Getting More Players Involved...

As I've posted a few times now, last season there were just 22 times in 17 games that a player other than Hill or Waddle had at least 3 catches in a game.

https://stathead.com/tiny/malaZ

This season however, that number is already up to 21...with 7 games left

https://stathead.com/tiny/5e0On

So whatever else is happening with the offense you can't say they haven't made a concerted effort to spread the ball around more. Who said I couldn't post anything positive?

I love spreading the ball around but how about downfield? Everyone knows swing to the outside behind the line.

JEGnj wrote:I love spreading the ball around but how about downfield? Everyone knows swing to the outside behind the line.

Exactly. That stupid play needs to be removed from the playbook. Teams know it's coming and it never works.

It seems like Ced Wilson has been playing well. I'd love to see him get more targets moving forward.

Well... I think a lot of the playbook is off the table when the Phins face a team with a good to great pass rush. McD knows the OLine cannot hold up and Tua has to get rid of the ball in two seconds or less.

Defenses knew this as well, so they play the cover two and bracket Hill and Waddle and force Tua/McD to go underneath.

Now, when the Phins offense can run the ball, WHERE the Play action fakes work... to the point where the LBs cannot instantly drop and the safeties have to cover or keep up with Hill or Waddle and/or drop deep enough to make sure one of those two do not get behind them... then the offense creates space for Tua to get the ball into... then the McD intermediate passing game works very well. After a few twenty yard pass completions and the safeties start biting up and THEN... Suddenly Hill is behind them and Tua can hit him for a Deep pass.

The Raiduhs did a fantastic job of forcing Tua to go underneath. If the offense hadn't been so fracking sloppy, hadn't turned the ball over a bunch, the "small ball" the Phins were playing would have worked. But the Oline's protection was inconsistent and Tua did not play like "Bama Tua" IMO. Especially in the 2nd half!

Imagine the Phins Offense playing like they did yesterday when facing a team with a very good offense? That is why the Phins have lost when they face big powerful teams with good Defenses and with good offenses.

What is the crux of the Phins Offense then... The Oline has to function well enough to provide a run game that the Defense has to account for BEFORE trying to stop Hill from going deep.

It's the same as last year IMO... The Poor Oline is going to limit what the Phins can accomplish.

Yeah... injuries... and I respond with Injuries are a part of the game.

Good post, FF.

I see it a little differently. Against the Raiders the offense would likely scored 28-35 points points without the fumbles, the missed FG, and the two fails in short yardage. None of those are OL issues. I think it's just a matter of both players and coaches being smart - players need to do their jobs, and McD needs to stop overthinking short yardage.

Thankfully, the OL issues will be aided (a lot) by Hunt's return. The question then becomes: can the players stop being sloppy and can McD make wiser decisions?

JMP wrote:Good post, FF.

I see it a little differently.  Against the Raiders the offense would likely scored 28-35 points points without the fumbles, the missed FG, and the two fails in short yardage.  None of those are OL issues.  I think it's just a matter of both players and coaches being smart - players need to do their jobs, and McD needs to stop overthinking short yardage.  

Thankfully, the OL issues will be aided (a lot) by Hunt's return.  The question then becomes: can the players stop being sloppy and can McD make wiser decisions?

They did gain just 2 fewer yards VS the Raiders than they did VS the Panthers while scoring over twice as many points so yeah, I officially endorse this post

I see the problem as two fold. The failures in the run game and the screen game is relatively the same.  Miami's speed is insane, causing every defense to split out the DE farther than normal almost to the point of a wide 9 look.   If you watch the game again look at the yards that the rushing game produced it was 90% up the middle because of the wider splits.

BUT... I agree, I would rather have seen McD call a run, even a toss, a jet sweep, something, other than the quick pass to Hill...

BUT... again the point is when the defense KNOWS the Phins are going to run the ball, the offense gets stuffed. That is all on the Oline IMO.

I think McD knows it as well and that is why he went with passes instead of runs on 4th down and on 3rd at the end of the game when a first down would have won the game.

I also agree that the Phins sloppiness on offense is a big problem. Let's hope they can avoid that versus the Jets!

I don't necessarily have a problem calling a pass in short yardage. It's just that stupid WR screen or whatever you want to call it that is at or behind the line. It just doesn't fool anyone.

It would be great if this team could run when the D expects it, but I guess McD just doesn't trust it. I'd even give the ball to Ingold, see if he can get a yard.

Equaled the 17-game total from last season in 11 games this time even with Waddle and Hill doing almost all the work