We don't have elite impact players at positions of leadership - safety, linebacker, quarterback. Until that changes 3rd and 10 will continue to be a problem at both sides of the ball.

 

Great point made by Wake. He's not wrong. Hopefully McKinnie can play this weekend. How hard is it going to be to be better than Clabo? Not very.

 

The basic problem is the offensive line, and a lesser issue has been key injuries, but all teams have those. Look at the Broncos OL against the Colts, and they already lost Ryan Clady. The Pats were without Gronk, Hernandez and and Welker for the 1st five games and now at least Gronk is back, but they just kept chugging along. Plus now Wilfork is gone and I think Mayo, too.

But the Fins OL- what a mess. At least Tannehill hasn't been physically disabled yet. The crappy OL has excacerbated RTs issue with locking onto receivers, messed up the timing between QB and WRs (as hartline admitted to iirc) and our running game sucks. We'd probably be 5-1 and a MUCH better team if the OL were set. Time for this team to bring in 2 guys for the OL- one who knows how to draft OT talent and one who knows how to develop OT talent. This whole year will get flushed down the bowl because the OL sucks. What a shame. Where's Dallas Thomas? Where's Danny Watkins? Where's Will Yeatman? Where's Nate Garner? Between the OL mess that has been going on for years and the simplistic, unimaginative offensive play calling, I can't help but question the FO and coaches, Ireland, Sherman and Philbin most definitely included.

 

Can't get off the field on 3rd and 10, that's on Wake and the defense.

 

He's an impact player but he's not elite. As a matter of fact I'd say Wheeler is a downgrade from the linebackers we had last year.

 

With regard to the original quote from Wake: Was he wearing a turtleneck and a backward kangol hat as he said it?

 

Did you see wheeler miss the 3rd down tackle at the end of the buffalo game to let them get the first down and run the clock down?

 

Makes sense. So we don't have to worry about critiquing any part of the defense then? Cuz I mean, it would of just led to the same thing from our offense. Lol

 

What kind of counter argument is this? So your argument is Wheeler made the right play just to protect Tannehill from Williams instead of having more time to win the game? Gotcha.

I still say Wheeler is a downgrade from Dansby, and I wasn't a fan of Dansby mostly because he was getting paid like a prime Urlacher. If we're not blitzing we're not using Wheeler, pretty much useless.

 

If we had more time our playbook is more open than just settling for obvious passing plays. That was the beauty of the last drive against the Falcons, we had about 3 minutes left to the game and they didn't know what we were going to do next, if we would be aggressive or use the clock. I thought about it enough, I think you're trying too hard to defend your stance that we should have just lay down. Wheeler makes that tackle we're looking at a longer field goal attempt by Carpenter who isn't the most clutch kicker around. Granted he has been good so far for the Bills this season but knowing his past I rather see him kick a GW 45 yard field goal than a chip shot at the 10 yard line. Also who are you to say that those instance WOULD have happened regardless? That's like saying well Tannehill would have thrown a pick six anyways if he had more time.

 

YOU FORGOT ONE OTHER POINT.....TANNEHILL GETS THE BALL BACK!!!!!!!!!!!! no matter what we had the chance to win and he fumbled!!!

 

Once again I'm impressed by Wake.

 

Exactly what makes Wheeler an impact LB? To me he is a very average LB on a very average Dolphin defense. Most of the time his name is mentioned when he makes a tackle on the TE he was covering. Of course the tackle was made AFTER the TE made the catch. The Dolphins defense this year is not as good as the 2012 defense and I think a big reason for this is that Wheeler and Ellerbe aren't as good as Dansby and Burnett.

The only real impact player, week to week, on the Dolphins defense is Wake and because of an injury this year, even he hasn't been able to make any big plays in recent weeks.

 

But the loss to Buffalo is about as good as shooting ones self in the foot they are one behind them in a tie atm and one behind New England so .500 is as good as being behind at this point. Digging our own hole.:sad:

 

A win in New England would at least set us at .500 with them this weekend but that seems like a extra large wish right now.

 

Wheeler's been our most impact LB the past 2 years. Correct in that he isn't elite, but it's rare to see all around WLB's that are strong in pass rush, run stopping and coverage. We have 2 of 3 at least. Haven't checked after the last game but Wheeler was top 5 last I looked in pass rush efficiency, run stop % and tackling efficiency. He's been very good at what this team wants him to be....clogging up the gaps. It leaves him pretty vulnerable though when he has to drop back from the gaps.

Ellerbe has been absolute crap for us so far though and deserves the scrutiny.

 

This defense was talking this offseason a lot, about being great and whatnot, so far, their performance hadn't been up to par

I wish I didn't have to see or hear any of these players right now, cause I literally want to call them bad names.

 

What does it mean to be ranked #32 in total tackles as a defense.?

 

That they're not on the field as much as other defenses?

 

I'm sure right, I mean were 13 the ranked in defense, I wonder if our TOP is out if whack.

 

We've also had a larger amount of injuries than previous seasons it seems... Soliai and Wake haven't had the same impact as a result and Ellerbe and Wheeler both have either missed games, or stretches of plays as a result. Same for out DBs...

Getting Ellerbe back for the Pats game should give us a boost.

 

Most of it is scheme-related in my opinion. Kevin Coyle hasn't done a good job preparing or making in-game adjustments this season, that's the root of the problem. Going from a hybrid scheme last year that utilized "heavy" under, over, and bear fronts to more of a traditional 4-3 scheme this year hasn't worked out very well as Miami's personnel are not well suited for that. I think Miami is 1 for 2 on the LBs, but even then Philip Wheeler hasn't been as impressive as I thought he'd be. Kevin Coyle's scheme does a lot that works against Ellerbe IMO, plus he's been injured. The run defense has been about a push, and even though OV has 3 sacks in 3 games, he's more of a guy you should be playing situationally - if anything, he's a stop gap to Dion Jordan at this point. Miami lost Vaughn Martin for interior depth, released Marvin Austin, and brought in Isaako Aaitui, who is just a guy.

His insistence on sugaring the A gaps IMO has hurt Ellerbe and Wheeler as they're both not particularly adept at playing coverage. Where they line up though, even when they don't blitz, is a natural detriment to getting them back into space (see Darren Sproles' field day in week 4).

Personally, I think this offseason, regardless if Joe Phibin is here or not, Miami would do well to look at defenses in Baltimore, Indianapolis, Kansas City, and San Francisco. Miami has an elite pass-rusher in Wake, and another that's more naturally suited to coming off the edge as a 3-4 OLB in Dion Jordan, they need to use that. Olivier Vernon is also pretty valuable when he stands up as well as he's surprisingly athletic and can drop into zones. It also makes it easier to align certain guys to get the matchups you want. Think of the ways you could utilize Jordan and Vernon on the edges (long-term) and you still have Wake and Jordan/Vernon in the short-term.

I miss the 3-4, and I think Miami's personnel would be better suited for that, for the most part. Philip Wheeler would stick out like a sore thumb if you made the switch, but guys like Odrick, Starks & Soliai if they're brought back, Ellerbe, and Misi all have experience in the system. That's a trade off I'd be willing to look at and there's a slew of free agents to be that are from 3-4 teams.

If I'm Joe Philbin, that's the first move I make on the staff next year - replace Kevin Coyle with someone who runs the 3-4. Then I'd take a more hands-on approach to the offense, if not run it myself.

 

It is. I think Miami only holds the ball for like 27 minutes per game on offense. That doesn't do favors for the defense, unless you're putting up touchdowns like the Rams in the "Greatest Show on Turf" days. Miami isn't doing that.

The defense has taken a step back from 2012, and if you look at a lot of statistical categories, it's a BIG step back from even the 2011 team.

 

Is burnett an impact player right now ? Because that's who wheeler replaced. Show me the downgrade.

 

more time on the field for the defense would compute to more tackles no?

 

I'd have to see what the stat was measuring. Was there a link? If it's purely for possible tackles made versus actual tackles made, I could see Miami being that low. They miss a lot, how many times have players run out of bounds and not been hit? How many players gave themselves up after a catch or a QB scramble, etc.

As far as Miami's defense, Miami is not 13th ranked; they're 21st in total defense (372.2 ypg), 20th in points per game allowed (23.3 ppg), 25th against the pass (269.3 ypg), and 15th against the run (102.8 ypg). None of those categories are good, and only one is even top half, barely.

Miami doesn't stay on the field long on offense, which contributes to the defense being on the field more, and when they are, they're giving up more overall yardage, which I'd guess in terms of hidden yardage allowed, the defense is equally negatively effecting the offense's starting field position, which goes back to scheme, which goes back to Coyle, and now I'm rambling again.

 

Our passer rating as a defense is 10th and our Yards per carry is tied for 12th.

 

I'm surprised at the passer rating. Given who is in our front seven, the YPC average should be a lot better than it is. I know for a time last year, Miami actually had a top 3 run defense and had the best YPC against average in the NFL. Then the Tennessee, Buffalo, New England games blew that up. Then when Misi got hurt, it fell out of the top 10 in total rush defense entirely. I think it's only as low as it is this season because the Saints game is a misnomer. Miami killed them defensively against the run, but New Orleans didn't have to run to shred Miami.

As a whole, the defense in 2013 is not very good, and it's a step down from last year, which IMO, can be attributed to the scheme. I know injuries have played a part in it, but I'm pretty sure Miami has been out-gained in every game this season, except for this past week.

 

The team is good enough to win 10+ games, but if it's the nature/destiny of them to play sloppy like we've seen of late then we're right back to seasons of 7-9, albeit an underachieving one this go around. With how minimal the level of disparity is among the league, we can't continue this sloppiness, leaving plays on the field, and spotting our opponents points and expect to win a lot of games.

 

It is hard for me not to blame the coaches. Especially Jim Turner.