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Spoiler-Free Thoughts on Dolphins/Ravens

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by KeyFin, Aug 25, 2018.

  1. KeyFin

    KeyFin Well-Known Member

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    Since not many of you saw the game tonight, I'll keep this one short and sweet without referencing the score. Just some random thoughts on the 1st half when our starters were playing-

    1) Tannehill looked pretty good once he got going....but it seemed to take him a while to get that momentum. The pass blocking looked really good and we also tore loose a couple of really good runs. The blocking is extremely encouraging.

    2) I'm wondering if it was "rape night" in South Florida because Wake and Gisecki were getting screwed left and right. I counted six blatant holds on Wake in the first quarter and three on Gisecki, including that potential TD throw where the defender hung all over him for 14 yards and tried to tackle him while the ball was in the air. We had four brand new refs tonight but good lord....they missed a heck of a lot.

    3) Folks, I almost think Quinn has a better motor than Wake- both of them owned the backfield tonight and delivered excellent pressure. Quinn can turn on a dime moving full speed and it simply defies logic. If we are playing with a lead this season, I don't see how we lose ballgames with that level of ridiculous pressure.

    4) Okay, one spoiler because it cracked me up. Baltimore goes for the field goal in the 1st quarter and they announce their kicker as the most accurate of all time in the NFL. I laughed like mad when he choked it and all three announcers said at the same time, "We jinxed him!" Then we block his 2nd field goal attempt and they laughed some more, saying that they had to brag about him before every kick from now on. =)

    5) I think we have all the pieces on offense to be a very stout team, but RT has to find his rhythm quickly. I have a feeling that this is going to be a huge chunk yard team once everything gets rolling. Stills, Amendola, Grant, Drake, Gisecki and others all looked awesome tonight.

    6) I complained about Gisecki getting held earlier....and that's because he really can't be covered 1:1. He's going to be massive in the seasons to come.

    7) The first string defense also looked a lot more complete tonight and strong against the run and the pass alike. I watched on my tablet so I can't give detailed notes on our rookies, but Baltimore couldn't do much. MacDonald was really flying to the ball tonight though and looked like a stud!

    8) Finally, Grant got hurt tonight on a very big helmet to helmet hit. He's definitely in the concussion protocol and I'm hoping he's okay- he was tearing up the field tonight and is another receiver that just can't be covered. We need him this season so cross your fingers that he's all right.
     
  2. cbrad

    cbrad .

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    I think one important piece of info is missing there KeyFin: Ravens elected to rest most of their starters.

    In other words, we looked OK (not great mind you) against their backups. When their backups played our backups, their backups won. Anyway, I haven't seen much from preseason to make me hopeful for the regular season. Of course I'll be rooting like crazy for us to win, but right now I have a feeling Vegas is more correct than the optimistic posters here.
     
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  3. Tanny looked like crap as usual for large portion of game - he is the defintion of an impotent, complacent, low-T, rent-boy with no one to push him on the roster. Protection and snap count were a mess for a quarter and a half. At least they converted one 3rd down in red zone. All against mostly their 2s, since most of their starters were eating ice cream on the sidelines. Amendola's cut was $. Drake is $. I don't know, i don't even care, this team will win 6-8 games and that will be it. Never been so apathetic about this franchise, don't fooking care, NFL has become boring, Dolphins are crap, I cant go to game because seeing grown cuckhold men wear jerseys of other men infuriates me. Maybe the Canes can give me my fix, who knows. I'm going the Keys to fish instead of watching this crap any more. Its boring, Tannehill bores me, Burke bores me, Gase bores me, Parker is a numpty, Raekwon is an invalid, Alonso doesnt know what sideline to go to, Gesicki is a poosie, Drake is a baller, Minkah might be but his face is squished and that bothers me, James and tunsil are sloppy fried chicken eaters, Howard has it, Wake wasted a career here, Quinn look sharp, I'm fishing. Fook it.
     
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  4. Deus ex dolphin

    Deus ex dolphin Well-Known Member

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    Yeah, the Alonso thing was strange. I remember a story about Zach Thomas joining the Packer huddle after he got a concussion on the previous play. Or did Alonzo have something to say to Harbaugh? Maybe about that hit he put on Flacco last year?
     
  5. KeyFin

    KeyFin Well-Known Member

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    That was strange but I'm guessing he was thinking about the play and not even seeing what was around him. I thought Harbaugh was even funnier the way he put his hand on Alonzo's shoulder (like he was patting him on the back for a job well done) and then told him to get lost.
     
  6. KeyFin

    KeyFin Well-Known Member

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    I wasn't sure how many were 2nd stringers....that does make a huge difference. The first two drives would have gone the same regardless of who the defenders were though because we beat ourselves. For instance, fumble from the rain on 1st and 10....run it up the middle on 2nd and 12 (for a 2 yard loss). That's hard to even count as a drive because we saw nothing at all to critique. The first three drives were just sloppy.

    At the same time though, those first three drives DON'T TELL US how sharp Grant was running routes, how Drake would have blocked, or even what the plays might have been. So it's also unfair to say the offense was bad. They just shot themselves in the foot for the third week straight and didn't bother to try and overcome those mistakes. That tells me Gase is treating this like practice and isn't overly concerned......which could be really good or really bad.
     
  7. mooseguts

    mooseguts Well-Known Member

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  8. MrClean

    MrClean Inglourious Basterd Club Member

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  9. Surfs Up 99

    Surfs Up 99 Team Flores & Team Tua

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    My initial impression is our blocking still needs some work. I am really concerned about our starting center and RG because it looks like they don't hold up well at the point of attack. It seemed like a lot of unnecessary pressure coming up the middle. In a first for me ( because I have never missed watching a game as a Dolphin fan ) I probably won't watch the 4th game. I am losing interest. I just can't watch Osweiler anymore. I want to see our other guys get game day experience, but because he sucks so bad it is rare.

    On the plus side, from what I have seen so far this preseason, Fitzpatrick is the real deal. I don't know how it will translate to the regular season, but his intangibles are off the ****ing chart! IMO, he is just too good to leave on the sideline. We need to find a way to keep him on the field. He makes plays and everyone around him better!!!!
     
    Last edited: Aug 26, 2018
  10. Brasfin

    Brasfin Well-Known Member

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    I came away actually feeling better about the defense than I did in the last games. Our edge guys are looking great, as you said, KeyFin.. hopefully we can put points on the board or at least keep games close by the end of the 4th so that Wake and Quinn can seal the deal.

    Our interior DL suddenly looks pretty solid with Vincent Taylor and Jordan Phillips playing very well, IMO. |The secondary looks good, Minkah looks like a star in the making.

    LB seems to be the biggest weakness there, but look to be getting better with each game. Have to find out a way to contain the running QB's, we will see a ton of them this season.

    As far as the offense goes, there was some good and bad. The first few drives were terrible, then, by the 2nd quarter, as if a switch came on, we moved the ball pretty much at will. RT said both fumbles were on him... may be due to early season jitters. Hopefully that's behind him, because we can't afford to start slow like that again. It still looks like we had a vanilla gameplan.

    I'm holding out hope that by the time the season starts, the offense will look much more dynamic. Twice in the last 2 seasons this offense changed quite drastically in the span of one week due to change in playcalling/execution, and I think it'll happen for the third time come opening day.

    The first time was in that Pittsburgh game that sparked our 7 game win streak, we looked competely different from the week prior. The second time was right after we traded Ajayi and made Drake our RB1.. granted we didn't finish the season the way we wanted to, from that point on we actually had some life on offense. I believe they are holding back a lot and we will see the real offense by season's start, and it'll be quite a surprise to everyone.

    Here's to hoping :ffic:
     
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  11. Surfs Up 99

    Surfs Up 99 Team Flores & Team Tua

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    I hope we don't neglect the running game because RT plays his best when we have a balanced attack. I know Gase views the short pass as a run play, but there is something to be said when a team can just line up and run the ball down your throat. If we do manage to make any noise this season, later on in the season and in the playoffs we are going to have to be able to run the ball consistently and impose our will, IMO. We have time to get better, but I think we still have our work cut out for us regarding our OL. It all starts, or ends, with them.
     
  12. KeyFin

    KeyFin Well-Known Member

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    The cameras didn't really show it but it was pouring down rain in the first quarter. I think the ball just slipped out both times because it was so wet. I was wondering why RT didn't have gloves on but I know some QB's don't throw well with them.
     
    Last edited: Aug 26, 2018
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  13. MrClean

    MrClean Inglourious Basterd Club Member

    Kendall Langford has only been here a week, and he is already better than Akeem Spence. Not sure what Burke sees in Spence. The 3 young DTs are all obviously better too. At first glance, the interior looked toughest to run on last night when Langford was at LDT and Phillips was at RDT.
     
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  14. Colmax

    Colmax Well-Known Member

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    I agree on the vanilla offense. I like that Tannehill looked efficient, but I’m not feeling quite as excited as I was when TC started. I do hope (and think) they open things up quite a bit. I would also like to see Tanny use his legs a little more.

    The line looks decent at times, and then looks terrible at times. On one sack, Tunsil gets beat and he pushes the guy back, which is usually fine, but when your G or C gets blown up, it doesn’t allow for the QB to step up and buy time.

    Penalties and tackling hurt this team in a bad way. The hands to the face penalty on Taylor (I believe) took away a nice sack and kept their drive going. The poor tackling and bad angles on defense I don’t see going away any time soon. There were a few times they had a guy in the backfield, and whoops! The player gets positive yardage. I want to be wrong, but I am not a fan of this LB corps at all. This D lacks nastiness (thus far), and I get the feeling that it might be a little too complex for some of these players. Kind of wish Vance Joseph was still here to develop these guys. I want to like Burke, but he’s not showing me enough. This defense doesn’t look like it’s jellin’. Maybe this changes come the regular season. I do see, and again, I said this when Joseph was here, that it’s a feast or famine D. Big plays, and big gashes. Minimize those gashes and this D might have something. Interior line in the run game, and LB corps (in all facets), leave a lot to be desired.

    I’m excited about this WR corps. Amendola made that TD happen. That was beautiful. I’d like to see more Gesicki. Great read by Tanny on that toss to him. I’d like to see if Gesicki can get off the line with a defender in his face. We shall see. I think we’ll see some underneath stuff a lot, opening the door for deeper passes.

    I personally think the line does better in run blocking than in pass blocking. I’ve only seen bits and pieces, and haven’t watched a full quarter with any real discernment, but it feels that way. I think Gore stays simply as an inside the 5-yard line Red Zone runner. He has a knack for finding small holes in those situations. TDs mean a lot in this league, and I can actually see Miami be a top-third scoring team without much issue if things go well. I do hope these little yips that Tanny had are anamolies. I don’t want to go back to those days under Philbin. And speaking of Tanny, the NFLN former players are not fans at all. They mentioned Bridgewater. I almost agree.
     
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  15. JPPT1974

    JPPT1974 2022 Mother's Day and May Flowers!

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    As long as that of offensive line blocking Tannehill and the QB getting back in momentum. Than it hopefully will come into play and chemistry. Yeah as they do better in run blocking than pass.
     
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