No Sugar-Coating It - Special Teams Are Troubling

[DandyDon1722]

There's no denying that there are some disconcerting things happening on special teams and it ultimately falls on Joe D.

Some notables...

The Dolphin's return guy caught the ball three yards deep in the end zone, hesitated, brought it out and still made it out past the 30. We were hurt on long punt returns both this week and last week and against the Bills.

The kick return unit looks completely out of sync although this may be due to Felix returning. It seemed the wall of blockers backed up to far and Felix actually had to slow down behind them as he was beginning his return and never had any burst.

McBriar is struggling at times and that's understandable but we got a penalty for illegal formation. How hard can it be to line up right on a punt?

It's inexcusable for Dez to be running onto the field and putting his chin strap on as the ball is in the air. It's shows a lack of decision making and preparation.

The time out because of the supposed too many men on the field for a Miami field goal which actually turned out not to be too many men on the field is again inexcusable.

These things have to get fixed. I know we all are happy for Joe D's recovery and appreciate his efforts after the practice field tragedy but overall his coaching job has been poor this season with the exception of Bailey.

I think the return game is due to a lack of a pure return guy, but the cover teams have been bad.

Joe would be the first to tell us this is a no-excuse league and this stuff has to get fixed because if we've learned anything over the last two weeks we have a small margin of error.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

You forgot the genius punt formation that, by design, resulted in a penalty. Idiocy.

Our coverage unit has sucked greasy goat **** this year. We were so enamored with Joe D after dumping Bruce Reed, but now it seems like we got a pair of roller skates to make our daily commute instead of having to walk.

We already had a HUGE contribution to our loss against the Jets by the special teams.

Not a Joe D fan right now. Giving away free yards like this is starting to smell like week old shrimp that's been sitting out in the August sun.

 

[Patton]

As much as I hate to say it, we need a KO specialist. Dan Bailey cannot kickoff. Mat McBriar is not punting well right now either. Both of these are hurting the coverage teams. We might need to look into getting some ST specialist types in here.

The return game is also just brutal. Felix is mediocre at best. AOA and Ogletree have been awful. Though I wonder how much of it just on the blocking. The only person who has looked remotely like a returner is Dez and we know he's a special talent at returner.

 

[Hot_Toddy]

Agreed.. And this is what our cover teams have to contend with in the next game:

Punt returner Patrick Peterson (Cardinals):

He has:

-3 punt returns for TDs which leads the NFL (ahead of Hester)

-17.1 Yards per punt return (2nd in NFL behind Hester)

-99 Yard punt return for a TD (Longest this year)

-463 Punt return Yards (most in NFL)

And they have a pretty decent Kick Returner too.

We have got to improve on our special teams coverage quickly. Hopefully they can right the ship with the extra few days.

 

[Beast_from_East]

There's no denying that there are some disconcerting things happening on special teams and it ultimately falls on Joe D.

Some notables...

The Dolphin's return guy caught the ball three yards deep in the end zone, hesitated, brought it out and still made it out past the 30. We were hurt on long punt returns both this week and last week and against the Bills.

The kick return unit looks completely out of sync although this may be due to Felix returning. It seemed the wall of blockers backed up to far and Felix actually had to slow down behind them as he was beginning his return and never had any burst.

McBriar is struggling at times and that's understandable but we got a penalty for illegal formation. How hard can it be to line up right on a punt?

It's inexcusable for Dez to be running onto the field and putting his chin strap on as the ball is in the air. It's shows a lack of decision making and preparation.

The time out because of the supposed too many men on the field for a Miami field goal which actually turned out not to be too many men on the field is again inexcusable.

These things have to get fixed. I know we all are happy for Joe D's recovery and appreciate his efforts after the practice field tragedy but overall his coaching job has been poor this season with the exception of Bailey.

I think the return game is due to a lack of a pure return guy, but the cover teams have been bad.

Joe would be the first to tell us this is a no-excuse league and this stuff has to get fixed because if we've learned anything over the last two weeks we have a small margin of error.

Agreed.

If Joe D cant get the job done then he needs to be replaced.

 

[JBell]

Good post OP, I agree 100%.

Buehler still has value because our coverage unit stinks.

 

[CCBoy]

Some good talk going on in this thread. Man, I will respect the man, Coach D, forever...but right now, all but his field goal kicker, Bailey, suck. Plain and simply. No one fears returning the ball from deep in the end zone, which Dallas in return, rarely makes it to even the twenty when returned right now.

When your opponent starts many of it's actual scoring drives at about mid-field, and one's own starting point is at the ten, the desparity is quickly seen.

 

[tecolote]

We could've really used david buehler yesterday, maybe Jerry was right after all.

 

[dogunwo]

It's inexcusable for Dez to be running onto the field and putting his chin strap on as the ball is in the air. It's shows a lack of decision making and preparation.

I think this was somewhat by design, so that the Dolphins didn't have a chance to communicate to kick away from Dez, seemed to work actually.

 

[trueblue1687]

I have really been at a loss for why DeCamilis hasn't been taken to task sooner to be honest. Our special teams haven't been very special under his guidance...since he has been here. I think he will probably be one the list beside Campfro for upgrade. DeCamilis isn't terrible, but he isn't notable either. I hope we can do a little better next season.

 

[sago1]

Getting rid of ST coach would really be a problem for Jerry. Don't forget how serious he was injuried because the tent/building came down. I'm sure Jerry paid him big bucks in compensation (although there no way any money is adquate) and wouldn't be surprised if remaining a coach was part of it. But really do think Jerry/Garrett can find other important duties for him which would warrant same pay, medical coverage, etc. Also don't forget we were willing to cut some decent ST players to keep some of our younger developing players.

 

[trueblue1687]

Getting rid of ST coach would really be a problem for Jerry. Don't forget how serious he was injuried because the tent/building came down. I'm sure Jerry paid him big bucks in compensation (although there no way any money is adquate) and wouldn't be surprised if remaining a coach was part of it. But really do think Jerry/Garrett can find other important duties for him which would warrant same pay, medical coverage, etc. Also don't forget we were willing to cut some decent ST players to keep some of our younger developing players.

I'm sure there was some kind of settlement, but it was likely covered by insurance and not by promising to keep him as a coach. The bottom line is that his coaching is tepid at best. He'll remain until a better name comes along, but probably no longer. It isn't JUST the return game (which is pretty dependent on a very good player) that we are deficient at. Our coverage in general sucks a large portion of the time. I won't even mention the ******** pre-snap formation that resulted in a penalty...too many moving parts when you can't perform the basics very well.

 

[casmith07]

A lot of the problem has been McBriar playing what looks like 60% right now.

As for Dez going out there to return a punt, my guess is maybe there was some discussion last minute and Dez ran out there and just said "I got this" kind of like Romo told Kitna to have a seat Week 2 at San Francisco.

At least that's what I hope

 

[visionary]

We could've really used david buehler yesterday, maybe Jerry was right after all.

Wow!!

so instead of fixing the problem (poor special teams play) we should compound one bad administrative decision (hiring a special teams coach who cant coach special teams) by a stupid administrative decision (keeping a kick-off specialist)

at one point this year we had 4 kickers on this team
4!!!

care to tell me how many other teams have 4 kickers on the 53 man?

JJ was not "right after all"

he is trying to justify 2 poor decisions by a good sales pitch using smoke and mirrors

 

[Venger]

Agreed 100% Visionary. Buehler is no 100% touchback guarantee either...