Game 2 thoughts: Phins at Patriots

Last week I challenged Adam Gase and The Dolphins’ offense to score 23+ points against the Patriots. They answered the call and put up 24 points in New England. Unfortunately, 21 of those points came after they fell behind 31-3.

And that’s really the story of this game. Gase and his entire coaching staff were thoroughly outcoached in the first half, as the Dolphins played like a weak Pee Wee-level team with non-stop mistakes and a complete lack of anything positive. It was one of the worst first-half performances I’ve ever seen, in all phases. Absolutely embarrassing in every way. 24-3 at the half. Pathetic.

The Miami defense somehow made Jimmy Garoppolo look better than Tom Brady. In the first half, Garoppolo completed 18 passes for 234 yards and 3 TDs. Vance Joseph’s defense inexplicably played 15 yards off the Patriot receivers, and Garoppolo was able to throw quick short passes to wide open receivers all day, for first down after first down. The Dolphin defense couldn’t cover or tackle anyone, and their weak LB and DB corps were completely exposed. Byron Maxwell may be the worst tackling CB I’ve ever seen (and yes, I saw Deion Sanders play…), and he can’t cover anyone either. And Kiko Alonso is the master of making tackles 5+ yards beyond the line of scrimmage. Alonso was billed as an excellent coverage LB, but yesterday he was horrid in coverage, getting beat again and again. And can ANYONE on this team cover a damn TE??? The only thing that worked on D in the first half was the run D, which was great.

The offense in the first half reached new levels of inept. More short passes, drops, missed blocks, poor throws, no running game, poor routes – you name it, and if it was negative the Dolphins did it. Just awful.

Things changed in the second half. Alonso knocked Garoppolo out of the game with a shoulder injury late in the first, and the Pats promptly went into protect mode with their 3rd string roookie QB (Jacoby Brissett). They called off the dogs on D, allowing Tannehill to have all day to find open receivers – and find them he did, with some excellent passes that were right on the money. It may have been Tannehill’s best half of football ever. Landry and Parker, in particular, had outstanding games, and even much-maligned Jordan Cameron (who had another drop in the 1st half) caught a TD. Rookie Kenyan Drake got into the action as well, scoring his first NFL TD on a nice red zone catch. Even the defense played very stout in the third quarter, holding New England to just 7 points.

Unfortunately, the 31-3 deficit was too big a mountain to climb. The run defense fell apart in the 4th, allowing Lagarette Blount to trounce them over and over. The offense continued to move the ball well and had a chance to win it at the end, but Tannehill’s poor overthrow in the corner of the end zone was intercepted to pound the final nail in the coffin.

I really can’t get too excited about the offensive performance in the second half, because the first half was just too ugly. As I’ve said a million times, against a good team you can’t just show up in the 3rd quarter and expect to win. Sleepwalking through an entire half is not going to beat the Patriots. Gase was absolutely clueless in the first half with bullshit playcalling. It’s not acceptable.

And all we hear about is Gase’s fast-tempo offense, but he didn’t use it till late in the game. Even then, the “fast” offense was slow and sloppy. Sure, they got to the line quickly and scored points, but they let tons of time tick off the gameclock before the snap almost every play. The backs and receivers didn’t know where to line up, and Tannehill was constantly having to waste time getting them in position. You can’t waste that much time in a tight game like that – you just can’t.

I don’t know…this still looks like a Joe Philbin-coached team to me. I don’t see anything different. Tannehill continues to be a compiler that puts up pretty stats but can't win games, and our young head coach looks outmatched and in over his head.

The good news is, we play the 0-2 Browns next week. The bad news is, the Browns and their fans are saying “The good news is, we’re playing the 0-2 Dolphins next week.” That’s where this team is at right now.

Oops, forgot to talk about Jay Ajayi, who became the Phins #1 back after Arian Foster left the game with a groin injury. Ajayi played like absolute garbage, losing a fumble and doing absolutely nothing positive. This guy flat-out SUCKS and should be cut immediately. I can't understand what the coaches see in him. Get Pead in there NOW and dump this loser!

Totally agree on Ajayi, I was screaming at the TV those exact words: "Dump this loser!"

well, that was quick. 2 games in - and the Dolphins' 2016 season is already over.

i don't know if the putrid defensive performance was due to a bad scheme design (coaches) or bad execution (players) or probably both, but the Patriots didn't do anything they haven't been doing for a while now and the Phins were completely unprepared. the Phins supposedly acquire bigger corners to play a more physical man defense, but the use them in a soft coverage which gets picked apart.

And how many times does the offense have to have multiple 3-and-out series to begin a game before they realize some significant changes must be made? 5 years in and Tannehill is still lacking in the same areas he always has. the faces change in the backfield and along the o-line and still the Phins can not move the ball on the ground. the Phins still can't cover a TE or stop quick hitting crossing routes.

and all of this while NE continues to plug in backup after backup and keeps on rolling. WHY?!?! WHY THE FUCK CAN'T THE PHINS FIGURE IT OUT!!!

Some of it has to be collateral damage on roster turnover due to too-frequent coaching and front office changes.

However, there has to be some serious questions asked regarding whether Tannebaum and Grier are the right people to build this roster. Because the offseason moves made to construct this current team - oh, my.

We let Lamar Miller walk reportedly over a difference of $500k because we have Ajayi, who has shown less than nothing to validate this line of thinking. Foster - predictably - is already injured.

We gutted our CB corps and are now relying on an Eagles FA bust and a rookie, along with a 2nd year player at nickel. Did not go so well yesterday.

Instead of two guards we have four tackles, which is great for pass protection but not so good for running the ball. Tannehill is wasting the protection by routinely holding the ball too long.

Our one huge weakness everyone can see - linebacker - was addressed with a single acquisition (Alonso) - and zero draft picks. Yet we draft a running back in the 3rd round, because that's right, we let Miller walk.

Our tight ends suck so our answer was make one of them take a pay cut. Yeah, that fixed it.

I'm sure we're on the verge of letting Reshad Jones go because he's too expensive, which will lead us to draft a safety in the first round instead of a QB, and oh yeah, we'll give Tannehill "one more shot" in 2017 to become a franchise QB. Because he hasn't had enough chances with the perfect storm of offensive stability, the right offensive line, the right running back, the right receivers, and the perfect set of tight ends.

Watching the Patriots operate with backups and rookies all over the place yesterday just proves how many light years apart these two franchises are.

The season is not over, not by any means, but Gase and Joseph have a herculean task: Take this roster and make it competitive, while demonstrating improvement in some area every week. Our schemes are on tape for the whole league to see, if we are not patching up weaknesses they will be exploited constantly by every opponent we face. Something has to be corrected every time it shows up on film, and it's not like we have the talent to make it all so easy.

I'm sure Gase, eventually, can fix this offense. Even with Tannehill at QB. Joseph, in his first year as a coordinator, has a much harder task. The offense should be carrying him, not the other way around. Has to happen quickly, too.

mercury22nathan wrote:i don't know if the putrid defensive performance was due to a bad scheme design (coaches) or bad execution (players) or probably both, but the Patriots didn't do anything they haven't been doing for a while now and the Phins were completely unprepared.  the Phins supposedly acquire bigger corners to play a more physical man defense, but the use them in a soft coverage which gets picked apart.

Same story every season - it's a mix of bad coaching and bad players. 

The way Vance Joseph called the game in the first half, I'm convinced that he has never watched tape of the Patriots' offense.  They've been using this quick short passing game for years - what we saw yesterday was not a surprise in any way.  Joseph was totally unprepared and was unable to make any in-game adjustments in the first half.  Of course, Joseph wouldn't have looked so bad if his players had any ability to tackle or cover anyone - but that's clearly not the case.  That Maxwell/Alonso trade looks worse by the day.  Maxwell may prove to be the worst in a long line of crappy Dolphin CBs.

And Gase?  An "offensive genius"?  What a fraud.  The way he called that game in the first half was embarrassing - just pure garbage.  Dropped passes, poor snaps and bad throws didn't help his cause, but that was an offensive gameplan that was designed to score 0 points.

And speaking of coaches...why is Jakeem Grant "not ready" to contribute?  I saw rookies all over the NFL yesterday playing and contributing, but somehow our coaching staff can't figure out how to get Grant involved in even one play.  All we heard in the offseason was how Grant is the fastest guy that ever lived and was a major playmaker and weapon...but now we hear that he's "not ready"???  WTF???????   Unreal.

mercury22nathan wrote:And how many times does the offense have to have multiple 3-and-out series to begin a game before they realize some significant changes must be made?  5 years in and Tannehill is still lacking in the same areas he always has.  the faces change in the backfield and along the o-line and still the Phins can not move the ball on the ground.  the Phins still can't cover a TE or stop quick hitting crossing routes.

We keep changing coaches, O-linemen and RBs - and we still can't run.  A big part of the problem is that teams stack the box knowing that Tannehill won't beat them - they sit on the short routes and play the run, and Tannehill does nothing to get them to change, at least when the game is in the balance.  5 damn years and nothing has changed with this guy.

mercury22nathan wrote:and all of this while NE continues to plug in backup after backup and keeps on rolling.  WHY?!?!  WHY THE FUCK CAN'T THE PHINS FIGURE IT OUT!!!

The Patriots have excellent coaching and a front office that knows how to add players that fit the system.  The exact opposite of the Dolphins.  The Dolphins have an incompetent front office that hires incomepetent coaches and brings in incompetent players.  It's a system designed to fail.  The Patriots pull guys off the street to play OL and change O-linemen throughout the game, and the offense just keeps rolling along.  The Dolphins throw millions of dollars and high picks at the OL year after year, and nothing ever works.  It's all due to the garbage front office, run by a guy that was entirely out of football for years.  Tannenbaum is proof that garbage in = garbage out.  Pure crap.

sounds like Gase is blaming the players (not the scheme) for the defensive failures...

On how linebackers did in coverage Sunday (there were some problems): “Sometimes, when you have different combinations going on… you have to be on your execution. We had some times we did not execute what was called. We had too much conversation going on. We need to line up, get the call, execute the call and then re-evaluate after that. Until we execute the call correctly, hard to say we should do this or that. Let’s execute the call first….

“We had a couple minor mistakes that cost us. As far as guys reacting a little quicker, it would have put us in better position. As far as what the plan was and what we executed in practice, I would have loved to see what would have happened if we had executed them in the game. For whatever reason, we didn’t execute like we showed in practice. We did not do exactly what we talked about.”

and as for the offense, it kind of sounds like he doesn't have a clue how to fix it...

On problems with time of possession: “You’re going 3 and out, 3 and out, that’s going to happen. We have to figure something out. We did something different this last game. We were huddling the whole first half and time of possession was worse than it was the first game.”

“Offensively, we cannot go three and out. We’ve done it so many times already it’s ridiculous.”

“For whatever reason, it takes that first first down for us and then everyone feels good and we get rolling. We just have to figure out a way to get that first one.”

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/barry-jackson/article102738327.html

He's venting a bit on offense, I'm sure he will in fact figure something out to get us more efficient. Unfortunately, it may not be the running game, because I'm not sure our roster is built all that well to run the ball, it will probably be a struggle for us all year.

On defense, it's not much of a surprise. Our players just aren't that good in coverage, and the defensive line can be neutralized with a quick passing game. Garropolo was throwing in less than 2 seconds most of the time. From my understanding, our defensive scheme is not all that complicated, so players have to know what to do, and they have to react quickly.

It seems like he's saying that the defensive players are confused and don't know what to do on a given call.  If that's the case, than CLEARLY the coaching staff is failing at communicating the plays to the players.  Is this an overly complex defensive system, or are the coaches just not getting through to the players?  Maybe a little of both?  Either way, all the coaching in the world won't make Maxwell a better player...he's been awful.

On offense, it is what it is.  Until the Phins start running the ball effectively AND Tannehill scares defenses enough that they back out of the box, defenses will continue to key on short passes and runs and Gase's version of the dink and dunk is destined for failure.

It's hard to be a fan of this team. I knew that going into 2016. Hoping some day this won't be the case.

white1 wrote:It's hard to be a fan of this team.  I knew that going into 2016.  Hoping some day this won't be the case.  

Yeah, it's just an endless cycle of mediocrity at this point.  Tons of changes every year to coaches and players, and the results are always exactly the same.  It's frustrating beyond words.

I feel like I'm so debated-out over the years, I don't even know what to suggest, or what to hope for.

I just want change. Change from all the disappointments.

This team will never be better without people in the front office who know how to acquire talent for a coach that knows what he wants to do.

mercury22nathan wrote:the Phins supposedly acquire bigger corners to play a more physical man defense, but the use them in a soft coverage which gets picked apart.

and the reason...

Howard seems more comfortable in tight coverage and is a sure tackler. It’s tough to watch all the room Howard and veteran Byron Maxwell give receivers at times. Coach Adam Gase said Monday he would like to press more often but it leaves the defense vulnerable to wide receiver picks leaving defensive backs on the ground and targets running wide open down the field.

http://dailydolphin.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2016/09/20/the-tape-dont-lie-miami-dolphins-at-new-england-patriots-a-review/

okay, so the Phins spent all off season with a specific defensive scheme in mind, but are now too chicken to actual implement it?

the article has a few other decent notes on the game film including how Garoppolo used his eyes to fool Alonso and Jenkins into poor coverage and why Bobby McCain isn't getting more snaps.

From the article merc posted above:

Coach Adam Gase said Monday he would like to press more often but it leaves the defense vulernable to wide receiver picks leaving defensive backs on the ground and targets running wide open down the field.

They were so worried about pick plays that instead they were willing to give the Pats automatic first downs by playing a million yards off the receivers?  Huh?

Being scared of giving up big plays essentially means that the coaches don't trust their corners to cover deep.

Why did we trade for Maxwell again???  

They better get over it.

You want to be aggressive on offense, get aggressive on defense too. Our DL needs time to get to the passer, make the defensive backs disrupt the timing of these rythm, quick play offenses - because that's what we will see as long as the league views our line as a threat.

Doesn't make sense to have a great pass rush only to allow quick short passes all day, which is the perfect antidote against a good defensive line.

I don't claim to be a coaching Guru or a football expert but perception is everything no matter what the hell it is!!!

I see the Dolphins having no sense of urgency Identity. We need some Swag. I've said this a thousand times before these coaches are trying to coach to their own expectations and not to their players.

Maxwell is the perfect example! Been in the league for a few years with some success. But he's a physical corner, why play him off the ball and that deep? Why take away his physicality? Draft Howard? Physical tools, good length, good size same thing!

There is no such thing as a genius or a guru. There is only right time and place. Gase has to coach to win games he has to use his philosophy on connecting to the players to inspire them and physically push themselves to greatness

Don Shula evolved, he changed his philosophy according to his personnel. That's what I feel for any coach. Coach/Motivate/Inspire your team to be great that's what you were hired to do that's the bottom line. Not because of a well placed X's and O's scheme!!!!!!!

Listen Peyton Mannings pee wee coach called and said he was the one who developed his throwing motion should we hire him as the qb coach? Lmao

Umix10 wrote:I don't claim to be a coaching Guru or a football expert but perception is everything no matter what the hell it is!!!

I see the Dolphins having no sense of urgency Identity.  We need some Swag.  I've said this a thousand times before these coaches are trying to coach to their own expectations and not to their players.

Maxwell is the perfect example!  Been in the league for a few years with some success.  But he's a physical corner, why play him off the ball and that deep?  Why take away his physicality?  Draft Howard?  Physical tools, good length, good size same thing!  

There is no such thing as a genius or a guru.  There is only right time and place.  Gase has to coach to win games he has to use his philosophy on connecting to the players to inspire them and physically push themselves to greatness

Don Shula evolved, he changed his philosophy according to his personnel.  That's what I feel for any coach.  Coach/Motivate/Inspire your team to be great that's what you were hired to do that's the bottom line.  Not because of a well placed X's and O's scheme!!!!!!!

Listen Peyton Mannings pee wee coach called and said he was the one who developed his throwing motion should we hire him as the qb coach?  Lmao

Outstanding post!

I agree - there is no such thing as a guru or genius in the NFL. Everything's been done before - none of these coaches are reinventing the wheel in any way with their systems/schemes. X's and O's within different schemes are not a mystery...it's all about getting your players to buy in to what you're doing and putting them in the best possible position to succeed - both physically and mentally. You need the right mix of coaches and players, and they all have to do their jobs.

The Dolphins haven't had an identity in a long time. They're not a smashmouth running team, they're not a finesse passing team, they're not a defensive juggernaut...they're just sort of, well, nothing. And a lot of that comes down to a lack of leadership - at all levels, from the front office to the coaches to the players.

Blount gained nine yards on that second down. This is the play the photo is taken of and the red boxes show three reasons (from left to right) for this success:

1. Jones and Phillips being blocked effectively.

2. Center David Andrews gets to middle linebacker Kiko Alonso. Andrews (286 pounds) outweighs Alonso (238) by nearly 50 pounds. So once he was able to hit him, even if not a direct hit, it took Alonso out of position (Alonso made the tackle after the 7-yard gain).  

3. Hogan, with no one jamming him, made a solid second-level block on Jenkins. Maxwell, who was backpedaling at the snap, was so far out of the play he’s not even in the picture and provided no run support.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/dave-hyde-blog/sfl-hyde5-how-new-england-ran-ball-sealed-win-over-dolphins-20160920-story.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DaveHyde-blog+%28Dave+Hyde+%7C+Sun+Sentinel+blogs%29

follow the link to read more about the Pats strategy to ice the game - and the Phins (failed) attempts to stop them.

its really basic football and its disappointing that NE can accomplish this with 2 rookie guard, a 2nd year center and a backup tackle, yet the Phins can't seem to average more that a yard or 2 at a time - with a lot of highly drafted talent.

Yep, that is basic football and it is absolutely something the Dolphins should have anticipated.  Everyone knew the Pats were going to run the ball there, so why was Maxwell backpedaling deep instead of cheating up to play the run?  Were the Phins scared of getting beat deep by a 3rd string rookie QB in that sitaution...and if so, why????

Winning in the NFL these days is about situational football more than anything else, and that's where the best coaches like Belichick shine.  Third down, red zone, short yardage, running out the clock, playing from behind, etc. The  great ones know what to do and when to do it, and as seen in this example, it doesn't even need to be complicated.

We have the wrong personnel for the wrong coordinator.  That's the truth.  Zach Thomas was very instinctive and a very sure handed tackler.  I say  much of the same of Kiko Alonso.  The difference is that Joseph's "attacking" defense exposes his linebacker to be 3 times the LB Zach Thomas was.  

Thomas had Bowens and Gardner to HOLD the middle and let him do his thing.  Paying somebody 60mil to hold the middle is insane.  So they let Suh be Suh.  Disruptive as he's been and dominating as always but look at how his stats stay the same and our team defense suffers. We need Soliai types. 2 wide bodies and space eaters to go with Alonso's range. IMHO

In the words of Chris Berman "Cmon on Man!!!!"

Umix10 wrote:We have the wrong personnel for the wrong coordinator.  That's the truth.  Zach Thomas was very instinctive and a very sure handed tackler.  I say  much of the same of Kiko Alonso.  The difference is that Joseph's "attacking" defense exposes his linebacker to be 3 times the LB Zach Thomas was.  

Thomas had Bowens and Gardner to HOLD the middle and let him do his thing.  Paying somebody 60mil to hold the middle is insane.  So they let Suh be Suh.  Disruptive as he's been and dominating as always but look at how his stats stay the same and our team defense suffers. We need Soliai types. 2 wide bodies and space eaters to go with Alonso's range.  IMHO

In the words of Chris Berman "Cmon on Man!!!!"

This is a great point, and when you've got a 4-3 and need the MLB to make tackles, if you don't have the middle pinned down, the MLB will be greatly ineffective regardless of who it is.

Gase reiterated a great length that he truly believes it was players and not the scheme at fault on Sunday...

There was a play in the New England game last Sunday in which the Miami Dolphins defense had three players covering a receiver in the flat. And two Patriots receivers were uncovered on the second level.

"...When the defense does get out there, we have to make sure that we’re all sound in our assignment," Gase said Wednesday. "It’s hard to evaluate and correct things, as far as schematics, if we’re not doing what we’re asked to do. There were a few times where we didn’t do exactly what we were coached to do, and now we have to go back and basically go through it and (say), ‘This is the details of what we’re doing on this defense.’ And then move forward from there.

“What happens is, it’s the minute detail of, maybe you were supposed to go through a guy and you took an edge," Gase said. "(It’s) things like that to where you have to be so fine-detailed in what you’re doing, because – like you said – when you play this type of defense, it’s about penetration. It’s about attacking; it’s about speed. When you do take the wrong angle sometimes, it can be a chain effect to everybody else. I know (Defensive Coordinator) Vance (Joseph) is very hard as far as what everybody is supposed to do, the exact detail of it, and he goes through it so thoroughly in his meetings you would think, ‘Why are we screwing that up?’

"I think a lot of the times, it’s more physical than mental," Gase said. "I want to say for the most part, mentally we’ve been pretty sound. It’s just a couple things in coverage every once in a while. Sometimes it’s formation predicated. When you get thrown something different – guys are in different spots – you start getting that conversation, that’s when you get in trouble. You’ve seen a couple times where guys are pointing at each other – who has who – and now all of a sudden they’re snapping the ball, and you’re slightly late. In this league if you’re late, you’re probably in trouble."

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolphins_in_depth/2016/09/busts-physical-and-mental-a-concern-for-the-miami-dolphins-defense.html

Typical coach - it's never their fault and the scheme is perfect.  Bill Lazor felt that way, too.

Gase needs to realize that opposing teams know exactly how to defend his version of the dink and dunk, and Vance Joseph may want to start studying his opponents' tendencies so he doesn't get caught sleeping again.  The players obviously need to step up, but the coaches also need to learn how to design a gameplan for the specific opponent AND make adjustments on the fly.

OMG i don't know if coaches are really listening to themselves when they speak because when they don't execute or this guy did this or this guy did that.  Why don't they really ask themselves the most important question of all "WHAT WAS THE IMPACT OF MY COACHING TECHNIQUE ON THAT PLAY"...... DAMN  MAN!!!!!  I am tired of this stupid shit all day every day.  

To me its simple....there is a defensive scheme......it doesn't work.  either you change the scheme or the players. you wont change the players so you gotta change the scheme or you gotta figure why your players aren't picking up the scheme.....when you lay it out in the media you look stupid as shit

the whole staff has blame. when you lose it ain't just players