Questions about the line?

Coach Flores post game interview when asked about playing Eichenberg when Jackson was available. "We wanted to play our best 5 guys"

Does this mean Jackson will be a 2nd teamer? Will Jackson play LT going forward?

or did he mean "best 5 guys...at that time" due to the fact Jackson missed the preceding week of practice and may have had conditioning problems due to the illness?

Vague answer for sure. A lot of players miss time during the week but get the go if they're healthy at game time.

I heard Flores say that. Not sure what he meant exactly, because I don't really know Jackson's status. I assume he was OK to play since he was active, but who knows. It's just strange that Eich really didn't get many snaps at LT this summer, and then got the start week 1. My money would have been on Little getting the start.

But I honestly don't care how it all plays out - I'm on board with the "best 5 play" strategy. If Jackson ends up on the bench, so be it - whatever helps the team.

I have a feeling that they'll give Eich another try at LT, but we'll see. The Bills didn't get much pressure on Big Ben yesterday, going against a brand new Pittsburgh OL, but they did completely shutdown the Steelers run game. We'll see how this inconsistent Miami OL does against them...

BTW, Jesse Davis at RT had a HUGE block on Gaskin's 15-yard run. That was easily the block of the game. It would of course be great to see the OL open holes like that more consistently. Regardless, it seems like Davis has that RT spot locked down for now at least.

Sounds like Jackson will be back at LT if he practices this week:

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/09/13/brian-flores-austin-jackson-is-our-left-tackle/

Second-round pick Liam Eichenberg played the whole game while Jackson saw action on three special teams snaps. On Monday, Dolphins head coach Brian Flores said that Eichenberg “did a nice job” against the New England defense but made it clear that the start was only because Jackson had missed practice all week.

“Austin is our left tackle,” Flores said, via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.

Regardless of who is at left tackle, Flores said there’s “a lot of improvement that needs to be made” on the offensive line after the Dolphins netted 259 offensive yards in a 17-16 win.

Well... I was right... The Pats D-line punched them in the face and took their lunch money.

A really sucky job by the O-Line overall.

But a win is a win is a win.

I doubt the Phins can count on the Defense playing great in the redzone and getting a turnover to preserve the win every game.

Did it seem like the Pats were WAITING for every run? The LBs were in every hole! There must be some indicator or something they were keying on IMO.

Because when they lined up and went for it on those short 1 yarders when Brissett came in, they got SOME PUSH....

That game had LOSS written all over but and the Phins managed to eke out a win.

Let's hope the realize they need to improve and get better.... lots better in the upcoming weeks.

The Bills didn't get much pressure on Big Ben yesterday, going against a brand new Pittsburgh OL, but they did completely shutdown the Steelers run game.

Well as a James Conner owner in last years fantasy football season, I can tell you that Pittsburgh COULD NOT run the ball on anyone for most of the season. It was brutal. Opponent did not matter. Hoping it's more that than the Bills defense.

Let's hope the realize they need to improve and get better.... lots better in the upcoming weeks.

No question, FF. We were playing much better at the end of last year than we were in week 1, and that was true for many individual players on the team also. I would fully expect that this year.

This staff - at least IMO - has proven they will develop the team as a whole and players as individuals over the course of a season.

Regarding the O-line, SI had a valid point, that 3.2 yards per carry average included two sneaks by Brissett and the three kneel downs by Tua. Take those away and the average goes to a much more respectable 4.1 ypc.

Individually, this season I expect Hunt to develop into a probowl caliber RG, whether he gets the nod officially or not. Davis is going to be his solid self. Deiter and Kindley will be fine. The big question for me is LT. Does Jackson get better, or get replaced?

Only Grier could draft two busts at OT in two straight years (sighs).

Oh, stop looking at me like that, I have a reputation to uphold.

white1 wrote:

The Bills didn't get much pressure on Big Ben yesterday, going against a brand new Pittsburgh OL, but they did completely shutdown the Steelers run game.

Well as a James Conner owner in last years fantasy football season, I can tell you that Pittsburgh COULD NOT run the ball on anyone for most of the season.  It was brutal.  Opponent did not matter.  Hoping it's more that than the Bills defense.

Oh, absolutely - they couldn't run AT ALL last season.  But with a revamped OL and Najee Harris, they should be much better this season.  Harris looked completely lost yesterday.  Like you said, hard to tell why they couldn't run, but regardless I just hope the Dolphins don't completely abandon the running game again against the Bills on Sunday.