http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/armando-salguero/article179057891.html
''That victory over Atlanta is meaningful. It was a huge game. A huge win.
It was palpable how meaningful this was.
It was big because the Dolphins beat the defending NFC champions. On the road. And they did it after spotting the Falcons a 17-0 halftime lead.
“It was a great win for us,” running back Jay Ajayi said. “With how we have been playing, it was great for us just to finish a game no matter what the obstacles are. We were down early. This week we really put it on ourselves to stay together and not get frustrated no matter what we do as an offense or whether we put points on the board. We didn’t want our emotions to get us out of the game. I think this week offensively we were really able to lock in as well and keep our emotions in check. That was big for us, and we were able to create big plays down the stretch. The defense did the rest.”
The emotion thing is interesting. Last week Ajayi pouted on the sideline. Receiver Jarvis Landry manifested as well. It was so acute that coach Adam Gase met with both players during the week to make sure they remembered to maintain their professional wits about them during the game.
Well, interesting that Landry caught a touchdown pass and Ajayi rushed for 130 yards.
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they focused on not losing their emotions and whine and pout and get frustrated, and it paid off..
this is huge for the rest of the season..
Jets are going down man..
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I think the major point that needs to be said is that the defense was great, they held it down in the first half and when the offense went on drives in the second half the defense rested and then came on the field and stymied the falcons, its amazing what happens when the defense gets help from the O, if we can manage to do this once a qtr. I think this defense can play with anyone. which puts us in a great position to win a lot of games.
ChrisKo, dolphin25, SocaCasualuk and 1 other person like this. -
we have a long way to go, but the next 4 games are different than how they looked a month or so ago. Jets seem to be the only team that is over-achieving. The other three have shown major flaws. I'd love for Miami to continuously improve on offense, gradually. Wait for the explosions towards the end of the year. Don't be greedy, as this defense seems to be holding its own
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What was done/said at halftime though? Something changed and no one seems to have reported what precisely.
In any case, this comeback win is important for this team long-term because it's something the players will remember as evidence of what they can do even when they're down by a lot. It's one thing to be rah-rah and talk big, but nothing beats knowing you can do something because you've already done it.Tin Indian and Irishman like this. -
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Tin Indian and Dol-Fan Dupree like this.
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gunn34 likes this.
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So run blocking got worse after Pouncey left.
What DID change was Cutler somehow finding targets he missed in the 1st half. And the defense came out energized after Cutler led the team to a TD. The other person I have to give credit to is Gase. The guy went for it on 4th down on two different drives, and one of them (the first in the 2nd half) led directly to a TD instead of a FG, and we might have ended up losing with only a FG on that drive.
So something was said/done at halftime to get the passing offense moving and improve our defense. Not sure what.Last edited: Oct 17, 2017Tin Indian, danmarino, SocaCasualuk and 1 other person like this. -
Miami had the ball for 14 min in the first half, 18 in the 2nd. I'mm by two minutes because of averaging. That shows me better blocking
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Ajayi had 57 yards in the first quarter when Pouncey was,in the game. That is almost half of his yards. The blocking did not get appreciably better.
Still, hat tip to Brendel, because the OL still looked competent when he entered the game. That is what you want from your back-ups.dolphin25 and Tin Indian like this. -
if pouncey was out in the second half and in the first half we had 0, then guess what, we played better without Pouncey
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bigballa2102 likes this.
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The TD pass to Stills where Cutler steps up in the pocket is something Tannehill has never done. He better be learning on the sidelines.
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eltos_lightfoot and Dol-Fan Dupree like this.
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Well something went down at halftime, the offense was much better after the break. One thing for sure is we had fewer drops by far in the 2nd half. Didn't Landry drop 3 in the 1st half? or was it 2 in the 1st and 1 in the 2nd. Either way it is uncharacteristic of him. And yeah a couple of those could have had better placement from Cutler, but still a gifted receiver like Landry should not have a problem with them.
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Too early to call it a turning point win - especially considering how the Falcons shot themselves in the foot when Cutler was trying to give the game away.
'Tis still a quality one though.dolphin25 likes this. -
As for the Jets, they will be angry and either frustrated or motivated after being ripped off last game. My guess is that Bowles will have them ready. Should be a fist fight if our guys don't relax now that they have played a good half. Gase will also have our guys ready, most likely. -
Look I'm all for2nd half adjustments, but I want to see what Gase and Clyde can do now after 5 games to actually put up 10-13 points in the second half. I said in my prior post on another thread, I am not buying a "run" until they can improve on offense. The defense, I am confident, can keep teams to 20. But I can't believe we can't average 23 a game, when in the past, that's what we were complaining about. In the offseason, we debated about how Miami needed to be around 27, about 4 more per game and how hard that vast was going to be. Now they average 12 a game and we need them to go to 20? Well that's harder than going from 23-27.
I think the solution is chunk plays downfield. I mean what is there to lose if they are stinking it up anyway? As useless as Parker is, maybe he can draw a 50/50 penalty downfield. It's forcing the issue. Maybe get Grant in a play in the open field? Also, take advantage of 2nd and short (make 1st down a smart play), and take a deep shot to Stills, when the defense thinks you are going to run again. Sometimes to "force the issue" you have to be clean and productive on the first down. You get into second and long, and it seems we are limited. Miami has to maybe take more shots down field, knowing their defense is playing well. -
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I'd summarize it this way: 1st drive 3rd quarter it's mostly Cutler with some balls by Gase to go for it on 4th down leading to a TD, 2nd drive it's mostly luck = penalties at crucial moments leading to a TD (even nullifying a Cutler INT), 3rd drive (4th quarter) it's mostly luck = botched 4th down punt leading to a FG, and 4th drive it's two crucial 18 yard runs by Ajayi.
Otherwise credit goes to the defense for holding Atlanta to zero points in the 2nd half. -
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But IMO Miami has no reason not blowing out the jets from kickoff, they got a huge win against a top 5 team (supposedly) and now heading home against a team who peppered their @$$ in week 3 from kickoff I expect Gase to give the ball to CUT (wait that's what he should do) I mean CUTLER, if he can just find some sort of accuracy its week 6 (for Miami) for god sakes he shouldn't be underthrowing or missing people still, now is the time to show your totally a bust. -
this is why I drop a few bucks for the club, and the inside stuff..hopefully he doesn't mind me posting his stuff..dude knows the game, like for real....this is why our run game had success.
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yeah I noticed that when the line was bunched up things got chaotic in a rush. His runs definitely were more toward the outside and with spacing on the line. That's subtle or not, but maybe a change that Cug noticed, but it was a fast turnaround, based on when he was hired.