I had no idea that the Falcons front seven was so small. We should be able to run all over them all day.
if the Orca-5 have found their collective rhythm & dominate the trenches, we should run well against them. If we control the field we will put it in the win column. let's see how quickly they come together as an offensive unit. it all begins in the trenches. of course, our defensive front seven have to be all over them with the pass rush. think the first four games are critical. we have to reintegrate an offensive line, identify & field a viable special teams unit. then smooth out the defensive backfield. while we're working out the finer points we have to win two of the first four, to give us a good shot @ getting to the play-offs.
The front 7 of the Falcons is small, but very very athletic. From the games I watched of ATL, these guys REALLY fly to the ball and gang tackle very well. I personally think we will see mis-direction (Something we dont do so well) and lots of pulling guards (Something we worked on quite a bit this PreSeason). If we can get mismatches of Donald Thomas or J Smiley against the gap filling Linebacker, we will see lots of Ronnie/Ricky against defensive backs...but in order for THAT to happen, Jake Grove has to be 10X better than he was in PreSeason holding at the point of attack. Also, running outside on these guys is not a great gameplan IMO. Both DE's and OLB's are very fast at setting the edge and cutting off running lanes. Dont be surprised if we see some Off Guard runs trying to force the DE's upfield, or rather having Long and Carey "Escort and continue" the DE's deep into the backfield to get them out of the play. Then perhaps come back with the Off Tackle stuff after they discourage. Could be very interesting chess match IMO>
One gap guys, 3 techniques and a desire to get upfield. The weight is not always the issue, it is if we can prevent these players from getting into and through the gaps.
Awesome write up Muck, very well explained from both sides, man that is refreshing. The matchup is there for our running game, lets hope they can excecute and control the clock and keep Turner and Ryan off the field.
Gameday Matchup: Dolphins’ Running Game vs Falcons Front 7 Take a look at an early game preview and player match-ups of our first game of the season. http://www.thephins.com/2009/09/07/gameday-matchup-dolphins-running-game-vs-falcons-front-7/
Interesting assessment, very detailed. I hope that the undersized front seven of the Falcons wear down from the big offensive line they are facing. It will be an interesting early test for the Dolphins, both offensively and defensively. I hope the Dolphins runningbacks and offensive line play some smashmouth football. Lets go Dolphins, lets get the season started right!
Im not nearly as worried about our run game vs their front 7 as I am with our Defense against their offense. We all know what our offense will do in the run game its always the same anymore. Ronnie 12-15 Carries for 65 yards, Ricky 8 Carries for 34 yards, and cobb 4 carriers for 22 yards. We need to FEATURE a back and wear them down this running back comity crap.. How we stop Ryan, Turner, Tony Gonzales, and White... I really dont like the matchup AT atlanta.. Back on topic nice read though.. Just reading it made we think how we are going to defend an offensive onslaught.
There are plenty of examples of the committee approach being optimal (Carolina, Minnesota, Jets, Giants, Jax). I don't see us being any different. It's one thing if you have a stable of mediocre backs. It's another if you've got talent abound. If the goal is to wear the other team down, wouldn't spreading those carries between 2-3 backs also make sense? You'll wear them down, sure....but the risk of wearing YOUR guy down goes up as well.
I'm writing it now, how it will be displayed will be decided......they will be a bit shorter this year I think. Maybe only 6-7 pages.
