Game 15 thoughts: Dolphins at Raiders

Great breakdown of the end of the Raiders game...a must-read:

https://www.si.com/nfl/dolphins/news/miami-dolphins-wild-finish-featured-a-lot-of-subplots

Love this from Coach Flores. Just win, baby!

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/30606557/miami-dolphins-coach-brian-flores-defends-decision-stick-tua-tagovailoa-starting-qb

With questions about his QB situation after a big win, Flores made it clear that winning is the only thing that matters to him, regardless of what people want to call their unusual rotation.

"I don't want to put any labels on it. The label is we are going to do what we've got to do to win. I owe that to the Dolphins' fans, to the players in that locker room, to the people in the organization, that's what we're always going to do," Flores said. "So two-person, three-person QB, five-person QB, whatever we need to do to win, that's what we're going to do to win."

I think Kurt Warner nailed Tua's main problem exceptionally well when he made the comment that "Fitz has been trying to teach Tua the difference between an "open" receiver and an "NFL open" receiver."

The receiver may be covered, but if you throw the pass (with anticipation) where the receiver will be, way ahead of where the defender can reach it, you get a completion. Throwing the receiver open if you will.

"NFL open " is much different than "Alabama open" like Tua was used to in college, where Alabama's five receivers were a whole lot better than the defender's five or eight cover guys.... unless Bama was playing Clemson.

Gailey - I agree with JMP. The Phins got out-coached BIG TIME by Gruden and staff. The runs that worked against the Pats were getting stuffed like a Thanksgiving Day turkey by the Raiders D Line and LBs who shot every gap when he Phins tried their angle blocks and pulls. And Gailey kept calling the same old crap that wasn't working in the first half.

Gailey tries to set up the pass with the run, but what he needed was to set up the run with the pass, but Tua just was not reading fast enough and could not decipher the coverage fast enough to do it. There was no "Alabama open" with the receivers he had.

Fitz did it. Even with the receivers that were left.

I suspect Gailey is just following the game plan that Flores wants to utilize, but some in game adjustments for all the gap-shooting the Raiders were doing would have been wonderful IMHO.

Also - Put Perry in the slot and send him on a post a few times a game and TELL Tua to fling it down field to him if he gets single coverage! At least make the safeties THINK about covering deep. Maybe get a PI call. The OC may have to force Tua to throw it deep a few times. A long incompletion on first down at the very least sends the message the QB is looking to take a few deep shots!

Tua versus Herbert - I was kinda/sorta hoping a team was gonna jump up ahead of the Phins and take Tua, so the Phins would have to take Herbert. Herbert looks like the real deal. With Tua... I have not seen the "it" factor yet. Like Dan or Tom had/have... Where the whole team has confidence that the QB CAN lead them to victory. Maybe it will come.

The team is so far ahead of where I thought they would be, I am not going to complain... too much!

Good post FF! Two things:

1. It's criminal that Gaskin only got 14 carries on Saturday. The way he was running, he should have had 20+. Of course, I can say the same about the Raiders...how did Jacobs only have 13 carries???

2. Herbert sure has some nice numbers, but does he really look like the real deal? His 4th quarter stats are terrible, and he really hasn't shown that he can read a defense. He's been throwing the ball all over the yard and benefiting from having a top 5 WR, but is he going through progressions, reading defenses, throwing accurate passes? To all of those things, I'd answer "sometimes". Sure, the numbers are pretty, but he's piled up the losses - on a veteran team - and has choked on several occasions. We know he can hit wide open receivers, but when things aren't perfect he has folded. You have to love the arm strength - but does he have the smarts and "it factor"? I don't know that answer yet. I would say the jury is very much still out on him, just as it is with Burrow and Tua.

I will say this: for what we are asking the QB to do, I'm glad we have Tua and not Herbert. I truly believe we'd have a lot more losses with Herbert, who is much more careless with the ball. With Tua, we are on the verge of making the playoffs.

I have seen this Two Qb system before in Fins History from 80-82 with WoodStrock and it was Very Successful, The Throw to Me was Like a Throw from the Heavens with Angels guiding the Ball to its exact Location of Hollins Stomach. Defense needs to Get back to being more Aggressive against The Bills.

Do you know when Woodstrock really, really shined? The day Marino came into the game and replaced Woodley, forever.

I would daresay that Woodstrock might well have won a Super Bowl if Don Shula had made the switch right after Riggins' 43 yard TD run.

And Strock remained a very valuable mentor and backup during Marino's first 5 seasons. Fitz could certainly have that kind of value for at least two more years if he wants to do it.

Let me just say this, I had zero issues with Don Strock.

finskev wrote:The Throw to Me was Like a Throw from the Heavens with Angels guiding the Ball to its exact Location of Hollins Stomach.

Kev with a late entry for quote of the year! Very poetic - and very true! Love it!

I still can't believe that play actually happened!

We ran better out of the pistol then the shotgun. All everytbody did against the run in the shotgun was slant the defense to the weak side. Watch the game again and see what formation we ran out of when the running game was working. It was simple base blocking and let AHMED and GASKIN look for the holes.

Tua throwing open isn’t a problem. It’s the downfield routes that he isn’t getting that Fitz is getting. If the playcalling is different then the results are different. Tell me that ain’t true?

We ran better out of the pistol then the shotgun. All everytbody did against the run in the shotgun was slant the defense to the weak side. Watch the game again and see what formation we ran out of when the running game was working. It was simple base blocking and let AHMED and GASKIN look for the holes.

Tua throwing open isn’t a problem. It’s the downfield routes that he isn’t getting that Fitz is getting. If the playcalling is different then the results are different. Tell me that ain’t true?

One Last Thing about the Game, Our Punt Coverage has been Slipping Lately and needs to Tighten back up.

finskev wrote:One Last Thing about the Game, Our Punt Coverage has been Slipping Lately and needs to Tighten back up.

Very true. The TD the Chiefs scored was bogus because there were at least two uncalled penalties on that play, but yes, we've been giving up too many yards lately.

Umix10 wrote:

Tua throwing open isn’t a problem.  It’s the downfield routes that he isn’t getting that Fitz is getting.  If the playcalling is different then the results are different.  Tell me that ain’t true?

Well, there were at least two plays where Tua had guys semi-open downfield and he didn't throw it. So I do think part of it is just that Tua needs to start trusting his receivers to make plays. Not an easy ask with the guys he's throwing to, but there's really no choice at this point. He's certainly accurate enough that he can place the ball in the right spot, but he just has to learn to rip it when necessary.

Fitz has no fear - he'll throw any pass at any time, and he doesn't care about making a mistake. Tua has a conservative mindset right now - which is a big reason he's protecting the ball at such an amazing rate - but against Buffalo he needs to play no holds barred. This is it - lose and we go home. Get that killer instinct back and do whatever it takes to get TDs.

On another note, going up-tempo and throwing out of empty sets is where Tua has had the most success. We didn't do much of either against the Raiders. Gailey needs to install much more of that against the Bills.

Finally, Gailey needs to ride the RB if the running game is working. Let Gaskin do his thing...14 carries (like we saw against the Raiders) just isn't enough when the guy is having a big game.

No faith in Tua whatsoever. This stage is too big for him and Gailey will institute a fraidy cat game plan.

Oh well, maybe he won't be like Tannehill and go 0-5 in Buffalo as a starter, with the Fins never scoring more than 17 in any game and being shut out once. Maybe...