Per OmarK I took flack for saying the offense would do better without Brandon Marshall out on the field, but here are some stats as to the 'why", the offense works better when there is not one player whom the passing offense runs through. Now to be fair to BM, he doesn't call the plays, but moving forwards it seems clear that Marshall should not be the focus of the passing offense. And a part of me would like to see DBess and Marshall flip jobs, line up DB outside, put BM in the slot.
Don't be silly, Padre, he's worth $50 million dollars. He set a a record back when he was hungry for a new contract.
I still don't buy it Padre. However, I'd like to see BM in the slot, but do you think he's quick enough? If so then he may get that seperation he's been lacking and break a few. DB on the outside would work, IMO, and I think we would get great results. Maybe the blame for the lack of production while BM is in there is because the other guys don't try as hard? Are they thinking, "Hey, Marshall's got it, I can relax a bit." ?? There are just too many variables to make your conclusion. Correlation does not imply causation. And I still believe that having BM in the game makes us better.
I was just talking to a friend about this. It seems when Marshall is in the lineup, Miami has to justify their 2 - 2nd round picks by getting away from the run and throwing it. If we play like this the rest of the year, I think we have a chance at winning the rest of our games.
What they need to do with Marshall is what they did in the Jets game. Put him in motion and move him around to create space. In that game he was constantly in motion and it gave him a buffer to keep Cromartie from being so physical with him. It worked so well, but we haven't done it since.
He played Slot in Denver and was good with it. If anything, one would think other players would go harder with BM on the field as they would feel they are competing with him?
I think that is a part of it, BM is a large investment but I think there are lessons to be learned all around heading into the final 5 games.
I think if we was to stop focusing on Marshall the whole game and just simply spread the ball around. I mean, if he is open give him the ball but otherwise get the ball to whomever is open. I understand that we may already do this but it just seemed lately when all else fails, throw it to Marshall. Maybe its me but I see it this way. Know what I mean??
Bess outside, Marshall in the slot, Marshall no longer the primary passing target? Sounds more like a comedy skit than a theory. And since we're in a joking mood, Marlon Moore broke a tackle and ran 50+ yds for a score. He has as many TDs as Marshall in a fraction of the snaps, it seems clear that Moore should start and Marshall should sit the bench. Cobbs had a big play yesterday as well, its clear that Ronnie needs to ride some pine and let the stud on the field more. Funny stuff. Seriously though, we've played 11 games. Only two teams have tried to man us up in the secondary. The Packers (in the 1st half), and the Raiders. Everyone else has played zone, mostly two deep zone. Those are the smart teams. Henne is MUCH better vs man and pressure looks than he is vs. zone/off coverage. The Raiders and Pack were stubborn, and they both got torched. It's about scheme and game planning, not some arbitrary number of players who receive touches, and even implying that Marshall is a drag on the offense is, IMO, an example of someone trying a little to hard to be clever.
There is a lot of truth to this. As Parcells says, this is a talent acquisition business. Brandon Marshall is talented and it is up to us to gemplan and execute with those talents. If Marshall is playing against man coverage yesterday, I tend to think that he has himself a pretty darn good day, much like Bess had. Having said that, Bess is too talented to get one or two looks a game. They were targeting him some yesterday and he did what he does best. Having a little more balance in terms of getting the ball to secondary targets is typically never a bad thing, unless they are god awful. Bess, Fasano and Hartline are anything but that. Ultimately it comes down to executing the proper plays at the proper time with the proper people. The more evidence mounts about Henne still having some issues with zone coverages, the more we need to develop offensive plays designed to take advantage of the seems and holes. Having the tight end run down the seem, or, as Padre suggested, putting Marshall in the slot to try and create mismatches in the middle of the field is what is needed. Sticking to the same routes and static plays that work against man coverage just isn't goint to work. At least not consistently. And Henne needs to spend a TON of time in the offseason studying zone coverages and where he needs to go with the ball. Anyone know if this man vs. zone trend goes back to college?
Attack them with horizontal stretches and use the entire width of the field. The Jets cornerbacks are not quick out of their breaks (sans Revis) and they do not tackle well enough in the open field IMO. Attack Eric Smith in coverage on deep balls if you can (and when the right time is presented).
I am guessing he wouldn't have manned up Marshall though. Cro being of similar size with Marshall and having gone up against him in the past, I would bet that not much would have changed in terms of coverage on Marshall. Besides, Revis gets mre safety help than people are willing to admit. But I suppose, barring injuries, that we will see what happens in the next matchup.
Exactly Sammie we simply cannot do the same thing and expect a different result, move BM to the slot, line him up in the backfield, whatever, they have to switch things up or it will be back to 1 Td per game. Whether that means run the ball more, use more motion, whatever, they have to switch things up because what is working is obvious, what is not working is also obvious.
It's pretty simple. When defenses decide that one of the go-to guys in Dan Henning's offense is worth doubling on every play, Dan Henning can't adjust his offense and make them pay for that. It happened in Carolina, it's happening in Miami. Dan Henning is not comfortable having a guy that is as talented as Marshall is, that draws as much defensive attention as he does. After Steve Smith went Superman in the first half of 2005, defenses started to give him a sh-t ton of attention, and from then on, the Carolina offense went downhill until Henning was fired. Henning warned us that he didn't want a player like Brandon Marshall. The reality is the day they traded for Brandon Marshall should have been the day that Dan Henning was fired. You don't get a 70 year old to all the sudden do things and adapt in ways that he's never done before.
Well if you really think about the hole for running the ball should be pretty good if you have Marshall playing the Dallas Clark role in the slot. He's matched up against a CB. He owns that run-blocking match-up more than any TE can and I'm not entirely convinced Bess is better as a slot receiver anymore. He's pretty much even anywhere he goes in his play-making ability. Move Marshall from the slot on the left to the right constantly to mess with the defense's formations and force these 3-4s to take their SOLB out. Besides I love seeing Cromartie have to defend the run. I mean if you've got larger running backs that aren't the type to break it horizontally on most occasions why put your better run blockers further from the action, especially since your tackles are your best run blockers. You could create a hole there. The bigger problem is the complete lack of push on the inside of the OL and the repeated attempts to run there. At least if you're going to run, run to the tackles.
Stats based on 2 game sample sizes are worthless. What is not worthless is the philosophy which is demonstrated by the stats...and that is NOT on Brandon Marshall. it is on you know who.
Come on Padre. You're literally trying to make an argument that top talent makes you worse as a team. That at the core just dosen't make sense. It all comes down to how you use that talent and if a staff can't handle having a top playmaker without abandoning all other phases of the game then it's solely on them.
No, my argument is how they use their talent, from the "top" guys to the UDFa's has not been efficient in producing results.
When has the offense ever passed through Brandon Marshall? I can think of just one game where that description applies: his 10 catch, 166 yard game against the Jets. Beyond that one game, he’s been just another guy who’ll get the ball distributed to him on a rotating basis. You want to know what an offense looks like when it’s run through one person? Watch a Colts game, or watch the Minnesota Petersons against the Redskins, or the Cleveland Hillises against the Panthers. We do not use Brandon Marshall like that. Dan Henning refuses.
Amen Brother. This has been another issue I've had with Henning and more proof of his unwillingness to adjust his priciples to cater to whats best for the offense according to the personell we have.
With this argument we can hold hands and skip down the yellow brick road together. Off to see the wizard to get our staff a brain and some courage.
Yep, and the first thing they have to do is deal with Brandon Marshall as one of the edges Sparano has is the time spent prepping the bottom of the roster players to step into games, that is really tough for Opponents to manage. Before the game, does anyone think the Raiders were at all concerned with Marlon Moore?
I actually buy into what Pads saying. I think if we dont focus so much on BM the rest of the way he actually may end up in the endzone more. Now his overall numbers may go down but i dont care. At this point of the season the only thing that matters is how many times we're in the endzone and how manytimes our opponent isn't.
You get it, I think his targets have been decreasing recently anyway, now why they couldn't see him as a "X" type of player and line him up all over the place to influence the defense is beyond me.
You should have gotten some flack for it. Marshall is clearly the best Wr on this team. It's not even close. Henne needs to lead him like he did Cobbs, Bess and Hartline so Marshall can do what he does best. He is a possession Wr with the knack to get the YAC. No matter how it's sliced, or how it's diced, the Miami Dolphins are a better team with Brandon Marshall in the lineup...
