I have been having this discussion with myself over the last 2 years of watching this team. We have an exciting team to watch, but I don't believe were built for a championship. I don't believe our scheme to system style is going to bring us a championship in Miami. I believe our system relies to much on Percussion. It relies on our QB being nearly perfect, and wideouts getting to their positions quickly. While I know a lot of systems rely on certain things to happen I just don't believe we can ask for this over 17 games. Id like to see our team build out along the offensive line with 3 down back and a set of TE's. Id like to keep Waddle and Hill as burners to stretch the field and allow the TE's / RB's to work the short / over the middle routes. Stop asking TUA to put balls in perfect positions all the time. Lets run and short yardage and than pop a few deeper. This would help us control the clock better / wear down defenses / and help games in colder weather. I believe we have the personnel for this scheme and it wouldn't be a big adjustment. We just really need to invest on the OFFENSIVE LINE!
Agreed, something philosophically has to change, not saying you can’t run some of the good stuff from the timing based offense.. However, the play caller/ pitcher needs more pitches in the rep. Like I don’t believe we even ran a no huddle offense unless we were completely in a desperate situation, no pressing a team to change it up in the first, 2nd or 3rd, nooe just huddle up down by double digits with a half to go.. no wonder we sucked when we tried. Dont want to even get into situations and how bad we were at some, that was the play caller calling end zone fade after end zone fade, screen after screen in 30 below.. pass pass on 3rd and 2 4th and 2. That our head coach allowing the players to wear t shirts mocking the bills for being favorites in their park. Enough with the coreegraphed celebrations when you’re playing like **** before then. Stop cussing so much in front of the team, find some better words why don’t ya. Tell Tua he better drop 20 lbs this off-season or he’s gonna be in a Qb battle. So agreed, the Oline needs an infusion of a different type of athlete. Start there..better protection better mobility from the Qb, better play caller That’s as fas as my pissed off brain can go when it comes to improving this team.
Agree the thing that made me most upset this year was in obvious third and short situations we tried to be too smart. How many time were we at 3rd and two and we tried some stupid *** play. Run your QB 3 yards on a fake pitch, or just like man up and run it two times. If you can’t get 2 yards in two plays those personal do not need to be on this team! everything depends on the offense of line we need a bigger, nastier offensive line one that can help the run game as Tua has proven he has a quick release, so we don’t need as much of a pass Protection as we do for running
I don't think we need to overhaul the entire system here, nor is that particularly likely. But we definitely need to add more wrinkles for late season and we absolutely need to be able to consistently run it successfully in those short yardage situations. That was one of McDaniel's biggest problems right there. Focus on the interior OL. Probably need to pony up for Hunt unless he is looking to shatter the G market. Williams ... well it depends on the money he wants. I'm not paying a bad snapper top tier C money. I'll draft a dude. Probably draft a LG as well. Kansas City redid their entire OL a few years back and immediately went to the Super Bowl despite losing Tyreek. They have maybe the top interior OL in the game - we can and frankly must do the same, especially since Tua is more bothered by up front pressure and our system will limit the outside pressure. Get that middle shored up, then get a power back. King Henry would be really interesting and would immediately solve that entire short yardage problem. If not, maybe a Blake Corum in the draft. Much of our offseason will be determined by Fangio though. If he stays, we can pretty much eliminate drafting defenders and just focus on offense and getting cheaper Eli Apple type vets for the defense. If Fangio goes, that may open up defensive options a bit more, but as it stands, Fangio just doesn't like playing rookies at all.
I'm not a fan at all on the over reliance on small, very fast players. Its fine, and probably necessary, to have a few that are like that. But our offense has nothing else right now, and we all see how it limits, and sometimes kills us. We need a real tight end who can both block and catch. It doesn't need to be a guy who's an All Pro every year, or who catches 80 passes, but he has to be productive in both phases and a reliable target in the middle of the field short to medium for Tua when the others aren't there. We also need a tougher, thick bodied slot WR with good hands to run routes that our current players just aren't up to. Someone a lot like Jarvis Landry used to be, except again not throwing him 100 passes a season, more like 50. Move the chains, get the tough yards, keep the offense on the field, and make Tua's life a lot easier so he doesn't need to be perfect every drop back, or feel like his only choice is to throw into triple coverage to Tyreek. And then of course a back who can run between the tackles effectively to balance what we have on the outside and as a big play weapon with Achane. Love Mostert, but he's near the end and he's not that guy either way. And of course, doing a much better job at building the OL with strong players who are able to stay on the field. Its not going to happen overnight. But maybe we can make progress towards this by the end of McDaniel's 4th year and really kick into gear a new function of the offense later on.
Any team emphasizing the run game in this way better have one of the best pass defenses in the league, because it will not be able to outduel opposing teams that are passing the ball well by emphasizing its own run game. The Baltimore Ravens were study in this yesterday. They won with their run game because their pass defense was able to shut down Houston’s passing game. The weak prior the Browns surrendered a whopping 13 yards per attempt and 45 points to Houston. Yesterday that was diminished by the Ravens to a lowly 5.3 yards per attempt and 10 points. If Houston had passed the ball as well yesterday as they did against the Browns the week prior, there is no way Baltimore would’ve won that game by emphasizing their own run game offensively.
*3 points But your point still stands. The Dolphins run game is actually very good, albeit not sure Mostert will be back, but they have Achane, JWJ, and Brook. I think they are fine there. If Mostert comes back, even better. The problem is their interior OL, they need health and depth there, and the play calling. McD needs to improve there and I think he will. As for their passing game, that is very good, too. It requires an accurate QB who can anticipate and get it out quickly. Tua is that QB. The problem this season was the lack of protection caused Tua to need to dump it too fast and injuries to too many players. I still have some hope that EZ will contribute and Claypool can play like his skill set. If that happens, watch out.
No CJ does not have what it takes at this point in his career to beat arguably the best team in the league on the road in the playoffs.
Exactly. Football is a team sport, and only a few teams at any point are, by definition, going to have one of those all-world top five QBs. And so you need to be able to be able to build a TEAM that can be consistently productive when you don't have one of those guys. For the fans who will argue that you just keep burning it to the ground until you find one of those guys, well....stay out of the discussion when people are talking about other solutions. Otherwise its just trolling.
Great QBs can elevate the players around them to play with more urgency, heart/spirit. Other times it's more about who makes the least amount of mistakes, who makes plays, and who gets first downs. Jordan Love was flawless up until the 4th when he threw two picks. Add a missed field goal and that was the difference in that game. Right now Baker Mayfield is 30 minutes away from taking the Bucs to the NFC championship game...Or it might be Jared Goff. I'll say this, if Goff, Mayfield, or Purdy can get their teams to the Super Bowl, then so can we with Tua.
It most certainly does. You have to add the right players at the most crucial positions. That and you need luck to be on your side. None of the remaining teams are decimated with the injuries we had. I'm not using that as our excuse, but it's honestly a damn good one if I wanted to. Tua played like sh!t. That's a fact. We had a ton of injuries, also a fact. Combine the two along with the way the season ended and it's no surprise it ended the way it did.
The defense still held their own despite being decimated. The only player we were missing on offense was Connor Williams. Injuries really didn't have much to do with the Dolphins exit.
Lmao… I’ve been coming to this forum for about a decade. This post of yours may be the dumbest sh!t I’ve ever read here. And there’s been some dumb sh!t over the past 10 years.
Ten of our eleven starters were playing and fighting with at least one injury. The 11th starter, Connor Williams, was out. Our offense wasn't even close to healthy and that made all the difference down the stretch. Not really sure how folks can't remember how we were running over everyone in the first half of the season, or how we had the best red zone offense in the league. Most of the complaints for our late-season were strengths earlier in the year.
The difference down the stretch was the offense ran into playoff teams. It was the same when they were healthy and ran into Buffalo, KC, and Philly earlier in the year. We played the least winning teams in the NFL last season. That was the difference. All teams have guys playing through injuries. That's what 17 games of football gets you.
We were absolutely crippled by injuries in ways that no other playoff team was close to. Our healthiest OL, by far, missed one whole game and parts of several others. Our second healthiest starting OL missed seven whole games, and parts of others! Meanwhile, the Bills five OL starters didn't miss a single start between them, and the Chiefs had four guys start all 17. They had all five the first 12 weeks before Donovan Smith missed the final five.
I have 0 faith in Claypool, he was a bum in Pitt, he was a bum in Chicago and was a bum for us. Soft and unphysical, no attention to detail, bad attitude, he was a problem. Easy E ... Man I don't know with the injuries if we can rely on him. Same with Cracraft who fits us to a T but doesn't stay on the field. I'd revamp the RB a bit. Replacing Wilson and Mostert with Henry is probably the top option for me depending on price. I like what Mostert did, but if we look past fond emotion, are we more likely to see him repeat this season or regress? I'd bet on the latter. Henry and Achane with Brooks and someone else.
It's hard to not want Claypool to be great because his physical abilities are off the chart. I'm still hopeful that McD and this staff can get something out of him. We will see because I doubt he is going anywhere at his price and potential. If after next season he still is not doing anything he should be let go. I'd be all for getting Henry for a year or two. Personally, I think Mostert retires. I love the guy though.
I want him to just run the ball. Do all you cure motion stuff like normal, but actually run the ball! Twice if you have to.
I think one of the biggest issues is that we still try and get too cute, both with the short run game and the short pass game. The play calls are elaborate, take too long, and get blown up because it seems like they're trying to get 20 yards when they need 2. This did get get better than it was for part of the year before things fell apart at the end, so I'm hopeful that it keeps getting better next season.
Losing Williams does this: Some 2023 season numbers with and without Connor Williams: RB rushing with -- 5.92 ypc, 168.8 ypg RB rushing without -- 4.8 ypc, 116.7 ypg Rushing middle gaps with -- 7.47 ypc Rushing middle gaps without -- 3.32 ypc Rushing between tackles with -- 6.92 ypc Rushing between tackles without -- 3.84 ypc Team Pass Block Efficiency with -- 91.6 PBE, 5 sacks, 6 hits, 30 hurries in 274 snaps Team Pass Block Efficiency without -- 87.1 PBE, 15 sacks, 7 hits, 51 hurries in 341 snaps Tua Passer Rating with -- 109.5 Tua Passer Rating without -- 94.6 Dolphins Passing Yards with -- 312.8 ypg Dolphins Passing Yards without -- 250.1 Dolphins Record with -- 7-1 Dolphins Record without -- 4-5
He's also missing that we lost our LG (Wynn) relatively early. And while Hunt was back for the BUffalo and KC games I don't think he was really ready.
agree he is a big loss, but only one player. And those numbers don't tell the quality of teams played either. We don't know what those numbers would have been IF Williams had played against the good teams.
They were, but they also played with one of the greatest offensive lines in NFL history, and they were big, mean and violent - exactly what we need.
Not only a screen, but always one where our player has to come to a total stop before catching the ball! Why don't we ever run them where the player is running forwards as he catches it? The Bengals use that one to great success, even without Burrow.
Art Monk was 6'3", 210. They also used big backs and threw to the TE a lot. So only Ricky Sanders and Gary Clark were that small.
