It is quite the daunting task for a first year head coach and a young team to go into Seattle looking for a win on week one. An advantage we do have is that the Seahawks have no idea as to Gase's tendencies or what might be buried in the playbook, plus we don't have to try to stop Marshawn Lynch. If we play smart, can force a turnover or two, and eliminate stupid penalties, I think we have a chance. If we can't stop the run or pressure Wilson, it could get ugly quick.
I won't pretend that we aren't serious underdogs. However, our best chance is to put a lot of pressure on Wilson and hopefully force a few turnovers, while not turning the ball over ourselves. Big plays on our side aren't very likely, so we need to control the clock as best we can, get first downs, and try to win the field position battle. Maybe a good return or two can set us up. And obviously the revamped OL needs to protect Ryan a lot better than the lines did the past several seasons.
I think our best chance lies in the unpredictability that often comes in the first few games, but the truth is, we are the team installing new systems, with a first time HC and DC, playing on their home turf, so we are likely to make more mistakes then they are. Still, early in the season, things can be unpredictable.
We are going to have to run the ball with some success too. It is going to be hard to do anything against that defense, but if they sit back on the pass the whole game it is going to be hard for Tannehill to get anything.
Special teams, and throw the kitchen sink at them. Fakes, onsides, misdirection. Limit mistakes and try to create mistakes on the other side. They just match up well. Their one big weak spot is OL, which is masked by Wilson's mobility, and our pass rush has been tepid so far. We have to take care of business and hopefully we get lucky on ST. That is how upsets often go.
If this is a normal game we lose, undoubtedly we lose, and perhaps we even lose big. If Vance Jones turns this game into Reshad Jones versus Russell Wilson, we win; perhaps even a blowout. I'm not talking spy. I'm talking about Jones dogging Wilson on every pass play. There are few people in the NFL that can snare Wilson on their own. Reshad Jones is one of the best open field tacklers to ever play the game. He should have been first team All Pro last year. Our front seven have 0 chance of consistently disrupting Russell Wilson. He is just too smart and elusive. Koa Misi and Spencer Paysinger should see very few snaps in this one if we are going to win. Reshad Jones needs to function as a LB in this one. Kudos and Michael Thomas can handle safety just fine. Everyone thinks they are going to run on us. I disagree. Their OL isn't that powerful and their lead RB had no preseason. If they beat us it will be on the force of Wilson's savvy and accuracy out of the scramble.
crazy to think big plays on our side arent very likely when we have guys like DeVante Parker, Kenny Stills, Arian Foster, Jordan Cameron, etc...but fact of the matter is its true due to these guys either being constantly injured or past their prime.
I want to win, but yes we are big underdogs. If we hold them to 21 points or less and score two TDs and a FG ourselves , looking decent along the way, I won't feel too bad about it. Losing 21-17 to a Superbowl favorite would not be bad. Winning would be incredible.
Yeah, good points made by other posters. Whatever the result, I'm just happy football is back!!! And I think it's good we're playing a SB favorite right up front. It gives us a no-bull**** assessment of where we are. I'll be satisfied if individual units match up well, like seeing our OL provide good protection for Tannehill, or seeing our defense isn't as bad as I think it is (haha.. yeah right eh?). And yeah, our DL better not crap the bed against their OL because that's their only real weak spot. Last thing I'll add: don't forget the Patriots vs. Cardinals game Sunday night. That's a close 2nd for me in terms of interest. We'll get a better idea of how good Belichick is without Brady. He wasn't good before Brady came along, but did really well in 2008 when Brady was hurt. More data on this is definitely welcome and might give us some realistic hope of beating them the next game depending on what we see. Either way, NE has a real good shot of going 0-1 here!
Honestly, Id feel better if we lost 42-35. If we can put up yards and points on their passing defense, it would be a wonderful sign.
I have very low expectations for our LB and CB units, especially early. If that happens against one of the best teams in the league, I won't be shocked.
That's why the best sign would be if our D turns out to be better than expected.... if our D out-performs expectations, and the Offense is as-hoped-for, we could be a 10 win team. If our D plays well below-average though, we are closer to a 6 win team.
Dont think we will win but to keep it close we have to convert lots of first downs... Because this defense is going to give up lots of chunk yards
For me 1) Stick to the running game. In the last few years when we played a good team the instant they got a lead we abandoned the run and they would crank up the pass defense. Even if we're only getting 2 ypc just keep their LBs and Safeties honest and let our receivers have space to work in. I don't mean 50-50 run pass, more not getting into 75-25 or 80-20 territory. 2) Get interior pressure onto Wilson. I know the focus of the wide 9 is on the DEs, but against Wilson, he has the ability to juke back or forwards from DEs coming from the side. We need interior pressure to force him sideways, hopefully towards a converging Wake or Williams. 3) Solid tackling and good positional play from our LBs. If the Seahawks force us to put 8 men in the box to stop the run then our CBs will have a long long afternoon. 4) Let the new pass attack rip. Lets see these wrinkles we've been keeping under wraps, and hopefully the 'hawks won't be prepared to defend them properly.
Leave it to our QB http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/20121...gameinfo|contentId:0ap2000000101715&tab=recap
Our best chance to win is to force them to be one-dimensional by stifling the running game. Having said that, I don't see that happening.
We don't. Seattle is better in every phase. I mean, do we have a single unit that we can outright say is better? Seattle is going to put it in the butt. Not going to be a fun day for us. And Monday-Saturday on this board is going to be miserable, despite the fact the gods have chosen us to be 0-1 no matter what. Thankfully, I've got Russell Wilson in fantasy. So it will soften the blow.
Have to get a lead early. Tough to play from behind against this team once they get some momentum. Gotta get a jump on them in the 1Q.
i would love to see how our run d responds against them, their oline is on par with our oline last year, maybe even worse
This has trap game written all over it for Seattle. Gonna be fun to see what Gase does. The motto for the week should be "no ****s given." We should be loose as hell and flying around having fun. There is absolutely no reason to give a **** about the outcome of this game. A game which is already over to most NFL fans.
Agreed. Gotta have CBs who can play man if you want to overplay the run without giving up big plays thru the air.
Their OL has never been good the past several years, hasn't stopped them from being a great team. Almost unbeatable at home. I'm hoping Wilson has a few of his brain farts that turn into turnovers, and that our D can lock down in the red zone.
IMO if we stop the run and don't abandon the run on offense that everything else will take care of itself.
One of the main weaknesses of Seattle was that Wilson was sacked 45 times last year, same as RT. Can Miami exploit this? Take a look at this: https://www.profootballfocus.com/pro-ranking-all-32-nfl-offensive-lines-entering-the-2016-season/ Can Miami actually win the Line of Scrimmage (Miami's D vs Seattle's O) and control the game?
Seattle's offense is nothing to be afraid of, in a vacuum. But matched with their defense, the physical running game and Wilson's ability to create, they wear defenses down over the course of the game. They force trams to overplay the run then take advantage using play action to go down the field, something Wilson excels at. Miami is small up front, especially at LB and there's no big run stuffer in the middle of the DL. I worry about Alonso and Paysinger having to fill and make tackles vs a physical run game or getting sucked into the LOS and exposing a shaky secondary to play action. Joseph says he wants to play fast and aggressive, tthis game will test whether he means it in a major way. After watching the OL in the preseason I'm confident they will struggle to open lanes in the run game, I feel much better about pass pro. If Ajayi and Foster can eek out some positive runs the offense will be OK but I expect Tannehill will have to do most of the work with his arm.
They have a pretty good offense even without their defense. Of course, the great defense helps but the defense isn't the primary reason that team has such a high ranked offense. Yeah it's something our defense has to be afraid of.
Maybe, maybe not. Game ones are often a mystery. Even great teams sometimes start slow. If you were to ask me which team was likely to have a better record at the end then I would say Seattle b/c they are a more talented team with an established winning culture. But in one game in the first game of the season? IMO it's 50/50. Seattle hasn't looked great this preseason. They're expected starting back hasn't played all preseason. Miami's starters have looked both great and terrible. Our run defense was horrid in one game but looked incredible in another game. Tannehill had arguably the best day of any QB in the preseason. In the NFL the talent is close enough that even the worst team will blow out the best if the best comes out flat and the lesser team comes out hot. And I don't see Miami as the worst team in the league. They're probably about middle of the road talent wise. So I would not say it was "very unlikely".
Just gonna point out there is no greater underdog than the Dolphins for week 1. Betting markets expect us to lose by 10+ points. (4:1 odds of winning basically). I don't quite agree with this 50/50 thing. Of course that does mean they're saying we have a chance!
