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Ronin's Review: Dolphins @ Redskins

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by RoninFin4, Sep 13, 2015.

  1. RoninFin4

    RoninFin4 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Well, you take a road win any way you can get it and today's 17-10 victory in Washington is a positive start for Miami. In my opinion, they really need to stack up as many wins as possible before that rough 3-game road stretch that's waiting for them in late October and early November. But that's down the road a ways and what's important is Miami won today, in a place they hadn't won in since 1984. Was it pretty? Definitely not. Was it eerily similar to some of the games last year? Certainly was. Is there a chance the coaching staff is holding back the talent on this team? Definitely. But Miami is 1-0. Today's categories are good, bad and I'm skipping ugly and just going to really bad. I'll also dish out an overall team grade for the day. Players will be in multiple categories. Let's go!

    Good
    - Again, overall, it's a good team win, and despite hardly having the ball in the first half, Miami took over and the game went the way you'd have expected it to go for the most part. I predicted Miami to win 27-13 in DJ's Club Thread. Miami didn't quite put up 27, but they took control of the game, for the most part, after Brent Grimes' interception.
    - Ryan Tannehill delivered some pretty nice throws today. That deep ball to Cameron was spot on and he had some laser throws mixed in.
    - Lamar Miller did a nice job of taking what was there and somehow kept his YPC average above 4, despite some bad O-line play. Nice job on the screen and I thought he ran with more physicality today than some of the games last year. He did well in pass-pro in limited chances.
    - Jarvis Landry. I'm not sure Miami wins without him today. Sounds simplistic to say, but he made some clutch catches, got involved in the run game on a nice play, and that punt return was a thing of beauty.
    - Rishard Matthews had a drop, but he made some tough catches and ran a really nice popcorn/runaway...whatever you want to call it, route for a TD.
    - Jordan Cameron. Balls out effort on the deep ball and he's going to be quite a weapon.
    - Branden Albert was Miami's best lineman today, which for me was a little unexpected given he hasn't played a snap since the Detroit game last year. He moved pretty well. It's a shame that he gave up the one sack; that's more on coverage and for Tannehill not getting rid of it.
    - Jamil Douglas and Mike Pouncey both looked good in space.
    - Koa Misi was about the only LB worth a damn today. He made some impactful hits.
    - Brent Grimes had a nice game. Hard to see what happened on the longish completion he gave up in the first quarter; think he may have been in trail technique, but other than that play, he was the Brent Grimes we saw for the first half of 2014. That INT gave Miami some much needed momentum.
    - Reshad Jones was about the only other player in the secondary that showed up today. Yeah, he stumbled on the TD pass to Jordan Reed (no, it wasn't offensive PI), but other than that, he was seemingly everywhere.
    - Special Teams unit as a whole. They were the best of the three phases today. I thought coverage was solid other than the last kickoff return. Obviously Landry had a TD return on the punt. The only negative was LaMike James fumbling off himself. After the reports of him getting into it with Landry, I wonder if he played himself off the team (he shouldn't be on it, IMO, just based on preseason).

    Bad
    - Bill Lazor's play-calling, especially in the red zone is still sketchy at best. Today, in the redzone, it was downright dismal. I'm sorry, I know a lot of people like him, but this is an area that's been a concern since last year and his play-calling today did nothing to alleviate my concerns.
    - Ryan Tannehill played pretty well, but I think you can ding him for getting stuck in the pocket today a few times, one example being the play where Albert's man got a sack. I also think he still has a propensity to make some poor and dangerous throws. The pass to Dion Sims was bad. The decision to throw to Landry that cost 6 yards on the FG drive was bad (the play-call was horrific to begin with, so I'll put more fault on Lazor for that). Chris Culliver and Keenan Robinson both probably should have had picks, the former being at a time when Miami had nothing going and I think Tannehill was pressing a bit. The Robinson near pick was a lazy throw with bad footwork. Nothing alarming, but if he's going to take that next step to being a top 10 QB, these are the things he needs to clean up and be flawless with in terms of his consistency.
    - Where was Kenny Stills today?
    - Dion Sims; I hope he's okay. Great effort laying out for that ball, but if he's out for a lengthy period of time, that's not good.
    - Run-blocking as a whole was bad. Ja'Wuan James had a tough day (had a tough preseason too), and Dallas Thomas was less than serviceable. Mike Pouncey got worked a few times by Terrence Knighton.
    - The D-line was pretty bad today. C.J. Mosley, IMO, was the most consistent player. Jordan Phillips had a nice rush, but didn't do much the rest of the day. Wake, Suh, Mitchell, and OV all took their lumps (I'm not so sure this is an individual thing more than it is a scheme thing, which I'll touch on later, except for maybe Earl Mitchell).
    - Jelani Jenkins turned in one of his poorest games as a Dolphin.
    - Jamar Taylor had a down day. Stupid penalty on Wake's sack. Stupid PI penalty early that kept a Redskins drive going.
    - Brice McCain, other than that ridiculous interception, wasn't much better.
    - Walt Aikens gets to the right spot quite a bit...but he tackled like Jimmy Wilson today. Not Will Davis bad, but Jimmy Wilson bad.

    Really Bad
    - Bill Lazor's redzone play-calling. Today stunk.
    - Dallas Thomas (otherwise known to me from here on out as Jason Hatcher's B!TCH) was absolute dog $H!t in pass-protection today. Terrible. JHB ought to be on the bench; surely Billy Turner can't fare that poorly at LG. Hatcher raped him all over the field today when JHB was in pass-pro. It's to the point at some positions I question whether this staff could correctly evaluate if water is wet. Seriously.
    - Earl Mitchell got his *** kicked multiple times by Kory Lichtensteiger and Shawn Luavo today. C.J. Mosley and Jordan Phillips were both better than he was, which leads me to...
    - Kevin Coyle. The man is an absolute dunce. It's no wonder so many players (Starks, Odrick in particular) called him out last year after multiple games. You pay Ndamukong Suh $114MM to be a 3-techinque to disrupt the opponents backfield. What does Kevin Coyle do? Sticks Suh at 1-techinque most of the game where Washington cut-blocked and double-teamed him all day long and it naturally exposed Kelvin Sheppard who is below average at best. Washington GASHED Miami on the ground for a total of 161 yards (4.35 team YPC, with Morris getting 4.8 and Matt Jones getting 4.7). Teams will continue to expose this if Kevin Coyle continues to try and play Under fronts. Miami's best look is an Over front in both base and sub-packages. We also saw more of the same with poorly timed Double-A gap blitzes (i.e. 3rd and short, it's coming and it's not going to hit). Luckily, Miami got timely turnovers and Washington is pretty bereft of talent, especially with Desean Jackson out, and only posted 10 points. The other net negative is with not being able to stop the run, you'll see better teams capitalize on scoring more points while keeping Miami's offense off the field and out of rhythm. Will Kevin Coyle recognize this? I'd bet probably not, but who really knows with him and him muddling up fronts like this against better teams is, IMO, going to be the primary factor of why the Dolphins find themselves outside looking in when the playoffs start if this keeps up.

    Overall
    A road win is a good thing in the NFL, but I think we really saw what weaknesses Miami has get exposed today. Had they been facing a team with a better offense and Miami probably doesn't win today. But they did and they're 1-0 with the rest of the AFC East. Hopefully Dion Sims and Olivier Vernon make quick recoveries, and I think Miami got out of the game unscathed other than those two so they should be close to, if not at, full strength to take on Jacksonville in week 2. I expect Miami will win, but I feel like it's going to be pretty ugly. Remember that first half last year? Miami couldn't stop Jacksonville until Blake Bortles started to throw picks. I also understand the crowd that will be like "Ronin, Miami only gave up 10 points, calm down." but Miami needs to do fix their front seven in a hurry. Hopefully they get better quickly and I think Jacksonville might potentially be a tonic for that, but teams like Buffalo and the Jets are looming after they WILL expose Miami's defense via running the football.

    Again, all in all, Miami's 1-0 and won on the road. There's work to be done for sure and I'm interested to hear what the coaches have to say tomorrow. IMO, Miami's scheme/play-calling was a bigger factor in them not beating Washington by a larger count than 17-10. That makes me nervous, but Miami also had some nice performances after some pretty bad ones early on last year as well.

    Grade
    C+

    It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done against a bad opponent. I expect, and hope, for better next week, especially with the front seven on defense.
     
  2. Undisputed

    Undisputed Banned

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    Now THAT is a well thought out objective analysis.

    And spot on!

    :up:
     
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  3. cbrad

    cbrad .

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    I'd change the "Ryan Tannehill played pretty well" to "Ryan Tannehill didn't play that well". Otherwise, good write-up.
     
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  4. padre31

    padre31 Premium Member Luxury Box

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    I think Coyle did change one thing, the Dline played more stand up/read and react in the 2nd half, even Wake did so, expect to see lots of teams attacking us the way Washington did and forcing the secondary/Lb's to tackle better

    Thill had a bad game, frustrating thing with him is under pressure he is spot on, not under pressure he isn't on. He has to learn to eat when there is food on the table.

    ST pretty much handed us the game.

    Think Philbin is in a tough spot, when he counts on his guys, they let him down, so he is forever stuck in a play safe mode.
     
  5. Rocky Raccoon

    Rocky Raccoon Greasepaint Ghost Staff Member

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    This game reminded me a lot of last year. Sluggish first half and a really good second half to win the game. Run defense was not good, and the offense as a whole was subpar.

    The only thing that matters is that we won. It's not easy to win on the road and everyone has games likes this. Good teams find ways to win games like that, and we did. Great job by the team to rally!
     
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  6. Rocky Raccoon

    Rocky Raccoon Greasepaint Ghost Staff Member

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    By the way, good for Philbin going for it on that 4th down in the red zone. It didn't work out but I like the ballsy move.
     
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  7. CitizenSnips

    CitizenSnips hmm.

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    We played, and coached, like a team that read their press clippings. We looked like we assumed the redskins would just roll over and die in front of us. We were significantly outcoached in the first half. This is an annoying pattern of Philbins. He makes good half time adjustments, just wish we started the game like that. We got ran over by Morris in the first half, and then we became stout after that. It was horrifying to watch. All the hype about this dline and we get shredded. The redskins gameplanned us very well and it all worked early on.

    I will say, though, that a good team finds a way to win a game like today no matter what. A lot of things went wrong. (2 big penalties by JT22 that gave auto first downs, the fumble from hell that bounced their way like 40 times). We persevered, we hung in their, and the better team won. I hope the defense's pride is shattered and they realize how much better they need to be going forward.
     
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  8. PhinFan1968

    PhinFan1968 To 2020, and BEYOND! Club Member

    Good schit, as usual.
     
  9. padre31

    padre31 Premium Member Luxury Box

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    And that is the issue, from Philbin's pov, kick the FG, the game is not close, trust his guys to keep the drive going on 4th and short, they let him down..every time

    We did not win this gm due to coaching, the Skins made more mistakes in crunch time and great athletes made great plays, Landry, McCain, Miller, Grimes. In that sense it was more like a College Football game, scheme did not matter, athletes did matter.

    Walt Aiken did fine, Jamar Taylor had flashes, then regressed, flashed, then regressed
     
  10. Disgustipate

    Disgustipate Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I'm not sure I agree with the Suh playing 1-technique thing as a problem, but Kevin Coyle most certainly got worked over hard in the run game today, which has repeatedly been a problem for him.

    It very much appeared to me that Washington went into the game planning on using defensive line aggressiveness against the Dolphins front, and worked really well. Their offensive linemen did a very good job of giving ground to make ground- their linemen were giving up penetration, but they maintained at least positioning on their blocks. Alfred Morris did a really good job of finding the cutback lanes and then making yards after contact with second level defenders. Coyle seemed to eventually have the team play the run more conservatively, and I'm almost curious if that wasn't why Suh was in Philbin's ear like that.
     
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  11. Disgustipate

    Disgustipate Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    This is basically it, I think. Fede ended up with something like six tackles today, and it seemed like it was mostly off of clean-up. He wasn't firing off of the line of scrimmage.
     
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  12. CaribPhin

    CaribPhin Guest

    I like Tannehill, but there's no way his performance was anything but bad. Decision making was just poor and a number of throws just got away from him. His decision making is usually better so there's some hope there but the lack of good ball location on a number of those throws was disconcerting. His touch seemed to escape him.
     
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  13. CaribPhin

    CaribPhin Guest

    I wouldn't even call it ballsy. It's what you're supposed to do.

    [​IMG]
     
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  14. PhinFan1968

    PhinFan1968 To 2020, and BEYOND! Club Member

    Go for it on 4th and 11 on the 38? LOL.
     
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  15. padre31

    padre31 Premium Member Luxury Box

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    A bit like we were playing a Wishbone team, gap discipline mattered.

    Also think Morris is an Elite running back, and Washington came out determined to be aggressive which sort of tells me we are seen as a finesse team..and I think that perception is accurate.
     
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  16. brandon27

    brandon27 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Fantastic read. That's a game review.

    Spot on with basically everything.

    I was concerned last year, and am concerned again this year with our coaching staff's ability to game plan offensively, and prepare our QB, and WR's to play. I mean, this is a Washington defense that didnt have a whole lot of talent on the defensive side, and we struggled, looked lost, and completely useless on offense. Sure, players still have to execute the gameplan and blah, blah blah, but if the gameplan is poor, then the execution isn't going to matter much if you're still trying to do the wrong things.

    I feel like, even though we won today, we were out coached. I mean, As bad as Washington is "supposed to be", they sure had a great gameplan for us. They exposed all of our weaknesses with their offensive gameplan, and apparently defensively as well since our offense looked pretty bad. There's no need for us to get into more details about our flawed gameplans on defense, you already nailed that perfectly, but it sure as hell looks like the same things are happening on offense. Today, we came out, tried to execute, but were flat out beaten. They had the run game shut down, and the short passes Lazor seems to love as well.

    I guess it's hard to really say since we ran so few plays in the first quarter, but to me, we did not look like a team that was well prepared to play today. There's talent out there for us, especially on offense, but things just aren't working, and we never look like we're ready to play on offense. However, that's not out of the ordinary with this team under Joe Philbin and his staff.

    To me, it's a big concern whats happening on offense, similarly to how you've pointed out the issues on defense.
     
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  17. cbrad

    cbrad .

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    Of course, this doesn't take into account differences between the benefit of success and the cost of failure. The humans are doing it right (in most cases). You don't go for it on 4th and 1 at your own 10 yard line!!
     
  18. Disgustipate

    Disgustipate Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I think it was ballsy(or dumb) given who you ran and how in that situation.

    Subbing in a bigger back and having him run off-tackle isn't the obvious call, I think it becomes dumb when you're putting Damien Williams in a position where he needs to find a cutback lane.
     
  19. PhinFan1968

    PhinFan1968 To 2020, and BEYOND! Club Member

    Horrible play call. I got excited when I saw they were going for it, then saw the play and I'm like.....O.o
     
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  20. RoninFin4

    RoninFin4 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    It was open, and I think had Miller or a healthy Ajayi gotten the carry, it'd have been a first down. Damien Williams wasn't the right guy to run the ball there. But, at the same time, tip your cap to Ryan Kerrigan. He made a tremendous play.
     
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  21. Undisputed

    Undisputed Banned

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    We don't tip our caps to other players, we just blame our players for sucking.
     
  22. 77FinFan

    77FinFan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Morris 25/121, 4.8 average. Good back.
     
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  23. dWreck

    dWreck formerly dcaf

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    Then you'd be wrong. He had an okay game with a few mistakes.
     
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  24. dolfan22

    dolfan22 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    It was a terrific play by Kerrigan , but we allowed him to be in a position to make the play . Williams isn't sudden enough or instinctual enough to count on to convert that imo .
     
  25. btfu149

    btfu149 Well-Known Member

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    Jamar Taylor did have those 2 penalties, but it was really good to see a CB tackle like him.
     
  26. ExplosionsInDaSky

    ExplosionsInDaSky Well-Known Member

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    There is no reason why Suh shouldn't be a dominant factor in each and every game he plays. We shouldn't be considered a finesse defense with a guy like that on the D line.
     
  27. jdang307

    jdang307 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I'd say it was less than okay. The offense scores 10 pts against a bad defense. 4.5 out of 10.
     
  28. CitizenSnips

    CitizenSnips hmm.

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    forcing the opposing offensive line to chop block or double team you IS being a factor. The other guys have to make plays when thats happening. And it def was.
     
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  29. MonstBlitz

    MonstBlitz Nobody's Fart Catcher

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    Where was Stills? Tannehill missed him on a WIDE OPEN play. It was terrible. Tannehill looked really bad for most of the first half except for the 2:00 drive. But I've been saying all season to expect Stills to be a disappointment. He was mediocre in New Orleans and he will be sub par here. But I'd love for him to prove me wrong. This team needs Devante Parker to play and be the #1 WR he was drafted to be.

    This coaching staff definitely still is terrible and they will cost this team some games they should win with the talent on roster. Happy Miami won today, but I'm convinced more than ever Miami isn't going anywhere with this coaching staff. The defensive line that is supposed to be so dominant was quiet most of the game. Cousins was well protected and the Redskins offensive line is awful. Again, I want to be wrong, but if that's as good as it gets from the defensive line with the addition of Suh, Miami payed way too much money. Suh is still a great player but it just goes to show there is only so much impact a nose tackle can make, even the best. That line has to put more pressure on the QB if this team is going to compete against better offenses.

    The run game disappeared for huge stretches of the game just like last season.

    Sorry to be so down after a Dolphins win. Tired and cranky after spending more time on the metro to and from the game than I did at the game. And I was ordering a chili cheese dog when Juice scored on the punt return.

    There was good stuff too, but Ronin already covered it. Jordan Cameron is going to be a weapon for Tannehill all season long if he can stay healthy.
     
  30. dolfan22

    dolfan22 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    He showed good and bad , which is frustrating because he has talent and athleticism . He was soft on several coverages , letting the receiver get far too much separation and positioning was off at times , but ... he made some plays ... needs to build on this week , stay healthy and stop the yo yo pattern .
     
  31. dolfan22

    dolfan22 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    Do that each week please .
     
  32. MonstBlitz

    MonstBlitz Nobody's Fart Catcher

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    If you can get me plane and game tickets to ever game, I'd be happy to! :lol:

    I spent most of the 2nd half out of my seat wandering around the concourse of the stadium eating because I must have been jinxing them.
     
  33. Georgia Fin

    Georgia Fin Fin For Life

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    Anybody else feel like we will cut LaMike this week? If he and Landry did get into it and had to be broke up and then you fumble the opening return of the second half. Meanwhile Landry has a stellar outing and Grey is now around. I think he got one more week on the roster than he should have.
     
  34. CitizenSnips

    CitizenSnips hmm.

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    dude should have just went straight to the locker room with his helmet in his hands IMO.
     
  35. Georgia Fin

    Georgia Fin Fin For Life

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    And if he goes then we can look at another TE for depth. Can't see Sims coming back too soon.
     
  36. MiamiDolphin618

    MiamiDolphin618 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Coyles A gap blitzes are the most frustrating thing for me to watch. We already have suspect LBs and then he asks them to do a lot. He's got Jenkins lining up in the A gap at the snap and then sprinting out to cover the flats. It will continue to be exploited
     
  37. Clark Kent

    Clark Kent Fighter of the Nightman

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    Excellent write up. This part highlighted one of my many frustrations Sunday afternoon.
     
  38. RoninFin4

    RoninFin4 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I was surprised James made the team, to be honest.
     
  39. invid

    invid Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Same. I immediately had enough when he fumbled. Combine speed be damned, that could have been the game.
     
  40. Rocky Raccoon

    Rocky Raccoon Greasepaint Ghost Staff Member

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    This chart doesn't factor in some things though. At the time we were down by 3. Philbin of the past would have definitely went for the tie there.
     

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