Preseason Game 1: Phins vs. Bucs

by **JMP** Mon Aug 15, 2022 8:43 am

I've only watched the first quarter so far, but here are my initial thoughts:

--The OL looked great in pass protection. Larnel Coleman played LT and gave up a bad sack on 3rd down in the red zone, but otherwise all looked good. I tried to key on Austin Jackson, and he looked excellent IMO. Really impressive footwork.
--Unfortunately, the OL did not looks good at run blocking. It was really just straight-ahead running, nothing like what I expect to see in the regular season, but the OL got no push at all.
--Run D did not look good. LBs seemed to be out of position and showed sloppy tackling.
--The Bucs had a TD pass against a very soft Miami zone defense. I've heard that Iggy is getting blamed for the TD, but really it was just a case of the receiver finding the opening in the zone and the QB delivering a good pass. I don't blame that play on Iggy...it was a function of a really Swiss cheese coverage scheme.
--It sounds like Skylar Thompson had as pretty good game at QB, but he didn't show much in the first quarter. I'm interested to see the rest of the game.

by **JMP** Mon Aug 15, 2022 2:38 pm

OK, now I watched the second quarter. A few notes:
--CB Elijah Campbell had one of the craziest INTs I've seen. While getting ready to tackle the potential receiver, the ball somehow went between Campbell's legs and essentially landed in his hands as he went to the ground. That led to a Thompson to Bowden TD. The defense looked very lackluster until that play, but the INT seemed to energize the D as they looked dominant the rest of the half, getting lots of pressure and scoring a TD on Sam Eguavoen scoop and score fumble recovery.
--Campbell also had a pass defensed, as did Keion Crossen. Both of these guys look like keepers, and can hopefully pick up the slack for losing Trill Williams, and they also might make Iggy expendable.
--Most people assume guard Solomon Kindley will get cut. If so, he's not going down without a fight. He looked great, showing good movement on pulls despite his massive size, and really mauling defenders. He's strong and mean, and I think there just may be a place for him on this roster.
--Defender Porter Gustin (DE/LB edge rusher) looks like he could be a keeper. I saw him get a couple of pressures and he's got good size, speed and strength.
--The offensive run game continued to be nonexistent in quarter 2.

by **JMP** Mon Aug 15, 2022 2:41 pm

Oh, and Tanner Connor had a couple of catches. Looks like he has real good hands - a very natural catcher.

by DolFan 316 Mon Aug 15, 2022 6:39 pm

JMP wrote:Oh, and Tanner Connor had a couple of catches. Looks like he has real good hands - a very natural catcher.

Starting TE soon, I'm telling you.

by **JMP** Mon Aug 15, 2022 11:18 pm

DolFan 316 wrote:
JMP wrote:Oh, and Tanner Connor had a couple of catches. Looks like he has real good hands - a very natural catcher.

Starting TE soon, I'm telling you.

Maybe some day...but certainly not this season.

by **JMP** Tue Aug 16, 2022 3:11 pm

Jason Sanders was on fire in that game! He looks like he's poised for a huge season, after a disappointing 2021. I think the addition of punter Thomas Morstead as holder is going to make a big difference. It looks like timing and ball placement are already perfect.

Good to see Cethan Carter with 2 special teams tackles, showing that he still has a place on this team.

Rookie LB Channing Tindall made a spectacular open-field tackle on a play where he was deep in coverage. He correctly diagnosed the play and dropped off his man to run back to the pass-catcher and make a perfect tackle for minimal gain. He really displayed his instincts and speed on that play, and it might have been my top play of the game.

Biggest takeaways from the game for me: the end-of-roster O linemen are really, really bad; and this defense should NEVER play soft zone coverage - NEVER. Fortunately, all of those OL will be gone soon. On defense, I'm sure we won't see much zone in the regular season, but damn that was brutal to watch.

Overall, it wasn't a great game and there's not much to take from it. The defense allowed a bunch of chunk plays, and the offense really did very little passing or running. But it was very encouraging to see no offensive turnovers and just two penalties. Hopefully we'll get to see some semblance of real football in game 2, where more starters are expected to play for a bit.

by finfanatic Tue Aug 16, 2022 3:17 pm

First - Skylar Thompson needs to be #2 QB. Period. End of story.

Second - Oline as it was constituted for the first preseason game stunk like three day old roadkill on a desert highway! The Phins have little to no depth that is capable of starting it seems to me. (Even Zach Tom would not have helped this season IMO!) Hopefully this gargantuan problem is ameliorated by the starters actually playing some with these second and third team bums. Egad! What a horrid performance of run blocking.

Third - I am afeared Boyer is going to call defenses just like he did early last year when the Phins D looked like they were unaware they were supposed to stop the other team from advancing the ball! I am almost to the point of saying maybe Flores did step in and start calling the D?? I am hopeful this will change with some blitzes called, and the pass rushers turned loose, but... Too much wide open zone gave Trask clear alleys to throw the ball and he is too good to play that sort of zone against IMO. If not for the TB kicker doinking one off the pole, the Phins would/SHOULD HAVE... LOST!

Fourth - I have said it before and I will say it again... Lynn Bowden needs to be on the Phins. I don't think he will be... unless he has good performances all through the preseason and even then... I suspect McDaniel will want to keep some of the ex-49ers guys, so... But Bowden is swiss army knife type player. He played QB, RB and WR in college. I really hope McDaniel can do something UNIQUE with a unique player.

Five - Cameron Goode looked GOODE!!! He was either in on most plays or was right there in the TV picture. I saw Tindall make one play I think!? (TB TV Camera crew sucks muddy arse-water.)

Six - Jaelean Phillips looks like he might be the real deal. It was against the Bucs 2nd stringers for sure, but he was making some good moves on the few plays he was in for.

The Phins were fortunate to win this game, and the Oline was about as bad as the pass defense. They couldn't cover that speedy little rookie WR for TB with an infield baseball tarp IMO!

Hopefully, the Phins will look better in the next game.

by white1 Tue Aug 16, 2022 3:37 pm

Third - I am afeared Boyer is going to call defenses just like he did early last year when the Phins D looked like they were unaware they were supposed to stop the other team from advancing the ball! I am almost to the point of saying maybe Flores did step in and start calling the D?? I am hopeful this will change with some blitzes called, and the pass rushers turned loose, but... Too much wide open zone gave Trask clear alleys to throw the ball and he is too good to play that sort of zone against IMO.

It's definitely a concern. Last season was immersed in scandal, and who knows what happened to turn the defense around? Part of it for sure was the quarterback position during our second-half schedule: The opponents were pretty weak, with some EXCEPTIONALLY weak (the Saints starter was Book?!)

Did Flores take over? Highly possible, maybe even likely.

To me a bad defense could ruin a team otherwise poised for a playoff run. However, if it DOES happen, I have two hopes. First, that the offense is powerful and when we do lose it's because the game is a shootout and our defense is overmatched. Second, that a season like that would lead to the firing of Boyer and the hiring of someone like Vic Fangio (no I haven't forgotten or changed my mind, and he's taking this year off).

Getting an elite defensive coordinator to pair with an effective McDaniel offense would be very, very exciting.

And no, I do not consider Boyer "elite". Last season, if anything, only raised more questions about him. And on a totally inconsequential side note... saw a photo recently and he looks like a total goober Smile

by **JMP** Tue Aug 16, 2022 3:51 pm

finfanatic wrote:Skylar Thompson needs to be #2 QB. Period. End of story.

I'm curious to know how you came to that conclusion after this game. To me, he looked like a classic example of a developmental QB with upside. Nothing at all said "this guy is ready" to me.

finfanatic wrote:
Oline as it was constituted for the first preseason game stunk like three day old roadkill on a desert highway! The Phins have little to no depth that is capable of starting it seems to me. (Even Zach Tom would not have helped this season IMO!) Hopefully this gargantuan problem is ameliorated by the starters actually playing some with these second and third team bums. Egad! What a horrid performance of run blocking.

On the plus side, I thought the pass protection was very good, especially early. I saw a lot of good things from Jackson, Kindley and Eich. That is encouraging. Depth is a big concern at the tackle spots, although top backup tackle Greg Little didn't play. Larnel Coleman is a bit of an enigma: completely stoning a quality pass rush on one play, and then getting easily pushed aside on the next play.

Run blocking was atrocious, but will be helped when the Phins are actually using their playbook, and have players like Edmonds, Mostert, Waddle, Hill and Gesicki on the field.

finfanatic wrote:I am afeared Boyer is going to call defenses just like he did early last year when the Phins D looked like they were unaware they were supposed to stop the other team from advancing the ball! I am almost to the point of saying maybe Flores did step in and start calling the D?? I am hopeful this will change with some blitzes called, and the pass rushers turned loose, but... Too much wide open zone gave Trask clear alleys to throw the ball and he is too good to play that sort of zone against IMO. If not for the TB kicker doinking one off the pole, the Phins would/SHOULD HAVE... LOST!

This is NOT the defense we will see in the regular season, so I am not worried at all. What we saw against Tampa was total soft-serve vanilla. The "real" D is going to be tough and aggressive, but I don't think the coaches want to put anything on tape just yet.

My biggest concern on D at this point is the #2 corner spot, because Byron Jones remains on the PUP list. McDaniel thinks he'll be back for week 1, but if not, someone really needs to step up so we can run the "exotic" schemes that really make this D shine.

BTW, I don't know if we'll ever know the truth, but I heard Boyer was the playcaller for the second half of last season. Flores was reportedly ignoring his coaches by that point, so it does make sense that Boyer was on his own.

finfanatic wrote:Cameron Goode looked GOODE!!! He was either in on most plays or was right there in the TV picture.

Jaelean Phillips looks like he might be the real deal. It was against the Bucs 2nd stringers for sure, but he was making some good moves on the few plays he was in for.

Goode looks like a keeper for sure. I also though Porter Gustin was impressive. Duke Riley sure is active...I don't really know how good he actually is, but when he's on the field he is always in on the action.

Phillips is like the damn Energizer bunny! Non-stop motor, and he always finds the ball. Looks like he's playing much more by instinct, allowing his skills to shine. I expect a huge season from him - double-digit sacks and lots of tackles.

by **JMP** Tue Aug 16, 2022 3:56 pm

White, you touched on something very important in your post: this defense is only going to be as good as the Miami offense lets it be. And what I mean by that is, if the offense puts up as many points as I think they can on a week-to-week basis, this defense is going to FEAST on opposing teams that are constantly playing from behind. But, just like almost any other defense, if the offense can't score and constantly goes 3-and-out...well, it's going to be a really disappointing season.

I fully expect the offense to be great, and that in turn will give us a top-tier defense IMO.

by DolFan 316 Tue Aug 16, 2022 7:11 pm

finfanatic wrote:First - Skylar Thompson needs to be #2 QB. Period. End of story.

FF OUT HERE SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER, BABY!!! cheers

(Even Zach Tom would not have helped this season IMO!)

And then he had to say THAT Sad

Zach Tom could at least snap the ball properly, which means that yes, he definitely would've helped.

by **JMP** Wed Aug 17, 2022 9:02 am

As far as I can tell, this offseason the Packers have used Zach Tom at LT, LG, RG and RT - but not center. It sounds like he has settled in at RT recently, as the Packers await Elgton Jenkins's return from injury.

Tom would have been a nice addition to the Dolphins for sure, but I am glad we chose Erik Ezukanma over him in the 4th. Eazy E looks like a playmaker.

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