Can the Dolphins beat the Pats on Monday Night?

I think we're going to lose - we can't run the ball and that lets Belichick play mind games in coverages against Henne. I see Henne losing that bet - even though I think Henne is going to have a good year.

BUT

We haven't seen a single snap of the WildCat in the pre-season. I have to imagine we unleash some trickery in hopes of catching NE off-guard. It has worked in the past. So we may luck our way into a few scores on offense.

As others have mentioned - we've had a lot of success getting pressure on Brady and stopping the Pats offense (or at least slowing it down).

 

Was that the one where Feely threw the touchdown pass at the end? Exciting game and one of the few highlights that year if so.

That's about as safe an assumption that you can make about a team going into this season, in my opinion. Worst possible scenario for them would be Brady going down, but even with that we know they can still post a good record. That said, I think Miami wins this game in a close one. I'm not sure if my head believes that 100% or if I just can't force myself to predict a loss and kill some of my excitement leading up to the first game. As another poster pointed out, our first game against the Patriots at home last year I thought at halftime there was no way we would lose. Score was still close but just felt like the game was ours and was confident we'd get the win. Then the special teams meltdown... First home game, primetime, a defense that is eager to let the world know how good they are, and players on offense with a lot to prove (Henne, Bush, Marshall); I think we could surprise a lot of people and get the W. 24-20, defense stops a potential game winning drive.

Agree with CK though that the Chargers game doesn't look good, they're a playoff team this season and this could be the year they take the next step in the postseason, I think...

 

Ok, I watched that game also. The Browns played exceptionally well and made few mistakes. The pasties, on the other hand, were out of sync and made uncharacteristic mistakes. That said, I don't think you can broad-brush that we will definitively beat the pasties because of Daboll's scheme just because they played one very good game against the pasties last year...if that were the case, Mike Martz's teams should never lose because of how good the "Greatest Show On Turf" was back in the day...conversely, if we lose it, Daboll won't have any less responsibility of the reasons why just because he beat them last year...

This regime has been notoriously slow starters since they got here. There is no reason to believe that we again won't be slow starters, at least thru 3 preseason games. BB and that group usually play 'key' games well, particularly Monday/Sunday night games. I think they will be a) ready to roll against us and b) have been game planning for this night since the day the schedule came out. Give BB an offseason with nothing else going on to game plan for a team and it likely won't end well for Fins fans...

 

I understand the even/odd concept but is the married-coverage concept the same thing as transitions in zone coverage (passing guys off, etc)?

Do the Patriots traditionally even run the more traditional version of zone coverage?

 

Question: Is married-coverage the exact opposite philosophy to the loaded single-coverage?

As I understand it, the married-coverage scheme is meant to suck the life out of the offense but can by the same token potentially take out over half the defensive backfield upon a single well-timed audible. Conversely, the loaded single-coverage scheme allows for more schemes to be experimented with during implementation, allowing defenders to freely play the field and minimizing losses.

 

That you Mr. Henning?
So we have a better chance if we run WC plays...... Sorry man you lost me.

 

No.

 

Unfortunately the game is on Monday night...So no!

 

Not sure what Alen was referring to exactly, because the terminology varies a lot. But I think it could be Saban's cover-7, which is essentially a combination of quarters and man coverage, and a lot of the concepts are the same as pattern-match coverage.

 

A zone coverage scheme that "passes off" receivers from one defender to the other, as I understand it, is essentially what it sounds like. Instead of teaching defenders to run to a certain spot on the field and then react to what's happening, their job is to cover receivers that come into their zone and then literally pass them off to other defenders as the receiver moves through to another zone. This requires smarter players in general not only because it's a more coordinated scheme but also because your defensive players are also taught route combinations and the offensive concepts they're likely to see given formations and schemes. I know this is the kind of zone coverage that Mike Nolan teaches. Apparently he switched to it a few years back.

But I'm not sure if that's what Alen was referring to. I do know, though, that Nick Saban has been one of leaders in bringing the coverage I'm talking about to the game of football.

What you're describing is not something I've heard of. Sounds interesting, though.

 

Oh, I swear by the loaded single-coverage.

 

BYU is trying a polygomal coverage which matches two or more CB's playing man in a LB's zone.

**edit** or maybe it was the other way around. I get confused by that playbook.

 

Maybe we will suprise them just as we did when we unveiled the Wildcat against them.We know more about their team than they know about us.

IMO there will be good opportunities to sack Brady who always had problems with JT .Together with Wake on the other side they will be a handfull.

 

I'm really just hoping we're not humiliated again. I can't see a win.

 

Yes.

 

Miami starts 2-0...

Book It Danno!!!!

CK you like your Crow fried, blackened, grilled, or poached? lol

 

Married-coverages is combining coverages to make one. The most popular you see on Sundays is Loaded Zone, which is often used against 11 (1 back, 1 TE; probably most popular personnel grouping in NFL right now) personnel from what I've seen. Pittsburgh lives in it, Jets run it quite a bit. There's a lot of teams that really use it a lot.

The Patriots run a lot of coverage variations, really. I know for fact that they once ran 37 coverage variations of the course of a season. They still do run a lot, you can see it on the field. They pattern read a lot though, which is match-up zone, not spot drop zone like you used to see.

Was actually referring to the marrying of Cover 1 and Cover 3 by Nick Saban. It puts the defense in a position to defend four vertical threats as well as be able to play eight in the box if there is a run called. Belichick's used it for years now.

 

Oh, the BYU polygonal coverage scheme. It assigns multiple responsibilities to defenders, and while it does allow a degree of flexibility and options during implementation, it tends to frustrate its own coordinators, because even this variant of the married-coverage scheme with time like its predecessor becomes stale and predictable.

This scheme also demands a lot of commitment and effort from its implementors/defenders.

 

Keep dreaming

 

Try living in Boston. As bad as it is , it's 10000x better than living in New Jersey or Barfalo

 

Well, to me this one really comes down to how much pressure we can generate with a 4 man Dline with the 7 back in coverage.

"Can" Wake/Starks/Odie/JT make Brady's life uncomfortable enough for him to get the yips?

"Can" Edds/Dansby/Burnett effectively cover Te's as well as hit on A Gap blitzes?

As I type that I step back and consider the D, wow, we added 3 pieces, Burnett/Edds/Odie, each should have a big role in a win.

I'm sort of stoked to see Odie play, he was a beast at PSU, who knows?

 

We have faced greater odds before.
And we always seem to play better when we are expected to lose.
Unless Camoron is our HC and we almost always lose.

 

I don't think we'll win (but I think we can), however I believe we'll play well enough to give us hope going into the season.

 

It'll be interesting to see how they play defensively against NE's offense. The Patriots offense poses three problems to every team IMO:

1) Tom Brady
2) Personnel Groupings
3) Gronkowski + Hernandez

The first one is obvious, Tom Brady is the best quarterback in the NFL (IMO). Like his arch nemesis, Peyton Manning, he's very good at deciphering defensive coverages and making the right throw. Zone coverage is hard to play against him because he knows where to go with the ball. Man coverage is difficult as well because of his excellent ball placement. They do a very good job of sticking to their core plays and using constraints to build up to their core plays IMO.

The second one is their usage of various personnel groupings. Regardless of what anyone says, at the end of the day, it comes down to athletes winning the game. Coaches have say too, with putting their players in position to win the game, but the players have to make plays. And as an offense, when you can present multiple athletes that can do various things for you, you are asking the defense to match you. Even though defenses want 1 on 1, athlete vs athlete, it becomes more difficult to want that because of the various athletes presented.

And last of all, the two tight ends in NE are the problem for everyone. Here's why, IMO, they are a problem. As a defense, you have to defend the gaps that are presented. New England is often in 11 personnel or 12 personnel but the second TE is flexed. The first group, 11 personnel (1 RB, 1 TE), presents 7 gaps for the defense. You want seven guys in the box but can't with the 3 WRs, so having 6 is not a great choice because it ends up being a hat for a hat offensively ( +1 blocker) and it becomes a matchup advantage for the offense because they know where they are going and where they want to get to. With that problem, you bring in an extra defender, which is typically a secondary player (SS for example). Or you can scratch that secondary player and 2 gap a LB or a DL, which is what Miami did a lot of last year IIRC. In that case, you are fine. But when the 12 personnel comes up and the second tight end is Aaron Hernandez, its a problem IMO. He's not a great blocker in space nor inline so there's not a huge threat there but he can come down the line and crack the box player or block him down field, which is a problem despite it being his weakness. Its IMO an extra gap to defend and it gets tricky because he's flexed out. This is also why I think Miami should bring in another TE (as well as why they should flex Fasano more).

You have to figure out how to deal with all that IMO and it is difficult because they are adjusting as you are. Even though Belichick is a defensive guru, he's had say in the development of that offense from the get-go so he knows what he's seeing and what they are doing. He can help. He's drawn up plays based off of defensive tip-offs and things hes seen while watching from the sideline.

What's good for Miami is that they now have guys who can run with the TEs. They have guys who can 2 gap well (Langford, Starks to an extent) so they have the players. Can they do the job though? Can the LBs step up? Dansby has had some issues this pre-season IMO but maybe it will be different on Monday night.

 

Someone forgot to tell Detroit just how good NE is.

Definitely a winnable game.

 

Miami has some of the most impressive cover athletes available to face New England (Davis, Allen, Smith), (Burnett, Dansby), and even Clemons can cover fairly well. Bell 1-1 isn't bad either. Miami can get great pressure from Starks-Odrick-Wake-Taylor. The defense has what it takes to take on New England.

On offense the issue is an interesting one. The routes will probably have more variation this season.

 

It's a possibility that we beat the Patriots but I don't think we will. IMO it will be a close game with NE winning by 10.

 

We definitely won't if we don't get better in goal line situations.

 

the correct question: Will the offensive line be up for the game opener?

if the answer is yes, the fix will be in
then Miami by three and we are off to the races!