Dolphins Defense: Changes Need To Be Made

While some of you may be calling for the heads of some of the members of our coaching staff, I have decided that some simple changes just need to be made.

Not anything to do with any of the coaches, but it has something to do with the scheme that we are using.

Instead of using just one or two different schemes during the course of the game, why not take a page out of the Saints defensive plan last night, and come at the opposing team from all angles?

Why not do more than we are just doing?

At this point in time, we need to do everything possible to win this week against the Patriots, and copying off the Saints, and what they did last night, in no way possible, could hurt us this week.

Why not have more cornerback blitzes, and people blitzing from all angles, and switch from a zone to a man coverage scheme on a regular basis to confuse Tom Brady.

WE all saw what can happen when you confuse Brady, your team can tackle the receivers, and can get pressure on Brady. So why not try everything possible to replicate this?

After all, didn’t teams copy the Wildcat after it destroyed the Pats last year?

It’s a copycat league guys, the problem is, the Dolphins just don’t know how to copy the other teams, like they know how to copy us.

Could that be chalked up to inexperience? Maybe, but I doubt it. We have too many great football minds on our staff to let that happen.

I think the Dolphins are just stuck in a timewarp is all. They are casually slipping into the modern era of football, and next year you will likely see the Dolphins we all know and love play a different style of football.

They will pass more once we get a dependable game breaking receiver, and you will see us get into more offensive shootouts. The problem with that is. That will mean that our defense is not getting any better.

WE are only a couple pieces away from being a good, maybe even great defense. So why can’t the coaches switch things up a little bit, and make these players be great NOW?

After all, this is a copycat league right?

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh: Dolphins Lose Again In 4th Quarter

I’m utterly at a loss for words on this loss.

A 31-14 loss to division rival Buffalo Bills is still tough to take, and I think this sums up our season.

There are really no words to explain what happens to the Dolphins when they enter the 4th quarter.

If they were not so bad in the 4th quarter this year, perhaps the Dolphins may be 8-3 instead of 5-6.

Today it was not so much the defense that did the Dolphins in, but miscues throughout the whole offensive line, and a huge play by one Terrell Owens to put the Dolphins away for good.

The Dolphins, who were favored by a wide margin, let the Bills hang around, and in turn, finally got burnt for it. I would like to say that this loss will turn the season around for the Dolphins, but I’m afraid it may already be too late for our beloved Dolphins.

But nevertheless, I will continue to believe in what this team can do. There is always hope to win the division. Granted, the Patriots will have to lose tomorrow night against the New Orleans Saints, and to us next week, but it is very do-able in my eyes. Stranger things have happened to us before in the land of the Dolphins.

The game was a story of missed opportunities for the Dolphins.

First they missed a chance at an early 7-0 lead on the Bills, when running back Ricky Williams was picked off in the endzone running a play out of the Wildcat formation.

Then came the Dolphins defense allowing the Bills to get right back into it after the Dolphins scored later in the first half on a Brian Hartline touchdown reception.

The Bills then responded before the end of the half with a Ryan Fitzpatrick 31 yard desperation touchdown run with 5:23 left in the half.

The Dolphins had a chance to take the lead before the half, but blew both chances. After the Bills score, the Dolphins naturally got the ball back, but could do nothing with it. Yeremiah Bell then intercepted Fitzpatrick near the 50 yard line to give the Dolphins the ball back with less than a minute left.

The 2nd half was a rather weird one for the Dolphins.

After scoring on a Ricky Williams touchdown run, the rest of the game was all Buffalo.

A Fred Jackson touchdown run tied the game up at 14, and the rest is history.

The fourth quarter was scoreless until 3:35 left in the game. The Bills then nailed a 56 yard field goal to go ahead 17-14.

The Dolphins then fell apart. It seemed like the rest of the game, the Bills rag tag defense controlled the pace of the game. They pushed the Dolphins around, and the Dolphins $156 million offensive line was useless against the Bills pass rush.

Because of the Bills pass rush getting to Chad Henne, the end result was 3 consecutive interceptions by Henne, all making a Dolphins comeback look even bleaker than before.

But if you thought all of the interceptions, one play sums up the game for you.

On a at the line of scrimmage audible, Fitzpatrick made probably one of the throws of his life. Having single coverage on Terrell Owens, Fitzpatrick audibled for Owens to run a fly route. Having the benefit of an obvious holding play on Randy Starks, Fitzpatrick got the ball off in time for Owens to score on a 51 yard touchdown. Oh, and did I mention that there was a little bit of an offensive pass interference going on as well.

So there it was, two chances for the refs to call the play back, and they blew their chance straight outta the water.

There went the game for the Dolphins, and with it, their chances at getting the Wildcard spot in the playoffs.

Their are just too many teams in the thick of the race to count on winning the Wildcard. It looks like our lone way of getting to the playoffs will be winning our division yet again, which brings more of an interesting challenge to the table for this Dolphins team.

“If someone wants to give up on us or thinks it’s over, then just don’t come in [Monday],” Taylor said. “Media, fans, players, coaching — anybody just don’t come to work tomorrow. I’ll be there. It ain’t over yet.”

If what Jason Taylor says is true, then the next couple games should be a treat, and honor to watch as a Dolphins fan.

The next part of this seasons journey is still yet to come, but bar none, this will be one of the most exciting if the Saints can start it off on a high note with a W tomorrow against the Pats. Then all the Dolphins have to do is take care of business, and we will be rolling right back on track.

Dolphins @ Bills Keys To Game

The Dolphins go into tomorrows game against division rival Buffalo Bills at an even .500. They still have a long ways to go, but this game is the first in a bunch of games that will decide whether the Dolphins will make the playoffs or not this year.

I look at this game as one of those games where you refine what you are looking to do over the rest of the season. With the Bills being one of the weaker teams in the league, and having some of the not so good to have weaknesses against the Dolphins, this game should be in the Dolphins favor.

3. Stop the Oncoming Rush:

The last time the Dolphins faced the Bills, the opposing team got to Chad Henne a total of 6 times.

The Dolphins offensive line has not given up a sack in two weeks now, so I expect nothing less of superb play out of them, but with the Bills good pass rush, this will be a good test for the line going into the final stretch of the season.

Henne always has had confidence in the pocket, but now, after hitting the ground more than 6 times against the Bills, maybe he will be gun shy to start out the game.

Henne will need to step up in the pocket, ans show us his confidence for the Dolphins to come away with the win. But the offensive line will need to protect him for Henne to win the game for the Fins.

2. Contain the Beasts:

The Dolphins are starting two rookie cornerbacks. We all know that. What we do not though is how much they will improve over the course of the season. We know that Sean Smith will be a shutdown corner in the near, near future, and that Vontae Davis is not far behind him.

So Sundays opponents for the two should be yet another challenge in a long line of them.

Terrell Owens and Lee Evans will be no small task for the two rookies, but containing the two dangerous deep threats may be one of the most important things to getting the Dolphins the win come Sunday.

Stopping the momentum that the Bils receivers still have from last weeks game will be key early on for the Fins, and they can keep Owens and Evans from getting a combined 110 yards, I will be more than pleased with the effort.

1. 60 Minutes: With Chad Henne:

Another feat that I would like the Dolphins to accomplish, and is very important in the Dolphins style of play, is controlling the play clock.

While it is not possible for the Dolphins to have the ball for the whole game, it is possible for them to control a big chunk of it.

In a game where the Bills do not feature a quarterback like Peyton Manning, controlling the play clock for 40+ minutes should do the trick against the Bills.

Keeping their defense on the field for most of the game, and our defense fresh will be key to winning the game, and we saw what happened last week when Joey Porter was fresh, he dominated, so if we can get him on the field with some good rest in between drives, it should enable him to do his thing.

Injury Report:

BUFFALO BILLS

Out
Demetrius Bell, OT (knee)
John McCargo, DT (calf)
Ashton Youbouty, CB (ankle)

Questionable
Marcus Stroud, DT (knee)
Terrence McGhee, CB (knee)
Jairus Byrd, S (groin)

Probable
Nic Harris, LB (non-injury)
Chris Kelsay, DE (shoulder)

MIAMI DOLPHINS

Doubtful
Jake Grove, C (ankle)
Lionel Dotson, DE (ankle)

Probable
Ricky Williams, RB (chest)
Joe Berger, C (knee)

As you can see the Dolphins do not have a lot of active players injured this week. Note though that Joe Berger will be starting in place of Jake Grove, who was officially ruled out for the game tomorrow.

 

 

 

Dolphins Offensive Line: Really All Its Cracked Up To Be?

The past two weeks, the Miami Dolphins offensive line has arguably been the best in the league. But the fact of the matter is, they really crapped the bed earlier on in the season. And the biggest question is not why, but what was the factor that led to this?

Was it the transition between offensive line coaches? Was it the addition of both Jake Grove and Donald Thomas, remember, Thomas played less than 20 snaps last year. What could it be exactly? The Dolphins quarterbacks have been sacked 23/39 quarterback hits, and considering that the Dolphins do not pass all that much, that is the same as 40 right now, because the Dolphins on average have passed 30.1 times per game, which is 9 attempts less than the #1 passing offense in the league, the Indianapolis Colts, and 10 times less than the New England Patriots, the 2nd best passing team in the league.

So 23 sacks, in 8 games is ridiculous.

And yes, I said 8 games. Keep in mind that this Dolphins offensive line, despite the injuries that they have been stricken with the past 3 weeks, has not allowed a sack in over 2 weeks!

So what gives!

Well, it all comes down to two big games.

The Dolphins allowed 6 sacks against the Buffalo Bills the first time we played them, and 5 sacks against the New York Jets the 2nd time we faced them.

And before that, Chad Pennington was getting sacked on a regular basis.

In the first game of the season, Pennington got sacked 4 times, and in the 2nd game, twice. So an average of 3 sacks per game for Pennington, and an average of 2 per game for Henne.

Not a very encouraging statistic seeing as how the Tennessee Titans have only let up 7 sacks over the course of the whole season. That’s an amazing feat to manage over 10 games.

Despite all of the sacks earlier in the season, I am hopeful that there will be no more of this the rest of the way. Like I mentioned earlier, the Dolphins have not given up a sack in the past 2 games, and really look like they are coming together, and gelling as a unit overall.

The player on the team that has given up the most sacks believe it or not, has been former 1st overall pick and our left tackle Jake Long, with 4 sacks overall. Justin Smiley has given up 1. Both Vernon Carey and Donald Thomas have given up 2 apiece. So overall, our starting unit has given up 9 sacks. Somewhere that does not add up.  Lousaka Polite has given up 4.5 sacks, and both Ronnie Brown and Anthony Fasano have given up one sack apiece. So the grand total according to NFL Fanhouse is 15.5. According to NFL.com, the Dolphins have given up 23. So who is the guy that is killing us? I want to know, because something needs to be done to correct this, if it has not already been corrected.

I would just like to go another two games without a sack, and only give up 2 sacks over the last four games. Can this happen?

Get to Know Lex Hilliard

Last week, we saw Ronnie Brown go down with a devastating foot injury. Yes, the injury hurts, but Ricky Williams did a great job filling in for him.

However, I was also impressed by the man who filled in for Ricky: our 2008 6th Round pick, Lex Hilliard.

Lex was born on July 30, 1984 in  Kalispell, Montana. Hilliard played  football, track, and wrestling in high school, setting school records in each sport. He went on to play football at the University of Montana.

He rushed for over 900 yards in his sophomore year, despite only starting 4 games. He was named to the All-Big Sky team twice, and was a nominee for the Walter Payton Award, given to the best offensive player in Division 1 football. He left Montana as the 2nd leading rusher in school history.

Hilliard was drafted in the 6th round out of Montana. He rushed for 1134 yards and 16 touchdowns in his senior year, but dropped down to the 6th round because of Montana’s lack of competition in the Big Sky conference and a Achilles injury that sidelined him for his entire Junior year.

Lex was drafted by Miami as a Halfback/Fullback hybrid. After he was drafted, he was quoted saying “I’ll play whatever. It may have to be on special teams. I’m ready to go. I’m ready to do whatever it takes to help the Miami Dolphins win.” He was named to the practice squad his rookie year.

After an extremely impressive pre-season prior to this year, he was added to the Dolphins roster. He started the year on Special Teams, often leading the Special Teams in tackles. He had his first touch last week, and impressed by breaking off some big gains.

I really like this guy. He’s a team player, who will do what it takes to win. I have high hopes for a bright future from this kid.

-Sam

Roth and His Mysterious Groin Finally Gone!

Wow!

What can you say about this? All season long I wondered what the Trifecta would do about injured linebacker Matt Roth, and today we finally know, some three months later.

After going through a whole training camp of lies with Roth, he finally got what was coming to him.

I reall do not blame the Dolphins for waiving this guy. At this point in Roth’s career, he should be able to come back and make some kind of an impact, but he has less than 5 tackles in 4 games so far this year, and has gotten limited reps in the game, because of his work in practice.

Roth was a great player for us, and an awesome run stuffer, but we just needed to part ourselves away from all of the negative energy that he brought our way with his lies about his injury.

The Dolphins used their extra roster spots to pick up defensive end Ikaika Alama- Francis, and vet cornerback Evan Oglesby. The pickup of Oglesby comes with the release of rookie safety Nate Ness.

What do you have to say about this one Drew Rosenhaus?

Dolphins-Patriots Night Game “Flexed”.

The NFL has finally made tehir decision that they think that the general public would like to see the Arizona Cardinals face off against the Minnesota Vikings, than a division game that will decide the division winner.
Screw it! NBC screwed the Dolphins for the second straight year, in a division game, and just like last year, I hope they get terrible ratings for it.
Some people would like to watch Brett Favre face off against Kurt Warner, but in the end, the hard nose Dolphins beating the pretty boy Patriots would be the shocker of the whole list of games on that Sunday.
I hate you NBC!

The Playoff Stretch: How The Dolphins Will Make The Playoffs

The Dolphins head into the Thanksgiving weekend game against the Buffalo Bills with a 5-5 record, and each game being a must win from here on out.

The Dolphins finish up the season facing the Bills, New England Patriots, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, Houston Texans, and Pittsburgh Steelers.

I’m looking for the Dolphins to go 5-1 if they wish to have any chance at the playoffs, and the last four games look to be the most crucial.

At this point in time, I am not counting on the Patriots losing so many games that they force a tie-breaker with us at the end of the season, and even for us to win the AFC East, it would take a lot to happen from here on out for the Fins to repeat as division champs.

With the whole AFC North losing, that only puts us within reach of them, as each team lost a game on the Dolphins, that were in playoff contention.

Here is my list of teams that is expected to contend for the Wildcard race, like the Dolphins:

1. Denver Broncos: 6-4

2. Pittsburgh Steelers: 6-4*

3. Jacksonville Jaguars: 6-4*

4. Houston Texans: 5-5*

5. Baltimore Ravens: 5-5

6. Dolphins: 5-5

(asterisks represent teams the Dolphins play the rest of the year)

As you can see, each team either has the same record as the Dolphins, or is one game above. To tell you the truth, we are a lot closer to being in the playoffs than I thought we were, so why turn back now! This is the time of year when all systems should be go.

But lets take a look inside each teams schedules, and breakdown what should happen in each game, and the end result for each team.

You Can’t Make This Stuff Up!

Here is the latest chronicled adventures from our Dol-Phan on the scene in Miami, Griffin Van Nest. He is creating quite the player posse down in Miami the past couple of days!

What a wild past 6 days it has been for this Dolfan ! Again, I’m not from these parts and getting a chance to meet, even briefly, with any of the players is such a thrill. You can’t do this type of stuff very often up in Ohio, if ever.

Let me take you back to last Monday night. I hear on the local sports radio station that Ronnie Brownis going to doing a radio show at some restaurant in downtown Ft Lauderdale. Sweet ! I’m there, that’s only 6 miles from where we’re staying on the beach here. The place is nice, real nice. we arrive about 5 minutes before the show is about to begin and discover there is only about 12-15 other Dolfans there. They did there broadcast in a corner booth as the rest of us sat at surrounding tables. During the commercial break is when people would go up to their autographs and pictures. I waited till the middle of the show to make my move, as to get a little more face-time with the man. This worked out perfectly,…….kind of. I chatted with him briefly, got my 2009 team ball signed (he was #7 on it), I got a 8X10 photo sign (pic of him & I from when I met him in Detroit before the Thanksgiving game 4-5 years ago),and then the radio host offered to take our picture with him. SWEET !! A new picture with Him, my Wife, & I,…nice ! Only problem was after he took it he dropped the camera. It wouldn’t power up and he thought he broke it. If he apologized once, he apologized 10 times. Dude was worked up about, as it turns out it wasn’t broken. I just took the battery out, then put it back in and it worked fine. From where we were sitting you could hear the show, but later that night I get a call from a friend telling me about how he went on for about 20 seconds on-air about how bad felt for dropping a guy from Ohio’s camera. Funny stuff…..

Now it’s Thursday night, and me and some friends went to watch the game at a sports bar right on the outskirts of downtown Miami. It was billed as a charity event called “Party with the Pros”. It was suppose to have in attendance several former Dolphins. Cool, I thought, I can get the autograph I ball I won at the stadium the week before and turn it from a scub ball (Derek Hagen) and turn it into something special. After all, my childhood hero (John Offerdahl) and a HOF’er (Dwight Stephenson) ere suppose to be there. But nowhere did it mention anything about anyone from the ‘72 team. I wasn’t there 5 minutes and I spot Jim Kiick ! Score ! Stephenson, Offerdahl,…double score !! Others showed up,….Tony Nathen, Mark Higgs, Troy Straddford,…all signed the ball. Now I start to see a bunch of guys from the ‘72 team !!!! Mercury Morris, Larry Little, Bob Kuechenburg,……SUPER SCORE !!!! I got them all on my ball and a bunch of picture with them all. But, without a doubt, the highlight of my evening was get a picture with Kiick, Stephenson, Myself, Kooch, and Little all in one picture,…….CLASSIC !!!!!So I took a ball that I didn’t think much of with just one signature on it. And now, it has 11 names on it,….2 HOF’er and 4 that were on the ‘72 team. WOW !!! Did I mention how sweet it was that the Dolphins won !!!!! YES !!!!

What is next, I think. Since I’m off work til mid Dec this if it is Dolphin related, I’m showing up,..period. So on Friday when I heard that Channing Crowder was going to be doing a radio show at a sports bar in Ft Lauderdale,….well, I went there too. I got there about 30 minutes early and the Wife and I got our booth. Not long after we sat down I motioned Channing over. Dude was to cool. He spent about 15 minutes chatting with us about all kinds of things. 1st thing I asked him was if he spoke to Zac Thomas lately, he response, “I talked to him today”. How cool is that. He signed my 2009 team ball (a different one from Thursday), a picture I got with him last year, and took another picture with him. Pretty sweet, but my night wasn’t over yet. After Channing left to do the show, I talked with the radio guy a bit. at the time I didn’t think much of it. Like every time I meet someone Dolphin related I tell them the short version of my story. Born in Ohio, going to a bunch of games, and now I make it down to Florida for the winter catching a bunch of home games. I’ve told it 100 times. But, half way through the broadcast he calls me up the the front and gives me a 5X7 autographed action picture of Channing and took a picture of Channing’s Mother giving it to me. NICE !!!! After the show was over, Channing came back to our table and gabbed another 15 minutes or so. We talked about all kinds of thing before and fter the show, Rex ryen, the hair pulling, some of my hockey adventure, fishing, tattoos, his old car,….on & on. Dude is not short on conversation skills and for that matter neither am I. Totally cool !!!!!

What more ? Well, yes ! On Saturday there was another charity event that some Dolphin players where going to be at. It was for a little boy that had been covered in alcohol then lit ablaze by other kids. He was burned over half his body, and had been in the hospital for over a month now. The news reported that he had just taken his first steps on Friday since being in the hospital. Way to go kid, we’re all pulling for you !!! The place was packed. It was held at a local country club and it was very much like a carnival or neighborhood festival. Cotton candy, face-painting, Santa arriving in a fire truck, an elvis tribute band, 50/50 raffle, tons of stuff for a silent auction, the Panthers and Marlins mascots, a couple of Dolphin cheerleaders, and,….of course, 3 Dolphin players. Nobody knew who was going to show up. The event started at noon, and the players got there around 1:15. Chad Penninton, Devon Bess, and Pat White !!! WOW, solid group ! The line was a bit long so I ordered lunch, ate, then got into line. 20 minutes later, I now have 3 more names on my 2009 ball, a new picture with me and all 3 of them, and I got Pat White to sign a mini helmet !!!!

Here I have to say just how lucky I’ve been. 3 of the 4 events happened about 6 miles from where I’m staying on Ft Lauderdale Beach. I got another 2 and a half weeks here before I relocate up to the Tampa area for my work assignment. Until then, if it’s Dolphins related,…….I’ll be there !!!!!

-Griffin

Don’t Worry About Ricky

Ricky Williams continues to amaze me. Not only has he put his troubled past behind him, but now he can heal himself, with the help of a friend, almost on the spot.

Yes, Ricky has a not so secret way of healing himself in the game, without the help of the popular choice, the trainer.

Ricky and friend Daniel O’Hara both partake in “pranic healing”. Pranic healing sounds to the common ear like a strange version of a voodoo doll, but in all honesty, it is so much more.

“Ricky will send me a text message saying, for example, to work on his ankle,” O’Hara said. O’Hara, in Orange County, Calif., will then “visualize Ricky’s ankle as if he’s standing in front of me. I visualize him glowing. I make a sweeping motion over my ankle to remove the dirty energy from his ankle that’s creating an abnormality and give his body fresh, revitalizing energy.”

“Ricky could be doing anything when I’m doing this — watching TV, sleeping,” O’Hara said. “It’s like a voodoo doll. I know it sounds strange.”

Ricky will then proceed to text O’Hara how the injured body part in question feels,“He says it’s a four, and I’ll try to get it to a 10. It takes me four minutes with Ricky because he meditates and has positive energy. It could take 25 minutes with somebody else. He’s special.”

Ricky can also do this himself:

“Usually, I prefer to work on it myself, but for some of the little nicks I’ve had this season, Daniel has really helped me. I know for a fact it works. It’s fascinating.”

All of this pranic healing, and the rest of Ricky’s healing techniques and activities, such as massages, acupunctures,vegetarian diet, yoga twice a week, meditation, and breathing daily has helped Ricky to one of his most successful seasons.

Ricky is averaging a career high 5.3 yards per carry, and those 5.3 yards are all hard earned yards as well. You are not watching Ricky Williams play ball if he is not running through would-be tacklers, or bursting through the gap with his amazing quickness.

This is Ricky’s year, and because of his amazing healing techniques, it might even convince to him to keep playing football for a couple more years:

`I’m looking forward to my plans after football,” he said Tuesday at his new South Beach restaurant, PROOF. “But if it’s the right situation, it would be difficult to turn down.”

Such encouraging words from Ricky sends excitement into the heads of Dol-Phans all over the world. If the pranic healing is really the secret behind Ricky’s amazing comeback, the past two years, then I say keep doing it, and why not get the rest of the team involved in it as well! They could use it right now.

As for Ricky’s injuries that head coach Tony Sparano hinted at in his press conference earlier in the week, Sparano now says Ricky will be fine.

Could the pranic healing be behind the sudden recovery?