"▪ Gailey said the Dolphins are training Lynn Bowden Jr. at both slot receiver and Wildcat quarterback: “We keep expanding both practices and we try to play him on regular downs so they don’t know if wildcat is in or wildcat is not in.” Bowden, who played 10 offensive snaps on Sunday, was acquired Labor Day weekend from Las Vegas and Gailey noted “he didn’t get any of the preseason. He didn’t get any of the base [offense] stuff [because he wasn’t at Dolphins training camp]. “It’s a little tougher to learn when you don’t get base concepts from day one. He’s learning it. And now we’ve thrown wildcat package on him, which takes some time away from the other [slot receiver].” Bowden also is working as a punt and kickoff returner behind Jakeem Grant."
I didnt say or mean to imply we were out coached last week, if I did that is my fault. I was just speaking generally. Like I've said I think hes great at getting guys to play hard generally, it's not ALL bad. Plus some of that also falls on the coordinators. I dont hate Flores but I'm also not drinking the kool-aid yet.
We've had a long string of rookie first time HCs. Flores is definitely learning on the job but, it's not hard to see the progress from the beginning of the season to the end last year. Compared to the cluelessness of Philbin and the rigid arrogance of Gase, Flores is a breath of fresh air. Dolphins football is once again fun to watch. What more can you ask?
Oh, I'm not drinking the Kool-aid either...definitely not sold on Flores yet. But if these offensive drives continue and the defense can look like that each week now that our starting CB has returned, then it's not going to take me very long to start waving a Flores flag. This week changed A LOT for me since the improvements are getting more and more minor...the biggest thing this coming week is just repeating a lot of what we did last week. Great blocking, great defensive reads, aggressive play, etc.
I just don't see this "out coached" idea. I have seen mostly the opposite, that the team is very well coached. Players make mistakes, but they are generally young and as the season goes on they make less of those mistakes. Like players who are well coached. I don't believe I have drunk any kool-aid, as I believe in results. However, unlike Gase and Philbin, I like him as a human being, and unlike Sparano, he seems to be able to adjust when things don't go perfectly. He is a likable hard working guy who players love. I am a fan of him so far, but I still want to see Miami become a good team before I call him a good head coach. Being 7-7 in his last 14 games is a good start.
When I say outcoached I simply mean I do not believe our gameplans are as impactful finding holes in the opponent as our competition. I dont necessarily mean we have no plan or suck. Last week I think we had a great plan and I'd like to see more of that offensively even though I dont expect 40+ points weekly obviously, we attacked a weakness with the proper types of plays. I just want to see us consistently doing that, identifying weaknesses on both sides of the ball and attacking them. One area we need to improve in my opinion even though it's a bit skewed by the Seattle game, is our offensive playcalling insidebthe 20 and specifically inside the 10. In my opinion we have had some flat out terrible play calls in that area, which is part of coaching to me. Again, I'm not saying we should fire the man or hes terrible. I'm just pointing out an area that in my personal opinion can be potentially improved and it's not just Flores but the staff in general. For instance in the Seattle game we were basically killed on crossing routes all day. At some point you need to make an adjustment defensively and not concede the easy completion.
Flores, like most of his players, is new to the job and it’s going to take at least a little while for them to grow into their respective rôles. However, after our 5-4 end to last season, with the roster he had at his disposal, I am very hopeful that Flores really is a top-level coach in the making. He's not afraid to make big calls, nor to use trick plays and he seems to have built a genuine team spirit and togetherness within the squad and they, in turn appear to respect and love their Head Coach.
In that instance, the receivers were being blanketed and we couldn't pass. That meant we had to run, but Seattle also knew that and stacked the box so we couldn't. That was more execution than anything since we'd have to get super exotic to find the end zone that day. In that instance, we were starting a rookie CB due to Jones being injured...but it wasn't that simple. That also meant the safety had to cheat over, which changed coverage on the other side of the field and making our other CB's work harder. That meant we had to have our LB's working into the equation as well with extra assignments...all from one bad match-up. Placing Jones back in the rotation was an INSTANT fix for everyone, including the rookie CB himself. I honestly didn't recognize that defense this past Sunday...it was literally a night and day difference. We looked like a top-5 D last week.
Hmm I dont agree with the first part. The run on 3rd and 4 (or whatever it was) near the goal was a terribly designed play for the situation for a very specific example. Not just because it was a run in a passing situation, I can live with that, but because it violated the rules of just about everything youd ever want to do in the redzone to be successful on a run play. I agree we were a lot better this week, but adjustments need to happen in game and not the week after because that to me is what separates an average coaching staff from an elite one.
I mean, if you pull up the film of ANY GAME this season, including Sunday's blowout, and really watch our receivers through their entire routes, they're just not creating separation. On William's deep pass this past week, for example, the CB was with him stride for stride the entire length of the field. Gisecki's TD was blown coverage by the safety and he was still only open by two steps. People just aren't getting open and the problem gets ever harder in the red zone. The flip-side of that is that our receivers at tall, lean and athletic....meaning you can't cover them 1 on 1. You also can't double Parker, Gisecki and Preston Williams at the same time. That's great for clearing the first 80-85 yards of the field, but the margin for error shrinks to almost zero in the red zone. We just can't pass there effectively with that trio. And if you haul someone like Grant out on the field, then everyone knows where the ball is going. Now, you may be right that the run play on the 3rd and 4 was poorly designed....I can't remember that specific play. But when the other team knows you're running and you can't power through, there's a big problem there that can't be solved. They just have to figure that stuff out a little more and they are working on it....we saw 7 on the LOS last week in that same situation.
