Knowshon Moreno, Lamar Miller and our run game

we got an oline that can actually (run) block. any running back in the league would have looked bad behind that line. im not saying miller is an elite running back, but i dont think he is some scrub either(he needs to work on catching the ball though).

 

I think it's a combination of things. Obviously the line is better this year. But Miller is also running much harder. Moreno could be rubbing off on him, or he's taken the hint that he needs to turn his game up. It's interesting because he took a similar path at UM. He showed some good things early in his career, but in his sophomore year he took that next step and started running harder and became a big time player. I don't know that he'll be a big time player in the NFL, but he certainly has the talent to be very good.

 

So much for that running game helping our offense, were scoring less than last year after three games, somebody better start making some plays and playing with a sense of urgency.

Millers improving..moreno is boss.

 

Need to stop abandoning the run when we are averaging over 5 a carry...

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Well, Moreno was only one game, but he was certainly playing with a fire in his belly. I loved watching him run against New England. I don't know that Miller's style has changed all that much, its just that there are actual holes to run through this season and he's not getting tackled in the backfield every other attempt. Unfortunately, two of his best runs in week 1 ended in a fumble and a holding penalty that called back a TD, but he was very steady against KC last week.

Once Moreno is healthy, I think its very possible that we could see a 70/50 yardage split between the two of them a lot of weeks, which will be great, and hopefully help the passing game....if we can somehow figure out how to beat the press coverage that's been destroying our recievers.

 

I tried to tell people before the season we would love Miller if we gave him a hole to hit for once. My favorite thibg so far is after the fumble you can see he's covering the ball much better. He understands he can't put it on the ground

 

As big a problem as I have with Bill Lazor's work with Tannehill and in the passing game, I like how he's orchestrated the run game. It's amazing what happens when you treat the run game as more than a perfunctory exercise

 

What don't you like about the passing scheme?

 

I'll tell you what I don't like about it:

We try to run too many screens (receiver and back)) that don't work well because we just don't seem to have the personnel to execute them. We do not have Darren Sproles and LeSean McCoy, and Brian Hartline is not a good downfield blocker.

Too much underneath stuff, not enough deep shots. Tannehill doesn't throw a good deep ball, but he threw a pretty good one to Hartline a couple of weeks ago. Wallace had a chance to catch one and just couldn't get his second foot in-bounds. If you keep trying, eventually they will get some of them right. Not only will that open up our offense, it will restore confidence to the quarterback and receivers and loosen them up.

Frustrating play design. If you watch the all-22 tape you will see that they consistently have 3 receivers in a tight window, usually running shallow crossing patterns. There are so many guys clustered up underneath that there aren't a lot of good places to throw the ball, and the QB can't really scramble with four defenders sitting back in coverage 4 yards from the line of scrimmage. The San Francisco 49ers actually help Colin Kaepernick to use his legs by sending most of their receivers 10+ yards downfield. It is really funny that I have talked to 49ers fans who were really mad with their offensive coordinator about this, but they don't realize that it opens up room to run, which is what CK is best at.

 

I'm not sure if its the scheme, our players, or just who we've played the last few games, but teams seem to be able to absolutely key on every position player who goes out for a passing route, and cover him like glue or absolutely blow the play up. How many completed passes have we had for negative yardage already? How many times has there seemingly been a guy completely absorbing every eligible reciever?

I know that Lazor is new to the team, but the passing game seems to have the same issues that it did at the end of last season. I honestly don't understand why. When I watch other games around the league, I really don't see this type of coverage being applied much of the time.

 

Moreno seems to be an inspiration to the entire team when he is in there.
Miller is having a little more success because the run blocking is better. Pure and simple.
One good game is an extremely small sample size folks. I need to see him do it consistently.

 

I can guarantee the play design never calls for three WR in a tight window. When that happens someone ran the wrong route, one or more ran their route with poor depth, or both.

 

But it keeps happening... there's no way the receivers are simply running things wrong 10+ times a game, is there?

 

No but we've heard about poor route depth so it could be that. Lazor would be the first OC to want all his receivers bunched up so I have trouble believing its by design.

I guess it could be, it would just be stupid.

 

The line is better. Knowshon was a surprise. Miller can't catch.

 

It does seem like the only wr who can consistently get separation is Wallace who the fans ironically want to get rid of for some ignorant reason but to be fair tannehill fails to see open targets way too often. I've only seen the Chiefs replay once but there was a 3rd down where thill tried to force a slant to hartline when miller was completely uncovered and then the 2nd &1 play where thill threw it out of bounds to Wallace there was a wide open gibson thill somehow didn't see and then the very next play on 3rd n 1, Sims was open for a 1st. Thill had tunnel vision so unfortunately if his 1st read is covered it makes it seem like nobody is getting any separation.

 

Miller seems to shut down once he gets to the second level. He doesn't make moves at that point, just goes full throttle while securing the football. I'd like to see him start to do stuff once he gets into the secondary, he's getting the opportunities.

I'm very happy with the run game. Kind of amazing what happens when you have competent coaching (Benton) and players who fit the scheme (Hickey). Although I can't hope but feel it can be even better, we'll see once Moreno gets back.

 

I would like to see us get closer to 52/48 pass/run. We throw it far too much with such a run game.

 

Gotta be the line. Freakin' Thomas looked like a stud on his few carries last week.