By: by Randy Campbell (OLD DOLFAN)
GAME #16; Oakland @ Miami, Dec. 30, 1973
THE AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
The Oakland Raiders came into existence because Los Angeles Chargers’ owner Barron Hilton threatened to forfeit his franchise unless the fledgling American Football League placed a second team on the West Coast. Hilton, one of the wealthiest men in America, got his way. Subsequently, an Oakland limited partnership was created to run the proposed Oakland AFL franchise. Oakland would be the eighth, and final, charter member of the AFL thanks to Hilton’s demands.
The Raiders went 6-8 in the first year of the American Football League (1960). They split their home games between San Francisco’s Kezar Stadium (home of the NFL’s ’49ers) and brand new Candlestick Park (home of baseball’s Giants), also in San Francisco. The team lost about $500,000 that year and may have folded but for a $400,000 loan from Ralph Wilson, owner of the Buffalo Bills. Bleak times continued as Oakland went 2-12 in 1961, drawing less than 50,000 fans for the ENTIRE SEASON!! In 1962, the team was moved to Frank Youell Field in Oakland (capacity 18,000). The team lost their first 13 games of the season and head coach Marty Feldman was fired. After the ’62 season, Oakland managing partner H. Wayne Valley hired former Chargers’ assistant Al Davis as head coach and general manager. It would be the turning point in the history of the franchise. The Raiders moved into brand new Oakland/Alameda County Coliseum in 1963 with 33 year old Davis firmly in control. Oakland went 10-4 that season and established themselves as a leading franchise in the AFL.
In 1966 Davis bought 10 per cent of the franchise for $18,000 and named himself as partner in charge of football operations. He hand selected John Rauch to be the next head coach for 1967. That year the Raiders crushed the Houston Oilers 40-7 in the AFL Championship Game, earning them a trip to Super Bowl II in the historic Orange Bowl. Oakland fell to the Packers 33-14 in what would be Vince Lombardi’s last game as head coach of Green Bay.
The following two years saw Oakland win the AFL Western Division crown, only to be defeated in the AFL Championship Games by the eventual Super Bowl winning teams, the Jets (1968) and the Chiefs (1969). By this time, future Hall of Famer John Madden had become Oakland’s head coach.
The AFL and the NFL merged in 1970. That year Oakland lost their third consecutive AFL/AFC title game to the team that eventually won the Super Bowl, the Baltimore Colts. Madden’s Raiders went 8-4-2 in ’71 but failed to make the playoffs.
Oakland’s 1972 team seemed headed for a playoff showdown with the undefeated Miami Dolphins. But, in one of the most controversial endings to ANY game, Oakland LOST 13-7 when Pittsburgh’s Franco Harris caught a deflected pass on fourth down and scored in a game forever known as the “Immaculate Reception.” It was the Steelers’ first playoff game in their 40 year history!!
The 1973 Oakland team that roared into the historic Orange Bowl on December 30 was loaded with future Hall of Famers and star players. Besides Al Davis and John Madden, the Raiders boasted future HOFers Fred Biletnikoff, Gene Upshaw, Art Shell, Jim Otto, George Blanda and Willie Brown. Star players like Ken Stabler, Darryle Lamonica, Jack (the Assassin”) Tatum, Otis Sistrunk and George Atkinson made the Raiders one of the most talented (and nasty) teams ever assembled! And they had just crushed their nemesis, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the week before in Oakland.
The Raiders-Dolphins rivalry had been a lopsided affair as of 1973. Miami’s first coach, George Wilson, NEVER defeated Oakland from 1966 through 1969, going 0-5-1 against them. His successor, Don Shula, broke through with a victory during the 1970 regular season. But Oakland got revenge, edging Miami in the 1970 playoffs.
The next meeting between these franchises occurred the second week of this 1973 season. That game saw Oakland break Miami’s 18 game winning streak when they edged the Dolphins 12-7 in a game played in Berkeley. Shula believed the absence of Paul Warfield may have been the difference between victory and defeat. This time, though, Warfield was healthy and raring to go. His devastating crack-back blocks would play a key role in Miami’s running game as these two teams squared off for a trip to Super Bowl VIII!
Miami’s players and coaches so badly wanted to avenge their earlier 12-7 loss to Oakland. Many secretly hoped they’d get the chance to do JUST THAT in the playoffs!! The football gods had granted their wish. And, just to throw more gasoline onto the playoff fire, Raider QB Ken (the Snake) Stabler said,”There’s no doubt WE are the best team in the American Football Conference!”
80,000 frenzied, fanatic, fans jammed into the 75,000 seat Orange Bowl on game day. I was one of them! Me and “My Boyz” had had a belly full of the “Bad Boy” Raiders and their idiotic fans who, thankfully, were only able to buy a small number of tickets to this contest. The old stadium nearly exploded as the white clad Dolphins ran onto the field!! Some of us were already hoarse even though the game hadn’t even started!!
It was a perfect 74 degree day at kickoff. Where else to play this game other than the historic Orange Bowl?? It was, in so many ways, PERFECT!! I turned to my brother-in-law Jim and said “The Raiders have NEVER seen anything like this! –We’ll remember this game for the rest of our lives!”
The Dolphins won the toss and elected to receive. In their prior playoff win over Cincinnati, Miami won the toss and SCORED on their very first drive. Quarterback Bob Griese was hoping his offense could do the same thing against Oakland. Griese took turns handing off to Csonka, then Morris, then Kiick. Guard Bob Kuechenberg, playing with a thick cast on his broken arm, was having a field day wielding his “weapon” and abusing Raider defensive linemen! “Oakland’s defense talks a lot,” said Kooch. “The best way to shut them up is to beat them down, physically.” Kuechenberg did just that, bludgeoning several Raiders, one of whom (Sistrunk?) sported a bloody face in the first quarter.
Miami’s initial drive bogged down at the Oakland 38. It was third down and 11 yards to go. Griese dropped back, saw nobody open, and ran up the middle of the field for 27 yards and a first down at the 11! A massive roar came from the Dolphin faithful. From the 11, Larry Csonka burst through a nice hole and SCORED THE FIRST TOUCHDOWN OF THE GAME! The Orange Bowl erupted as Miami took a 7-0 lead. Griese’s key run on the first drive was a product of long hours watching game film. Griese noticed that, on third and long situations, Oakland often brought in a fifth defensive back and removed a linebacker. This nickel back would cover the tight end while the other DB’s double covered the wide receivers. Griese saw that when the tight end went deep and the receivers veered to the sidelines, there was no one left to cover the middle of the field. This knowledge would pay more dividends to Griese later in the game.
The rest of the first quarter and the first part of the second quarter produced plenty of big hits but no scoring. Then, nidway through the second quarter, the Dolphins mounted another long drive.
Moving exclusively on the ground, Griese again made use of all three of his primary running backs. This 15 play, eight minute drive. ended when Larry Csonka scored on a two yard dive making the score 14-0, Miami, at halftime! A bruised and battered Oakland defense was getting little help from the Oakland offense. Miami’s “No-Name Defense” had stuffed Oakland in the first two quarters.
A fired-up Oakland offense moved the ball deep into Miami territory early in the second half. George Blanda’s 21 yard field goal gave the Raiders some life and some hope. But Miami responded with a drive of their own. Garo Yepremian’s 42 yard field goal attempt was PERFECT! Miami was cruising with a 17-3 lead.
But the cruise soon hit a major bump. Quaterback Ken Stabler began to hit receivers Fred Biletnikoff and Mike Siani. A pass to running back Clarence Davis got Oakland their offense in high gear. From the Miami 25, a mix-up in the Miami secondary left Siani open for a 25 yard TD reception! Blanda’s conversion narrowed the gap to 17-10 entering the fourth quarter.
Shula told Griese “We’ve GOT to regain the momentum. Go out there and SCORE!” With the game on the line, Miami began their next drive from their 18 yard line. More runs and a rare passing play got the ball near midfield. Then, on third and seven from the Raiders’ 45, Griese went backinto the huddle and CALLED HIS OWN NUMBER!
Just as before, Oakland left the center of the field uncovered. And, just as before, Bob Griese ran the quarterback draw to perfection! His 17 yard gain to the Oakland 28 was HUGE! A few plays later, Yepremian drilled a 27 yard field goal, giving the Dolphins a safer 20-10 lead midway through the final quarter.
A desperate Ken Stabler moved the Raiders up to their own 45. It was fourth down and one yard to go! Head coach John Madden knew time was running out. His team had to go for it! Everyone in the historic Orange Bowl was standing. The noise was deafening!! Then, fullback Marv Hubbard was CRUSHED by a head-on collision with Miami safety Dick Anderson! The ball squirted loose behind the line of scrimmage! Stabler fell on it but was unable to get up and advance the ball. Miami took over on downs. Out came the white hankies as Dolfans celebrated this huge play by their All-Pro safety!
A few minutes later, Larry Csonka scored his THIRD TOUCHDOWN from the Oakland two yard line! The Miami Dolphins had defeated the Oakland Raiders 27-10 in a bruising display of brute power running! But the biggest runs were NOT by a bruising runner. “Griese’s two runs broke our backs,” said Oakland linebacker Phil Villapiano.
On the day, Miami ran the ball 53 times for 266 yards (a 5.0 average) and those three touchdowns by Larry Csonka. Csonka ran for 117 yards; Morris got 86 yards on just 14 carries; Kiick got 12 yards. But Griese’s 44 yards on two key carries may have been the most important carries of the game! (Griese had a third carry in the game which lost 5 yards. Still, his 39 yards net rushing exceeded his 34 yards net passing — 27 of which were to Warfield!)
Miami’s victory meant that they would be the FIRST TEAM IN HISTORY TO MAKE IT TO THREE STRAIGHT SUPER BOWLS! And a win vs. the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl VIII would put Shula’s Dolphins next to Lombardi’s Packers as the only teams to win CONSECUTIVE SUPER BOWLS up to that point!
Me and “MY BOYZ” had plenty to celebrate! Our team had sent the “Bad Ass Raiders” back to Oakland with their tails between their legs! It was PARTY TIME! The Miami Dolphins were going to the SUPER BOWL!!
The 1973 Miami Dolphins were now 14-2.
Finsmob Unleashed 
Thanks for the continuing series to keep us sane OD.
Howie – MIA 20-17 (but I have little confidence in this after Sunday’s debacle)
Go Fins
Morning Update
DOLPHINS-BILLS
GDP 27-17 MIA
N/A 27-17 BUF
Howie 35-10 BUF
Piggy 20-17 MIA
Try 24-13 BUF
Bold 27-10 BUF
MikeE 17-6 MIA
Real 33-13 BUF
AL 31-13 MIA
Stang 21-10 MIA
Gigi28-15 BUF
Cav 24-13 MIA
UK 20-17 MIA
GO PHINS!!!
Good morning everybody I did not even visit the ball yesterday or after the loss Sunday night for that matter I am teetering too close to the edge of being a hater. The typical negativeness on here would have put me over the edge. a very disappointing loss to say the least. Well we are one & one with 14 games to go. I hope the defense get its s*** together in the office starts playing more consistently.
Speaking of consistency what the hell has happened to the NFL golden boy Andrew Luck? I think he has an 58 rating threw two games. Are the fans in Indianapolis going crazy yet?
After watching the games the first two weeks I feel like the Dolphins are the third or fourth best team in the division. Tyrod Taylor and the bills running game I’m going to light up the Dolphins and are anemic defense will only be able to slow them down a little. I think Rex Ryan and the bills defense are going to shut down our offense especially with only Stoneburner being healthy at tight end
34-17 BUF
Damn voice recognition not recognizing my voice sorry for the typos or speakos
Can’t bring myself to pick us to lose.
24-20 MIA
Yeah, the game last night showed what a great defense looks like. Bowles is doing great so far.
Thanks OD for the awesome series!!!
Today is a day that will go down in history
..as they all tend to…
MY sincerest “Thank yous” to NEW AGE and ROCKPHIN and to everyone else who has enjoyed this series. I ONLY WISH THAT ALL OF YOU could have been with me and “MY BOYZ” as we went to the historic Orange Bowl to see THE GREATEST TEAM OF ALL TIME, THE ’72-’73 DOLPHINS!!! —Boy oh boy, did we PARTY WELL INTO THE WEE HOURS OF THE MORNING!!
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I ALSO WANT TO THANK HERDFAN AND MISS GIGI for all their help with this project!! – – Ladies, I could NOT have done it without your help!
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ONE WEEK FROM TODAY we’ll run the story of SUPER BOWL VIII. –Guess who wins??
DID YOU FOLKS SEE how easy Todd Bowles’ Jets defeated Indy 20-7??? Bowles, of course, took Sparano’s place after Ross FINALLY let Tony go late in the season. –All Bowles did was to win 2 games in December and come surprisingly close to upsetting the Pats in Foxboro! –In that 3 game span, Bowles had the Dolphins READY TO PLAY FOOTBALL FROM THE OPENING GUN UNTIL THE LAST PLAY OF THE GAME!!! – – BUT STUPID ROSS decided to dump Bowles and hire Philbin instead to coach the Fins. What a DISASTROUS DECISION BY STEVE ROSS!!!
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IT NOW SEEMS POSSIBLE that both Bowles’ Jets and Ryan’s Bills will finish ahead of Philbin’s Dolphins. –It pains me deeply to say this: but, right now, the Dolphins are THE WORST TEAM IN THE AFC EAST!! – – ALL you Kool-Aid drinkers (and I was one of them) need to know that the Ross/Tannenbaum/Philbin trifecta has turned this franchise into into THE LAUGHING STOCK OF THE EASTERN DIVISION! – – WE ARE A LAST PLACE TEAM, POTENTIALLY!! –WORSE YET, because of unwise spending by Tannenbaum, we are up against the salary cap for the next couple of seasons!!
ENJOY our history, Dolfans. It MAY be all we’ve got to celebrate for a while.
THE DOLPHINS WIN!!! Great story OD! Gotta love Kooch. Players just aren’t like that anymore, they’re too busy thinking about their next contract. 34 yards passing . . . . Can you imagine that? And WIN yet, win BIG! My have times changed.
OD
It’s too early to bail yet. This team could look very different any week now. Hopefully it’s this week.
Im really glad to see you say that Mike.
I dont expect anyone to be happy with last game especially, but as a whole how we have played so far this year but i would like to see more hold out hope for a little longer before giving up.
I dont see how times have changed or how we have to think its going to be like this a while. Every year starts same way with hope, hope that if you didnt already walk in the season with a finger on the trigger of disappointment, would last through more than 2 games.
I understand you all just want the best or this team but give it some time guys, hold out a little longer on the doomsday decree. If we fail this year, we are going to wipe the slate, a new coach will be here with a new staff, with a talented team and we start again. Isn’t best case scenario but we have that as a fallback, for now though, this is what we have.
Also i promise you, We ARENT GOING TO CHANGE COACHES AFTER 2 GAMES, or 3 or 4 or 5….. The organization is not as knee jerk as you guys are, so put it out of your head and warm up the itold you so’s if you want, but let it unfold.
I seriously want to know from some of you if you want it to turn out bad just so you get what you think you want, or do you want us to turn it around. Couple comments i have seen here really make me think you would rather be right than have a successful team, and that really troubles me.
no one is saying we’re gonna change coaches but, I’m hoping Ross will at some point get sick of mediocrity and will make a change. Specially if 2 teams in our division did what we should have done last year, change their HC, and make it to the playoffs. Both the Jets and the bills look playoff caliber. As always we look like sit on the coach and watch playoffs caliber.
^change coaches soon
D
It’s not that we’re THAT bad, we’re not. I just expected us to be THAT good, especially the D-line. I expected sacks from Vernon and Wake and Suh, lots of QB pressure, and a stout rundefense. We haven’t seen any of it. Hopefully we get it figured out.
SOME PEOPLE are half empty glass type of people and some are half full glass. I think we know who is who.
and nothing is wrong with either.
Even Fred Flintstone ordered the large rack of ribs after every show knowing it was going to tip his car over.
nice job od. Thank god we have the past to hang our hat on. The present has not been kind to phin fans.
I would be at all surprised if we finished last in AFC east. All the other teams seem with the new coaches seem like they have their shit together way more than we do.
All I can say is things change in a hurry in the NFL. Teams that look like worldbeaters get exposed as pretenders, and vice-versa. It’s way too early to know what any team really is at this point. Injuries also change the landscape.
of course no one can predict the future but right now we look like shit those teams look like they got their shit together.
What you saw last night and in week one from the Colts is how a poor OL can make a talented QB look ordinary to bad. Perfect example of team game and why QBs alone should not be branded with wins or losses.
so why did we bring in suh and draft parker and phillips in the 1st 2 rounds? Some us wanted to beef up the o-line but parker and suh were the sexy names. Well we’re paying for sexy now.
I guess you forgot the investments we’ve made on the OL. I was talking about the Colts and Luck but way to turn into a Dolphins bashing session.
Where do I send flowers to for all the mourners?
philbin’s office.
It’s fucking comical!
Howie:
You missed my pick. Miami 23 Buff 14
I see people saying that it is too early to bail on the season and the team and that is all true (FWIW I would never bail on being a phins fan) but what I think the problem is or the frustration that we feel is that we have seen this all before. This season was the season that things were supposed to be different. We got Suh. We have a new tougher attitude. Wrong. We are the same team that plays uninspired football for the last 3 years. Maybe we can turn that around over the next 14 games or is the season just another carbon copy of the last 48 games?
when you change half the roster and get the same result its not the players. Its either the guy picking the players or the guy coaching the players. Ross is too dumb to see that.
Maybe this is the season when play well middle to the end of the season. That’s when it’s more important anyway. Maybe we tread water and then turn it on. That’s what I hope for.
Until we can put a string of strong performances together where we play good, tough and inspired football I can’t expect anything other than what we have seen for the last few years. I am really disappointed with the way this team started the season. Opening day you chalk it up to first game non sense. Happens all the time. 2 games in a row and it is starting to look like a problem, especially when those 2 games looked a lot like the last few from last year.
My issue is we have good players who aren’t playing well. That’s coaching, right?
Of course, professional athletes are never accountable. You think Revis needs motivation and coaching at this point in his career? Nope, he’s a pro and a great player and talented players make plays. Fans need scapegoats so at 1-1 the sky is falling.
what about suh? do you think suh is pro and great talented player that makes plays? Except when he plays for this coaching staff. He goes rogue.
Look, the NFL seems to get more wacky & unpredictable each year. Wild 180* flips from teams week to week. Ya never know what you’re gonna see, especially with today’s rules & officiating.
Should our players give up like we all have?
HELL NO! NEVER GIVE UP!
We’re 1 & 1 with a damn good franchise QB finally after 17 years, and now building a good young nucleus of talent around him.
Like Cameron said, it’s hard to win in the NFL…..the best of the best are everywhere & the ball always takes funny bounces.
So hold on and try to enjoy the topsy turvy roller coaster ride of 16 games known as the NFL where anything can and will happen.
#weaintdoneyet
tim,
So your o-line reference didn’t have anything to do with the phins current o-line? my mistake.
ken,
I’m with you. I’m willing to bet anyone right now that this team will be lucky to finish better than 8-8. And I don’t need more than 2 games to see this is the same shit different year.
Vegas has had the line set for 8.5 Wins for a while…go bet 🙂
buy my ticket and I will.
Tim:
At some point coaching has to be accountable as well. Yes professional athletes should play hard but no question that certain coaches tend to get the most out of talent while other coaches don’t. We supposedly have a dominant DL and pass rush yet we have 1 sack through 2 games. Is that the player’s fault for not playing hard or the coaching staff’s fault for not utilizing the talent appropriately? Likely it’s both. But a good coach won’t accept anything less than the best effort from his players.
We’ve played two games.
Mike E. says:
September 22, 2015 at 10:05 am
Maybe this is the season when play well middle to the end of the season. That’s when it’s more important anyway. Maybe we tread water and then turn it on. That’s what I hope for.
Reply
Exactly Mike E.
Phins completely revamped the WR unit, have a young inexperienced OL, reworked the LB, DT, & DB units.
So a slow start or shall I say an inconsistent start is somewhat to be expected.
We always talk about getting the best starting 5 out there on the OL so they can start jelling. Well, this is the case across 70% of the team on both sides of the ball right now.
I look for it to start really coming together by November. By then the coaching staff should know what the team can and can’t do effectively, as they too are trying to jell their schemes together.
So all we need is a little patience….yeah yeah, just a lil patience.
Our OL has only played 2 games this season and they need to jell. In fact they have practiced together zero time together since last year because Brandon hasn’t been practicing and in week one we lost our TE. It usually takes the first 4 games for the OL to jell when their is new people and the pre season is where they switch players in and out without planning. The OL will come together but it takes time.
GDP,
We are just getting started 🙂
Yes, it was kind of annoying to watch the first two games.
I’m optimistic because the Fins O has been stagnant w/ ABSOLUTELY nothing from the running game (because of just sheer play calling and not because inability to do so). Devante Parker is also coming along and will be a force very soon that other teams have to deal with (it will open up plays for other guys).
The defense hasn’t really done anything but show up in vanilla formations and with each passing game, Suh will become more comfortable within the system.
The Jags & Skins aren’t teams ANY of the Fins players really remember or line up against often but when it comes to the Jets/Bills/Patriots, they know those coaches well and their schemes & player tendencies.
There it is.
Tim Knight says:
September 22, 2015 at 9:53 am
What you saw last night and in week one from the Colts is how a poor OL can make a talented QB look ordinary to bad. Perfect example of team game and why QBs alone should not be branded with wins or losses.
Reply
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Bills and Jets handled the Colts through executing a really good defensive strategy. The OL didnt play top knotch but Bowles was mixing up the D, shifting the line, and bringing blitzers. That what i was saying yesterday that our D strat has been too vanilla. So much so that its predictable and they can account for all our rushers. We need to go away from this “simplified” strategy and trat mixing it up some.
I don’t think we’ve been that vanilla. In fact we’ve blitzed more than I though we would.
Boulder, I’m really not into your ongoing negativity and turning every comment into your team bashing session. I’m disappointed in the team as well but we were 3 points away from being 2-0 while not playing particularly well. We’ll know more after we play the Bills and Jets.
I agree that we’ll know more after the next 2 games.
BTW I’m not really into your ongoing positivity about this coaching staff. That its never them. Its always the talent. We got 25 new players and we still have the same issues. So sorry I don’t buy that its the talent.
Here is an idea. Lets ignore each others comments for while.
Tim Knight says:
September 22, 2015 at 10:21 am (Edit)
We’ve played two games.
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I get that but as I said above the two games we played looked an awful lot like the last 48. We expected better than that this year especially coming out of the gate vs. 2 weak opponents.
Someone asked if guys would rather see Miami lose so they can get a coaching change and feel validated for calling for it. That’s crazy. We all want to see a winning team. I couldn’t care less if I’m right or wrong about coaches, players, etc.
My issue with Philbin has been that I have never been able to identify anything he does especially well. Seems like we are hearing about a fractured locker room and lack of leadership every year. Seems like we are always complaining about the team starting games flat and finishing the season flat. Players constantly complain about lack of adjustments and bad schemes. It just isn’t there from the coaching staff and primarily the head coach.
Many guys argue for continuity and patience. That is a completely legitimate way to approach things. Unfortunately, the guy(s) you put that trust in need to be capable of leading a team. I’m sorry, but I just don’t see it. Never have.
The season isn’t over. Tannehill has taken yet another step forward and still has room to grow. There is enough talent on this team to contend for the playoffs. If the OL can gel a bit more (and replace Thomas ASAP), and we figure something out on defense a 9-7 season is still possible. I’ll be watching and rooting every week for that to happen. Keep the faith guys. One of these years it’ll happen.
My frustration comes from Ross inability to act. We all know what philbin is. He brings nothing to the table. Nothing. But we keep him because Ross is loyal to a fault. He stayed too long with sparano, he stayed too long with Ireland and he has stayed too long with blowbin.
Summarizes my feelings to a T. Good post DRG.
I don’t want to see us lose to get a new coaching staff, but if we continue to lose I would expect to see one.
my sentiment exactly.
I think you have a problem when you bring in highest paid defensive player and he starts ignoring play calls in the 2nd game he’s played for us.
That was BS but keep running with it. Some asshole made that up.
I’m sure there is some truth to it but there is no way Philbin would ever admit that. There is no way blowbin would admit that he’s star player has gone rogue in just 2 games.
Go read Cote’s article from yesterday. I trust beasley and cote more than philbin.
maybe he got the assignment wrong? Afterall he has only been with team a short time. I’m willing to give him the benefit of doubt because this is the only thing I have heard bad about him since coming here. Everything I have heard about him has been great from everyone on the team
Really the only thing that has happened is that fans think the Jags & Skins are horrible teams and subsequently are factoring that into the Fins performances vs them.
The Rams defensive line is generally regarded as one of the NFL’s best and the Skins took that DL and wiped their asses with them by pounding the ball right through them for over 180 yards rushing w/ their 2 backs (Jones/Morris). Cousins was 23-27 passing vs the Rams too so where was the pressure by that DL? Obviously credit should go to the Skins LOL.
Bortles is not the same QB he was last year and really outside of a pick 6 he threw in the 3Q of the Panther game, they would have been right in it till the end. The Panthers O at home could only muster 13pts vs the Jags D (the road dog).
The Panthers registered 5 sacks but overall they had problems creating consistent pressure as the Jags O held their own for much for much of the game. The Jags pretty much weren’t outplayed (stats were even between both teams in yardage department in both run/pass mix w/ a slight edge to Jags); they just shot themselves in the foot with costly turnovers and a lousy 3rd down conversion % and that was the difference in that one.
Not to mention, Jags had to deal with LT Joeckel leaving the game late in the 3Q due to injury which probably opened the flood gates for the Panthers pass rushers. Allen Robinson who had a huge game vs Miami also was injured his ankle in the Panthers game and was limited in that one.
Bortles was horrible vs. the Panthers. He stunk up the field vs. them. Didn’t even average 5 yards an attempt vs. them. 55% completions vs. Panthers. He plays us and he looks like he is headed to the pro bowl.
Show me something on Sunday that changes my mind; that makes me think something is different, something is getting better, because right now, this story reads like the last one. And believe me, I want to believe- I want to be inspired to think there is something positive going on that is going to propel this team past its recent mediocre history.
Key to beating the Bills and Jets. As shown by the Pats and as upheld by the Colts. Up-tempo offense and aggressive defense. Bills and Jets both need time to set up their formations and call shifts and change the schemes. We need to go no huddle, and we need to go on quick snap counts. Maybe throw in a hardcount every so often to keep the D from getting the timing down but mostly quick snaps count. Attack the middle of the D which isnt great for either team and hopefully get a little more use out of Miller to keep the safeties and LB’s honesst. Id be practicing screens all week. They need to get that down. Tanny takes forever getting the ball out on those to where they are broken up or unsuccessful most of the time. Oh, and for God’s sake, make Cameron a primary more often, he has shown to be a really potent weapon and a mismatch for everyone we have played so far.
Tim,
By Vanilla i mean the alignments. I just see straight lines on the rush and not much in the way of stunts or exotic blitz packages (guys all lining up showing blitz and then certain guys dropping back into coverage).
We don’t do any of that stuff. Coyle is pretty much a vanilla DC. He lines up in base formations and tries to make you beat what he does best. The problem I have with that is when they are beating you at what you do best then you need to adjust and we never seem to do that.
He was told to simplify the defense. Remember the speed packages with one or two down linemen and 5 guys standing nobody knowing who was coming? It worked well but players complained it was too confusing and we used too many substitutions. Funny how people forget how aggressive Coyle was early on and people complained that he was being too cute, now it’s not enough. LOL
The Jets used the same blitzes all night. The two ILBs and the S that Gruden called The Swarm, and the other times a DB off the weak side edge. They did the same thing all night. The difference was they got pressure.
drg,
maybe this is what Philbin & his staff did after the Win over Washington & we came out flat against the Jags. 😉
Only 1:08….This is funny….LOL
Oops!
The key to beating the Bills is just getting Taylor to throw the ball into our secondary.
The Pats defense sucks and their O is the only thing keeping them afloat.
Steelers ran the ball down their throats and then got desperate and threw a bad INT trying to tie the game instead of being patient with what the D was giving them -> umbrella cover and underneath shit. The Bills were down 37-32 with less than 5 minutes to go in Buffalo because the Pats D is crap.
The Jets haven’t played anybody …The Browns are clowns and had their QB get hurt in that one which altered their play calling and threw off any game plan they had for offense.
The Colts defense is a joke; the Dolphins could drop 30+ on that team. The Jets could only muster 10pts through 3Q against that team? They are dead when they face their divisional rivals.
Taylor made some plays to put Bills back in the game but overall I was not impressed with him. He made a lot of mistakes, 3 costly ints and some inaccurate throws to boot. He got better as the game went on but I agree that the key to beating the Bills is to put the game in Taylor’s hands.
That means we have to stop their run. Stopping the run is what we do best LOL.
Not to mention, Jags had to deal with LT Joeckel leaving the game late in the 3Q due to injury which probably opened the flood gates for the Panthers pass rushers.
***************************
Why didn’t it open the floodgate for the Miami Dolphins pass rush I ask?
we’re saving it for X-mas LOL
You probably didn’t notice but Cam Wake didn’t play the entire second half
Did he play the first half?
I think he only played like 10 snaps the whole game.
Ken,
When receivers drop 5+ passes in a game, your QB stats are going to take a big swing.
Maybe so but Bortles was not good vs. Panthers. He looked like the same player from last year.
What’s disappointed me so far, in addition to poor execution, is that we are very one-dimensional on both sides of the ball.
It’s so easy for a team to game plan how to beat us and every other team in the NFL then follows suit and does the same.
It is said that a team takes on the coaches persona. We are queasy and unimaginative.
We have the personnel to wreak havoc. Stand the f*** up FIns and go and wreak havoc on both sides of the ball.
STOP PLAYING SCARED.
Excellent post, Drg.
Boulder,
Agree with you about Ross, but maybe that works in our favor when/if there is another coaching change. I would think that a top 10 QB, owner willing to spend money and not interfere, bigger name team, etc. would be enough to get a top coaching prospect. Now would Ross screw it all up by insisting on TanneHickey as GM? That is possible…
That maybe true. Even if there is a coaching change, I’m sure Ross is gonna want to keep hickey, and tannenbaum. That condition will scare away many good coaches.
I didn’t see Brotles vs the Panthers but he looked good against us. There were about 7-10 plays where we got excellent pressure and missed a sack by just the tiniest fraction of a second. It seemed like every one of those plays Bortles made an excellent throw and got a big completion.
he converted a lot of 3rd down passes in the first half. Bortles QBR (the espn rating) was top 5 last week.
Al
Wake isn’t the entire team, so what about Vernon, Fede, Suh, Mitchell, Phillips? I don’t think Shelby played because of his eye, not sure.
David Amerson is a guy the redskins cut. I don’t know if he is practice squad eligible but if we can stash him there maybe he could be a productive player next year or yr after. I know mf13 is very high on this guy and he was a high draft choice.
He’s high on a lot of guys who can’t play. LOL
lol
Cav, Ken,
Thanks. I don’t think there is any point in talking about a coaching change right now. We root for Philbin and co. to turn this thing around and hope that Tannehill doesn’t get killed. 14 games left and anything can happen. A nice win this weekend and we are all singing a different tune come Monday.
wake said he was surprised that he didn’t play that many snaps. Philbin was asked that question yesterday and he said it was because of injury.
I’m tired of giving the other team credit, they schemed for us, they practiced better etc . . . When are we just going to go out there and kick ass with this defense?
We’ll go out there and kick ass with this defense when we scheme for them and practice better…lol
LOL
drg
A little late now, but that was an excellent post.
I guess we must be ok at TE or the injuries aren’t serious.
Aaron Wilson ✔ @AaronWilson_NFL
Source: Dolphins signing linebacker Terrell Manning https://shar.es/17cpkb via @footballpost
Retweeted by Adam Beasley
Wake was questionable going into the game. Not sure if it was a hammy or groin injury.
More on wake from coyle from Jackson.
### Coyle said it would be accurate to say that Cam Wake (who didn’t play in the second half) wanted to play, but the Dolphins thought Derrick Shelby would be more effective than Wake, even though both players were limited in practice last week, Shelby with an eye, Wake with a hamstring.
“When guys don’t practice, they have a tendency not to perform as well on game day,” Coyle said. “Players may refute that. Their performance level usually isn’t up to par. That was a case of a few of the guys [Sunday] with the exception of Reshad Jones.”
Wake has declined to discuss the issue.”
LMAO @ Kong!
In the first game, Scherff dove at Suh’s knees, and was on the ground allmost every play. Ya think maybe he could figure out to either jump over him, or take a step back and then walk on top of him? lol
Or kick him in the nuts.
Quotes/Comments from the Miami Herald yesterday:
“Coyle, asked if he’s puzzled by the lack of pass rush (one sack in two games; see below for more details):
“We would have expected more through two games but we’re seeing things we anticipated from our opponents,” he said. “They’re throwing the ball quickly, using a lot of extra personnel in protecting, chipping. Tight ends, backs are staying in. We’ll get our share of sacks. We had a couple we had penalties on. We had occasions where the quarterback was flushed out and we didn’t make the [sack]. We have to improve and I believe we will.”
—–
According to Pro Football Focus, the Dolphins generated 15 quarterback hurries on Sunday — including six by Earl Mitchell, three by Derrick Shelby and two by Vernon — but not a single one of them materialized into a sack.
There have been some extenuating circumstances: Vernon was limited to 30 snaps against Washington because of an ankle injury and Wake played just 15 of 73 snaps Sunday because the Dolphins apparently didn’t believe he was particularly effective after dealing with a hamstring earlier in the week.
———
How bad is the Dolphins’ one-sack-every-two-game pace? Consider that the team that finished last in the league in sacks last season, Cincinnati, still managed 20.
——–
Taylor allowed two of four passes to be caught for 26 yards (and has a 92.4 passer rating against him through two weeks), but the bigger problem has been his penchant for penalties resulting in first downs. He has committed three of those, including an illegal contact infraction on a 3rd and nine.
The rating against corners are so silly. How do they take into account the QB looks away from him because his guy is covered? LOL
By the way, is Taylor the only corner they mention rankings for?
Boulder,
Sounds like Wake is suffering from a bruised ego
Maybe they should move his locker to the Red Hook section. That might fire him up some!
yup. He needs to be moved from manhattan to compton
Boulder,
Terrell Manning the Practice Squad expert?
Career history
Green Bay Packers (2012)
San Diego Chargers (2013)
Minnesota Vikings (2014)*
New York Giants (2014)*
Miami Dolphins (2014)*
Chicago Bears (2014)
New York Giants (2014)
Atlanta Falcons (2015)*
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only
no I think he’s signed on the team. Signing a LB is interesting. It means that our oline and TEs situation is not as grave as once thought.
Or that its real status is being misread.
Terrell Manning is 6’2 237 25yo from NC State….3 years in the league between GB & Giants, he’s amassed 4 tackles (1 solo 3 asst)
Be afraid Brady, be very afraid.
Maybe they are moving McCain to DE
That shit with Vernon would have him sitting on the bench this next game with me. Fede i hope is realy to go.
Did a LB go down?
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/sep/21/david-amerson-redskins-cut-former-second-nc-state/
The guy was a high 2nd rounder. Maybe he just needs better coaching or his learning curve needs more time. We are against the salary cap and he might be worth a little investment of time to develop him
LOL – Is he going to find better coaching here? 😀
Would make M13 happy, but i dont think that guy is very good to be honest.
Penalties….that’s been our real downfall in the past 2 close games.
Typically we were the least penalized team under Philbin….but we’ve been horrible causing the yellow hankies to fly at the worst times so far in 2015…..
But that’s something that can get cleaned up with a lil more focus. When we do, we’ll likely win more close games then.
That’s true and not just for us, every damn game the refs kill the momentum and make it very tough to watch. A lot of it is ticky tack and doesn’t need to be called. Football players tangle from time to time.
Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to get the d linemen Lazy Boy recliners for their meeting room. How many people can focus on task at hand when relaxing on lazy boys? I usually want to drink a beer and take a nap. Not study for a test 🙂
Seems like they’re playing the game in la-z-boy recliners.
They’re training for Baseketball
with a beer in hand. It seemed like they’re worried about spilling their beer when rushing the passer.
GDP,
It was a record weekend for penalties ….going into the MNF game, all that was needed were 3 enforced penalties to set a new NFL record (which happened pretty quickly in that game LOL).
like the first drive. The colts had so many penalties in that game. It was weird. Even gruden was “let them play”
Tim,
Regarding corner grades, the Herald is using their PFF access to cite the data. PFF has every corner graded i’m sure but the Herald is selecting what they want ppl to know :/.
I’ve only see Taylor’s ranking mentioned and it’s been about 4 or 5 times now. I like the way Taylor plays. He’s aggressive and competes with the receiver. All corners get penalties because of the rules. Vontae Davis was flagged a few times last night.
2-4 for 27 yards like that’s horrific. LOL
More on Suh going rogue
Philbin’s response: “There was a report Suh was freelancing. I didn’t see anything of the sort. Not sure where that came from.”
The Herald’s Adam Beasley said he absolutely stands behind his Suh/freelancing report.
Another report today, by Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole, said Suh is frustrated by the team’s “complicated” defense. Philbin did not address that report, perhaps unaware of it, but Philbin and players say the defense was simplified this off-season.
Boulder,
LMFAO @ moved from Manhattan to Compton
We don’t need the MH or PFF to tell us that Jamar Taylor is a disappointment. I don’t even care what they say QB’s are completing against him. I’m just happy he’s actually out there, and hopefully, closer to one day, being good enough to start.
I think he’s been pretty good. The PFF rankings are silly. This idea that he allows so many completions is not what I’m seeing. It’s a passing league yet we except everyone to shut down everyone. He plays a lot and he’s one of the better tacklers on the defense.
The patriots D has 11 sacks in 2 games. The Jets D has 10 turnovers in 2 games.
Coverage, and Jamie Collins. They send Collins A LOT and he is a fucking great blitzing OLB. Again, it why i keep harping that we are playing to vanilla, both those teams are mixing their D up every snap and its working.
We probably could do our own PFF scoring. Just have a set a rules of what is a + to score and whats a -1 and then have someone review the games and apply the rules.
Thats really all PFF does. Im not sure though their evaluator evaluate with the knowledge that team A does this and team B does that so RT may be doing exactly what he is expected on that play call for that team. Grades get skewed because the reception on if the player executed well is off a generalized idea for that position, not custom to each teams’s scheme. Kinda like the BMI scores based off skinny nerds frame so all athletes even if 98% muscle are considered obese.
I’ve always thought PFF was PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT
I haven’t seen anything that would indicate that Coyle runs a complicated defense. At least when you’re watching from the offensive side of the ball.
He’s not exactly Dom Capers or Dick LeBeau
Mike E. says:
September 22, 2015 at 11:04 am
LMAO @ Kong!
In the first game, Scherff dove at Suh’s knees, and was on the ground allmost every play. Ya think maybe he could figure out to either jump over him, or take a step back and then walk on top of him? lol
——-
LOL, you need perspective here
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/rams-search-for-answers-after-debacle-vs-redskins/article_97c5b573-4086-55d3-9751-b032fd43a7fe.html
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard rumblings about Coyle’s defensive schemes being too complicated.
So it’s complicated but vanilla. LOL
BoulderPhinfan says:
September 22, 2015 at 11:27 am
More on Suh going rogue
Philbin’s response: “There was a report Suh was freelancing. I didn’t see anything of the sort. Not sure where that came from.”
The Herald’s Adam Beasley said he absolutely stands behind his Suh/freelancing report.
Another report today, by Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole, said Suh is frustrated by the team’s “complicated” defense. Philbin did not address that report, perhaps unaware of it, but Philbin and players say the defense was simplified this off-season.
——————————————-
Cole is a fucking moron then, anyone can watch our D and realise they arent complicating anything. Irs utterly straight forward and thats the problem.
I don’t think we blitz as much anymore either. How many 3rd downs was bortles gonna convert before we start blitzing on 3rd down. I just don’t get what these coaches are thinking. There was an issue last year when players were complaining about this defense. Same thing this year.
Al in MIA says:
September 22, 2015 at 11:32 am
Mike E. says:
September 22, 2015 at 11:04 am
LMAO @ Kong!
In the first game, Scherff dove at Suh’s knees, and was on the ground allmost every play. Ya think maybe he could figure out to either jump over him, or take a step back and then walk on top of him? lol
——-
LOL, you need perspective here
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/rams-search-for-answers-after-debacle-vs-redskins/article_97c5b573-4086-55d3-9751-b032fd43a7fe.html
—————————————————
Or maybe Coyle could have done a twist play making Scheff dive on the gorund and Wake step right over him while Suh rolls around the end and not ending up on his ass?
If the D coordinator sees that shit going on then he needs to adjust his D for that. Not much a player can do if his assignment is straight up eat blocks going stright into the guard and the bitch is cutting his legs out. Its not as easy to do unless the play call helps you out with it.
Adjust it and use it…. i mean what a great thing that could have been to have a OL take himself out of a play by eating dirt. Thats Coyles fault because they consistently did it and he didnt adjust for it at all.
Boulder,
The timing of the blitzing is what annoys me.
Sad thing is Jelani is pretty good at it. He’s got good quick burst speed. Misi i dont feel has that abaility, he is much better at run blitz, he can close down a gap and make solid tackles in the backfield on run plays but he just doesnt have the overall speed to get the QB. He will flush him but i dont think he can close on him and get him down like Jenkins,.
the best blitz we had the last game was from grimes 🙂
I know. Not sure why but our blitzing is not working right now. It might be the timing. It might be the changes to the scheme. Not sure.
Bowles showed how you can rattle the best QBs with exotic blitz packages. We better have an answer to both the bills and jets blitzing the next 2 game or tanny could be hurting bad by the bye week.
GDP,
Saw this image looking at a Jags/Panthers report LOL
Could be useful for Piggy to use on other players
We could put the Dolphins defense on the container, sitting in la-z-boys of course, so they can easily be recognized.
Coyles’ defensive scheme complicated? Huh?
Yeah Cole has to be making that shit up.
We heard the same thing sometime around the end of the 2013.
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Good deal
me and wife once flew from ft laud to Detroit for 7 bucks each way.We stayed at hotel and had dinner and flew back next day
Do all passengers have to pedal or just coach? Lol
good one. It takes a little time to research but their are deals to be had. The key is to play with the dates and the airlines will offer you deals during those dates so u want to be flexible and have a bunch of dates looking for prices. The research involved will show you when is the best(lowest fares) time to fly.
LOL @ mando. His twitter is blowing up with fans that want philbin fired.
Armando Salguero @ArmandoSalguero
Bro, my parents brought me to USA so I wouldn’t have to do everything people tell me to do. Your last name Castro? https://twitter.com/JJFinFan73/status/646349566753697792 …
That stuff is silly at this point. I want coaching change as much as the next guy but it is not going to happen now and if it does it will surely tank the rest of the season. This is Philbin’s last chance to right the ship. If he doesn’t he is gone after the season but a coaching change now doesn’t make any sense.
I agree. There is no way philbin is going anywhere until after the season. But mando’s twitter feed is pretty funny. He’s getting bombarded.
JJFINFAN73 @JJFinFan73 Sep 20
The funny thing is, I can coach the Dolphins defense in Madden better than Coyle coaches them in reality. Lol
Funny post
LOL. that’s good.
D, Omar is on the same page as you
Omar Kelly @OmarKelly 1m1 minute ago
What puzzles me about Kevin Coyle’s new watered down 4-3 base is he thinks blitzing Koa Misi is surprising anyone? Do better! Be creative!
Yeah id also move the LB’ers around too. Id move Misi and Jenkins around for sure (they do it to some extent) and id also rotate Sheppard outside and Jenkins at MLB some both for coverage purposes and to get some middle gap blitzes from him. Might not be bad idea to bring in C. McCain on some plays on blitzing packages and let Jones man the safety spot by himself. I dont see Tyrod Taylor burning us deep if we are getting pressure on him.
The LBs do move around inside and outside. How many places can you put them?
Here we go again from the all knowing idiot. We’re vanilla but complicated and blitzing Misi isn’t fooling anyone. The Jets blitzes didn’t fool Luck last night either, their blocking couldn’t handle it. They did the same thing over and over. Omar please stop trying to act like a coach and get a clue!
Jetssuck,
No research needed anymore.
When you search routes you can set up price alerts to notify you via email or txt message when a certain route price drops below a price you set for it to watch.
Anyway, this time of year is generally the cheapest to fly (sept after labor day into early oct).
I booked my flight to LAX for 197$ round trip w/taxes on AA non stop out of MIA w/ a MIA departure time of 9:30am and returning departure time of 12PM LA time (8PM arrival in MIA).
good price.I saw a price last week to istanbul RT for 798. With gas prices dropping I think airline prices are going to drop also
” going to the SUPER BOWL!!”
Ahhh yes OD….how great to think about that.
And I am sure you and your BOYZ were hitting it hard…..were you with anyone of the current crew back then?
I actually think Misi and Jenkins are good blitzers.
They are but i think Misi is a better run blitzer. Jelani comes so hard and fast that he can over blitz on the run, on pass its why he is better than Misi. They are both good but used in different ways.
Agreed.
Tim Knight says:
September 22, 2015 at 12:04 pm
Here we go again from the all knowing idiot. We’re vanilla but complicated and blitzing Misi isn’t fooling anyone. The Jets blitzes didn’t fool Luck last night either, their blocking couldn’t handle it. They did the same thing over and over. Omar please stop trying to act like a coach and get a clue!
Reply
——————————————-
There is probably no one i hate agreeing with more than Omar, but he is right here/ Coyle’s shit looks like it comes from coaching defense for dummies books. You see it a mile away, you adjust or it without him then re-adjusting for their audible and we end up with a blitz thats about as easily picked up as if they had an extra lineman assigned specifically for it.
I think it looks that way because we’re not getting off the blocks. That is what I see and whenever that happens scheme gets blamed. I’m seeing our guys get handled and maybe people are afraid to admit it so blaming Coyle is easy. There are a lot of contradictions being made about this defense, it’s complicated and vanilla. Pick one, it can’t be both.
He has mixed it up but when guys don’t play well it’s hard to swallow so blame the scheme. In the PS were running people over playing the same scheme. What gives?
We almost killed Matt Ryan.
Tim im talking more about mixing up the packages where the roles and the predictability of who is blitzing where is less apparent. We havent done that so far. We also really have not sent LB’s on blitz much at all. Boyles had them coming almost every play. I know in some cases this sounds like you opened a hole in your D, but if a QB like luck cant adjust to it and make plays, then what will a guy like Taylor or Fitz do in those situations. Ill answer….shit the bed or throw it right to one of our defenders lol . When watching the game last night you had to feel the aggressiveness of that D. I dont feel it when i watch ours and i really really thought i would. I told my wife i was going to really enjoy watching this defense and so far its boring and horribly unproductive.
it helps when you have 3 really good corners like the Jets and the fact that the colts didn’t have any scary WRs last night. Johnson was invisible, ty hilton was hobbling the whole night
D,
McCain played only 1 snap the last game. not sure why they aren’t using him more.
The top of the overall MLB standings read just like the top of the NL Central Division
(yeah I’m a little bitter)
———–
St. Louis Cardinals (94-56)
Pittsburgh Pirates (4 games back)
Chicago Cubs (6 back)
It’s like the Dolphins being in the same division with the Patriots for the last decade. Annoying!
And it even came out this season that the Cards cheat too. 🙂
Should make you excited. Means that the teams in your division have prepared you well for the playoffs. lol. Coaching will take it from there and i think you have a pretty good one.
I’d take a division title, being less prepared, and not having to face Arrieta in the play in game. 🙂
But yeah our coaches and front office are great…..only way to compete with the 25th highest payroll.
Tim
I said the same thing. What we saw in the PS was a dominant defense. What happened?
I think they were more aggressive with the calls in PS. They weren’t overthinking it because the games didnt count for anything so they dialed it up. I dont know what changed their mind but its not aggressive at all now. I mean its same players, so how could you say the players just all of a sudden forgot how to play lol.
I think Coyle is basically playing a containment kind of game plan, which might be great if we were chewing time off the clock and scoring TD’s on our drives. We arent and we need the D to get some turnovers and that starts with agressive front 7 play.
Maybe too they took the teams for granted. Went into the games with opponents trying not to expose our full defense until we hit division play, maybe we thought we could get away with that with teams like the Jags and Skins. It is, afterall how some of us as fans treated it. Im not sure really but i know what we saw in PS isnt the same as what we saw in past two games and my feeling it it doesnt at all feel or look as aggressive.
I can’t explain it but it was the same defense.
BoulderPhinfan says:
September 22, 2015 at 12:20 pm
it helps when you have 3 really good corners like the Jets and the fact that the colts didn’t have any scary WRs last night. Johnson was invisible, ty hilton was hobbling the whole night
———————————————–
Cromartie’s coverage was pretty weak. Saw him way behind the receivers on several plays. Revis still is as good as ever, but yeah Hilton not being 100% made it easy on him. I wouldn’t put our secondary much off theirs. I think the big difference is the pressure.
Cromartie isn’t that good anymore.
yea cromartie didn’t look that good but their slot CB looked pretty good.
I think, overall, they have better CBs than we do.
They have Revis and that’s where it ends.
Skrines is really good.
Cromartie is overrated. He is a ball hawk and will get some ints but he gives up a lot of big plays too. He is also a poor tackler.
The Colts made the right adjustment somewhere in the 3Q when they were down 10-0. They started pounding the rock a little more and using Luck under center. The Jets D was giving in to little yardage here and there. The momentum killer was yet again another TO but this time from Gore.
Running under center what an interesting concept.
I was thinking the same thing watching the game.
They ran the ball well early and got away from it.
yea that was the first drive out of half. The pounded the ball all the way to 1 yard line 10 minute drive that ended with terrible Gore fumble.
It seems right now that the Andre Johnson, Gore acquisitions aren’t as well as advertised.
Mike E. says:
September 22, 2015 at 12:29 pm (Edit)
Tim
I said the same thing. What we saw in the PS was a dominant defense. What happened?
________________________________________
It was pre-season. There was no game planning and they were only in for a few series. Hard to bank on anything you see in PS.
Except we were running over people. Forget about stats and scores, but we were physically dominant.
But when you start to scheme and game plan you start to correct for match up problems. In PS nobody is showing anything other than vanilla. When the games count it’s like Howard Johnson’s all of a sudden.
https://twitter.com/andy_benoit/status/646358228796731393
I went back and looked too. Only on play kinda stood out to me, because it was an odd place for him to line up given how straight forward we had been all game but i cant discount that was a shift/different formation that was called by Coyle.
Ken says:
September 22, 2015 at 12:49 pm
Skrines is really good.
————————————————
I wanted to get Skrine in the offseason, though McCain was a pretty nice consolation prize, but there is definitely a difference there.
That happens when there is pressure. I don’t have a big issue with our secondary right now because we’re not applying enough pressure or getting sacks to worry opponents. Without that anyone can complete passes.
I was disappointed in Aikens on Sunday. Huge mental mistake on TD pass to Robinson.
Id like McCain back at nickle, but other than that no, im pretty ok with the talent we have there. Id like to see Lippett get some game time too i think a big CB will help some but he needs some rotational time to get the speed of the game figured out. Not sure we can afford it right now until things settle out some.
I think Skrine is better but McCain is a good pick up as well. Definitely not complaining about that.
Al in MIA says:
September 22, 2015 at 12:46 pm
The Colts made the right adjustment somewhere in the 3Q when they were down 10-0. They started pounding the rock a little more and using Luck under center. The Jets D was giving in to little yardage here and there. The momentum killer was yet again another TO but this time from Gore.
———————————————–
I felt like the Jets kind just took their foot off the gas defensive wise at least early on in the 3rd. When Colts began exploiting it, they went back to the original plan.
Like I said I’m not happy so far with what I’ve seen from this team but I think it’s way too early to panic.
Richie on his weekend visit to his old stomping grounds. I always liked him and still did despite what happened, but then I was invested……in his jersey.
—————-
“”I have no idea what to expect. I really have no idea. Like I said, I’ve got a lot of friends in the organization. I’ve got a lot of friends that still play down there. I’ve got a lot of friends in the South Florida area. I’ve always had a lot of love from their fans. I’ve got a lot of respect for them. I really enjoyed my time there, so I expect nothing but love from them because that’s what I’ve got from them.”
I,I,I how many I’s.
Fair point……that is a sign of an egotist.
D:
I think Lippett is still too raw to throw out there. I love his potential but let him get some work on the scout teams and in practice before he starts getting on the field in games.
Al, that was good stuff on the Skins OL….Scherff is gonna be a stud player in this league.
What’s being overlooked too, is their new OL coach is none other than former HC Bill Callahan.
Benton is losing lots of points with me over the last couple years.
Benton is used to working with an offense that doesn’t spend all day in shotgun.
Yeah, the good ole days….but times are different in the NFL now.
Good point.
Ken, a young player like Aikens is going to have some ups and downs, what young players don’t?
I said going into the season the one thing I was concerned about is we’re going to have to reply on a lot of young players. So with that will come some mistakes. Vets make mistakes too.