They did make a stop...it was a pick 6 so they had to go right back out there. WADR, you're not being reasonable in your expectations in that scenario. You simply cannot play better defense than a Pick 6. It just ended up keeping them on the field too long.
They had a pick 6! The problem with pick 6's, however, is that your right back on defense afterwards.
Once again. I never said they played a terrible game. I am simply stating during stretches they were bad. Don't think that one great play by 1 individual and say our defense came up with a stop. Our defense just let them drive it 80 yards. Then Grimes made a play. Then our defense let them drive it 80 yards again. Then after the quarter change gave up 2 straight drives again. Again, make a stop on 3rd down before complaining about being on the field for to long. We all know our offense wasn't good in the 2nd half. But offense didn't get much of a chance because our defense couldn't get off the field.
I didn't say you said they were horrible. Driving 80 yards happens to every defense. What doesn't is a pick 6 from the redzone. I think you're too married to this notion about the defense tonight. They were gassed after the opening drive of the 2nd half. That's why the next drive happened as did the next couple after that. The offense barely took the field. It happens.
Right. But your making excuses, I understand their tired. It happens. Just muster up another stop. Bengals ran like 95 plays tonight. That can't happen.
I know this is has been talked on here before but why does Tannehill after each and every play continue to reveal to the defense what the play is going to be. Run or Pass. Go=Pass Go Go=Run? Has anyone figured out why his snap count is so simplistic that they have not changed it by now?
Dude its not an excuse, its an explanation. I guarantee you that if Grimes only gets it back to the 50 and our offense mounts a drive from there, the defense is different because they would have had time to rest. The defense was playing better tonight than they had been.
He definitely changed it up a little tonight. 100% heard go go on pass tonight and just go on a run. Also tried a hard count to pull the bengals off and it didnt work, which meant the defense was not keying on it.
Omar said he talked to some people about it. I guess people around the league and they told him that it doesn't really matter. The defense can't really get an advantage over it.
I don't think the "gassed and tired" excuse is a valid one. It is a fact that they were tired, there is no sense arguing this, however this was a lot of their own doing. They allowed a humongous amount of plays to the Bengals because they keep making good plays on 1st and 2nd down, only to allow, sometimes long, completions on 3rd down and starting all over again. Again I grant you the extenuating circumstance created from the long drive, pick 6, long drive, situation, however they had a lot to do in it, and throughout the game because they simply were poor today at finishing drives.
I think I counted seven converted 3rd and 7+ yards in regulation by the Bengals. This is becoming more of a trend with this defense. Is it schematics? Players not making adjustments/plays? Little bit of both? Also concerning is the lack of a Lousaka Polite-type battering ram. Converting those 3rd and shorts AND getting off of the field as a defense on those 3rd and longs are Football 101 basics that should favor the team in that position. It seems the other way around. I think fixing those two things could dramatically change the games in the future. Being on the losing side in those two categories, thus far, seems to put them into these close games where they are fighting for dear life (on either side of the ball) towards the end of the game. Change these two things, and we might start seeing more definitive wins with Miami in the victory formation at the end. I do like the fact the run game seems legitimate. I also appreciate the wrinkle with Egnew in the backfield and bringing in the extra lineman. EDIT I think they passed twice out of that formation tonight; and, in the future, could set up a play action to Egnew for a big gain on some unsuspecting linebacker cheating up or biting.
I don't buy that as an explanation more then an excuse. It's a football game. We know they may get tired. An injury is an explanation. An injury is not an excuse. Saying Lamar miller ran out of sideline is an excuse, not an explanation. He knows how big the field is. Look I'm not saying that don't bring up the fact that their tired, because I agree. They had to be exhausted. But they make the big bucks and train their bodies for the tired times. If your tired, muster up a stop. Plenty of teams in the NFL do it. We do it too. We just didn't do it in the 2nd half until 4th quarter drop by Sanu.
Like I said you're too married to your stance to accept some facts. Games are fluid and no team plays a game perfectly. 80 yard drives happen. If they don't end in offensive points, then the D did a good job. The D had played lights out until the second drive of the 3rd quarter where they were legitimately gassed. They weren't gassed because of any flaw in their training or prep. They were gassed because they defended a long 80 yard drive, sprinted 90+ yards int he other direction and had to go right back out there again. Any D on any team would be gassed in that scenario. They were playing way better than they had been. You'll notice they played great in the first half, and great towards the end of reg and in OT.
Was a great throw too. At first I thought it was overthrown, but seeing the replay it would have been right on the money if Wallace isn't tackled.
If you key off tannehill, it becomes miamis advantage. There's no pro dlineman in the nfl who doesn't watch the ball.
Oh yeah, trust me. I've thought about it a bit. Especially because it was a deep ball. Tannehill did a great job looking off the safety and threw a perfect ball. But walk-off safety, that's special.
Miami Defense forced 4 turnovers, created 5 sacks, scored 9 points, and if Bernard were tackled for a loss on that one ridiculous run we would've limited their ground game to 3.37 yards per carry. That ONE missed tackle prevented this game from being a dominant defensive effort. AJ Green is gonna get his; he's AJ Green after all. However, in the redzone we cinched down nicely on their passing game, including nabbing the pick 6.
Defence played great despite the offence not moving the chains enough to get some time of possession. Wake is back with a vengeance. Grimes and Patterson are great corners. I hope Patterson isn't too badly injured. What was the Dolphins offensive 3rd down conversion rate? Why doesn't Sherman call FB dive to Clay on every 3rd or 4th and 1 ala Polite? It would be an automatic conversion!
Defense fought hard and never gave up. I HATE THE BEND BUT DONT BREAK!!!!!! dont think they were playing it? look at the off coverage. Thats allowing them yardage. Didnt play it all the time but its maddening that our dbs are 10 yards off on a 3rd and 3. Also, I would never ever have RJ stanford on AJ Green with no safety over the top. couldnt fathom they didnt pick on that every time they saw it. With that said Stanford did good, it is just that to even ask him to stay with AJ Green 1 on 1 is stupid IMO. If he is that good he should be on the field more. Defense was on the field so much because they couldnt get off. cant blame the offense for that when they didnt even touch the ball until there was 2 minutes left in the 3rd. so if you are going to say anything about them not folding onto the ball longer, I say that I wish they would have 2, but it was one drive that they made plays but came up short. it isnt there fault defense gives up a 3rd and 10 and a 3rd and 16 on that drive before they get the ball. That is my biggest beef, 3rd and 7 and longer the defense needs to get off teh field 70% or more of the time 3rd and 16? hell thats 99% of the time. Sherman didnt give up on the run, he just didnt have numerous opportunities. 4 rushes in how many overall attempts? and the last drive before OT we couldnt run so those attempts dont count. I love that this team didnt give up and they beat a very good team. But we need to get healthy, we need to make tackles for goodness sake. When you have a back wrapped in the backfield, keep him wrapped up. Looks like we nee to hit the weight room at times as if we arent strong enough. OH and RT was great tonight.
How about a 71% completion percentage, 208 yards a TD and no turnovers. If he plays like that every game, we can beat anybody.
Man, I don't think I've been as emotionally spent as that watching the game for a while, that was nerve-shredding. The win was huge though, I think I'd have been looking out the knives if we'd lost another game from 14 points ahead. It was great that Tannehill, the offense and a redeeming Sturgis kick were the ones to get us into OT, and great that Tannehill to Wallace was the play that really got us in position to win the game. But it was especially sweet that Wake, after the game he'd had, was the one to win the game outright for us. The Kraken is back! Oh, and how Sherman must have been swallowing crow at committing to the run so extensively. Yes, we didn't run it much in the 2nd half, but I don't put as much blame on him for that as usual, we just didn't have the ball enough.
Well, that wasn't the University of the Pacific out there last night, either. It was a division leading professional team that wanted to bury the Dolphins. Yeah, a long drive to open the third. I was screaming at the TV (well, mentally, Wife would have interrupted the game with a yellow flag for "Waking the Neighbors, 5 minutes No Game" penalty.) We don't have a good LB corps - they are more fair to middlin' - on a good day. We and need a thumper at MLB in a very bad way! Anyhoo! A long drive is going to happen against the best teams. Against this D right now.. it was a very good sign that someone stood up and made a play - and scored a TD. AND, they stood up against being gashed and gassed in the 2nd half, and against 93 plays (I think I saw listed) and came up with the stops, and the safety to win the game. That is something to build on for the rest of the season. Dalton had 16 TDs - but none last night! Good starting point. Aside from that one completely phenomenal run by Bernardi - the run D was 'adequate' at best - far too many missed tackles - which is a trend and needs to be addressed. The Offense: That line, despite being down 2 [("Starters")] managed to almost look like a - well - at least 'professional' line last night. Did someone stick a blowtorch down someone's briefs? Does anyone have the grades on McKinney and Garner? How about Clabo? They made some mistakes, but appeared to my eyes to play better than in recent memory. All in all - given how things looked yesterday AM - I am happier than two pigs in a peach orchard right now!
There always missed plays and bad things that happen and points left on the field in every game. We're upset it wasn't a perfect game? F*** that. We've been robbed by refs all season with BS calls or non-calls. The GD pats win controversial games like this all the time. You'd think we had lost the way some people are reacting. We overcame a s*** ton of adversity the past few weeks and this week leading into the game. The team hung together. Not pretty, but it's a win. After hearing all week how we would lose and had no chance. ENJOY IT.
I understand complaining about the pats game with calls. But are we seriously complaining about this game? We got hosed on a couple plays. But are we forgetting the holding call on Gresham that wiped out a touchdown. And that helmet to helmet from Jimmy Wilson on that pick by Ellerbe. That is a penalty 99 times out of 100. Officiating was bad all around.
that was clearly a hold on wheeler. he held for only second but that second was what kept wheeler from potentially getting there. jimmy wilsons hit was also not a penalty as the reciever was not defenseless.
That "hold" on wheeler didnt keep him from going anywhere. In fact he peeled off the blocked immediately. Had he kept going toward the sideline and was held I would understand. Gresham blocked him for a split second, the runner was past Wheeler instantly, which is why he peeled off and ran back instantly. And please, that was a helmet to helmet by Wilson. It is a penalty regardless of defenseless receiver or not.
In OT when we had the ball on our own 40, and it was 4th and 1, was anybody else pissed that when didn't go for it? Obviously it worked out for us but at the time I was smoking.
Sherman was great. He got them several times. Too bad we don't have playmakers on offense. Both Wallace and Miller pooped their jockstrap instead of scoring. Oline blocked on 3rd and shorts, but RBs can recognize the hole. Wheeler's been piss poor at hitting the backfield and tackling. Coverage is OK. I think he'd be more effective delaying his reactions by a second or two rather then presnap blitzing to a spot and getting caught out of position, every time. Offense is laboring to score 13 a game, and that is due to skill positions or lack of it. Best offseason acquisitions are sidelined for the rest of the season. The remainder of spending looks waisted, including all draft picks. There is still too much room for improvement. Good win, the D was awesome, but same problems remain and will remain for foreseeable future. Same on special teams, Sturgis and Thigpen suck, the two scoring skill guys.
I've been critical of Sherman in past games, and maybe he's just to the point where he's not going to please anyone, but personally, I thought it was one of his best overall games as far as play-calling. I'm always going to question a few things -- and in this game, one example was third and inches and we eschewed a QB sneak for a slow-developing hand-off to Thomas -- but I'd question some calls from anyone. Overall, though, I thought he was on it last night. The first half, as you say, we ran the ball for 142 yards. He didn't switch from his game plan at all in the first half. For all our running dominance, though, because of a missed FG and a Miller fumble we only led 10-3 instead of what could have been a 20-3 laugher in the first half. The second half needs some context. Our offense didn't touch the ball until 2:10 left of the 3rd quarter. And while, yeah, we led 17-3, it wasn't like our offense even had the chance to choke. The Bengals had two 6 1/2 minute drives in a row. By the time our offense touches the ball in the second half... totally cold and out of rhythm at this point... what play do we call? We call a run that loses a yard or two. So it's second and about 12, and so he chooses to go with a short pass that is completed for 8 yards. 3rd and 3, which in the NFL is usually a passing down. We throw a complete short outside curl pass to Hartline, but he's flagged for an (a bogus?) offensive pass interference penalty. So now it's 3rd and 13. We run a screen which isn't a bad call, but don't pick up the first down. And that's it. That's the third quarter. Which play did we abandon the run at this point? Was it the 2nd and 11? The 3rd and 3? I'd argue against either. We ran three plays (and another one that was penalized), and because of circumstance, we passed twice and ran once. If you're blaming Sherman at this point, you're critical pass the point of debate. The Bengals score pretty quickly in the 4th, and now it's 17-17. We get the ball back, and complete a 14-yard pass to Wallace. Good play. Next play we go back to the run. Now, at this point we run Daniel Thomas to the outside, which isn't a play I have a lot of hope for, and we're stopped for no gain. 2nd and ten. I guess we could continue to run, but it can go either way here. Tannehill completes two passes in a row, a six yard pass first, but then Wallace is short of the first on a slant he jumps up for instead of running thru. Yeah, we could have run on second and 10. We did it in the first half, but 2nd and ten is generally a passing down in the NFL and so is 3rd and 4. So far in the 2nd half, our running game is 2 for -2. We next get the Ellerbe INT, and our first three plays after that are three handoffs to Miller, the first for 11 yards (first down) and the next two for no gain and, on 2nd and 10, for four yards. On 3rd down, we pass to Hartline, who in interfered with, but the Dolphins don't get the call. However you want to slice that, none of that is abandoning the run in the second half. Our last possession, down 20-17 starting with one time out and 1:24 left starting at the 20... well, if you run in that situation, you're kind of cutting of your nose to spite your face... or... you're an idiot. Tannehill was great in that drive, as were Matthews, Clay, and Hartline, and we end up tying the game on Sturgis' field goal. All the plays on that drive, most probably called by Sherman, were pretty good. Sherman's between a rock and a hard place. I don't think he can win for losing. IN CONTEXT, last night, all things considered, he did a pretty admirable job. I certainly haven't liked his play-calling in several games (or halves of games) this year, but I kind of think last night, if you're killing him, I just think he's past the point of no return in your eyes. He called a good, pounding it, first half. In the second half, the Dolphins offense were victims of circumstances with two questionable PI calls (one offensive, the other a no-call that appeared to be PI), and a third quarter where the defense couldn't get the other team off the field (but did get a pick-six, thankfully). I sort of think some Dolphins fans are being hyper-critical at this point.
What's interesting to me is that Tannehill's numbers are no lower in terms of yardage than usual. The team is starting to figure out an approach that can carry them.
It would be hard to rip a defense that forced 4 turnovers, scored 9 points and got 6 sacks against Dalton. Then you factor in that they were on the field way too much in the 2nd half. If anything, it is a testament to their heart to still fight in overtime to put us in a position to win this game. They weren't perfect but they were certainly good enough to win this football game against a top 10 offense.
