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Scouting report: Miami defense vs. Dallas offense
by Dave Halprin (Grizz) Thu Sep 13, 2007 at 01:49:19 PM EDT
Let’s review the Miami defense vs. the Dallas offense. You can read the report on the Miami offense vs. the Dallas defense here.
Miami run defense
The Commanders were able to run the ball very effectively against a Dolphins’ defense that should be the strength of their team. Early on the Commanders ran between the tackles and were able to make the yards needed to continue to run. In fact, they ran it 41 times for 191 yards in the whole game. They really started to make the run payoff in the second half when they attacked the Miami defensive ends. The Miami defense is on the small side and the Commanders were able to wear them down. The Dolphins were using their speed and quickness to shoot gaps in the running game, but the Commanders were able to handle it.
The Dallas line is massive and will try to impose their will on the smaller Dolphins’ front seven (except for Keith Traylor). Getting MLB Zach Thomas blocked is of course a priority; the guy can still play and was all over the field against the Commanders. But they were losing the war at the line of scrimmage and Thomas had to make a lot of tackles after yards were already gained. Dallas should be able to pound the ball early which opens up their play-action pass game like we saw last week.
Miami pass defense
The Dolphins were pressing their corners up in coverage while keeping the safeties deep. Even when they got beat they still pressed the corners, so this must be something they believe in doing. While they did get two INT’s on the day, the Commanders receivers were getting plenty of open space to operate. Washington should have scored more points than they did but some dropped passes and errant throws cost them. Particularly vulnerable in the Miami pass defense was CB Travis Daniels who got torched repeatedly by Antwaan Randle El.
The Miami defense will blitz, and had varying degrees of success. They managed to get two sacks on Jason Campbell, but there were plenty of plays when Campbell had time to set up in the pocket and pick out receivers deep down the field. Jason Taylor is still a force in the pass rushing game, and is the kind of player that gives Flozell Adams fits. Tall and rangy with excellent quickness, Taylor can keep tackles off him with his long arms and use his speed to get around the big bodies. Joey Porter had a few tackles but didn’t really stand out in the review.
Summary
The Cowboys huge offensive line should be able to win the war at the line of scrimmage. Where Miami could gain an advantage is to use their speed to shoot the gaps and try to disrupt the Cowboys timing in the backfield. The Dolphins do have a good group of LB’s so Julius Jones and Marion Barber will be tested, not only in running the ball but in pass protection on blitzes.
The Dolphins secondary wasn’t very impressive against the Commanders and the Cowboys should get opportunities to exploit it. The Dolphins linebackers should do a better job of keeping up with Jason Witten, but a season-ending injury to their starting safety may make the middle of the field an inviting target. The Cowboys offensive line will need another good performance because the Dolphins will blitz and will count on pressure to protect a suspect secondary.
Scouting report: Miami offense vs. Dallas defense
by Dave Halprin (Grizz) Thu Sep 13, 2007 at 11:49:35 AM EDT
After breaking down the Miami game against Washington from last week, here are my thoughts on the match-up of Miami’s offense vs. the Dallas defense. I’ll cover the reverse combination in my next post.
Miami running game
The Dolphins running game was a power running game aimed at the gut of the defense against Washington. The loss of Jason Ferguson will be like a beacon for them and they’ll try to exploit. The problem is their running game last week was anemic. Ronnie Brown and Jesse Chatman couldn’t establish enough of a threat to make the Commanders defense commit to stopping the run. Consequently, the Commanders covered the deep ball, let the Dolphins throw underneath and contained them for most of the game. The offensive line was mediocre and they are using a rookie center, so that may help Jay Ratliff in the middle. They’ll still probably try to go at Jay, but Wade Phillips has already said the ILB’s will be ready to help.
I think the Cowboys will be able to control the Dolphins running game. Last week, Dallas certainly gave up more yards to the Giants on the ground than they would have liked, but some of that came against passing sets as the Cowboys went to a lot of nickel and dime defense in the second half. Ronnie Brown wasn’t impressive and did more damage in the passing game than he did in running the ball. Jesse Chatman is the change of pace guy and he is pretty shifty. He was also more dangerous catching passes; Dallas will need to keep an eye on him, especially on passes underneath.
The Dolphins ran the end around twice in the game, once to Ted Ginn, Jr. They will probably try a few more plays like that on a Dallas defense that is geared to be aggressive and has had problems over-running plays in the preseason and against the Giants.
Miami passing game
Trent Green is a good QB if he is surrounded by a really good line and has weapons to utilize. Right now, the Miami offense doesn’t fit that bill. In the passing game Green has receivers Chris Chambers and Marty Booker. Chambers looks like he has all the talent in the world, but has never been a dominant receiver. Booker is a guy that has had some stretches where he looked good, but not often enough. Last week, Green’s favorite receiver was the RB; Brown and Chatman accounted for half of the Dolphins’ pass completions. The Dolphins spent a great deal of time dumping passes off to the RB in the middle of the field and letting them work. It was probably their only consistent offensive play all game.
Green can throw the underneath ball well enough and is fairly accurate towards the sideline under 10-yards, but when he threw deep, he is OK down the middle but not accurate down the sidelines. Dallas should force the WR’s towards the sideline whenever they get deep and force Green to make that throw. They might get a pick or two in that situation.
The Commanders were able to establish some pressure on Green and accumulated a couple of sacks and a lot more hurries. Green is not particularly good when forced to move in the pocket and isn’t mobile enough to scramble. His offensive line had some problems protecting him, especially early in the game on the left side. Miami countered this by resorting to check-down targets all game long. They occasionally will move Green in the pocket by doing a mini roll-out to the right.
Summary
The Dolphins running game didn’t look good enough to make Dallas alter their defensive schemes. They will probably test Jay Ratliff and also try to use our aggressive defensive schemes against us. Ronnie Brown could be a problem if the line could get him any room to run. But that’s the problem, their line didn’t get it done in the first game.
In the passing game, Dallas needs to be good tacklers because Green will dump a lot of short passes to his backs. They were depending on YAC last week to get first downs. The Dolphins struggled to get the ball deep and only tried on a few occasions. If Dallas can get pressure, and against this line I think they can, then the Dolphins vertical passing threat gets close to nil. The Dolphins know that attacking deep was what worked for the Giants against our defense, and will try to exploit that more often this game. I don’t know if they have the personnel to make that work. They should probably work Ted Ginn, Jr. more into their offense to provide a speed threat to stretch the field, and to get him the ball in other ways. This might add an explosive element to what looked to be a stagnant offense last week.
http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/
by Dave Halprin (Grizz) Thu Sep 13, 2007 at 01:49:19 PM EDT
Let’s review the Miami defense vs. the Dallas offense. You can read the report on the Miami offense vs. the Dallas defense here.
Miami run defense
The Commanders were able to run the ball very effectively against a Dolphins’ defense that should be the strength of their team. Early on the Commanders ran between the tackles and were able to make the yards needed to continue to run. In fact, they ran it 41 times for 191 yards in the whole game. They really started to make the run payoff in the second half when they attacked the Miami defensive ends. The Miami defense is on the small side and the Commanders were able to wear them down. The Dolphins were using their speed and quickness to shoot gaps in the running game, but the Commanders were able to handle it.
The Dallas line is massive and will try to impose their will on the smaller Dolphins’ front seven (except for Keith Traylor). Getting MLB Zach Thomas blocked is of course a priority; the guy can still play and was all over the field against the Commanders. But they were losing the war at the line of scrimmage and Thomas had to make a lot of tackles after yards were already gained. Dallas should be able to pound the ball early which opens up their play-action pass game like we saw last week.
Miami pass defense
The Dolphins were pressing their corners up in coverage while keeping the safeties deep. Even when they got beat they still pressed the corners, so this must be something they believe in doing. While they did get two INT’s on the day, the Commanders receivers were getting plenty of open space to operate. Washington should have scored more points than they did but some dropped passes and errant throws cost them. Particularly vulnerable in the Miami pass defense was CB Travis Daniels who got torched repeatedly by Antwaan Randle El.
The Miami defense will blitz, and had varying degrees of success. They managed to get two sacks on Jason Campbell, but there were plenty of plays when Campbell had time to set up in the pocket and pick out receivers deep down the field. Jason Taylor is still a force in the pass rushing game, and is the kind of player that gives Flozell Adams fits. Tall and rangy with excellent quickness, Taylor can keep tackles off him with his long arms and use his speed to get around the big bodies. Joey Porter had a few tackles but didn’t really stand out in the review.
Summary
The Cowboys huge offensive line should be able to win the war at the line of scrimmage. Where Miami could gain an advantage is to use their speed to shoot the gaps and try to disrupt the Cowboys timing in the backfield. The Dolphins do have a good group of LB’s so Julius Jones and Marion Barber will be tested, not only in running the ball but in pass protection on blitzes.
The Dolphins secondary wasn’t very impressive against the Commanders and the Cowboys should get opportunities to exploit it. The Dolphins linebackers should do a better job of keeping up with Jason Witten, but a season-ending injury to their starting safety may make the middle of the field an inviting target. The Cowboys offensive line will need another good performance because the Dolphins will blitz and will count on pressure to protect a suspect secondary.
Scouting report: Miami offense vs. Dallas defense
by Dave Halprin (Grizz) Thu Sep 13, 2007 at 11:49:35 AM EDT
After breaking down the Miami game against Washington from last week, here are my thoughts on the match-up of Miami’s offense vs. the Dallas defense. I’ll cover the reverse combination in my next post.
Miami running game
The Dolphins running game was a power running game aimed at the gut of the defense against Washington. The loss of Jason Ferguson will be like a beacon for them and they’ll try to exploit. The problem is their running game last week was anemic. Ronnie Brown and Jesse Chatman couldn’t establish enough of a threat to make the Commanders defense commit to stopping the run. Consequently, the Commanders covered the deep ball, let the Dolphins throw underneath and contained them for most of the game. The offensive line was mediocre and they are using a rookie center, so that may help Jay Ratliff in the middle. They’ll still probably try to go at Jay, but Wade Phillips has already said the ILB’s will be ready to help.
I think the Cowboys will be able to control the Dolphins running game. Last week, Dallas certainly gave up more yards to the Giants on the ground than they would have liked, but some of that came against passing sets as the Cowboys went to a lot of nickel and dime defense in the second half. Ronnie Brown wasn’t impressive and did more damage in the passing game than he did in running the ball. Jesse Chatman is the change of pace guy and he is pretty shifty. He was also more dangerous catching passes; Dallas will need to keep an eye on him, especially on passes underneath.
The Dolphins ran the end around twice in the game, once to Ted Ginn, Jr. They will probably try a few more plays like that on a Dallas defense that is geared to be aggressive and has had problems over-running plays in the preseason and against the Giants.
Miami passing game
Trent Green is a good QB if he is surrounded by a really good line and has weapons to utilize. Right now, the Miami offense doesn’t fit that bill. In the passing game Green has receivers Chris Chambers and Marty Booker. Chambers looks like he has all the talent in the world, but has never been a dominant receiver. Booker is a guy that has had some stretches where he looked good, but not often enough. Last week, Green’s favorite receiver was the RB; Brown and Chatman accounted for half of the Dolphins’ pass completions. The Dolphins spent a great deal of time dumping passes off to the RB in the middle of the field and letting them work. It was probably their only consistent offensive play all game.
Green can throw the underneath ball well enough and is fairly accurate towards the sideline under 10-yards, but when he threw deep, he is OK down the middle but not accurate down the sidelines. Dallas should force the WR’s towards the sideline whenever they get deep and force Green to make that throw. They might get a pick or two in that situation.
The Commanders were able to establish some pressure on Green and accumulated a couple of sacks and a lot more hurries. Green is not particularly good when forced to move in the pocket and isn’t mobile enough to scramble. His offensive line had some problems protecting him, especially early in the game on the left side. Miami countered this by resorting to check-down targets all game long. They occasionally will move Green in the pocket by doing a mini roll-out to the right.
Summary
The Dolphins running game didn’t look good enough to make Dallas alter their defensive schemes. They will probably test Jay Ratliff and also try to use our aggressive defensive schemes against us. Ronnie Brown could be a problem if the line could get him any room to run. But that’s the problem, their line didn’t get it done in the first game.
In the passing game, Dallas needs to be good tacklers because Green will dump a lot of short passes to his backs. They were depending on YAC last week to get first downs. The Dolphins struggled to get the ball deep and only tried on a few occasions. If Dallas can get pressure, and against this line I think they can, then the Dolphins vertical passing threat gets close to nil. The Dolphins know that attacking deep was what worked for the Giants against our defense, and will try to exploit that more often this game. I don’t know if they have the personnel to make that work. They should probably work Ted Ginn, Jr. more into their offense to provide a speed threat to stretch the field, and to get him the ball in other ways. This might add an explosive element to what looked to be a stagnant offense last week.
http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/
