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my impressions after week 3

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by adamprez2003, Sep 26, 2016.

  1. adamprez2003

    adamprez2003 Senior Member

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    Week Four is the real start of the regular season. A lot of people think it's week one but not every team is ready to play week one. By week four most teams have settled into who they are going to be for the rest of the season. The only exceptions usually are those teams that have new coaches and new systems in place. For them (and we are one of those teams) it can take eight weeks for everybody to get on the same page. Anyone that plays survivor pools can attest to the huge amount of upsets the first three weeks of each season. The upsets tend to diminish from here on out. Are Carolina, Arizona and Cincinnati going to finish the season under .500? Doubtful. Will Chicago and Cleveland? Probably. I bring this up only as a counter to all those who are making season long predictions about our team at this stage. We will be a better team week eight than we are now. How much? That we'll have to wait to find out. And for that reason I won't be making declarations about the team in this thread. Just certain observations

    Coaching: I like Gase and I like the offense that he's building. We seem to have made our first seasonal adjustment in offensive philosophy. It looked in week one like we were going to be a short dink and dunk passing team. It seems to me that we are transitioning out of that now to becoming an intermediate passing team which means 10 to 20 yard passes instead of dump offs and three yard quick hitters. I think the success of the pass blocking by our oline has precipitated that. of course with longer passes, our oline will need to hang in there for an extra second or two. Jenkins was manhandled yesterday, but I believe he was injured, so hopefully its not an issue going forward. I think Billy Turner replaced him on the last drive. Personally I think the intermediate passing attacks are the most effective and dangerous so I am thrilled we are finally going to that kind of attack. I'll take the extra sacks and turnovers for the threat of quick death especially since every defense started playing us short and daring us to throw long.

    In terms of the first three game I noticed we are getting out gameplanned every single week. We make great adjustments at halftime but we are severely outcoached prior to the game. We really need to improve our opening scripts and do things more counter to our tendencies. Hue Jackson had a great and unique gameplan that I can understand how we weren't prepared for. (six man standing on the defensive line and you have to figure out who's rushing and who's dropping back prior to the snap so you can get your blocking protection in place/ terrelle pryor running the wildcat and subbing with the third stringer) But the Patriots and Seahawks we should have had better game plans to start the game. We played right into their hands. New England seemed to know our plays better than our own players in the first half

    Regarding the running game, I think Drake offers us the best explosiveness and allows us to work the edges. Ajayi seems to be coming back from the doghouse. Would like to see a bit more Pead. But the main problem is the blocking. I can;t tell yet whether its an individual problem or a cohesiveness problem. Is Pouncey missing the problem? I think Gase really need this to be priority number one but I think it still takes another four weeks before we have an answer as to whether this oline will be capable off run blocking or not.

    With Devontae playing our receivers are fine. I would like to see them improve their route running a bit in that there are alot of plays where nobody gets open but its not so egregious that it hampers us too much.

    I think Tannehill is playing fine but he hasnt had that complete A+ game yet. Its start and stop so far. When defenses do something completely unexpected like the six man standing DLine he gets confused and unsure. Just call a play and run it. If it doesnt work you have another 50 or 60. Dont overthink it

    On defense I have no idea what we have. We are just inconsistent as hell. We are not on the same page on many plays. We miss gap assignments and assignments in general. . I think this is a clear case of a new scheme not being figured out by week three and its probably going to take us the full eight weeks before the defense really figures out how to play within it

    Finally, One thing I would like to see is Jakeem Grant tried out in the slot again. five or ten plays thats it. the guy is so elusive that I want to see if we can get him in a position to make some plays
     
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  2. slickj101

    slickj101 Is Water

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    Yup just tons of inconsistency, which should of been expected.

    Losing Pouncy and the revolving door at C has probably been the biggest thorn in our side so far.
     
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  3. gunn34

    gunn34 I miss Don & Dan

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    Not having any guards hurts the most to me. You can't plug in a tackle and expect him to drive people backwards and open holes. Tackles don't do that.
     
  4. adamprez2003

    adamprez2003 Senior Member

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    i think thats the main problem too. you have guys that have been taught to seal block and now you are asking them to drive block. but pouncey missing may also hurt more than we thought. that and the line has to play as one and not five individuals
     
  5. DolphinGreg

    DolphinGreg Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Nice post Adam—Very well thought out.

    I agree that the first month is unpredictable. Yesterday was a microcosm of that. I can’t think of a single game yesterday that went according to plan other than maybe SD vs Indy.

    Look at it all…

    Houston did nothing and got blown out by NE with a 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] string QB.
    Seimian unexpectedly shredded the Bengals D in road win.
    Bradford took Vikes to 3-0 beating the Panthers in Carolina.
    The Bills bounced back as they blew out Arizona.
    Fitz threw 5 picks and the Jets get blown out by KC in a game featuring almost no offense.
    Pittsburg’s offense looked inept against Philly as they get blown out.
    Miami barely edged Cleveland in OT.

    At least Miami came out with a win. Jesus, what a week!?

    In terms of Drake and Parker, I totally agree. I thought Parker looked significantly sharper in the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] half this week versus where he was in the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] half last week. Let’s hope it just too a few drives for him to get up to regular season speed. He was running hard and fighting from the get go against Cleveland. The downside is that our WRs really ought to have had a field day against the Browns inexperienced secondary. Nevertheless, I saw the effort I wanted to see from Parker which is good news.

    In terms of the RBs, I have no doubt that Drake is the best weapon right now. Ajayi is fast but he has no patience or vision. He runs as hard as he can as soon as he’s got the ball which has and will continue to result in big hits. I imagine he’ll eventually get hurt. I’m sorry to say it but Ajayi just doesn’t look like an NFL-caliber runner at this point. Drake on the other hand seems to be handling the NFL traffic far better. The speed and the explosiveness you mentioned make him a formidable 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] down back.

    In terms of how I view Gase and Tannehill right now, it’s tough to say. I think Gase has put a lot on the QB’s plate. So far Tannehill appears to be getting guy in position but he still looks a little frazzled reading the defense and making the requisite adjustments at the line. It’ll be interesting how much that improves over the course of the season.

    I’m inclined to believe that the frustration we saw yesterday from Gase was a product of his coming to the realization that he’s just not getting the level of performance he had hoped for. I think you know what I mean when I say that the vibe had gotten eerily positive prior to week-1. I feel like expectations got a little too high. There was too much talk about audibles, weapons and stat projections and not enough about how realistic the chances were that this offense was going to struggle with inconsistency and a real lack of run-blocking along the interior of the line.

    I go back to what Bruschi said a week ago. The first month is really where you figure out what you can and can’t do as a play-caller. The rest of the season really becomes your best attempt at winning games around whatever you’ve got. Right now, I think Gase may be realizing that any sort of intermediate passing game is going to be tougher to install that he imagined. I think it’s also clear that Peyton Manning was making a very complex and dynamic offense look a heck of a lot easier than it really is.
     
  6. DolphinGreg

    DolphinGreg Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I'm mixed on Pouncey. I think he's a good C in terms of what his athleticism brings but he struggles handling strong DTs one on one (as do most).

    So why have so much money tied up at the C position? It doesn't make sense. Why have so much tied up in a guy who misses time nearly every year?
     
  7. cbrad

    cbrad .

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    Good teams don't tie up lots of money on the OL, period.

    It's a zero-sum game with the salary cap. We've just had ****ty OL coaches (and a GM I guess) for so long.
     
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  8. DolphinGreg

    DolphinGreg Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I agree. Look no further than NE to see a well-coached O-line that can trot out back-ups and rookies who look more stable than some of our starters.

    Totally agree. It's been a sad story in Miami.
     
  9. vt_dolfan

    vt_dolfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    Thats more a product of the system they run. When your QB is getting the ball out of his hand in less then 2 seconds...you really dont need that great of an offensive line. But if you match up against a team, like they did Denver, who can press NE's WRs and keep them from all their rub routes..screens etc..and the QB has to actually hold on to the ball, well...you lose and that is what happened in the AFC Championship game.
     
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  10. adamprez2003

    adamprez2003 Senior Member

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    thats an excelllent point Bruschi made about the first month, especially for a new coach who is familiarizing himself with his roster for the first time. I think you are going to see a change to the oline shortly if things dont improve run blocking wise and maybe hewitt becoming a starter at LB. I thought he played really well

    but you're right. you start the season thinking you could do a,b,c,d,e,f and after the first month you realize you're only good at a,b,c average at d and god awful at e and f and then you adjust to your strengths and weaknesses
     
  11. adamprez2003

    adamprez2003 Senior Member

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    both the panthers and steelers have centers being paid more than ours. as for overall offensive line spending this is probably the last year for brandon albert since tunsil will probably take over his spot next year so even with pouncey who is signed for five years our spending on the oline is pretty much the same with everyone else's starting next year. if we get rid of pouncey then we will be spending less on the oline then almost any other team, though i'm not sure how much thatwould cost us in dead money
     
  12. Pandarilla

    Pandarilla Purist Emeritus

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    I thought Hewitt deserved to start based on last season. I thought it was a mistake to start Jenkins. It's turned out that way.

    Our defense isn't bad, it's just been overworked. Culliver, Butler and Dion Jordan could all be upgrades by the time they suit up.

    It looks like Jakeem Grant and Leonte Carroo will be second half of the season types that play when the season is lost. Browns did a masterful job negating Jakeem's touches. Only saw Carroo looking like a heavyweight boxer on the sidelines. His mug is a cross between Holyfield and Jerry Stack House. I think we're all looking for a spark from both.

    Drake turns out to be a good selection. Hope we get one of those beastly rb's in next year's draft.

    I always liked Sims over Cameron at TE. We still have Duarte on the practice squad.

    Overall, I'd say we're right on schedule for what you would expect. Our offense is still learning and it's hampering the team overall. I wouldn't want to play us once the offense comes together.

    The good news is that we seem to have enough talent to avoid a complete rebuild.
     
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  13. slickj101

    slickj101 Is Water

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    Also surprised nobody is talking about that fumble 6 that was blown dead. Arm going forward my balls.
     
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  14. slickj101

    slickj101 Is Water

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    Plenty of good teams wish they would of. Look at Seattle and Indy.
     
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  15. adamprez2003

    adamprez2003 Senior Member

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    I liked Hewitt last year but wasnt sold on him replacing jenkins. this year i think it might be a move we need to do soon.
     
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  16. dolphin25

    dolphin25 Well-Known Member

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    Hewitt was making some plays out there. Seems to be getting it now.
     
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  17. Rocky Raccoon

    Rocky Raccoon Greasepaint Ghost Staff Member

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    He should be starting at this point. Jenkins is not only injured, but has been pretty bad.
     
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  18. rafael

    rafael Well-Known Member

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    I've personally always divided the season into quarters. When I analyzed teams I tried to look at their last 4 games to figure out what they're doing well and poorly currently.
     
  19. brandon27

    brandon27 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Nice post. Good job, thanks for taking the time!

    There's some positives with Gase. If I'm not mistaken I thought someone was showing in another thread that our offensive average yards per play are up, I haven't checked the numbers, but I'd think our PPG is up too. I mean, Seattle was a tough game, we all know that against that D. Against NE, even with a slow start, we still scored 24 or something like that in the last half. We put up 24 in regulation, and 30 in total against Cleveland. Mind you, we underachieved and struggled there as well. But there's some encouraging signs there I think. Especially if this unit can find consistency, and find a way to improve it's running game. I wonder if adding a FB would be something we do, doesn't seem to be something Gase includes in his offense, but we could use the extra run blocking help. If we could get a running game going, that would be a huge help. The halftime adjustments have been spot on all 3 weeks, so that's also encouraging. I'm not sure if its gameplanning, consistency, or the team coming out flat that's killing us in the first half, but it's got to be fixed.

    I agree with you on Drake. He looked pretty good Sunday. Have to see him against better competition, but I think our RB's are all limited right now with what little run blocking they're getting from our OL. Ryan Tannehill is the team's leading rusher right now. 12 carries, 54 yards. Drake is at 11 for 49, Ajayi 12 for 42. Foster 16 for 47. That area has to improve.

    I'd agree that Parker out there, seems to open up this offense more for us at times. Hopefully the team can use his performance on the field to show him what he could really be capable of if he toughens up, and takes his craft more seriously.

    I think we've seen some improvement from Tannehill so far, but we've also seen some instances where you just scratch your head and think... boy, I've seen that before from him. That second half against NE was pretty flawless. He played well for a good stretch against Cleveland to give us the lead, and that play in OT that set up the Ajayi TD run, buying sometime, Waiting for Landry to come free, getting that ball off in time while getting smoked, that's what you want to see and what many will call a clutch play. That being said, he's missed some easy reads, easy passes, and I thought he had chances to make things happen a few times with his legs against Cleveland but didn't do so.

    I think the big thing here at this point, is consistency. I know it sucks that we're 1 and 2, but Lets be honest about it too. We opened on the road in Seattle, then New England. That's a tough, tough start for a team with a new system, new OL with a backup C, no real proven RB (foster has basically missed 2 games now), many new pieces on D, and a shaky secondary starting a rookie CB. You'd have to expect some inconsistency there. Unfortunately it is what it is. What we should be looking for now is this team starting to gel, and that consistency should, and needs to come, from everyone.
     
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  20. adamprez2003

    adamprez2003 Senior Member

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    I do the same. Once you get to a super bowl contending team you just want to go 3-1 every quarter. Hopefully that will be us soon
     
  21. adamprez2003

    adamprez2003 Senior Member

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    That's exactly what I want to see now. Just start to gel as a one cohesive unit. Then we can figure out the weak pieces, what we need to emphasize and what we need to compensate for. I think we're on pace. I swear I haven't been this excited since parcells first year. Hopefully year two is a lot better though lol
     

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