Fins v. Bears Preseason Game

First team looked outstanding.

We have very little depth.

I'll wait 'til others see it before discussing.

Huh??? What??? There was a preseason game???

I wouldn't know because I had to get to bed early to take mom to the eye clinic. She had the second surgery yesterday so hopefully this post-op exam (at 8 AM) will be the last of this.

But the depth being nonexistant should surprise absolutely nobody on this forum considering some team areas' starters aren't good enough to be backups on other teams.

Replay is on 10 this morning. I'll check it out over the weekend and comment.

a breakdown of the game performances by position by the Herald...

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/sports-buzz/2015/08/ums-two-remaining-five-star-prospects-look-to-make-more-of-an-impact.html

The interior of the first-team group was solid, except for a goal-line holding penalty by Billy Turner and poor blocking on a short gain by Lamar Miller on Miami's first offensive snap. Otherwise, Turner was adequate at right guard and Dallas Thomas had a good night at left guard... Turner played longer than any starter.

and a summary on Armando's blog...

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolphins_in_depth/2015/08/miami-dolphins-lose-to-chicago-bears-27-10.html

The only problem with that starting unit and the opening drive? Left tackle Jason Fox had a holding penalty. Right guard Billy Turner had a holding penalty in the red zone.

Turner, who played into the second quarter and even got some work in the third quarter, seemed to have a better night than he had a scrimmage last week or has had in practice against Ndamukong Suh. Yes, he still looked lost at times -- not blocking anyone at one point while both center Mike Pouncey and right tackle Ja'Wuan James handled their men one-on-one on one pass play.

But Turner didn't have any awful look-at-me-screw-up moments. He was otherwise anonymous, which is good for an offensive lineman.

Dallas Thomas had a similarly uneventful night. If somewhere Evan Mathis was rooting for a either Miami guard to implode, thus opening the door for him, it did not happen this night.

in all the talk of the O-line and the much evaluated interior guard play, not one word about the performance of Jamil Douglas. i know based on the gamebook he played, but did he do any better of worse than Dallas Thomas?

Vanilla offense vs vanilla defense. Let's see game 3 when teams blitz. I can't take pre season seriously since I've seen teams go 0-4 and make it to the playoffs and teams go 4-0 and get crushed.

The interior of the line is a problem. People watching practice know it. A real game with real schemes where results count will tell us what we need to know.

Got home earlier today and watched the first half so far. Some thoughts...

I don't know if anyone else felt the same way, but watching that Dolphins TD drive made me think I was watching a replay from last season. I saw the offense march down the field with a dink and dunk passing game, and then struggle in the red zone. All the same stuff as last season in the red zone: two penalties on the OL, a RB (D. Williams) that couldn't do anything, receivers that couldn't get open, a boneheaded decision on a short pass by Tannehill that was almost intercepted...been there, done that. Now, it was great to see the Landry TD...but let's be realistic - in the regular season that's a field goal attempt...no way the Phins are going for it on 4th in that situation. I would have liked to see the Dolphins be more efficient in the red zone against an awful Bears defense that was playing its first game in a new scheme with tons of new players.

The highlight was the Miller 27 yard run...great fake inside by Miller to get the DB to overcommit, then kicked it outside for the big gain. Landry and Matthews also looked good. I liked the one Jennings catch, but he's got to secure that ball in traffic.

The first team D looked great on the first Bears drive. On the second drive most of the starters stayed in, and the Bears - who are playing in a new offense with mediocre RBs (Forte didn't play) - did have some success on the ground. But overall the DL looked strong and the DBs were good (especially Jones), but aside from Jenkins the LBs were terrible.

Like I said, I've only seen the first half, but the depth on the team looks atrocious - especially on the entire offense (though I do have to give props to LaRon Byrd for an awesome catch at the end of the first half) and at LB and DB. The Phins did pretty much nothing of note in the first after the opening drives by both units. I suppose that is to be expected in the first preseason game, but it also shows just how bad the depth is. The second half must be ugly, because the final results sure were. 10 points on offense against a new defense? 27 points allowed against a new offense? Unacceptable all around.

Just one final note...I've said all along that LaMichael James does not belong in the NFL, and this game confirmed it. The only way he makes this team is as a returner IMO, and in this game he looked terrible on both kicks and punts. There's gotta be someone better on the street right now.

I don't know...just not feeling too good about this team after seeing the first half. Looks pretty much like business as usual to me. Here's hoping we see a better effort in game 2.

I agree on LaMichael James. Supposedly, this guy was/is having a "great camp". I saw numerous fair catches on punt returns with much open space in front of him. My thing is, if this guy is fighting for a spot on the team, you return pretty much everything. Do not fair catch with 15 yards open field in front of you. I cut him right then. I do like Damian Williams though.

The second half was some ugly, ugly football.  The Bears looked pretty bad, and the Phins looked worse.  Depth on the Dolphins is almost non-existent.  Any injuries to starters this year, and we are screwed.  Depth at QB, OL, TE, DB (both CB and Safety) and LB is especially awful.

What really surprised me is that the Dolphins camp fodder players often seemed to be going through the motions.  I didn't see a lot of intensity or "I've GOT to make a play!" attitude.  Very surprising coming from a bunch of players that may be looking for new careers very, very soon if they don't step up.

A note on rookie LB Zach Vigil, who many people have been gushing over after the game.  He was the one player I saw that did show the intensity I was looking for...he was flying around, always near the ball.  Unfortunately, like all the other LBs, too often he was chasing ball-carriers from behind because he was initially blocked out of the play or took bad angles.  There's some potential there, but IMHO he's a long way from being a real contributor on defense.

DE Terrence Fede made a couple of nice plays, but I also saw him get easily blocked out of the play on several running plays. Very inconsistent, as expected from a young player.

Also have to give props to rookie DT Jordan Phillips, who made some nice plays and was very active for a DT. Can he sustain that type of motor long-term? He didn't in college, but hopefully he'll be a better pro.

As I said earlier, this Bears team is awful on both sides, and the Dolphins somehow managed to look worse (overall). The Panthers' should be a much better test, because they have a strong D and some playmakers on offense. Hopefully some of the younger Dolphins can have a better showing.

Only watched the beginning. D is going to be fun. O was so-so. Philbert still looks clueless.

I'm just happy that JEGnj is still alive

I'm alive and well just not into the off-season anymore. I'm just a beat down Fin's fan. I did break out the Dolphin's hat on my evening stroll down the Boardwalk and got a few nice hat and go Fins.

All I've got to say now is, if you're a D-lineman that Dallas Thomas doesn't suck against, you should immediately retire in shame because you have absolutely no business being on an NFL roster. Or a Lingerie League roster for that matter.

After the Panthers get done roughing him up (and the rest of the O-line and team for that matter) in these joint practices, I suspect everybody except Philbin will realize just how badly this team needs Mathis. (I still remember Charles Johnson basically making Martin his prison b*tch in preseason a couple of years ago )

Offensively, PFF gave positive grades to four of the Dolphins' five starting offensive linemen. Billy Turner got the best grade (a 1.0) and Dallas Thomas had a barely positive grade (.2).

Among the backup offensive linemen, Jamil Douglas got good marks (1.1).

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/sports-buzz/2015/08/new-stadium-name-coming-loria-rejects-overtures-marlins-issues-heat.html

Douglas out performs Thomas so naturally the Phins...

Rookie Jamil Douglas, who has been vying for a starting job against Dallas Thomas at left guard, got second-team snaps at right guard today. The two starters continue to be Billy Turner at right guard and Dallas Thomas at left guard.

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolphins_in_depth/2015/08/notes-on-earl-mitchell-branden-albert-brice-mccain-.html

HEADSLAP! Thomas can't beat him out, so they bump him to the 2nd team on the opposite side?!?!

Every Dolphins head coach since JJ has been absolutely clueless when it comes to handling the OL. I just don't understand. It's not rocket science.

One of the classic "coachspeak" lines is: the 5 best linemen will play. But in Philbin's world, clearly being "best" has little to do with the decision-making process. Someday, I hope we find out what kind of dirt Dallas has on Philbin...because blackmail is the only logical explanation for how he continues to keep a starting job.

How many times do I have to say it--PHILBIN HATES ROOKIES. PERIOD. If any actually get significant playing time, it's by sheer happenstance. Notice how Turner is now suddenly a guaranteed starter just by virtue of not being a rookie anymore? Next year Douglas will suddenly be a much better player, if you know what I mean.

Philbin in general plays favorites as much as any coach I've ever seen. Almost all people in charge do this to some extent, but once Philbin decides he likes or dislikes a player, there doesn't seem to be anything that player can do from an on-field performance standpoint to ever change that. IMO that's grounds for firing him right there.

True story. My family was at the pool Saturday, chatting with some people we had met a few months ago. Football comes up and I mention that I'm a Dolphins fan. One guy chimes in - "man a lot like the Falcons, they haven't been relevant in quite a while."

Nailed it. All I could do is agree, and hang my head in shame. The life of a Dolphins fan.

Without knowing anything else about that guy, I've already figured out he has the attention span of a fruit fly, considering the Falcons were in the NFC title game just 2 seasons ago. I sincerely hope he's not at a job that requires him to concentrate on anything for more than 10 minutes at a time.

You want a team that hasn't been relevant in "quite a while", I give you the Bills.

white1 wrote:Nailed it.  All I could do is agree, and hang my head in shame.  The life of a Dolphins fan.

I don't even admit I'm an NFL fan these days, much less a DolFan. Well, except for my Youtube user name I've never been accused of masochism.

Philbin's disdain for rookies is like George Allen at this point. I mean, they were willing to go with David Gerrard until he got hurt and forced their hand for Tannehill (which, by the way, shows you just how terrible Matt Moore really is). It's too bad we don't have a minor league for football (other than college ball) so we could just instantly send all our rookies to the minors so we didn't have to see any potential at all and wouldn't be wondering about it too much.

Dallas Thomas looked okay, he did, but I'm still not impressed with his development. He's still way too far behind, and at this point I think it's all about pride as far as the coaching staff goes. Sometimes you just get rid of a guy, it's okay, really, it's fine.

Degarmo wrote:Philbin's disdain for rookies is like George Allen at this point.

Wait, you're stealing my lines now??? What the hell?!?!

Speaking of Matt Moore, it's sad that the Phins refuse to bring in anyone to challenge him. Bethel-Thompson looks like garbage and Freeman is just a waste of everyone's time. It would be great if we had a legit young QB to groom behind Tannehill, but I guess the Phins just aren't interested in developing young QBs.

As for Dallas Thomas, of course he looked OK - the Bears' DL is awful and they are still learning the 3-4. If Thomas looks decent against the Panthers, then we may be onto something. But I can't get excited when he plays OK against a weak defense.

Living here in South Carolina, I will see this weeks game. Matt Moore needs to be Pushed because he looks terrible in this offense.

finskev wrote:Matt Moore needs to be Pushed because he looks terrible in this offense.

Agreed. He's just too sloppy...he doesn't get the ball out smoothly and he doesn't know how to avoid pressure. I don't have any faith that he could lead this team if Tannehill got hurt.

I recorded it so that I can check it out this evening