Week 1 Game Thoughts: Dolphins at Chargers

I think it was the lack of reps in preseason games.

Oline and Dline NEED to go full out in live action to get ready for the season IMO.

The guys that ain't in contact on every play can maybe get by without it but the hogs up front need preseason reps to get right.

I suspect Wilkins will round into form quickly. Hopefully.

As I look at highlights of this game, I am really struck by how different the offense looked Sunday.

McD seemed much more comfortable and confident in his playcalling. There were no delay of game penalties, no false starts - it just seems like McD has mastered what he wants to do and the player are all on the same page. It also looked like communication across the board was better – especially with the OL. Things just seemed to run very smoothly.

The calls were made quicker, there were lots of different formations (Ingold lined up everywhere, EZ in the backfield), motion was used in different ways (including much more same-side motion than we saw last year).

Most significantly, Tua seemed much more comfortable and confident as well, and he utilized short passes, ran when he had to and was able to throw the ball away instead of playing "hero ball". He showed quick, decisive decision-making and looked stronger.

I know it's only one game, but overall I feel like this offense is developing into a well-oiled machine in year 2.

Great read:

Chris Kouffman
@ckparrot

Some notes on Miami's defensive packaging:

- David Long was only on field for Base (4-DB) and Heavy (3-DB) packages, with the exception of one specialty Base package (more on that below). He was not on the field in Nickel (5-DB) or Dime (6-DB).

- Should go without saying but Kader Kohou is an every down player. He lined out opposite Xavien Howard in Base packages and he played the slot in Nickel and Dime packages. The only plays he was off field were Heavy packages that involve 3 safeties and 0 corners.

- Speaking of, those were the only plays Brandon Jones got on field. Probably goes without saying but Eli Apple was generally the 5th DB on field for Nickel, and Justin Bethel was the 6th DB on field for Dime.

- Those Dime packages that Bethel came on field for by the way were wildly successful, allowing only 20 net pass yards on 9 plays.

- Nickel run defense is where the Chargers did their most damage running the ball, 28 carries for 137 yards. As stated before, the 2 LBs in this package were Jerome Baker and Andrew Van Ginkel. Nickel pass defense wasn't bad, allowing only 5.1 net yards per pass play.

- A handful of plays Miami experimented with having their 2 CBs and 2 Safeties on field (Base), but lining up four of their big men (Sieler, Wilkins, Davis, Pili) along with their big edges Phillips and Chubb, and only one true LB Jerome Baker. Chargers ran on this 2 times for 0 yards and called 1 pass for 1 yard. It's a specialty package, but perhaps there's more meat on this bone?

- Going back to the regular Base package, Austin Ekeler broke off his 55-yard run against Base and that skewed the averages a little, but they still allowed 5.9 yards per carry on the other 7 run plays. And they allowed 60 net pass yards on 5 pass plays. This one needs some serious attention.

8:04 PM · Sep 11, 2023

Yeah, after watching the game and not just the highlights...

One - I knew the defense was bad, but this bordered on abysmal. I think if the Bolts had just kept throwing the ball to Allen on the LOS and letting him run for seven to nine yards, they would have won the game. And even when the D-line was not getting blown away, the Bolts were getting three or four yards on most of their runs. I keep hoping this near "abysmal" defense was the scheme to limit the Bolts downfield passing, but...it very nearly cost the Phins the game.

Two - Tua - Yeah, he put up great numbers and kept the Phins from losing this game, but he made some hideous throws also. I think I counted FOUR Passes that should have been picked off, only one of which was picked off. The Bolts never did adjust and Tua kept heaving passes to Tyreek. He was well covered on that last TD.

THREE - Bad snaps, bobbled snaps, and still a win. The Phins were very fortunate to be able to overcome some mistakes. I really WISH the Phins had any backup worth a toot to replace Williams. On the next bad snap, or high snap, sit his arse and put the backup in for a series or two; just to send a message if nothing else. And someone needs to whisper in his ear, "Maybe if you weren't making all these bad snaps, you would get more money, dumbarse!"

FOUR - Nearly abandoned the running game again - Things looked good on the first two drives, and then not so much. Mostert had 11 for 37 and Ahmed 3 for 11. EZ got 2 end arounds for 17 and Tua carried 5 times for 5. So the RBs ran 14 times for 48 yards! Tua wasn't sacked, so I guess there were enough runs and scheme motions to keep the Defense from teeing off, but I am starting to wonder if McD actually WANTS to run the ball. When you have Tua performing like Bama-Tua, do you even want to run the ball? Show the Defense you can run by running just enough top make them honor your play action fakes... But then I think the Phins Offense dropped the play action fakes too it seemed to me? If McD can use the motions and the threat of some end arounds to keep the defense honest, maybe the Phins do not need to run it 25 times a game?

FIVE - Oline - It was refreshing to watch the game and not go "#@$%@! You gotta at least TRY to block that guy!" I think it was very rare that one of the Phins O-Linemen whiffed on a block. PATs D will be a sterner test for sure.

SIX - Special Teams - About the same as last year it seems. Sanders miss of a PAT could have been disastrous.

A road win, a WC road win, and one where the defense looked suspect (STANKY) for the most part, and the offense looked good, but nowhere near error or mistake free, is a great start for the Phins. They need to really focus and try and correct the mistakes on offense and play much stouter on defense versus the Pats IMO.

This breakdown echoes a lot of FF's thoughts so I decided to just post it here instead of creating a separate thread.

finfanatic wrote:Tua kept heaving passes to Tyreek

If by "heaving" you mean throwing absolutely perfectly-placed dimes, yes - yes he did.

JMP wrote:

finfanatic wrote:Tua kept heaving passes to Tyreek

If by "heaving" you mean throwing absolutely perfectly-placed dimes, yes - yes he did.

I mean, if a guy's going to have that kind of performance and be paid that much why NOT keep throwing it to him until someone stops it? Never ever EVER go away from what's working.

Unlike pretty much every other player making top 5 money at his position, Tyreke showed Sunday he was actually worth it.

finfanatic wrote:Tua - ...he put up great numbers and kept the Phins from losing this game...

and that in a nutshell is all you had to say.

DolFan 316 wrote:......Tyreke showed Sunday he was actually worth it.

Unlike Wilkins and Connor Williams