What Bye Week Adjustments should be made?

I agree all the way, and I def credit him for avoiding TOs. That's what has impressed me the most about Tanne. Teams keep blitzing him, trying to force him into mistakes and he just keeps getting rid of the ball to his guys and avoiding mistakes like what we saw from Rivers last night. All I was saying is that 17 points isn't much, and after 5 games we've only topped 20 once. I dunno if our defense can hold teams down the way they have so far for a full season. If the O and ST don't give them some more to work with, more points, more rest, etc. then at some point they are going to wear down.

 

Imagine Ricky in his prime in this offense ready to go against the jets...

Bush is playing like crap man, he needs to heal up or get his head out of his coolu.

 

Just keep on drilling fundamentals and technique.

 

Ricky was a physical workhorse. Slamming it inside for 2-3 yds isn't Bush's game, even more so when he's not 100%. I agree Bush can't be reversing field and losing 5 yds on 1st and 10. But the problem IMO is that we don't have anything to combat the 8 man fronts.

 

None of this contradicts STL having 8 in the box on 25% of the snaps Sunday.

 

Then it's time to incorporate another phase of the offense, maybe some power spread, go four wide, and see if this oline can get it done.

 

Getting healthy.

 

Well said, couldn't have said it better myself, except I want more Lane like Christopher Walken wants more cow bell.

 

Agreed.

The best and most important thing we can do during the bye and the rest of the year is just keep working on fundamentals and learning to be prepared.

Even if we go to the playoffs this year we aren't going all the way. So just enjoy the methodical change in culture and demeanor of this team. Any wins we get are gravy at this point, because we have turned the corner as a franchise and that will pay dividends next year.

 

Sure, but I think you can accomplish more than that. I think you need to also study your tendencies and those of the teams playing you and use the only "extra" week you're going to get during the season to make "halftime adjustments" if you will, to implement during the second part of your season.

If all you're doing is working on fundamentals, I don't think you're maximizing the value you can get from having a week of extra time in which you aren't gameplanning for an upcoming opponent.

 

You're being to literal. For example, I didn't mention that players & coaches need to eat, sleep and **** during the bye.

 

I agree 100% with most. Unless they bring in Jake Scott not sure who could replace Incognito. I think they should at least try Richard Marshall at FS. We should be able to activate Jonas Gray soon.

 

If you say so.

 

Of course Tannehill can improve. But having some guys who can create match up problems and make plays on the ball in traffic would help also.

 

Either or? Tannehill was an excellent red zone QB in college and on the two drives the Dolphins even got in range of the end zone he finished them off this weekend. It's a matter of the WRs and the QBs, not some odd case where only one factor matters.

 

must not be watching the same games I'm watching
1-hartline 2-bess 3-moore 4-?

 

The biggest thing is getting Gaffney, a true pro, up to speed. Three receivers sets with three guys who can actually get open would be huge. If we have success passing out of 11 personnel then we can start running out of 11 personnel. This should make the ZBS work even better with one less LB out there to tackles Reggie or Lamar. Bess would instantly get a mismatch agaisnt most teams with their nickel and Gaffney is someone who also runs great routes. Here's hoping Jabar gets up to speed this week.

 

Offense: we should focus on finding that third receiving target. IMO Bush, Clay, Egnew, Gaffney and Armstrong are the primary options. I'd like to add Matthews, but there's nothing to indicate that at this point beyond the talent level we saw earlier. This isn't really an adjustment though. The bye week just lets you devote more time to that development than you can in a normal week.

I'd also focus on technique worth with the OL, primarily in run blocking.

Defense: Primarily focus on technique work with the secondary. My emphasis would be on tackling.

Again this is more of the same rather than an adjustment. I guess they should just be called points of emphasis. IMO you have to trust the plan and scheme you have and work on the areas that you haven't executed as well as you'd like. I wouldn't be looking to make big trades. If something becomes available, great, but poor coaches are the ones that can only find solutions in new players mid-season.

 

Marshall would of had a ton more TD's if he caught the ball better. Also, we never ran fade routes to him. Always to Hartline (lol wut?). I agree with you that Tanny needs to improve his redzone vision. I also think having viable playmakers in the redzone would also help, although not solve the problem.

 

So you're against acquiring better WRs and TE's?

 

I don't know so much about adjustments to be made.

But an emphasis does need to be placed on red zone production, as always. I'm not saying I have been particularly displeased with Miami's red zone scoring, but every single down in the red zone needs to be treated like the baby Jesus. You can't rest on your laurels just because you've had some success in there. You need to keep reinventing ways to punch it in. Red zone scoring right now is one of the only things keeping the offense afloat, IMO.

I have 15 trips into the red zone with 46 plays, and 9 touchdowns to show for it.

Here are the plays I'm talking about:

Houston 1st Quarter:
2-8-HST 20 (4:29) R.Tannehill pass short middle to D.Bess to HST 14 for 6 yards (G.Quin).
3-2-HST 14 (4:12) R.Bush up the middle to HST 19 for -5 yards (B.Cushing). FUMBLES (B.Cushing), recovered by MIA

Houston 4th Quarter:
2-1-HST 16 (9:29) (Shotgun) R.Bush up the middle to HST 18 for -2 yards (D.Manning, B.Cushing). PENALTY on HST 5 yards, No Play.
1-10-HST 11 (9:13) (Shotgun) R.Tannehill pass incomplete short left to B.Hartline.
2-10-HST 11 (9:08) (Shotgun) R.Tannehill pass incomplete short right to B.Hartline.
3-10-HST 11 (9:03) (Shotgun) R.Tannehill pass short middle to R.Bush to HST 9 for 2 yards (G.Quin).
4-8-HST 9 (8:24) (Shotgun) R.Tannehill pass short left to A.Fasano to HST 6 for 3 yards (J.Joseph).
1-8-HST 8 (5:01) (Shotgun) R.Tannehill pass short middle to A.Armstrong to HST 5 for 3 yards (G.Quin).
2-5-HST 5 (4:15) (Shotgun) R.Tannehill pass incomplete short left to A.Fasano.
3-5-HST 5 (4:10) (Shotgun) R.Tannehill pass incomplete short right to D.Bess.
4-5-HST 5 (4:05) (Shotgun) R.Tannehill pass incomplete short middle to A.Fasano (T.Jamison).

Oakland 1st Quarter:
1-5-OAK 5 (10:15) (Shotgun) R.Tannehill pass incomplete short right to B.Hartline (P.Lee).
2-5-OAK 5 (10:06) R.Bush right guard to OAK 2 for 3 yards.
3-2-OAK 2 (9:19) R.Tannehill left end for 2 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

Oakland 4th Quarter:
1-10-OAK 14 (11:57) (Shotgun) R.Tannehill pass short middle to A.Fasano for 14 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
2-4-OAK 16 (5:57) R.Bush left guard to OAK 15 for 1 yard (J.Hanson).
3-3-OAK 15 (5:14) L.Miller left tackle for 15 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

New York 1st Quarter:
1-10-NYJ 10 (10:44) R.Bush up the middle to NYJ 3 for 7 yards (D.Revis).
2-3-NYJ 3 (10:05) R.Bush right tackle to NYJ 1 for 2 yards (M.Wilkerson).
3-1-NYJ 1 (9:25) D.Thomas up the middle for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN.

New York 2nd Quarter:
2-6-NYJ 17 (10:38) (Shotgun) R.Tannehill pass incomplete short right to B.Hartline.
3-6-NYJ 17 (10:34) (Shotgun) D.Thomas up the middle to NYJ 11 for 6 yards (L.Landry). R8
1-10-NYJ 11 (9:57) D.Thomas left end to NYJ 4 for 7 yards (S.Pouha).
2-3-NYJ 4 (9:17) D.Thomas left tackle to NYJ 3 for 1 yard (C.Pace).
3-2-NYJ 3 (8:40) R.Tannehill pass incomplete short right to B.Hartline.

New York 3rd Quarter:
1-10-NYJ 14 (2:29) (Shotgun) R.Tannehill pass short left to A.Fasano to NYJ 2 for 12 yards (K.Wilson). P15
1-2-NYJ 2 (2:10) R.Tannehill right end to NYJ 1 for 1 yard (Y.Bell).
2-1-NYJ 1 (1:51) J.Lane right tackle for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN. R16

Arizona 2nd Quarter:
1-10-ARZ 14 (14:09) D.Thomas left tackle to ARZ 14 for no gain (K.Rhodes).
2-10-ARZ 14 (13:29) (Shotgun) R.Tannehill pass incomplete short left to R.Bush.
3-10-ARZ 14 (13:25) (Shotgun) R.Tannehill pass incomplete short right to B.Hartline (P.Peterson).
1-7-ARZ 7 (3:32) D.Thomas left tackle to ARZ 6 for 1 yard (O.Schofield).
2-6-ARZ 6 (2:52) R.Tannehill sacked at ARZ 20 for -14 yards (O.Schofield).
3-20-ARZ 20 (2:14) (Shotgun) R.Tannehill pass short right to B.Hartline to ARZ 1 for 19 yards (P.Lenon; J.Fleming).
4-1-ARZ 1 (2:00) J.Lane up the middle for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN.

Cincinnati 1st Quarter:
1-10-CIN 17 (7:11) R.Tannehill pass short left to C.Clay to CIN 11 for 6 yards (C.Crocker).
2-4-CIN 11(6:41) J.Lane right tackle to CIN 11 for no gain (N.Clements). FUMBLES (N.Clements), RECOVERED by CIN

Cincinnati 2nd Quarter:
1-10-CIN 19 (8:52) D.Thomas right guard to CIN 17 for 2 yards (D.Peko; D.Still).
2-8-CIN 17 (8:16) (Shotgun) R.Tannehill pass short middle to A.Fasano to CIN 4 for 13 yards (R.Maualuga; R.Nelson). P6
1-4-CIN 4 (7:38) D.Thomas left guard to CIN 1 for 3 yards (N.Clements).
2-1-CIN 1 (6:58) D.Thomas right tackle for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN.

Cincinnati 3rd Quarter:
1-10-CIN 13 (12:27) R.Bush left end for 13 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

St. Louis 3rd Quarter:
1-10-SL 19 (11:17) (Shotgun) R.Tannehill pass incomplete short right to D.Bess (B.Fletcher).
2-10-SL 19 (11:12) PENALTY on MIA-J.Jerry, False Start, 5 yards, enforced at SL 19 - No Play.
2-15-SL 24 (11:12) (Shotgun) R.Tannehill pass short left to R.Bush to SL 15 for 9 yards (J.Laurinaitis).
3-6-SL 15 (10:47) R.Tannehill pass short middle to R.Bush to SL 1 for 14 yards (C.Dahl). P8
1-1-SL 1 (9:46) N.Garner reported in as eligible. R.Tannehill pass short middle to A.Fasano for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN.

One thing that will be interesting to see is if Jonas Gray comes back healthy during the bye week. He should be eligible to practice right about now. He would be a nice red zone option, as he had unusual success near the goal line at Notre Dame (with the exception of the first game of the season, a costly fumble, which was really a turning point in his career).

They also need to see if Michael Egnew can finally get into the game because he is a good red zone threat.

Miami has the ability to line up three tight ends and two backs, and morph that personnel grouping into just about any formation. Michael Egnew and Charles Clay are capable of playing on the perimeter while Reggie Bush has the ability to roll out to the slot, and Jorvorskie Lane is dangerous as a tailback (fumble against Cincinnati notwithstanding).

Charles Clay also has the ability to play Jorvorskie Lane's position as an upback, which he would do while Jorvorskie takes Reggie's spot as tailback and Reggie rolls out to a receiver position. And if they pass out of that formation then the defense has to be careful of Jorvorskie Lane in the flat with a head of steam because one man isn't going to stop him from getting into the end zone. And of course any time you have Reggie out there as a pass catcher, he's a threat. And if they're trying to guard the Egnew fade with a corner, who knows if you have an advantage unless you try? The guy IS 6'5" and 260 lbs for crying out loud.

And of course what you really like is the ability to go full house and put Egnew and Fasano on the line with Jorvorskie and Clay as upbacks, Reggie as the tailback, making it difficult to declare which side is the strength and potentially inducing players into the kind of mistake which allowed Ryan Tannehill to run in for the touchdown off the boot action.

Anyway, I'm red zone obsessed, and so that would be a big focus for me during the bye week...figuring out which options I can put on the field that will help me produce touchdowns. I think Rishard Matthews has to be an option as well.

 

What a difference a year makes....TD's and not just FGs! Wow.

 

This is why I questioned when someone in another thread said that Ryan Tannehill is a weakness in the red zone and near the goal line. Two of the rushing touchdowns we picked up were essentially already earned by Tannehill's work in the red area, putting the Dolphins on the 1 yard line for a high percentage short yardage give. On one of those, he actually overcame a big sack on a missed block and on 4th & Goal from the 20 threw a 19 yard pass to Hartline that I personally felt Hartline should've been able to convert into a touchdown. There was a third touchdown where Tannehill was responsible for lifting the heaviest load, pulling the Dolphins from a 1st & 10 on the 19 to a 1st & Goal from the 4 yard line. From there it was not that difficult to bang it in. Of course, he threw two other touchdowns himself directly, one of which he overcame a false start by John Jerry. On both of those trips into the red zone he essentially did all of the heavy lifting. He also ran in a touchdown that I think he earned more than anyone else on that trip.

I felt like he had the biggest hand in 6 of the 9 touchdowns from the red zone, and I also felt like some of the misses from the red zone (two of the six failed red zone trips, in particular) were instances where he was doing good work inside the red area but was let down by the ground game.

I'm not saying he was perfect but I am saying that there was potential for him to have personally earned about 8 touchdowns on 15 trips inside the red zone, with 3 more touchdowns that were earned pretty much by the ground game alone. I think that's excellent, overall. And I think once the skill players around him get a little better, and he works out a few kinks, he will be a player that is actually particularly GOOD near the end zone.

 

Tom Brady, 2006-2007.

Remember how frustrated he was, throwing to his #1 receiver Reche Caldwell.

 

He won a lot more with Troy Brown than Randy Moss.

 

He was 7th in the league in touchdown passes that year

 

The team won more superbowls. Tom Brady's 2007 season was magnificent, and was one Tyree OR Asante Samuel catch away from the best season ever.

New England's defense was a lot better when they had Troy Brown. Nobody would argue that Tom Brady Pre-2007 was better than Tom Brady post 2007.

 

Which is remarkable since his #1 receiver was Reche Caldwell.

And then broke the single season record when he got real receivers, and went 18-1.

 

Dwayne Bowe would be one hell of an adjustment.

 

This is the problem with this offense right now IMO.

When opposing defenses gameplan to stop some component of an offense, the offense has to respond by using some other component of the offense to attain success.

Think about it. If you play the Falcons and you gameplan to stop Michael Turner and Roddy White, the Falcons can respond by going to Tony Gonzalez and Julio Jones.

We don't have that ability, and we certainly didn't establish it during the bye week. The offense can be shut down far too easily IMO.