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The State of the Fins Week 3

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by KeyFin, Sep 27, 2010.

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  1. KeyFin

    KeyFin Well-Known Member

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    As painful as it is to lose to the Jets, we saw a heck of a lot of promise last night and I for one do not think it is anywhere near time to panic. Here's where I see our team-

    Henne-

    He had a record night and it was great that the team finally turned him loose, and although many of his passes missed the mark it was to be expected. You can't ask a guy to hand the ball off for six straight weeks (inc preseason) then suddenly put up those kinds of numbers, and Henne's passing should only continue to strengthen. There were at least six passes thrown throughout the game that if he led his receiver by an extra yard or two it was a TD, and the game should continue to slow down for him so those types of plays can happen.

    Our Receivers-

    Marshall finally proved his worth this week (mainly because Henning allowed him to), and his flashes of brilliance opened up Bess and Hartline for some nice gains. While we are far from an elite core of receivers these guys are really darn good and we could be a very potent offense.

    Our Backs-

    Ricky did not ever seem to get into the game last night, and I think his age is catching up with him to some degree. Each of the fumbles (that ended up turnovers) over the past three weeks came from solid hits that would cause almost anyone to cough up the ball, so it's important not to dwell too heavily on that. Ronnie Brown and Polite were solid, but since the lopsided play calling did not alow them to win the game for us at the end I fault Henning for our failure last night.

    The Wildcat-

    The wildcat no longer has a place in our offense as an "every down" type of scheme, and I really think it cost us points last night. For a red zone or short yardage formation I think it still proves effective, but the reverses and deep passes out of it is simply ridiculous with the way Henne played. I especially hate this formation on 1st/2nd downs because it puts so much undue pressure on Henne to deliver a big play on 3rd, so hopefully it starts to be phased to more of a situational scheme.

    The Defense-

    Although they gave up far too many points last night, much of that can be attributed to Sanchez and where he placed the ball....this kid is for real. We simply did not get enough pressure on the QB (even when we switched to a 4/3) and ultimately it was our downfall, and because we were so overcommitted to the pass the Jets running game took the corners with ease.

    Overall-

    This was our first true test this season and I feel like we passed. Sure, we didn't win the game but the Fins remained competitive throughout, and the Jets final drive ultimately killed us with repetitive mistakes (missed INT's, pass interference, etc). It would be easy to fault Henning or a few indivisuals on defense but the Jets also had a few horrendous penalties against them that really weren't penalties, the Fins simply choked down the stretch on D.

    Now that Henne isn't being talked about as a third world citizen, I think he will be able to lead our offense and outscore just about any team out there if the playcalling is a little bit more balanced. We've now seen extremes on both ends of the spectrum (running vs passing calls) and to be fair we can not expect our D to win 16 games for us.

    If anything, this was a wake-up call showing our true potential. Let Henne win games. Exploit the weak CB's. Pressure the opposing QB into making mistakes because our offense can compete with some of the better D's out there. We are nowhere near a one-sided team, but to win we can not fear relying on our strengths in situational plays....which I think was the difference in the ball game.
     
    brandon27 and rafael like this.
  2. Killerphins

    Killerphins The Finger

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    Every game is different so you don't get to take the very few things you did right into the next one.
    We lost. Period.
     
  3. brandon27

    brandon27 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Agree with pretty much everything there.

    I think last night is just what we needed for this offense. Henne got into the game, took chances, made plays, trusted his WR's to make plays and put the ball in play for him. After watching him throw last night, you can clearly see the progress made from last year, to this year. Sure he missed a few, but thats to be expected. QB's never throw perfect games out there.

    The key is, we need to keep letting him do this. Keep him in the game, get him into a rhythm early, let our WR's dictate how the Defense plays, then let Ricky and Ronnie run it down their throats. It might cause a few boneheaded QB mistakes and INT's, but its the only way he's going to learn. You gotta let him go out there, and throw that ball like we did last night. Its the only way he's going to learn, and adjust to game speed in the NFL. Throwing 14 passes a game, isn't going to cut it. I'm not saying I want 40+ attempts, and 300+ yards a game, but You gotta let him go out there and adjust, and learn.

    I'm with you on the Wildcat too. Although I think it can still be effective in the right situations. The problem we have with it this year, and in the end of last year is we just call it at the wrong times. At least some of the plays from it anyways. That WC play to Cobbs. Ridiculous. Going wildcat after Henne had completed 3 or 4 passes in a row, not a good idea. I think it still has its place, and can be effective, we just really need to get it back to how it was when we rolled it out. Keep Ricky in motion so the D keeps guessing if its goign to Ricky or Ronnie. The direct snaps to Ronnie when he's the only one back there, and the only option, just doesn't work without excellent blocking. Which we haven't gotten running the ball as much this year so far.

    While we lost the game, we did win in some areas IMO. Marshall took the game over, Henne made great throws, and Hartline and Bess stepped up and took advantage of the situations in coverage that having a guy like Marshall creates. That has to happen consistently every week. This game may be a huge stepping stone for our offense. That and we hung in there against probably the best D in the league, and despite some of our own mistakes, we still almost pulled this one off.
     
  4. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    The state of the Phins is that we never panic, we just continue to add personnel..

    Realistically , imo, This year was not the year to have the expectation's for superbowl's, competing for a playoff spot was what I wanted to see out of our team, there's still a lot of work to do, a lot of developing still to go,and experience to gather before they compete at the highest level..

    Lets see what we can do against a world class offense next week.

    Iam going to be keeping a close eye on ronnie brown...and whether or not he keeps us from going after a #1, one cut running back, high in the draft...
     
  5. rafael

    rafael Well-Known Member

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    I hope that Henning realized that Marshall and Brown are our two primary play makers and that Henne can be safe with the ball even with a large number of pass attempts. We have complimentary weapons in Bess, Fasano and Hartline, but the offense should run though our main two guys. Bess is the best of the complimentary players and should be used as the third option. RWs and Cobbs are really only good enough to spell RB.

    Going forward I hope we can get closer to a 50/50 run pass balance. Out of our 60 or so offensive plays per game, I think our ideal mix would be as follows:

    30 run plays

    RB - 15 runs
    RW - 10 runs
    LP - 3 runs
    2 miscellaneous runs with Marshall or Cobbs

    30 pass plays

    Marshall - 10 targets
    Bess - 8 targets
    RB - 5 targets
    Hartline - 3 targets
    Fasano - 3 targets
    1 miscellaneous target to Polite or another player

    The run can be used to set up the pass or the pass can be used to set up the run. Either one should be an option depending on how their defense is playing us or which part of their defense is weaker.

    I also hoped they learned that we need to prioritize a receiving TE to add to the mix. Not a blocking TE who can catch a little, but a TE who is primarily a receiver who can block well enough to set the edge. I also wouldn't mind finding a dynamic change player like a Reggie Bush or Mcluster who is more effective than Cobbs as a back, receiver and returner.

    On defense, I think its obvious that we need Crowder back. Dobbin's was doing his best Ayodele impersonation so I think he's better in spot duty than as a starter.

    I also hoped they learned that our STs are killing us. They focused on bringing in talent there this off-season so it seems like the coaching is the problem.
     
    Fin D likes this.

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