I had that concern last year and Saturday as well. Can't tell me every receiver has blanket coverage every time that happens. Have some confidence in your accuracy, thread it to your receivers with the perfect throw and get some chunk yards! Some of those check-down dump-off passes to a back are almost a turnover disaster. If you're gonna throw into traffic and risk an INT, do it 30 yards down field please.
So if the initial reads are not there or are covered you would prefer he force it or just throw it away?
Football is a game of percentages and you will more than likely be successful if you take the higher percentage. I know you have to take shots but doing it every time is suicide if you want to move the ball. If you miss on two low percentage passes suddenly it is third and long and a very low percentage you will convert. I can't stand ridiculous fans who think you can score every time on one play. It's not realistic.
I know bro when Miami got him, I was saying to myself how bad I wanted to see Marshall with the ball and nobody around hahaha....so there he is ball hits his hands in stride, with nobody w/in a 5 yard radius and he drops it dahhh!!!! What a tease...!! I was actually hoping Miami drafted Mike Williams this year....reminds me of Mike Wallace.... Bingo!!...and sometimes red tape too, but did you ever see those old shows in the History Channel about them building the first skyscrapers...no safety harnesses, drinking pints.....walking on beams!!! its nuts... Yeah I hate the checkdown stuff, but Henning like Nolan isnt opening the playbook just yet my friend.....be patient
Agreed. At the 1 minute mark in the second quarter, they show Henne and Marshall talking on the sidelines about the play. Marshall lays out his hand and swipes it with the other one, saying that the ball just slipped right through his hands. In the two minute drill, anyone see toward the end of the first half when Thigpen threw the ball in the back of the end zone and out of bounds? Turner could have caught that but tried to escape a possible hit from the DB and Hayward, the MIKE linebacker. The ball bounced right in front of Turner and just inside the back line. What a pansy.
Also the dump off to Polite was caused by the right tackle ( Veron Carey? ) getting his *** beat to the inside, if I remember correctly. Henne either throws the check down to Polite or takes a safety. I think he made the right choice.
Funny how everyone hates the check down stuff now but the initial knock on Henne coming out of college was that he locks onto one receiver and sticks with him. I heard all the complaints he was telegraphing. Now he is going through his progressions and that doesn't please people either. Which is it folks.... you know the answer..... if nothing is open he has to check down instead of forcing it. That is the higher percentage play.
That just reminds me of Thigpen throwing into triple coverage to Camerillo in the deep middle of the field. That is definitely not the right or high percentage decision.
Last year the Dolphins ranked 29th in the league in yards per competion with only 9.6. The only team to make the playoffs in the last two years with YPC under 10.5 was last year's Bengals. I want to see that number improve significantly this year, and taking shots to the receivers especially on 3rd down can help that. Two yard check-down passes to RB's or FB's who are waiting to get creamed by a linebacker don't have a high percentage of moving the chains on any down & distance. Why not punt on 3rd down, that way there's no risk of an interception. An accurate confident QB will thread the ball to his receivers where only the receiver has a chance to catch it (back shoulder, low to the ground, etc). Of course it's smart to check down if nobody's open, but I found it happening too often last year and don't want to see it happen again. Henne needs to trust his arm on accurate throws downfield, or the receivers need to figure out how to get open, or something needs to change. And in the end, sometimes those check down passes are in a lot of traffic and make me hold my breath more than a laser 20 yards downfield.
Having Marshall should significantly help this alone. That is assuming he and Hartline catch the damn ball when they are hit in the hands . The other check down pass Henne threw was to Ricky in the back field. The Bucs ran, what looked to be a cover 0 man blitz, and Henne instantly decided to go to his 'hot' receiver which is Ricky, I assume. But I don't remember the down and distance so I am not going to criticize him over it. Threading the needle is okay but you have to have the protection and time to some degree as well. But I do get your point/frustration. EDIT: Ironically the Dolphins were in the "Bunch" formation which can be tough on man to man defensive calls. So someone might have been open, but I haven't rewatched the play to see.
It is a neccessary evil, I would rather him check down then force something and get picked obviously. That being said I dont like the check down, it is boring.....but needed...that was my point on that thread.. However I know a check down is different than a screen, but you ever notice Miami is the worst at doing the screen, and defending it...I thought of that watching one of their screen attempts that got blown up...
As frozenfin said above i think he is to quick to checkdown to the back. I obviously don't want him to force throws but he need to take some risks as great Qb's do. A lot of the time Henne throwing it to the back kills drives.
I am much more comfortable with him forcing it to Marshall ( that guy can catch anything ) than to any of the receivers on the roster last year.
Yeah really, Marshall can catch any pass (despite what we might see in the pre-season) He made Kyle Orton look good.
Henne should do whatever the coaches instruct him to do. If thats to check down quickly, then so be it.
Wasn't that one of his problems coming into this season? If the play is to pass it to the fullback on 3rd and 11 then that is just questionable play calling. Tony Sparano said he wanted more "chunk yardage" plays and I don't think passing it to the running backs on 2 yrd routes is what he had in mind.
Questionable play calling, or just good defense? Sure, they want more chunk yardage, but the #1 priority is not turning the ball over. The coaches could be calling plays they know will be covered downfield, just to see how Henne reacts. Do you really think this coaching staff gives two ****s how good the offense 'looks' in preseason?
Not really. Fail forward fast was basically "well try our best, and accept failure". This coaching staff is/could be just taking advantage of meaningless games.
I'm not saying that Henne should never check down, I just have a hard time believing that the defense shuts down all of our recievers so often. I'm not worried about Henne AT ALL. I am a huge believer in him but I have noticed that he checks down a little too much at times (last season).
