SB Nation User Blog: LeftCoastFinFan

NFL Suspends 6

LeftCoastFinFan — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:47:50 -0000

This is the pending suspension that was brought up quite a while ago regarding the diuretic (weight loss substance), and has been on appeal with the NFL. Well. the NFL finally handed down the verdict - gone for the rest of the regular season. If a suspended individiual's team makes they playoffs, they are eligible to return on Dec. 29th.

The suspended players were running back Deuce McAllister and defensive linemen Charles Grant and Will Smith of New Orleans; defensive linemen Kevin and Pat Williams of Minnesota; and long snapper Bryan Pittman of Houston.

This will absolutely destroy the Vikings run defense, with BOTH Williams' out.

There was talk about some possible Dolphins being on this list. I believe some people were reporting that Ferguson was part of this group of players. Good news for Fin Fans... he's clean.

=^)

How do the Dolphins solve the problem of the Spread Offense?

LeftCoastFinFan — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:30:16 -0000

Well, it is the morning after, and I woke up feeling hungover, used and abandoned... which is fine for a Saturday night "one-night-stand", when all you want to do the next morning is lay around and watch football anyway. But it's not so good when you wake up with a headache and an empty wallet on Monday morning, and you can't even remember how you got home.

Not that that has ever happened to me... it's just what I've heard....

Anyway...

So the Patsies used their extra days off to good advantage. They looked at the teams that have had some success against the Fins, and figured out our achilles heel... our DBs. Not that this was some big secret. We have some talent back there, but not much depth. And because not all teams have the personnel needed to run an effective 4 wide spread, our good DBs seem to do pretty well when faced with only two primary receiving threats. But let's face facts: The NFL is a copycat league and there is now enough film on the Dolphins that any team we play is going to try to do the same thing.

So what do we do? What should we have done?

Let me start with something I posted Saturday regarding our Defensive strategy:

On D, I want to see them play man on the receivers and pressure the hell out of Cassel. If they want to try to get J. Allen on Moss, let 'em but double him with Hill. And if Welker comes across the middle, our LBs better *knock* *him* *out*.

Okay, let's talk about this.

First, I think it is imperative that we are able to get pressure on the quarterback with four guys. Three would be nice, but four is realistic. And the pressure needs to come from different directions, so whether you are blitzing Will Allen, or Bell, or Roth or Porter or Crowder, you need to be able to disguise it and keep the QB off balance. Without that pressure, our Secondary won't be able to effectively cover dynamic deep threat duos like Moss-Gaffney, Cotchery-Coles, Boldin-Fitz. The pressure needs to force the opposing QBs into quick decisions and shorter throws. Keep everything underneath.

Miami did not do this very well yesterday. Cassel had too much time to throw, and never seemed to get taken out of his rhythm. The key to Miami's success here will be better play calling than we saw Sunday. Rotate player assignments more frequently, bring more blitz packages and disguise them.

Second, playing "man" on WRs is tough when you are talking about covering four guys. Once you get beyond W. Allen, Goodman, and J. Allen, we don't have the Corners to really handle man coverage. I am not even sure who our sixth DB is in our Dime package. It seems to change often. Now I know I am probably a voice in the wilderness with my opinion here, but I don't think Jason Allen played that poorly. Considering he was going against Moss one on one all day, he seemed to always be close. But Cassel had all day to throw and was putting them where only Moss could get them, and there is nobody at CB that is going to shut down Moss when he is on his game, and his QB is delivering the ball. That one sideline catch was amazing; one hand, out of bounds, dragging his toes as Allen is shoving him out.

I am not trying to stick up for J. Allen as much as to point out that he is serviceable and could probably handle most "lesser WRs" man to man. But I fault the play calling on this one. The play that J. Allen dislodged the ball, Hill was right there to grab it. But most of the rest of the day, I didn't see Hill anywhere around Moss. Hint to the coaching staff: Double cover Randy Moss ALWAYS, and take your chances elsewhere.

And am I the only one that thinks Yeremiah Bell is underutilized? The guy has incredible skills. He is solid against the run, sure. But he also has almost enough speed to play FS, and he has great ball skills. Why not use him one on one more often in coverage?

If I'm the coaches looking at this thing, the first question I ask is "How many guys do I have that can cover?". A LB who can cover is a wonderful thing. If the other team has the same number of WRs on the field as you have DBs, you are in trouble. So in 4 wideout sets, you better have at least 5 DBs on the field. Generally 6, right? You always want deep S help, but a deep Safety is really only effective covering half the field, so you have 2 back. And you have a TE or RB being covered by a LB/DE. Standard dime package. But what happens then? You get 5 on 5 in the middle... spread 'em out and run it.

So, how do we cover teams that can effectively run the old "run and shoot"? I would love to hear your ideas.

For my part, in looking back at this game, I would double Moss with a CB and S. I would generally put my best CB on the #2 WR man to man, and put my #2 CB on their best WR with constant Safety help. This is still a problem if you have a tandem like Boldin and Fitzgerald, two guys that are technically both #1 WRs. But usually, you would expect your #1 CB to be able to shut down their #2 WR. Maybe here is where I put Bell back in a mid-center field zone... deep enough to provide help in the man to man coverage, but not too deep to provide coverage support for Seam routes, Drag and Slant route run after catch support, and run support. Your #3 CB covers their Slot WR man to man. That's 5 DBs taking away 3 WRs and the middle zone. That leave you with 3 LBs and 3 down linemen, or 2 and 4. 6 guys to: 1)Pressure the QB, and, 2) cover the TE/RB whether run or pass, plus Bell in the middle. Now you bring a LB, Bell, or roll assignments and bring a CB on blitzes, from different directions, almost every play. With Ferguson in the middle occupying two blockers, I would think you could get to the everytime QB rushing 5 guys.

LB-3 covers the TE if he goes out, and scrapes to the RB if the lines pulls right on a run. The blitz can come from LB-1, LB-2, #3 CB, SS, or roll TE coverage to LB-2 and blitz LB-3. Or bring #3 CB and pick up #3 WR with Bell (SS). Bring one or two on every play.

I know there is a counter to everything in the NFL. The keys here are to minimize opportunities for big plays down the field, by taking out their #1 WR and put as much pressure as possible on the QB, force him to go underneath, slow the game down, and prevent another shoot-out.

We are going to see this at least 3 more times this season, so we better get it figured out now. I would expect, at a minimum, for the Bills, Niners, and Jets to take a page from NE's win and try to spread our Defense out.

How would you stop it?

Dolphins receiver Greg Camarillo out for season

LeftCoastFinFan — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:09:18 -0000

This just posted:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/football/pro/dolphins/sfl-camarillo08,0,6107962.story

Dolphins receiver Greg Camarillo out for season

Sun-Sentinel.com 11:56 AM EST, November 24, 2008

Dolphins receiver Greg Camarillo suffered a season-ending left knee injury during Sunday's loss to the Patriots.

"He's done," coach Tony Sparano said.

Davone Bess, Brandon London and Ernest Wilford will compete to replace Camarillo, the Dolphins leading receiver.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, look at the bright side DolFans. Maybe we will get to see that new talent that is just waiting for a chance to be discovered at WR.

This isn’t good for Cam, but it might end up being good for the team.

My thought is that Bess will take over the slot, and we will promote someone from the PS… maybe Armstrong.

London will get a chance to start.

We all get caught up in the playoff frenzy, but when you stop and think about the goals for this year, they are still to find and develop players, and mold them into a team. Camarillo is a good slot guy, and I’m glad he got paid, but we all know that we are going to have to solve the WR problem sooner or later and it might as well make some progress right now.

I have said in the past that next year would be interesting because both Cam and Bess should be slot guys (IMO) and not flankers, so who wins the job?

And we still need speed at flanker... Armstrong?

Let's find out what we've got.

Patriots strategy against the Dolphins

LeftCoastFinFan — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 02:43:31 -0000

I read this in the Sun Sentinel. Written by Omar Kelly.

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_football_dolphins/2008/11/testing-mr-genu.html

The entire blog entry is worth reading, but I found this part especially interesting. It all sounds like common sense strategy, but with Bill Belichick, you can count on this being the least he will do.

The Dolphins need the element of surprise on Sunday because these Patriots are well rested since they last played on Thursday. That means the Patriots will also be super prepared thanks to the evil genius.

Do believe New England has pinpointed every single one of Miami's weaknesses, and will attack them strategically, and methodically.

Expect the Patriots to pack the first 25 yards with a zone coverage, daring Pennington to throw long.

Expect the Patriots to attack right guards Ikechuku Ndukwe and Andy Alleman, blitzing the right side of the Dolphins' offensive line.

Nose tackle Vince Wilfork admitted the Patriots front line is out for revenge. Samson Satele better be ready.

New England will come up with return schemes to pressure the NFL's worst kickoff and punt coverage unit, and they'll do it by going after the soft spots. The Patriots will also kick away from Ted Ginn Jr., preventing any chance of the big return.

Expect New England to work hard at lining Randy Moss up against Jason Allen, strategically having the NFL's biggest deep threat going against the Dolphins' most inexperienced cornerback.

The secondary must be prepared for Wes Welker to be running those digs and drags with the assistance of his referee-aided picks.

The Patriots will attack the middle of the field with tight end Benjamin Watson, who was limited by a knee injury the last time these two teams played. Watson's coming off an season-best eight catch, 88 yard performance against the Jets. New England knows they must occupy Yeremiah Bell, preventing him from blitzing Cassel.

I have two questions for you:

1) Do you think this is accurate as to what we can expect to see from the Patriots tomorrow? For my part, I think it is.

2) If so, what should the Fins do to stay one step ahead of "the evil genius"?

On offense, I would like to see the Fins attack deep with Ginn, of course. And some more creative plays out of the Wildcat (for ideas, see our own resident play designer, DolphDallas). But mainly, I would just like to see solid smashmouth football on both sides of the line. I want to see our guys handle Wilfork, and Pennington make 'em pay when they blitz. And when they start to stack the box, I would like to see the Fins go to more 3 and 4 spreads, maybe even getting London involved in the passing game, or lining Ricky up split out. And how about running that 2 minute offense 5 minutes into the game and at the start of the second half?

On D, I want to see them play man on the receivers and pressure the hell out of Cassel. If they want to try to get J. Allen on Moss, let 'em but double him with Hill. And if Welker comes across the middle, our LBs better *knock* *him* *out*.

STs is a weakness, but maybe they will put some more regulars out there. And let's see a handoff or two on returns. We almost saw it last week, and I think it would be an effective way to get the ball to Ginn AND get the coverage team going the wrong way.

What's your plan?

Miami Favored in this matchup?

LeftCoastFinFan — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:26:08 -0000

Expert Picks for Week 12's Games on CBS
Games	Harmon	Prisco	Judge	Madden	Richard

BUF @ KC (+2.5)
NE @ MIA (-1.5)

How weird is this? It's one thing to be favored against Oakland or the Seahawks, but against the media darlings? Below are the analyst picks for CBS. Note the picks are against the spread, so in order to pick the Dolphins, you must assume they will win by greater than 1 point. Now much, I know... a FG would do it. But the fact that these guys are thinking that the Dolphins will actually win this game shows that people are starting to respect the Fins game and not write it all off as a "Wildcat Gimmick".

I left Buffalo in simply because of the contrast. From first to worst, and from worst to first. Is it just me, or does Buffalo remind anyone of the Fins 5 or 6 years ago? Starting out the season very strong, and then just fading away, right out of a playoff spot.

Anyway, good luck Fin Fans!

What are the most hated words ever heard in Buffalo?

LeftCoastFinFan — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:56:05 -0000

Wide right. =^)

too bad, so sad.

"The Buffalo Bills were riding high atop the AFC East three weeks ago, but after three straight division losses, they’re fighting to avoid falling into last place."

Too late.

"To hear some of their own players tell it, the Cleveland Browns aren’t putting up any sort of fight these days."

They did tonight.

Bills lose.

Now we just need to be the Pats and hope the Titans beat the stinkin Jets.

Screw the jets and the fans they flew in on..

LeftCoastFinFan — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:41:54 -0000

or something like that.

Someone just posted about LeBestard's radio show, but then it got deleted (weird). Anyway, he was ranting on the Jets fans calling in and talking about how none of our guys on the Fins would be starters on the Jets today. I hope we kick their butts in December IN THEIR HOUSE, IN FRONT OF THEIR STUPID FANS!

Just one question... what the hell is Randy Couture doing in a lead role in a movie? what is the movie industry coming to?... bad enough they tried making actors out of WWF "pretend" wrestlers... at least those guys have some acting experience, but the Rock is the only one that really made the switch... hulk? he sucks, stone cold? he sucks... Now you got an actual MMA non-actor trying to make the switch? gimme a frickin break... that's as silly as an actor trying to become.... i don't know... the president or something.

Geez... the stupidity of it all..
But I guess it prolly makes sense to a jets fan.

Did last night's Pats-Jets game worry anyone else?

LeftCoastFinFan — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:56:08 -0000

Seriously, a few things about the Pats-Jets game have me worried for the Fins next week.

First, there is the simply fact that Cassel threw like Joe Montana. I wasn't even really aware of it during the game, but by the end he had racked up 400 yds and 3 TDs. Now, I know that our secondary has been playing better lately, but seriously. The Jets had a couple of pretty good corners, and I am counting Law. I didn't expect Law to come out and play as well as he did, and I am honestly not convinced that he even gave up that one TD to Moss. So, my concern of course... how will we respond if the Pats bring this passing game to town?

Secondly, the Pats lost. And not only did they lose, they lost a game that they knew that could have won. Do you think they're pissed? Do you think they can't wait to get to their next game? Oh yeah, BTW, their next game is 10 days out! So they have extra time to prepare, extra time to get their walking wounded healthy... and extra time to get fired up waiting to redeem themselves.

Now first things first. The Fins have to come out and beat Oakland for the rest of this to matter. BUT, if the Fins DO beat Oakland, then they leapfrog the Pats in the AFC East standings. That means the following game will be played for the current standing of 2nd place in the division, and positioning for a wildcard spot. It almost becomes a "must-win" for the Pats if they want to have any hope of winning the division title.

The best thing about this game from our perspective it that it is being played at home. We have had too many unpleasant experiences of traveling north in cold weather for our later division games. But i have a feeling the Pats are going to come out pissed, looking for redemption for hte Jets game... and worse, retribution for the Dolphins unleashing the Wildcat on them at home, and embarrassing them in front of their fans.

Does this worry anyone else? It kinda concerns me.

Yahoo Sports predicts - Dolphins 27, Raiders 0

LeftCoastFinFan — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:18:14 -0000

Oakland Raiders at Miami Dolphins. The Raiders’ offense is incapable of moving the ball in any which way at the moment, and Dolphins’ pass rush, led by league-leading sack artist Joey Porter, won’t help them get their mess of a passing game sorted out. This is your typical, long cross-country trip that will produce bad results for the road team. The Dolphins won’t need to get fancy with the “Wildcat” this week—Oakland will have enough problems with Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams in the straight-up running game. Dolphins 27, Raiders 0.

Nice to see the Fins finally gettin' some love.

:^)

Around the horn with the South Florida Media

LeftCoastFinFan — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:05:27 -0000

Here is a nice little summary of the Miami Dolphins opinions being written in the Herald, Sentinel, and PBP Monday morning.

Miami Herald columnist Edwin Pope wasn't impressed with Sunday's victory, writing the Dolphins "couldn't run, couldn't pass, couldn't block, couldn't tackle."
Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald writes the Dolphins are carrying themselves like winners.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel columnist Dave Hyde writes Ricky Williams finally had the type of afternoon he had been craving.
The Dolphins are winning, but they're stressing themselves out in the process, writes Edgar Thompson of the Palm Beach Post.
Palm Beach Post reporter Brian Biggane breaks down the Dolphins' defensive performance when it matter most.
Omar Kelly of the Sun-Sentinel looks at Miami's special-teams troubles.

Thought it was a nice way to run through the relevant storys today. Got it from Tim Graham's "Around the AFC East" on ESPN.com.