Recap: Hard Knocks Miami Dolphins vs Dallas Cowboys

[VaqueroTD]

Haven't seen anyone mention this yet, so one last reminder of that horrible game. The new episode is out that focuses on their prep week for the Cowboys game. This is only what they want us to see. Half the episode was about Xmas charities and teammates giving each other gifts, but there was some Cowboys stuff. Tyreek Hill gave the entire team their own motor scooter. Said he wasn't going to tell them it could go 47mph so no one got injured. LOL

• Based on other episodes I've seen, Mike McDaniel was in overdrive trying to get the team ready. He respected us. And it was their chance to lock a Playoff entry. Even with same record as us they were still fighting for AFC. This was a bigger game for them than us. And if we beat Detroit, I think we need to realize that AFC is probably a superior conference right now
• Dak Focus: Coach McDaniel told the team Dak was their #1 focus, offense goes through him. Biggest worry for the Fins was Dak is 70% successful converting first downs when scrambling on 3rd down. They went over all his past runs, and tendencies. I remember when Dak came back from injury and we all made the comment that once he started running again, he was the old Dak. McDaniel made the comment he doesn't scramble to scramble, he scrambles for downs.
• Micah Parsons. They were scared of #11. Biggest reason they feared him was because he plays all positions. Have to lock down on him all game everywhere.
• Dolphins Coach called it. Said it's #1 and #2 offense playing each other and the game will come down to which defense wants it more. Watching the close-up replays as that defensive line started mandhandling our o-line was frustrating.
• Watching Tyreek Hill in person, didn't realize how stocky he is. I think dude is the same size as Pollard. Almost could have been a smaller RB. During the game, he was even talking about how he could have fought and made that TD that Pollard got stopped on 1 yard line. In second half, Tyreek was saying, "I'm CeeDee Lamb" as he made plays. LOL I saw an interview with Hill last year where they asked him which WR he enjoys watching play the most and he told them it was CeeDee.
• I didn't know Raheem Mostert was 31!? 19 TDs and counting. Now I see why Nate Newton was so frustrated. He complained on his show why the Cowboys can't use Tony Pollard more when he's quicker than Mostert who McDaniel is basically using same way he used RBs in SF. Mostert came back right before that TD at end of 1st half. If he had been more hurt, we probably would have won the game.
• Miami CB Kader Kohou's parents lived in Dallas and were big fans of Cowboys but wife forced family to be Fins Fans when son was signed. I can see why he easily beat our boy Bossman Fat as an UDFA. Dude is from Ivory Coast, went through a civil war as a kid, knows several languages... whole family knows struggle and work ethic. It wasn't Kohou's blown coverage on the CeeDee Lamb TD in 1st qtr.
• Miami's 4th and Goal we stopped, it was Tua who convinced McDaniel to go for it.
• In locker room halftime, Tua confronted his OT Armstead about something. Told him to do whatever it took. They didn't show more but sounds like Tua was upset he was getting burned by #11 and #90 because OL Coach got with him after about improving protection with them when they rushed him.
• One reason Tyreek Hill started tearing us up later in game is McDaniel noticed we were blitzing nickel all first half and dropping Parsons as the hook so changed Tyreek's routes to take advantage of the mismatches in 2nd half.
• Defense made comments about Kicker going crazy for them. They didn't care how they got points as long as they were being put up. This is something I heard Nate Newton say last week too. He got on Coach Mac for always going for it if he wants to play to his defense. Made the comment that defense is only looking for points and the lead to get their pass rush confidence going.
• Miami looked down when Dak made that TD with 3 minutes to go. You could tell they knew it was going to be tough. McDaniel was first one to call the ref's attention to Clark's facemask. We were so schooled by them and Tyreek on that final drive. They saw man coverage and changed to get that first down. That motion shift he did that shook Lewis out of his cleats was even worse in the close-up. I hope teams aren't noticing that. Happened more than once against Lewis this year.

We're still in this thing. Cowboys must turn it around tomorrow and show it was just some stiff AFC Competition. If we can get Tyron and Hankins back, SF will be the only team that may be too tough to beat.

 

[Staubacher]

So they have a HC who never stopped making adjustments. Must be nice

 

[coult44]

So they have a HC who never stopped making adjustments. Must be nice

Your HC has the team in the playoffs three years in a row. Your HC hasn’t lost a home game in two years.

 

[Captain-Crash]

when our offensive line gets beat, dak fist-bumps the guys in the huddle. "leader"

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

• Defense made comments about Kicker going crazy for them. They didn't care how they got points as long as they were being put up. This is something I heard Nate Newton say last week too. He got on Coach Mac for always going for it if he wants to play to his defense. Made the comment that defense is only looking for points and the lead to get their pass rush confidence going.
• Miami looked down when Dak made that TD with 3 minutes to go. You could tell they knew it was going to be tough. McDaniel was first one to call the ref's attention to Clark's facemask. We were so schooled by them and Tyreek on that final drive. They saw man coverage and changed to get that first down. That motion shift he did that shook Lewis out of his cleats was even worse in the close-up. I hope teams aren't noticing that. Happened more than once against Lewis this year..

I’ve had the same issue with McCarthy’s game management this season. It’s like he doesn’t know when to be aggressive and when simply putting up 3-points is a good thing.

 

[noshame]

The AFC is clearly a level above the NFC right now. I expect us to handle detroit much easier.

 

[JoeKing]

They didn't beat us! We beat ourselves once again by not taking care of the ball during that first goal-line stance.

 

[CWR]

Haven't seen anyone mention this yet, so one last reminder of that horrible game. The new episode is out that focuses on their prep week for the Cowboys game. This is only what they want us to see. Half the episode was about Xmas charities and teammates giving each other gifts, but there was some Cowboys stuff. Tyreek Hill gave the entire team their own motor scooter. Said he wasn't going to tell them it could go 47mph so no one got injured. LOL

• Based on other episodes I've seen, Mike McDaniel was in overdrive trying to get the team ready. He respected us. And it was their chance to lock a Playoff entry. Even with same record as us they were still fighting for AFC. This was a bigger game for them than us. And if we beat Detroit, I think we need to realize that AFC is probably a superior conference right now
• Dak Focus: Coach McDaniel told the team Dak was their #1 focus, offense goes through him. Biggest worry for the Fins was Dak is 70% successful converting first downs when scrambling on 3rd down. They went over all his past runs, and tendencies. I remember when Dak came back from injury and we all made the comment that once he started running again, he was the old Dak. McDaniel made the comment he doesn't scramble to scramble, he scrambles for downs.
• Micah Parsons. They were scared of #11. Biggest reason they feared him was because he plays all positions. Have to lock down on him all game everywhere.
• Dolphins Coach called it. Said it's #1 and #2 offense playing each other and the game will come down to which defense wants it more. Watching the close-up replays as that defensive line started mandhandling our o-line was frustrating.
• Watching Tyreek Hill in person, didn't realize how stocky he is. I think dude is the same size as Pollard. Almost could have been a smaller RB. During the game, he was even talking about how he could have fought and made that TD that Pollard got stopped on 1 yard line. In second half, Tyreek was saying, "I'm CeeDee Lamb" as he made plays. LOL I saw an interview with Hill last year where they asked him which WR he enjoys watching play the most and he told them it was CeeDee.
• I didn't know Raheem Mostert was 31!? 19 TDs and counting. Now I see why Nate Newton was so frustrated. He complained on his show why the Cowboys can't use Tony Pollard more when he's quicker than Mostert who McDaniel is basically using same way he used RBs in SF. Mostert came back right before that TD at end of 1st half. If he had been more hurt, we probably would have won the game.
• Miami CB Kader Kohou's parents lived in Dallas and were big fans of Cowboys but wife forced family to be Fins Fans when son was signed. I can see why he easily beat our boy Bossman Fat as an UDFA. Dude is from Ivory Coast, went through a civil war as a kid, knows several languages... whole family knows struggle and work ethic. It wasn't Kohou's blown coverage on the CeeDee Lamb TD in 1st qtr.
• Miami's 4th and Goal we stopped, it was Tua who convinced McDaniel to go for it.
• In locker room halftime, Tua confronted his OT Armstead about something. Told him to do whatever it took. They didn't show more but sounds like Tua was upset he was getting burned by #11 and #90 because OL Coach got with him after about improving protection with them when they rushed him.
• One reason Tyreek Hill started tearing us up later in game is McDaniel noticed we were blitzing nickel all first half and dropping Parsons as the hook so changed Tyreek's routes to take advantage of the mismatches in 2nd half.
• Defense made comments about Kicker going crazy for them. They didn't care how they got points as long as they were being put up. This is something I heard Nate Newton say last week too. He got on Coach Mac for always going for it if he wants to play to his defense. Made the comment that defense is only looking for points and the lead to get their pass rush confidence going.
• Miami looked down when Dak made that TD with 3 minutes to go. You could tell they knew it was going to be tough. McDaniel was first one to call the ref's attention to Clark's facemask. We were so schooled by them and Tyreek on that final drive. They saw man coverage and changed to get that first down. That motion shift he did that shook Lewis out of his cleats was even worse in the close-up. I hope teams aren't noticing that. Happened more than once against Lewis this year.

We're still in this thing. Cowboys must turn it around tomorrow and show it was just some stiff AFC Competition. If we can get Tyron and Hankins back, SF will be the only team that may be too tough to beat.

Even at 32 Mostert is probably still a better athlete than Pollard. He's off the charts, but his injury history has held him back. This is the first season he's been healthy for a prolonged run. The 9ers love drafting RBs like Mostert. They did the same with Mitchell and JET. For some reason though, all those guys have been very injury prone.

 

[VaqueroTD]

when our offensive line gets beat, dak fist-bumps the guys in the huddle. "leader"

Not sure what goes on behind the scenes but I truly hope Dak is getting in someone’s face for the Miami game. Dude was getting pummeled. Tua was in his OT’s face in the clips.

 

[VaqueroTD]

Even at 32 Mostert is probably still a better athlete than Pollard. He's off the charts, but his injury history has held him back. This is the first season he's been healthy for a prolonged run. The 9ers love drafting RBs like Mostert. They did the same with Mitchell and JET. For some reason though, all those guys have been very injury prone.

Is he? Pollard was pretty darn good until the injury. Was our playmaker last year.

 

[blueblood70]

Is he? Pollard was pretty darn good until the injury. Was our playmaker last year.

I don't think the injury has anything to do with it at all people keep saying it was the injury Tony Pollard ended the year on a down level last year 3.8 yards per carry 51 yards per game no touchdowns it was actually foreshadowing what was gonna happen the more you kept feeding this guy the ball versus letting a Thunder and lightning happened because he's not Thunder his biggest problem that we lost the Miami game I mean you could have just made it shorter and said Pollard should have stretched it out to the corner of the pylon instead of turning it up to you because he is not a power back he doesn't even know how to get his pad levels down at the goal line... He misses zeke a lot he won't admit it coaches won't admit it they're not using Tony Pollard correctly hell I wanted to see more Rico and hunter earlier in the year from snap one they decided they were gonna use Tony Pollard like a three down back and that was a huge mistake so I blame the coaches I blame a little bit on the offensive line and the fans for calling for Ezekiel elliott's dismissal and mocking the Cowboys for possibly bringing him back under a smaller contract and thinking Tony Pollard was the guy because of his big numbers in the middle of the season last year...

Those numbers came because Ezekiel Elliott did all The Dirty work he did all the blocking the short yardage work the goal line work he was on the field as a decoy his snap count was way up and the dude was injured and still had 12 touchdowns and close to 900 yards.. The more they said Tony Pollard on the back half of last year the worse he got and it happened this year he's not a bad back but he is no longer Tony Pollard and has nothing to do with the injuries it has to do with the way they utilized him this year and if that play last week doesn't show how much we miss having a real power act like a zekiel Elliott you know who made like Kazee and many others look like a toddler,

that's the way you get down and put your pads down and drive through the end zone or short yardage.. I don't care how old and washed up zeke looked under a smaller contract and they should have brought back but I think Jerry knew the fans would hate that because they would just say he was being same old Jerry like his guys nepotism can't give up blah blah blah so he didn't do it...

 

[blueblood70]

Even at 32 Mostert is probably still a better athlete than Pollard. He's off the charts, but his injury history has held him back. This is the first season he's been healthy for a prolonged run. The 9ers love drafting RBs like Mostert. They did the same with Mitchell and JET. For some reason though, all those guys have been very injury prone.

I don't think he's better than Pollard but I think Pollard being utilized improperly in this offense being used like a three down back has taken away his burst and his power it started last year the last five games of the year it foreshadow what was gonna happen if they tried to put it all on Tony and that's just the way it is they misunderstood who Tony Pollard really was he needs a guy to take the pounding and do all the blocking and then come in and do what he's supposed to do....

 

[CWR]

I don't think he's better than Pollard but I think Pollard being utilized improperly in this offense being used like a three down back has taken away his burst and his power it started last year the last five games of the year it foreshadow what was gonna happen if they tried to put it all on Tony and that's just the way it is they misunderstood who Tony Pollard really was he needs a guy to take the pounding and do all the blocking and then come in and do what he's supposed to do....

Yeah, I'm not trying to make that case, only saying he was 4.3 size speed SPARQ freak coming into the league.

Pollard would do well in that offense also. I'm not sure why most teams don't try to emulate that run scheme.

 

[blueblood70]

Yeah, I'm not trying to make that case, only saying he was 4.3 size speed SPARQ freak coming into the league.

Pollard would do well in that offense also. I'm not sure why most teams don't try to emulate that run scheme.

Pollard's actually doing well in our offense, he's just being improperly utilized as far as being a three down back... they've been using him too much ,

if they would change the way that you utilize our running backs 10 weeks ago we wouldn't be having this conversation right now.. I blame this a little on Mike McCarthy and whoever else has made the decision to use Tony Pollard improperly, he's still having a top ten yardage season and decnt YPC...

I mean it's not terrible but for $10 million you paid him for what he was when zeke was the lead back you should have had a game plan that you utilized both hunter Rico Malik Davis and all these other guys who are on our roster we did not need to change the roster at the trade deadline..

we need to change the way we're using our stable of running backs with this particular offensive line and I think maybe the Miami game shows they might be willing to do that now the fact is Rico is not available, so now they're bringing Vaughn into this I'm betting the use of our fullback more and more will help this team going forward...

 

[Big D]

I think that game came down to our inability to adjust to what Edoga was giving us.

 

[VaqueroTD]

I think that game came down to our inability to adjust to what Edoga was giving us.

Definitely a big part. Kind of weird on this board how no one was chewing out the offensive line, but they were all over them for run game when we were winning. That was one of the worst Dak protection games this year.

@Captain-Crash nails it with the Dak high five comment. Someone get Aikman in there and tell Dak what he used to say to O-Linemen when they let him down. And that's with him taking his lumps too like that Philly game.

 

[RonnieT24]

Yeah, I'm not trying to make that case, only saying he was 4.3 size speed SPARQ freak coming into the league.

Pollard would do well in that offense also. I'm not sure why most teams don't try to emulate that run scheme.

Yeah I don't get how anyone could conclude Pollard is quicker or faster than Mostert. That dude has afterburner speed. He was world class as a sprinter complete with an invite to USA Track and field championships. Getting hurt early in his career has done him the favor of saving his body so he isn't nearly as used up as most 31 year old backs. He has over 100 fewer career carries than Tony Pollard despite being in the league 4 years longer and Pollard being a backup for most of his time in the league. Mostert probably has more tread left on his tires than Pollard does.. which is nuts. And he's actually faster in the 100 meters than Tyreke Hill. Or at least he was in college. His PR of 9.98 was waaaay better than Hill ever did.

 

[VaqueroTD]

Yeah I don't get how anyone could conclude Pollard is quicker or faster than Mostert. That dude has afterburner speed. He was world class as a sprinter complete with an invite to USA Track and field championships. Getting hurt early in his career has done him the favor of saving his body so he isn't nearly as used up as most 31 year old backs. He has over 100 fewer career carries than Tony Pollard despite being in the league 4 years longer and Pollard being a backup for most of his time in the league. Mostert probably has more tread left on his tires than Pollard does.. which is nuts. And he's actually faster in the 100 meters than Tyreke Hill. Or at least he was in college. His PR of 9.98 was waaaay better than Hill ever did.

Technology is to the point today where we can see how fast these guys are running on just regular stat lines. NFL NEXT GEN stats doesn’t back that claim up last year, only this year. Tony was faster on a weekly basis on his carries. Check it out if you don’t believe me. This year different story but we all know that. Pollard has obviously lost a step. I don’t disagree with Nate Newton though that you’re probably going to get the same out of Pollard as you will with Mostert and that McDaniel running scheme. Kudos to McDaniel for bringing Mostert over to Miami and realizing he was a hidden talent. He should have known it though being the offensive coordinator. At first it was Aikman talking about how more teams should copy the running scheme of San Francisco, now it’s Nate Newton, that’s good enough for me. Get to work on it Coach Mac!

 

[CWR]

Yeah I don't get how anyone could conclude Pollard is quicker or faster than Mostert. That dude has afterburner speed. He was world class as a sprinter complete with an invite to USA Track and field championships. Getting hurt early in his career has done him the favor of saving his body so he isn't nearly as used up as most 31 year old backs. He has over 100 fewer career carries than Tony Pollard despite being in the league 4 years longer and Pollard being a backup for most of his time in the league. Mostert probably has more tread left on his tires than Pollard does.. which is nuts. And he's actually faster in the 100 meters than Tyreke Hill. Or at least he was in college. His PR of 9.98 was waaaay better than Hill ever did.

It irritates me because I've had him on my fantasy team twice in the last 3 years. This year I avoided him.

 

[CWR]

Technology is to the point today where we can see how fast these guys are running on just regular stat lines. NFL NEXT GEN stats doesn’t back that claim up last year, only this year. Tony was faster on a weekly basis on his carries. Check it out if you don’t believe me. This year different story but we all know that. Pollard has obviously lost a step. I don’t disagree with Nate Newton though that you’re probably going to get the same out of Pollard as you will with Mostert and that McDaniel running scheme. Kudos to McDaniel for bringing Mostert over to Miami and realizing he was a hidden talent. He should have known it though being the offensive coordinator. At first it was Aikman talking about how more teams should copy the running scheme of San Francisco, now it’s Nate Newton, that’s good enough for me. Get to work on it Coach Mac!

It wasn't a leap though for an old 9ers coach to leave, employ the same scheme and bring in the same talent.

That said it's hard not to like McDaniel and what he's done. It's also smart. He knew what worked and continued it. The 9ers are good at taking non descript RBs and getting production. Obviously CMC was a game changer. Screw Carolina for letting that happen btw. Too often these coaches get cute and make stupid decisions. McDaniel got his guy and for cheap.