Hello Dol-Fans!
While Miami’s Offense showed some flashes of brilliance in “Primetime” last Monday night, the Defense surprisingly collapsed! The supposed “strength” of the ‘Fins team, was outplayed virtually the entire game, and even more distressing…appeared pitifully out of shape down the stretch.
Even the crudest football fan, could easily identify and diagnose the colossal blunders and problem areas in the game, so what has the Front Office/Coaching Staff done to fix it? They released CB Benny Sapp, and replaced him with recentlyreleased CB Will Allen. Let’s be honest… they never should’ve released Will Allen in the first place, but does this really solve the monumental problem areas heading into Week 2? Unfortunately, there’s not a clear Yes or No answer to this question; it’s both! Let’s start with the Yes part. Will Allen is a better “Cover Corner” and provides a knowledgeable veteran presence in the Nickel. The No part of the answer, is that he’s not a great tackler, nor does he offer much by way of pressuring/pass rushing.
HC Tony Sparano said the decision to release Allen was due to health concerns they had about him during the Pre Season, and Sapp was the healthier of the two, therefore they kept Sapp. Apparently, that was the wrong decision… considering how many times Sapp looked like a sap in coverage. Shocker; not!
I applaud the Organization for coming to their senses and resigning Will Allen however, major concerns about the pass rush (or lack thereof) remain. How will that the addressed and corrected? Suggestion - more frequently change the frontseven look and attempt to disguise the Blitzer. They also need to be more creative by adding a Safety or Corner into the pass rushing mix on obvious passing downs/situations and dialing up the pressure.
In short… the Defense was “too vanilla” last Monday, and paid the price. Let’s hope they add some Tabasco to it this week, and renew the Strength of the Dolphins team.
What do you think?
