False? Don't be ridiculous. You saw what happened out there as much as I did. Did I imagine their inability to get five yards in four tries from the five? Is that the first, second, or even the third time you've seen that on short yardage? It doesn't matter how many runs we can get in the middle of the field when we cannot punch it over the goal line or get a first down. Cannot. They can't. That is the operative word for this offense: can't. When they need to make a play, they can't. I want to see this team win. I am a fan who goes to the stadium when they're home and watches all the games. No industry of any kind can succeed with a product of the quality that the Miami Doplhins are putting on the field, and it's become perennial, and they seem to have no sense of urgency to correct the problem. I'm sorry, but I've had enough. I have quit being an optimist. We have changed the coaching staff, the quarterback, the linebacking corps, the offensive and defensive backfields and the receiving corps. The defense looks good. The offense is a disgrace when they need a few yards for a first down or a score, and it's the offensive line. It sucks. It has sucked for a while now. It needs to be fixed now, not next season.
Our OLine was bad in run blocking, but don't forget that the Bucs were the #1 run defense last season and still drafted for the DLine, as well as shored up their DBs... My main issue last night was with Martin. He was beat repeatedly and was flagged for illegal procedure by not lining up properly at least once. There was plenty of blame though. Pouncey was beat by 4th round rookie, Akeem Spence, twice. Jerry was beaten repeatedly. Cogs blew an assignment as well a couple times. I thought Clabo was the most consistent against TB.
Yeah, Cuch...that's a good point that has kinda flown under the radar....this wasn't a slouch D that we played last nite...
You're right about that. It was a joint project of stench by the whole offensive line. Tampa Bay may have one of the better run defenses, but I still ask whatever possessed Ireland to pass on available free agents that he had enough cap room to afford (even if he overpaid) and think he could go with what he has and what he drafted. Penny wise, pound foolish.
It was bad, but then again, we won't be facing many DLines that overall stout. I was content with Miller and Thomas last night as the blocking was inconsistent and this was Jerry's first game back. I think they will improve over the course of the season and we should have a truer indicator of where we are by game 4.
The real frustrating part about the sub-par offensive line is that it would be a much easier pill to swallow had we not invested so many resources into it. it's a joke that we've had one good OL in 6 year
But it's damned if you do, damned if you don't. We spent an obscenely high draft pick on Long. When he was injured and his performance dropped, it was clear we needed to replace him with another top notch left tackle, who could do the job he was supposed to be doing. Did we? No. We stuck into his spot a kid we had "in stock," whom we had also drafted quite high and who had shown at the other tackle position that he didn't have it, instead of "overpaying" for players who had shown they had it with other teams. So what is it? Is it the general manager, who is perenially drafting players who can't get it done? Is it the scheme, in which the wrong players are being asked to do things that they can't do? Is it the offensive line coach, about whom I keep hearing ad nauseam that he was a Marine, which is nice, but it doesn't make him a good NFL offensive line coach? I have a feeling that the answer is "I don't know," and if that's so, we are exactly in the same spot that we were with Sparano. It certainly looked that way Saturday night with the offensive line.
what do you think? schemes and coaches have changed, Ireland is the one constant. We've dedicated so many picks, signings and money to the OL and yet it still leaves a lot to be desired, there's a WASTELAND of failed acquisitions over the years, all the OL taken outside of the 1st round have been disappointments so far, Martin, Jerry, Murphy, Gardner, Dallas Thomas, Donald Thomas, all the undrafted signings Andrew McDonald, Samuda, etc, all the wasted FA signings and waiver claims like Smiley, Grove, Hicks, Berger, Cook, Mcquistan, Procter, Murtha, Yeatman.... the ineptitude is just sad.
What I saw was Tampa shooting gaps and getting aggressive in the red zone, which is pretty normal. I saw a 5 yard TD pass to Gibson, another potential TD to Gibson that was dropped, a near miss to Hartline for the 2nd week in a row, a week after Wallace caught a short TD vs the Texans. If you want to complain properly you should do it about how the offense can't score on any long plays. I also saw that Tampa's offense couldn't move the ball at all. Their best play on offense was to punt the ball and hope we fumble. Did that make you think of Jeff Ireland? Seeing as how you're not an Ireland hater...
Negative plays are a part of the game and it's not always b/c this guy screwed up or that guy sucks, the other teams have NFL players too. The Bucs have a very quick front, they're going to make their share of plays no matter what. I'm glad Miller/Thomas took the losses instead of trying to be a hero and losing even more yards, ahem, ahem. Over the course of a real game offense will adjust. Whether it be down blocks, traps, counters, read option, whatever, there are ways to combat what they were doing. But in a preseason game the coaches may or may not want to get all cute like that. Some coaches will, others just want to run their staples and put as little as possible on film for their future opponents.
The defense is good. No denying it. Ireland deserves credit for getting those players. But there is equally no question that the offensive line sucks, and even though I'm not an Ireland hater, I'm not the only one complaining. You get credit for what is good and criticisms for what is bad. That's life. I'm old enough to have watched the early 70's teams, and the one constant was a good; no, great, offensive line. Two Hall of Famers on the interior line, one who should be in the Hall, and two solid offensive tackles. Different times, different game, but until we put together the modern equivalent, it is going to be very difficult to go anywhere. Sorry, but I don't buy the idea that there is some magic that we are holding back until the regular season. I've seen pulls, traps and the like during preseason. The fact remains that when it's goal to go against a defense that is "aggressive in the red zone," or third and a long two, these guys have no solution except to throw it, just like Sparano didn't. It's because the o-line sucks. They're been trying different combinations of linemen throughout the pre-season and we're still struggling. That points to not having the horses at left tackle and right guard, two positions they had the opportunity to address in free agency and chose not to. There is a limit to building through the draft, finding acorns and developing your own players. When it becomes obvious that some of your guys on the line cannot get it done, you have to look to free agency unless the mistakes are mental and the guys are coachable in the short term. I see guys like Samuda who don't seem to have the physical ability, others who are rookies struggling to adjust, and others too hurt to practice. Maybe the injured guys will come back and make a difference. Since Ireland passed on the free agents, I sincerely hope so.
It really is ridiculous. The three keys to having a winning team are offensive line, a pass rush and a qb. I find it equally ridiculous that we couldn't find a pass rusher to play opposite wake for four years.
Wow some of you guys are incredulous. I wonder what some of your comments would have been if you were Tampa fans and the outcome was reversed. I guess you would be ready to lynch Ireland for his drafting of Tannehill and his 45QBR and I guess we would be totally rebuilding the offensive line. Do you really think are starting offensive line was going full out at the risk of injury in a meaningless game. I don't think Pouncey is that bad do you! The Tannehill boot leg was there all night I guess you feel we should have risked injury and cut him loose. Take a break we are looking better in all phases than we have for many years. I for one am really looking forward to this year!!!
The offense opened quickly but as soon as they hit the red zone on that first drive it was all run... What was with that? Tried forcing the run a few times when passing was good. Tannehill looked really good for the most part. Clay was really pissing me off. I think they should trade Moore while he has value.
It was short yardage work and we had in our worst short yardage back, Thomas. That's why that drive stalled. Gray would have gotten in.
Yea, that totally wasn't Lamar Miller trying to run it in on every attempted carry after the 4th down conversion or anything (1st and 5 at the 5, 1st and 4 at the 4, 2nd and 4 at the 4).
I thought DT looked descent the first 3, but not in this game. Gray looked more like a consistent running back. Once Miller gets in a full game, people will forget about Bush.
Additionally, we've had good pass rushers outside of Wake, just not necessarily at DE. We've also been 3rd (2009), 10th (2010 & 2011), and 7th (2012) in sacks the past 4 years.
The more pertinent question. how many teams who play in/win the super bowl/go deep in the playoffs have two really good pass rushers.
For those who saw the play since I missed it. Wondering if Wallace was close to the boundary and possibly got pushed out of bounds per RT's press conference. http://www.miamidolphins.com/news/article-1/Tannehill-Im-Excited-Where-The-Team-Is-At-This-Point/e4cf41dc-bf3b-4888-9be2-47da5cc70b8a (On what he saw on play where he pump-faked toward Wallace that caused him to hold back the throw) – “We had a double-move called on that play. He got pushed out of bounds on his double-move. I saw him widen out of bounds, and I don’t want to waste a throw. So I brought it down to the check down (receiver). There is not a whole lot that’s going to take you off of that, either a safety over the top, the corner stays really high or he gets pushed out of bounds. That’s about it.”
That would be a really good reason not to throw it. The only replay they showed us just had Wallace even or maybe slightly ahead but making contact. Of course that would have been after the point where Wallace would have been pushed out of bounds.
I thought Tannehill did a good job but he still has a long way to go. I saw that a couple times he threw into coverage. Another couple of times he didn't see wide open wrs. Accuracy was good but he'll want those back...All in all, not too bad.
A few observations upon re-watching the first half...(my dvr shut off at halftime) :/ Positives -Tannehill looks great. Not good....great. He's not Tom Brady yet or anything but he looks markedly better than last year. Ever since the HOF game, his decision making and timing have gotten much better. Really good to see. -Lamar Miller is going to be really good if he can stay healthy. If we can get him 15-20 carries a game, then I don't think he will disappoint. I'm excited to see what he can do in 4 quarters. - Our receivers look very solid as a group. Someone said it earlier, but it's possible that this is our best group in years. - Daniel Thomas will be ok this year. I counted 1 run in the first half where he had bad vision. His other runs, he simply had no shot to do anything d/t poor blocking. - Our first string d looks very solid. When Jordan comes back, and Jamar Taylor gets healthy, the D will be something to be with. - Run D looks really good thus far, although Doug Martin didn't play in this one. Negatives - The oline looks as though they still haven't grasped the art of ZBS. Several of the breakdowns in pass pro were the result of the lineman failing to efficiently pass each other the dlineman as they stunted and blitzed. Several times two lineman would block one guy and a blitzed would shoot a gap untouched to Tannehill. Not good. - I am a little afraid for Tannehill once the season starts because of the play of Jon Martin. I had been pleasantly surprised by the big fella this PS, but he was not good this game. As CK has said a few times, once the real bullets start flying and he's up against proven pass rushers almost weekly....idk. I'm a little worried. - As good as our D looked, Josh Freeman helped them out a lot. I counted 4 plays where Freeman had an open man and simply failed to get them the ball. Freeman was very bad in this game. - Spence(#97) repeatedly beat our interior lineman(Jerry, Samuda, and Pouncey) by lining up catercorner and just disrupting the play by knifing into the backfield. Must be corrected. Odds and Ends - This team looks like a 8-8 or 9-7 team with this schedule. The team looks 10x better than this time last year. And that's not an exaggeration. - OV flashed this week with a sack. - Jenkins is def making this team at LB. He replaced Wheeler a couple of times in the Nickel D. - Gerald McCoy was all over the field. He's a big time player. Lavonte David is also really good at LB for them. Very impressed with Spence as well. Their D should be really good when Revis comes back. - I'm really looking forward to this season, but next year should be the year where this team really makes some noise with a deep playoff run.
You mean the play where Thomas was hit as soon as he received the handoff in the backfield? The run blocking failed miserably on that play, not Thomas (though he didn't play great overall).