13 Chaotic Neutral & Unstable Genius Staff Member

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    :lol: for a second i thought our mod Boik had a following.
     
  20. Fin-Omenal

    Fin-Omenal Initiated

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    Thee...Ohio State University
    It took you going to Detroit to realize we have overpaid WRs????
     
  21. RoninFin4

    RoninFin4 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    No, just merely demonstrated the degree to just how bad Mike Wallace is at running routes. Hartline isn't able to run every route well, but he's not as bad as Wallace.
     
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  22. 77FinFan

    77FinFan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    well Im sure he does.
     
  23. Fins Hipster

    Fins Hipster Banned

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    I don't mean by crossing the line of scrimmage. I mean by evading pressure and finding an open man downfield. The Dolphins were playing a team with the #1 defense against the run and the #2 defense against the pass. The only way they were going to drive down the field and put up points was by creating plays the opposing defense wasn't giving it, and that would've been by evading pressure and finding men who had broken free downfield. That isn't Tannehill's strength, however, and so the result was what it was: three field goals and a touchdown aided by a long blocked field goal return. The Dolphins defense was stout as it is typically and kept the team in the game, but in the end the QB who could evade pressure and make plays with his arm (Stafford) was the one that overcame the strength of the opposing defense and won the game for his team. This was a virtual replay of the Green Bay game, only with less scoring by both teams.
     
  24. ElNino

    ElNino Well-Known Member

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    Nice write up, well said. Im curious about Finnegan too. Havent heard squat about him, except maybe that Taylor will be getting more reps. Skimmed over this thread and didnt see anything.
     
  25. RoninFin4

    RoninFin4 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    From reading other threads, it sounds like it's not serious, but it could be enough to keep him out or limited Thursday night.

    During the game I didn't notice him come off the field, I just noticed Jamar Taylor was out at LCB at the start of one drive, and my first thought was holy ****, what happened to Grimes? Grimes, from that point forward, went to whichever side of the field Calvin Johnson was on and I realized he was on the right side for that play, which is when I realized Finnegan was out.

    Jimmy Wilson also took the field at safety for Reshad Jones to start that drive, but Jones came in after 2 or 3 plays.
     

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