Miami needs to switch direction on Offense. The first half Chad was passing his way to wins for Miami with the Wildcat as the offsetting playmaker. But now Miami needs to pound the rock and to continue to play good defense. The D can play well enough to keep us any most games without having to score more than 17 points. However when the Defense is spread we are toooooo thin in the secondary to compete 4 qtrs. That's why Miami needs to pound the rock 25+ times a game for the rest of the season. If Miami can pound the rock the Defense will finish the job. The odds are not in Miami's favorite to make the playoffs, without a lot of help from other teams. But they can still CONTINUE to build for next season. We have two great RB's and a very YOUNG and SOLID DEFENSE. We need to starting building the running game once again!!! We have the RB's to break off a big gain, so even if the team is stuffing us for 3 yards a carry, give Ricky or Ronnie 25+ carries a game & you will see a huge play in the 4th qtr. Miami has been passing short yardage plays early in the game & often on 1st down. Teams are catching on to this and the wildcat is not gaining anything from it. The wildcat works best after ronnie has 8-10 normal rushing plays. He sees the field better and is warm and ready to make a big play. The wildcat is ALL ABOUT the 1st SPLIT SECOND READ of the DL & OLB s. Give Ricky and Ronnie 10 carries before breaking out the wildcat and I think you will see more bigplays from the wwWWILDCAT!!! Either way Miami needs to shift gears and throw it into 4 wheel drive. Otherwise known as Ricky & Ronnie. It's time to pound the ROCK!
Well, they have saved R&R for the last 12 weeks and I am expecting them to go with the power running game now. They have had them rested all this time and it would be a waste to see them not use the double head monster. As the weather gets poorer it would also be an advantage to use them now in that way and just eat up clock.
I have to say that I like the kind of ball we have been playing so far. I would not have any problems seeing R&R becoming a bigger part of the offense either. I think right now we are playing to the strength of our O-Line. They are better pass blockers then they are run blockers. I think Chad's style of QBing, it is very healthy for this team. He plays a very safe game. He dosn't force things into places. This I think is a very strong approach to building this teams offense. Our O-Line is not forced to try to maintain the pocket for extended lengths of time. We are for the most part are completing passes. These are good positive ways to deveope young guys into the speed and level of competion of the game. I do worry about how many times per game we ask him throw the ball. I think shoulder fatigue could become an issue if we are not carefull. I am a little bit torn on how happy I am about our unexpected sucess this season. The positives are this team is learning how to win games. They're confidence is growing. They about to learn how to play under the next level of pressure now. Us still being relivant in the last 3rd of the season, I think is going to go a long way in maturing this team. The down side is later draft picks and we are not developing things more. Instead we are practing what we have been sucessfull with. I think this season is going to put unrealistic expectations on us next season. We really have been very limited in opprotunities to develope our O-Line for a solid running game. I think having Donald Thomas missing on the line has been a major issue for us and I think because we are so relivant we can't afford to take risks on giving opprotunities to unknown guys and try to develope a running game. I think because of these factors we may need to take a step backwards next year before we can start moving forward again. Of course I hope I am wrong and the Trifecta can surprise me again next season. I'm guessing we are going to continue focusing on our O-Line in the draft and find the missing pieces. Once we do that, I think we will see more of a running attack and I think we are going to see penington get one more year as our starter. I think if Henne is the guy they are confident in, then he gets the nod to start after two years on the bench. If this turns out to be accurate, I'm hoping they retain Pennington as his B/U along with Beck. Anyhow back to the topic, I think I kinda drifted off of it........ooops! Now that our O-Line has had some playing time together and if Sporano is satisfied at how they are gelling with eachother. We may see them start to focus on "pounding the rock" as you so eloquently put it. Nothing would please me more to see us dominate through a solid ground game in our next 4 or 5 games. I think regardless of where we are in the playoff picture in week 17, we haffta to put the game on Chads arm. He needs to go into the Meadowlands and extract revenge. This organaztion should give him that opprotunity too, I think he has earned it! Speaking of running the ball. I know we extended Ricky, but for how long?
NFL Network......... Six plays, six camera shots of all 22 players. I pray that we get a game on the Network next year.
yeah, its great to see everyone in the big view....wish they would stick without longer at times to see routes, etc.
If you watch closely, they are only attempting to give the fan with some knowledge a look at the front and the pre-snap secondary. If you know what you are looking at, the route is pretty much known when the throw goes to the receiver. Otherwise the receiver was nowhere in the play. It's kind of a tightrope walk. Producers of Fox and CBS are convinced that a game consisting of ALL 22 will lose the average viewer. The only announcer with the guts to call out the producers is John Madden. They dare not give him all 22 when he wants it. Tim Ryan (Fox analyst) pointed this out to radio listeners on Sirius NFL Radio. He said prior to NFL Network, Madden was the only guy who got all 22 players out of a producer.
We can't pound the rock because we lost Thomas in game 1 and this line needs another offseason of learning & strength conditioning, it just looks like this line is taking longer to gel in the running game than it has for pass blocking. You have to go with your strengths if you want to win games, and pounding the rock is not yet a strength of this team or our OL. I think with Thomas back, maybe another solid addition or two to the OL in the offseason, more time, then next season we should be better capable of pounding the rock. But for now we have to go with our strength, and that is the passing game, and who would have thought that?
PhinsRock, while I don't claim to know the issue with the offense I do know that this thread was flawed from the beginning. The original post made a demand to get back to something while condemning the continued use of the wildcat. The poster isn't alone in his search for something different. I've seen others in recent weeks make the demand too. The thing that all of them seem not to remember is that this team scored an average of 12 point per game and had a record of 0-2 before the wildcat was introduced. This raises the question: "What do we want to get back to?"
I don't think that the OP wants us to go away from the Wildcat...I think he wants us to set it up differently. He wants Ronnie to have a few normal carries...get the D thinking about normal runs and pass plays for a bit, then throw the Wildcat in at them. Give Ronnie and Ricky a chance to be warmed up so they can really hit the D quickly out of the Wildcat.
I never said to stop running the wildcat. I said to start running it after about 8-10 normal type running plays. Let Ronnie get warm and a feel for the defense line movement.... Are they spreading at the snap??? Are the squeezing at the snap??? The wildcat is best suited for short yardage picks. Yes Miami catches a few teams off guard for big plays during most games. But the focal point of the wildcat is to pick up 3-6 yard every time. It is best used inside the 10 yard line and on 2nd & 5 or 3rd & 5. By Miami pounding the rock between 20 - 25 times a game. The wildcat should be about 5-8 of those plays at a Minimum. By all means keep running the wildcat. Just let Ronnie get a better feel for the defense. I also don't like to see it on 1st downs so often. We also need to get back to the basic formation of the wildcat like vs. the Pats & Chargers. Yes the wrinkles add flare and makes team try to guess what they will do with it next. I just want to see 50% of the wildcat formations with the basic play. Where Ricky runs like a bat out of hell & the ball MUST be snapped at just the right second to allow Ronnie the read. If Ronnie makes the right read the play will get 5 yards most of the time. Right reads... * Hand off to Ricky, If OLB or DE jams the middle. * Ronnie run up the gut if the defense line or lb's spread at the snap to guard BOTH ricky or ronnie running outside. * Ronnie fakes ricky and rolls left...pass or run. * Ronnie hands off to ricky, then ricky pitches to Chad....deep ball pass. * Ronnie fakes to ricky and follows him outside. * Ronnie fakes to ricky and follows him, then hands off to cobbs. That is my favorite wildcat formation and offers a ton of play options within it. But if the defense stays home and ronnie makes the wrong read. It will get a yard or two...
You are mistaken in that Ronnie is not reading the end. If (and that's a big if) they have left the read to Ronnie to read, that may explain why he keeps the ball so often. He isn't reading a damn thing. He is simply running the ball. With that said, I submit that you have lost the real purpose in running the wildcat. This is such a confounded statement. You say you want I formation or single back to be run 8-10 times so the back can get a feel for the movement of the line. That all sounds good until you dig into the facts. Fact one: For this team, 8-10 running plays has equaled two to three possessions of the football. Sprinkle in a couple passes in the predictable form of run, run, pass and we may be talking about four possessions. How many possessions of the football do you think we get? Fact two: The defense will not be in the same defense versus the two different types of offensive play. This is the very reason why the Patriots were unsuccessful in defending it in the first game. You must play a different style of defense versus an unbalanced offense with a running quarterback. It was successful versus the Chargers for two reasons. Reason number one is that we stuck with it and it's a good offensive plan. Reason number two is that Ted Cottrel is an idiot. Fact three: Defensive line movement doesn't matter to the runner. It's not a zone blocking scheme. The hole is where it is and his assignment is to run through it. Much to my dismay, Ronnie sometimes treats it as a choice. What you see as choice is actually a failure of the back to execute his assignment. The offensive coordinator is making this read and calling his play based upon the last time a play was called. But seeing as you placed this after you said you wanted Ronnie to get a chance to see the movement of the line, I've gathered that you do not know anything about the difficulty in making a read or how often it must be practiced if you are actually going to do it. If anyone is to read option, it must be practiced as the core of your offense. That means that it will be practiced everyday for a large segment of practice. That is simply not happening. It is the very reason why Sporano has downplayed the use of the offense. He knows that they are not "all in". They are "grab bagging" the offense. They are "all in" a multiple pro offense. That is what they practice as their core offense. Here is where you are lost in situational football. The wildcat is not an end to a means. It is a means to an end. Since that long plane ride home from Texas, the use of the offense has been to get to 2 and 5. It's used to get to 3rd and 2. It is used to get to a down and distance where the defensive coordinator must play conservative because the offense now has a choice of run OR pass. If it's 2nd and 5, it doesn't kill you to throw an incomplete. You still have third down to pick up the same five yards you picked up on first down. Similarly, since you picked up five yards on the first play, is it out of the realm of possibility to run for five more in two more runs. If it's 3rd and 2, the offense can go for the kill shot (pass) if the defense has sucked everyone (8 or 9) up in the box. As long as the offense is in a favorable field position, it might even possess the ability to run on 4th and 2. Do you get it? There is choice. These down and distances provide an advantage for the offense. Wildcat was in fact instituted to get to the favorable down and distances. It's not the finisher. It's a means to an end. The decision to use the wildcat was made to get the offense into favorable situations that single back and Pro formations were not providing. So what you are saying is that we should keep doing the same thing that we have been doing prior to the point that we started chasing points in the Patriots game. But you think something has to be done to get Ronnie a "better feel". I have a novel idea. Here is what I would say to Ronnie to give him a better feel for the defense. "Hey Ronnie, How about you run through the hole that we pay you 5 million dollars per year to run through!"
