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Mike Nolan's Defense in Denver (Video)

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by Conuficus, May 29, 2010.

  1. Conuficus

    Conuficus Premium Member Luxury Box

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    Well away from here
    Since there has been much discussion regarding what Mike Nolan did in Denver last year without much end to some people's confusion regarding the matter I figured the best thing may be a video. Hence this thread.

    There are 44 plays over 3 games in the video from last year. I didn't go nuts in terms of sheer number of plays as I do expect Nolan to make some subtle changes based on his present personnel in Miami. Regardless, there are some things to take notice of, including the play of the SOLB in this system, and the propensity for Nolan to bring pressure from both the middle linebackers and from the safety position.

    Anyway, enjoy, and I hope this helps clear up some issues by actually seeing how the defense played out - albeit on a limited scale.

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZAhaCPKYyc"]YouTube- Universaldraft Presents - Denver Defense under Mike Nolan in 2009_xvid.avi[/ame]
     
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  2. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Iam not crowning or praising any new defensive cordinator until I see with my own eyes, on our own field, in our own stadium, with our own players. a substancial difference in pace and instincts from the position relative to what we've had for 20 years....

    He may be well respected and that's all good, but Iam well aware of the players he was coaching in baltimore...

    All I know about the guy at this point, is I like his enthusiasm for the game, his youth as a coach, and that he looks the part...thats all we got....we cant get a grasp for ones instincts until we see it live.

    This wasnt directed at you Con, just thinking out loud...
     
  3. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    1 thing he does have as a distinct advantage in that he now has actual real linebackers, that can actually run and chase. and make a play in the flat, and hit somebody with some authority, hell, we have'nt had a real set of linebackers around here in a very very long time, no disrespect to zach, he was great, but even zach had no real help for 12 years.
     
  4. Phinatic425

    Phinatic425 MIA State of Mind

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    Upper Left Corner
    KC was doing work.
     
  5. Disnardo

    Disnardo Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    DJ, just makes me wonder how we ponder good Defense from 1998-2003, and these are the guys who partner with Zack in the 4-3...

    Hollier, Singleton, Harris, Rodgers, and Greenwood... before anyone else ask who were they, stop and think for a second to what DJ stated... and these were the times that Miami had a very good D... but these D were never good in crunch time (no disrespect to CT)...

    When the team went to a hybrid D after Sa... came in Zack had guyd like Seau and Porter to play with, but these players were dropped from their team, due to $$$, and or performance issues...

    Hopefully we have some new players that can place their names in the future, in the Ring of Honor over Dolphin Stadium...

    and back on topic... Nolan had a lot of talent to play with in Baltimorte, but had very little talent in Denver and made the best of it, IMO...
     
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  6. Califin

    Califin Well-Known Member

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    Looks to me like a defense vulnerable to the run.
    Shutting down or taming the running game, particularly that of the Jets, is somthing I hope Nolan is placing a premium on, at least before he gets carried away with any lofty offensive maneuvers here in the East.
     
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  7. felly smarts

    felly smarts New Member

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    I see a classic case of "live by the blitz, die by the blitz"

    They were getting burnt on almost every play. I hope this isn't what we will bring to the table this year.
     
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  8. Pauly

    Pauly Season Ticket Holder

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    Good video.

    Lots of misdirection on defense. It seems to be a defense that places a premium on player's intelligence and their ability to diagnose what's happening in front of them.
    I can see it being very effective against lesser QBs, but against QBs who can read defenses and adjust at the LOS quickly like Brady or Manning then I think that that they'll be able to take advantage of the opportunities presented.
     
  9. sandcastle

    sandcastle Active Member

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    Thanks for the video.
     
  10. sandcastle

    sandcastle Active Member

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    Nolan Defense Powerpoint

    The web site Advanced Football Stats has a link for Mike Nolan's 2005 Ravens defensive scheme. It documents and diagrams the complexity of the defense and the needed athleticism from the front 7.

    I also found the following interesting:
    • Safety alignment
    • Have a coach run scout team

    The safety alignment may change Y. Bell role as he's played it over the past 2 seasons. As for the scout team, perhaps Pennington may make a significant contribution this year without ever seeing the field. Having a back-up QB test the new, complex defense every day may address the weaknesses than Pauly mentioned.
     
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  11. Disgustipate

    Disgustipate Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    This is an excellent find.
     
  12. alen1

    alen1 New Member

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    I noticed the same when I was watching him against Pittsburgh. Dawkins came down into the box and blitzed quite a bit of the time. If you had the time to look at the write-up I did, I noted Gruden's statement, which was that Nolan did not hesitate to bring his safety down into the box and blitz at least ten to twelve times a game. I also felt that by watching that game, a lot of pressure would be on cornerbacks and the single high safety. Having 1/3rd responsibilities is going to be a bit difficult for our young guys, so we are going to have to hope for a development from the cornerbacks from year one to year two. I think the safety position is a major issue right now. I think Chris Clemons has the physical skills to be that single high robber but I am not sure he has the mental skills for it. He does not process the game quick enough, in my opinion.

    I also noticed the MIKE and the JACK linebackers blitzing from the inside. A lot of Double A Gap blitzes. A lot of single A gap blitzes done too. What wouldn't surprise me is to see a combination of Karlos Dansby and AJ Edds in the game, with Dansby blitzing and Edds as the single cover linebacker underneath. I noticed that Nolan did that with DJ Williams and Wesley Woodyard a few times.

    The biggest issue that I ran into whilst watching Nolan's defense was that it could be predictable. As previously noted by many, Nolan has players that have specific roles on the defense. The aforementioned Wesley Woodyard has his role as a nickel linebacker, Robert Ayers has his role as the downhill pass rusher, Mario Haggan is in coverage often, etc. I wonder if this is a problem for Nolan's defense because I feel like it can be a bit predictable and it puts the team in a bad situation. Take Mario Haggan for example. From what I saw, he was not very good against the run and that's likely the biggest reason he was mainly a cover linebacker. What the Steelers did was come out with trips sets or bunch sets and spread out the Denver pass rushers and defensive backs. They had a single back set and then all they did was pound the ball time after time against a weak Mario Haggan and a weak Elvis Dumervil. On top of this, Wesley Woodyard came in a significant amount of the time in these situations and IMO, he's not good taking on blocks. You get a mauling offensive line on these poor run defenders and there are going to be issues. You put in Robert Ayers and that means he's going downhill most of the time. I think he (and Dumervil) averaged about three snaps in pass coverage per game. As you know, that's not a lot, so you can expect them two to go downhill. Once you combine the fact that they pin their ears back with the fact that they line up wider than your typical five technique, you're vulnerable against the run because the blockers have the ability to hook you inside for a counter or hook/push you outside to create a rather large hole for the tailback. One would typically think that the inside linebackers can solve the inside run but Denver's inside linebackers were not quality against the run, as I stated before.

    This is all just my opinion. I simply think that if we're going to have this type of flexibility in the front seven, it needs to be executed by guys who have mental and physical talent because if it doesn't, we're going to have another season of defensive struggles.
     

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