Rewatching the dolphins game: Defense

[ausbacker]

IMO Miami should have only ran in obvious short yardage situations (provided the line is not stacked). Passes behind the LOS often didn't work very well particular for Miller but there were a few occasions they worked out okay.

Where they had success generally were outside short passes to WRs and passes between 10-15 yards down the field to the outside area. These were their best plays and usually they were able to get them off pretty well. It also must be pointed out that plays like these where the ones they had their interceptions on. However considering it was the only way they successfully moved the ball on the Patriots for any sustained time they should have stuck with it cause nothing else worked for them all game. This would have probably lead to more interceptions but also perhaps more points.

Also I would ask you to keep in mind Landry is pretty damn good and Matthews is no slotch so it is not like the time our CBs got beat they were being beat but no names. It is probably one of the better 1-2 tandems we will face this year.

Meanwhile, as the Dolphins waited for those 10-15 yard pass plays to develop, the Patriots sacked Tannehill 5 times and hit him a heap more. You can't have it both ways @BobDigital.

 

[Bruins29]

I see Bob is at it again. SMH

 

[BobDigital]

I appreciate the effort Bob, but your agenda is crystal clear. Everything good on defense comes from the front seven and everything bad from the secondary. So when you describe a completion it is the CB who was beat, and when it is an incompletion, it was always a mistake by the offensive player.

Bob you have been making this accusation now for 7 weeks now. We get it. The secondary sucks and needs to be improved. Eventually you have to get over the fact Revis couldn't have been signed. You have to understand that the OTHER side gets paid as well, and virtually all the rules are in their favor. Passes WILL be completed. In fact close to 60% of them will be completed on average, even against the BEST secondaries. You would seem to have us believe that all of them should be blamed on the DB's. You can see how ridiculous this sounds.

You would be better served to think of the defense as a whole instead of 2 separate entities. You would be better served to live with the fact that there will be a lot of completions that are NOT the direct blame of any DB. They are also the result of a good scheme, good routes, perfect throws, and great catches.

I'm not saying that this secondary is great. But it doesn't have to be. Like the OL it just has to be "good enough". It has to make plays, which it has. It has to play solidly, which it has. It has to keep improving as the season goes on. It has, and that is the most important factor.

It is well to remember that perhaps the worst Patriots secondary in it's history was the 2011 group. A group that was part of the 2nd worst defense in NFL history as far as total yds.go. But it continued to improve as the season went on. Yet by the time the playoffs came around they were in the top half of all the playoff teams in most defensive stats, and allowed less than 20 points in the superbowl loss.

This defense is worlds better both in the front 7 and in the secondary. It isn't perfect but it is "good enough" for right now. But that being said, it would be good have an additional CB, but only after the OL issues are addressed. And thanks again for effort.

I have to say some things about this post I think are fair but some i disagree with.

#1 I don't have an agenda. I simply re-watched the plays and told you what happened and my thoughts.

#2 The front 7 had some bad plays. Miller's run for 7 yards to open the game, The 2 runs on the scoring drive were obvious but both converted for positive yards. A few passes behind the line were not properly picked up and were taken for decent gains. There were mistakes made by the front 7. I Also give the DBs credit for plays. I mentioned both interceptions were well covered by the DBs. Also I mention a few plays Tannehill holds on to the ball with no one to throw to. A fair amount of time looking at the tape you see him look deep and read then dump off. There was good coverage by the CBs at various points particularly on the biggest plays.

#3 I don't think the secondary sucks. I think it is overall pretty average but the CBs particularly the 3rd spot need to be improved. I think we can win with Butler Ryan and another player at CB fairly close to their level but I see Coleman as too large a drop off. We might be able to win with Coleman as our 3rd DB but it would make things a lot harder and put pressure on our front 7 to have games as good as they did against Miami.

#4 I would have liked to keep Revis but it would have been tough. I am fine with the Patriots moving on from him for various reasons. Looking at this front 7 I would have been perfectly happy with Butler/Ryan/Brown as your 3 CBs. I think that would have been plenty good. Right now McCourty is playing a lot more up and in coverage as a S/CB and him and Harmom are kind of switching on and off as the 3rd CB. At times. Can't say I am a fan of that and I doubt you are either but with a dominant performance from the front 7 it works.

I think this Defense will be fine provided the front 7 can play like it did yesterday but against an elite offense I would have concerns if that were not the case. I think the OL issues are easier to address than the DB issues. When it comes to the OL you can always just have Brady get the ball out faster if need be. With the D it is hard to say "get pressure faster". From what I have seen from our offense I really don't feel a need to address the OT position besides emergency depth.

Also I don't always blame the D for a play getting made on it. If a play is run perfectly by the offense then it will work. Some times a really good pass is made and there is nothing you can do about it. A WR theoretically is always open if thrown to correctly and a cut perfectly timed. When those happen you just shrug and take your hat off. I have said several times in game threads something like "was just a great play" and move on. Also as I said in another post it is not like when Butler and Ryan were beat they were beat by no bodies. Landry is very good and Matthews a very good #2. I gave Butler and Ryan credit for limiting YAC I think I brought that up in the initial post game thread right after the game.

Even without the interceptions it was not like they got roasted a ton. I am simply surprised Miami did not try to pass on them more considering how bad everything else worked for them. That is where I would have taken my shot if I were them.

 

[JMC00]

Meanwhile, as the Dolphins waited for those 10-15 yard pass plays to develop, the Patriots sacked Tannehill 5 times and hit him a heap more. You can't have it both ways.

His longest pass of the night wasn't even the play called. It was when the Pats pressured him and he ran out of the pocket and Cameron got free while he was running. I mean there was literally 4 or 5 defenders within a yard or two of him when he made the throw.

Have to wonder had Chandler Jones not been tripped by the LT while Tannenhill started to run if Tannenhill would have been forced to throw it away or be sacked. Which watching that one again looks like the LT might have tripped Jones on that one.

 

[BobDigital]

Meanwhile, as the Dolphins waited for those 10-15 yard pass plays to develop, the Patriots sacked Tannehill 5 times and hit him a heap more. You can't have it both ways @BobDigital.

Did I say coverage had nothing to do with those sacks?

 

[Tony2046]

I am simply stating the facts of how each play went down. I think our D played well but I also feel this was a horribly coached game by Miami when looking at the play calling. I think our front 7 had a pretty amazing game actually.

I'm not sure that was there game plan. I think most teams understand that the weakness in the Pats defense is in the Secondary but you need time for plays to develop into the secondary and Tannahill did not get a lot of time to throw. So the short throws etc... may have been by default of being under pressure.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

*** SO *** our team is running a scheme that forces the opponent's quarterback to complete low percentage difficult passes deep down field and that means we are doomed???

 

[BobDigital]

His longest pass of the night wasn't even the play called. It was when the Pats pressured him and he ran out of the pocket and Cameron got free while he was running. I mean there was literally 4 or 5 defenders within a yard or two of him when he made the throw.

Have to wonder had Chandler Jones not been tripped by the LT while Tannenhill started to run if Tannenhill would have been forced to throw it away or be sacked. Which watching that one again looks like the LT might have tripped Jones on that one.

Yeah that was a pretty amazing play by Tannehill. Maybe the front 7 should have had him there but good job by him escaping and extending the play. Yeah Jones was tripped I think and it was a non-call that maybe should have been called. Considering the Patriots early call against them it might have made sense to call that one to the Pats benefit. Sometimes the calls don't go your way though. I don't put a ton of blame on the secondary for that one. Too much time to make a play. Also the pass was pretty spot on and allowed Cameron to elevate above the DBs around him not unlike a pass Chandler had last game when he just won a jump ball over a much shorter DB.

 

[Tony2046]

*** SO *** our team is running a scheme that forces the opponent's quarterback to complete low percentage difficult passes deep down field and that means we are doomed???

Face it Sammy the Pats defense is a Cat-tastrophy.

Corny, I know.

 

[BobDigital]

Face is Sammy the Pats defense is a Cat-tastrophy.

Corny, I know.

Nah.. I thought that pun was purrr-fect.

 

[ausbacker]

Did I say coverage had nothing to do with those sacks?

So the Secondary did its job then? Funny that.

 

[Tony2046]

Nah.. I thought that pun was purrr-fect.

I know you are taking some heat for it but I appreciate the post.

 

[Deus Irae]

Troy Brown must be either a contrarian or a Chicken Little, because he wasn't thrilled with the play of the secondary, and he thinks the team needs another corner.

 

[Tony2046]

Troy Brown must be either a contrarian or a Chicken Little, because he wasn't thrilled with the play of the secondary, and he thinks the team needs another corner.

They need a CB for depth purposes.

 

[Deus Irae]

They need a CB for depth purposes.

They need a CB1/CB2

 

[Tony2046]

They need a CB1/CB2

I agree but where can you get a CB1 and fit him under the salary cap? I don't think they can.

 

[BobDigital]

They need a CB1/CB2

I think a CB1 be ideal but my main issue is with Coleman who just is not ready. I would be fine like I said if we got another Ryan or Butler level CB or close to it.

 

[Deus Irae]

I agree but where can you get a CB1 and fit him under the salary cap? I don't think they can.

My guess is that they're probably looking to pry away a CB2 kind of player, while hoping that a lower salary CB1 guy is shopped because of an issue, a la Talib, or agrees to some kind of new deal/re-structure concept. Taking a look at a guy like Rashean Mathis would be an option, too, if he'd be willing to move, though they'd have to take a good look at his play to check for any perceived slippage.

 

[meatface]

Couldn't you say that every good play by any defense is really just because the offense did something wrong?

Sent from my KFSOWI using Tapatalk

 

[n1997y]

Loved Bruschi's analysis. Dolphins were like a high school team. Tried the same old same old, when their tricks didn't work they didn't know what to do.

Or putting it another way, the OP is arguing the 'Phins should've used their knights and bishops and rooks better, instead of trying a pawn push, but doesn't quite get that they were really trying to get their checkers to where they could say "King me!"