Watched the game on Game Rewind early this a.m. (without knowing the score). I love that feature (can't wait to watch the coach's film - with Coach's Film and Red Zone - the NFL has two of the best features of any sport). But, observations: 1) How on earth did we win this game? We were totally outplayed, yet still won. Honestly, this game reminded me of how the Patriots of the early 2000's used to win games. Resiliency. 2) I was growing weary with the Falcons and Announcers excuses about their injuries. We also were without 3 DBs (1 starter), our starting DT and run stuffer, and our DE and best defender (Wake) for most of the game. That, against a great QB and one of the top passing offenses in the NFL. Stop the Whining about other teams. 3) Dion Jordan should start. He brings far more pressure than Vernon. If he doesn't start he should get the bulk of PT. He also did a great job on run D on a huge play at the goal line near the end of 1st half. Big play at the end to cause the INT. If Wake gets healthy - with Jordan coming on - we could have a massive pass rush from the corners. He did make some rookie mistakes (completely blew that end around when Jones waltzed right past him). But, I'll take that over Vernon. 4) Which brings me to Olivier Vernon. Just doesn't do much. He's not being really strong at the point on run plays (which is more his specialty) and generates nearly zero pass rush. Disappointing on D. 5) Overall, I really like how our D stiffened in the Red Zone for the most part. But, we really look small on D (albeit with a lot of speed). Esp. without Soliai. 6) RT did a fine job. Is playing really well and shows a lot of cool in the clutch. That said, he still has a long way to go in looking off WRs and getting to the 2nd or 3rd guy really quickly. It is true he holds the ball too long in the pocket. That may just be a lack of experience. Hopefully he will continue to grow and not be satisfied. 7) Daniel Thomas - good run on the TD (maybe one of his better runs he's had). But, the two blowups on Pass Pro were turrahbull! Def need a 3rd down back. 8) Our Special Teams play really was the key to winning this game. Sturgis is a stud. Cool kid and what a power-packed leg. Don Jones - spectacular play. Also loved the formation on the 1st ATL punt that caused a short punt. Really like our special teams. 9) The D was not that great but Wheeler still is a really good playmaker. I like Ellerbe. He's decent and it will be nice to have those two in the middle for the next 3-4 years. But, Wheeler is a playmaker. 10) Gotta love the #2, 3, 4 WRs. Wallace is still vital as the big play threat. But, the other 3 guys really came through big time. Great to have Matthews back at full health. Dude is just a playmaker. Tough. I think we will be a really good passing attack with those 4 WRs and with Clay.
I was thinking the exact same thing after the game. Good post. I agree with pretty much everything you said. I would add one thing... that Lamar Miller might just be a 'homerun hitter' that strikes out much too often. He's young, so, maybe he'll turn it around. I'm just not certain he's a #1 RB. Way too inconsistent at this point.
Freaky word choice... http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...-from-miamis-27-23-win-against-atlanta/page/2 No argument from me. I think Jordan is far better against the run than he's generally given credit for, and has been since college. I think OLB is his best position but just because that position is not available for him at this time (in part because he's not practiced there, in part because of Koa Misi and Phil Wheeler) doesn't mean he shouldn't be on the field. He should. Run defense apparently is going to be a work in progress anyway, Jordan or no Jordan. And it's not like Olivier Vernon has been stout against the run. Olivier Vernon, Dion Jordan and Koa Misi do not coexist on the same defense. For the first two games, it was Jordan who had to take a back seat to the other two. I think it's time Vernon take the back seat. This is not something that I wanted to bring up because right now at 3-0 everything is candy cakes and puppy dog kisses but this is the second week in a row I felt Tannehill was outplayed by the opposing team's quarterback, but got the "W" anyway. Not trying to be down on him. I've been making detailed observations about how much he's improved since the preseason. Just saying what I've been seeing on the field. It's always give-and-take with him. Always. He improves something, something else falls out. Next he'll get his blocking back down but then average 2 yards per carry and fumble the ball. Not just this game. Tony Sparano's "hidden yardage" battle has been heavily in Miami's favor the last two games. Consider the Dolphins have gotten only 2 penalties for a total of -13 yards in the past two full games. Combine that with Sturgis' constant touchbacks, his long field goals, Brandon Fields' netting over 50 yards per punt against the Falcons, and then the Don Jones forced fumble...well, going back to your first question about how the hell we won this game, that's how.
I think people were too focused on what was happening in the trenches and with the poor run and pass protection to notice that we weren't allowing their Offense to score on their own and pretty much shut them out in the second half. They were generating points off our mistakes. Disagree on MRyan being a great QB. I could never see him carrying a team on his own. Edge pressure him and his mediocre accuracy goes to pot. Completely agree on point 2. Neither announcer seemed to be aware of our injuries, or the fact that we had been losing starters since the pre-season (Keller) and had lost a starter in each of the past games. They also knew nothing of Wallace, Pouncey, Vernon, or Tannehill being gimpy in the game.
It's hard to be too negative about a team that is 3-0 and especially after beating the Colts and Falcons the last two weeks. It is difficult to tell how good this defense is because they have been without their second best CB since the middle of the Browns game. Carroll just isn't a quality CB in the NFL and being forced to start him has severely limited the play of the secondary over the past two weeks. I expect the play of this unit to improve once Patterson has fully recovered from his recent injury. It is not going to be pretty if Carroll has to start again this coming week against the Saints and Drew Brees. As far as Vernon is concerned, I agree that he has not played well as the starting DE. He doesn't appear to get pressure on the QB and I don't see him as a good run stopper. Hopefully Jordan can step up and take over this position and Vernon can once again be used as an additional defensive lineman to give the starters a break every now and then. I just don't think Vernon is the answer as a starting DE in the NFL. While Ellerbe and Wheeler are younger and appear to be a little faster than Burnett and Dansby, I don't know that they are really upgrades at the position. TE's continue to get open against them and the ability to stop the run has seemed to decline for this defense since they replaced the veterans from last year. Overall, the defense this year does not appear as good as the 2012 Dolphins defense. Fortunately the offense has improved, especially Tannehill. He still needs to improve his pocket awareness, but he certainly has shown that when he has the time, he can make the plays to win games in the NFL. The OL and the RB's, including the blocking of the RB's still remain huge question marks going forward. If the OL can just play as effectively early in the games as they did on the Dolphins final drive yesterday, perhaps the Dolphins won't be forced to win games in the fourth quarter every week. Even with huge questions marks remaining for this team, they have found a way to win their first three games this season. That is all that really matters and hopefully as this team plays together over the course of the season, many of these concerns will be resolved.
I want to see more of Dion Jordan at strong side DE/OLB- let the opposing offense try to figure out if he's going to pick up their TE in man coverage or blitz and let a Safety pick up the TE. Belotti was right imo- he's to good in space not to use at OLB. I'd rather see Derrick Shelby and Jordan in on passing downs than Misi and Vernon, any day. ps If I had my way and Jordan was moved to OLB, then we'd be a little thin at DE. DEs in the 2013 draft taken after Jelani Jenkins (4th rd #104 overall): Trevardo Williams William Gholston Mallicah Goodman John Simon Devin Taylor Lavar Edwards Quanterus Smith Stansly Maponga Quinton Dial Tourek Williams Rufus Washington Cornelious Washingotn Kapron Lewis-Moore Mike Catapano Joe Kruger Armonty Bryant Michael Buchanan David Bass David King Granted some are not for us, 3/4 DE types, but that list has some talent on it, all of which we passed up for Jelani Jenkins. Food for thought. If Jenkins is a pass defending LB specialist, I say let him at it, let's see if he can make a difference. That being said, I still think that Jordan is our best bet to match up with and neutralize this wave of tall, big, athletic and fast TEs that's all ove rthe league these days.
I also noticed that Matthews had a good game. He was decisive and actually got separation several times. Yeah, Chris Myer (a local native) was all over the Falcons injury situation as well as the other guy, I don't understand how they are using Thomas and Miller. Seems like Miller is in mostly early and Thomas is used a lot more later in games... Thomas has a few "Wow" moments, but it's clear he's a pedestrian runner. His pass pro was atrocious today, but he was very good against Indy ?? Are they purposely holding Jordan to a strict play count beings that he really had no offseason, is a rookie and likely to hit that rookie wall if not careful?? Are they 'saving' him for later in the season as a grows into a more solid role in this D?? I'm not sure, but I agree that VO has been disappointing since the season started, after a pretty good TC... I think of any of the injuries (save for perhaps Keller) we miss the most when Big Paul is out... He's a cog that you don't miss until he's gone. While the D has not been smothering overall, it's been tight until yesterday... Is that a coincidence?? Me Thinks not... While RT may hold the ball too long at times, man, that OL is just not giving the kid an extra second at ANY time during the game. I wonder how much of his 'holding the ball too long' is attributed to simply 'not EVER allowed more than 3 secs to scan the field because the OL sucks'?? Don't know how much of a DB that Don Jones will be, but man is he a STs ace-in-the-making?? Not only did he have the 2-3 STs tackles, but he drew a couple of holding calls on punts as well.... Definitely a game that we will look back on and say "wow, we stole this one", but then every good team does that thruout the year once or twice...part of being a good team.... Nice observations, as always, Da Fins...
I highly disagree with you about Carroll and I think this is a perfect illustration on how people make decisions on players and then do not back it up with reality. Carroll was close to outstanding in the first two games of the season. He played really well. Then against Atlanta he was going against one of the best receivers in the game. A player who is also one of the best at getting YAC. He did a good enough job on him. He wasn't beat too badly and honestly how many 3rd string cornerbacks could do that well against Jones?
Jw, my only argument about the Ellerbe and Wheeler is that TE having this d for lunch has been happening long before these two guys got here. Dansby and Burnett simply weren't any better in covering TEs...
I'll throw in some Pro Football Focus observations. 1. Dion Jordan rushed the passer 20 times and got 1 QB Hit and 4 QB Hurries. Dion Jordan drew a positive +0.5 for his Run Defense too. 2. Olivier Vernon didn't do so bad, getting 4 QB Hurries on 34 pass rush snaps. 3. Jonathan Martin let up the sack to Osi Umenyiora, but it was the only pressure he let up. 4. Philip Wheeler missed a staggering 6 tackles during the game. 5. Out wide receivers are still not creating much YAC, only 3.3 average for the unit during the game. Season long I think is 3.4. 6. Dion Jordan ranks #2 of 51 at the 25% Participation qualifier for PFF's Pass Rush Productivity stat (sacks, hits and hurries divided by snaps). Wake ranks #5 of 51. Shelby is #18 and Vernon is #35 of 51. 7. Philip Wheeler allowed 68 yards in coverage, mostly to Jason Snelling. 8. Nolan Carroll allowed 70 yards in coverage, mostly to Julio Jones. Reshad Jones let up most of the rest of Julio's yardage.
I dunno, I'm not as down on Nolan Carroll as a lot of you guys are. He may have given up a lot of catches to J Jones, but he kept the guy in front of him and kept the YAC down. I bet he played him exactly like he was told to, and probably got a pat on the back for it.
I can see your point. I can remember thinking this during the Colts game. I think the reason Tannehill and his Dolphins are coming out on top is that even though he might not play better than his counterpart the entire game, for the past 2 weeks he has really shined in the 4th quarter while his counterpart has made a crucial mistake. In Matt Ryan's case though, his INT was in a pretty impossible situation, and the game had much more to do with the muffed punt.
I think the difference has been the teams. The Dolphins played better as a team in the two wins. Fewer penalties, won the special teams battles, etc.
I like our ST play, especially Denney and the fumble he somehow recovered. I don't like Thigpen and think it's just a matter of time before he costs us a game w/ a stupid play. He never should have brought that last kickoff out. Left it shy of the 20 and took precious time off the clock before the 2 minute warning. Obviously Sturgis is a stud. I felt like the coverage of TE's was not bad. Many of the throws to TE's had to be right on the money to get past the coverage. To me it seemed like a prime example of the inability to stop a great throw; rules are too slanted towards the offense. Our tackling has to improve.
As someone that wanted Carroll cut this year. I can admit, I've been highly impressed with his play this season. Including yesterday.
I don't know about "highly" impressed. But he's been "ok"...which is all I've ever thought he was. Most people didn't even think he was that. But he's been ok. As opposed to certain guys who are proven to not exactly be very "ok" when they're played out on the perimeter too much, like Richard Marshall.
I feel like wheeler and ellerbe are the two easiest mlbs to juke in the league. last two weeks these two have missed open field tackles like its going out of style
I think part of Carroll's failings can be attributed to playing off man and some zone against the QB WR combo of Matt Ryan and Julio Jones. They're smart enough to take advantage of what we give them. Conversely, he's not going to be confused with Brent Grimes anytime soon. Sent from my GT-P3110 using Tapatalk 2
By highly impressed. I meant by what I expected from him. Like I said. I wanted him to be cut. So the fact that he's played OK. And in the starting role for 2 games has impressed me.
All the more reason to get Jordan playing in space on passing downs, combined of course with his pass rushing.
Don Jones should have a +10 rating from PFF just for the pummeling he put on the Bird's punt returner
The jury is still out on DJ, but weren't Wake's stats pretty similar his first year with us, where he was more or less a PT player ?? Wheeler is quick enough that he's prone to misses, just like Ellerbe...not an excuse or a reason to forgive tho. Needs to improve... I'm not a big Carroll supporter, but admittedly is because of his past, not his play now. However, playing against Jones, his performance is not surprising... Pass pro, back to the Cleveland game, the backs messed up their protection assignments so bad, that it's not surprising that Tanny had as much time as he did (and that IS being facetious)...I'm still not convinced that Tanny's perceived weakness of not having pocket awareness is all his fault....as someone said in another thread 'there has to be a pocket first, before we can complain about his pocket awareness'
Noticed that. No doubt the entire D gave up a lot of yards on passes and runs. Someone had to be hurt by that statistically. And, the Pass D early on was pretty bad. But, to me, where I really like Wheeler is his ability to make some big plays here and there. He had a really good run stop on short yardage early in the game and then later in the game had good outside pass-blitz that almost led to a sack but caused Ryan to throw the ball away and stymie their drive.
One other thing comes to mind as I reflect back on the game - that on D we whiffed on several tackles or their players drug our guys several yards on a number of plays. Snelling did it. Julio did it. Rogers did it. Even Gonzalez did it (as old as he is). Made me think, "we need some weightlifting and a bit more 'in-the-dirt' toughness out there"). Seems like at least two drives were kept alive by dragging our guys 2-3-4 yards further on 3rd down plays. But, not to be too negative - great win overall and enjoy watching this team play football.
Agree, just wonder what the "cure' is? Are our guys worn down? Did they not expect some of the things they saw? It honestly looked like their guys were a half a step faster then our guys.
The thing I've noticed is our defense takes a few series to almost get an understanding of what the other team is doing and as the game goes on we squeeze tighter and tighter. The Falcons really did nothing in the 2nd half other than the two tos which gave them short fields. Our adjustment after the first drive shut Gonzalez out for the rest of the game. Hopefully we can do this to Jimmy Graham. THis is where you do the Bill Belichek defense, let anyone but Graham beat us. Take away their strength.
Carroll is not a 3rd string corner for us though. He is apparently the 3rd overall corner, since he became the #2 when Patterson went out. Granted, he maybe 3rd string someday, if the rookies pan out, but that probably won't be this year.
