Miami's (Super Friend) Dolphins fall to Seattle's (Legion Of Boom) 10 - 12

The Miami Dolphins had an extremely tough opening day task at the dreaded perennial playoff powerhouse Seattle Seahawks, and their richter scale, record breaking, NFL house of rabid fans. Adam Gase's new Dolphin team most definitely came to play in shutting down Russell Wilson and 2015's fourth highest scoring offense, but in the end the (Super Friends) fell just shy in a highly competitive battle on the Legion of Dooms turf.

Seattle sacked Ryan Tannehill four times while the Dolphin quarterback went 16 of 29 for 186 yards with a touchdown run and zero turnovers. The Dolphins ran the ball 20 times for 64 yards. Arian Foster accrued 100 total yards from scrimmage on 16 touches.

Russell Wilson was relentlessly harassed throughout the day via the Dolphins defensive line whom did an excellent job of corralling the multi-dimensional severe threat. (Especially in the case of free agent acquisition Mario Williams) who forced many a Russell Wilson pass into incompletions, interceptions and/or into the stadiums front row of fans.

Wilson went 27 of 43 for 258 yards with a two yard touchdown pass (vs Bobby McCain), an interception to (Isa Abdul-Quddus), and a fumble (Kiko Alonso recovery) while being sacked on three occasions via (Suh, Super-Mario, Jason Jones/Jordan Phillips). Seattle rushed for 108 yards on 32 attempts and possessed the ball for 34:32 to Miami's 25:28

On first down at one minute into the (second quarter), Kenny Stills easy 71 yard Touchdown drop was extremely hurtful. Miami was down 0 - 3 on the scoreboard. Tannehill was sacked on the following play and the offense went three & out, rather than up 7 - 3 versus the mighty home team.

While trailing by a score of 6 - 3 one third of the way into the 4th quarter. Miami's kicker Andrew Franks missed a chip-shot (27 yard) Field-Goal attempt. The kick was actually blocked, but in reality the boot was a lame duck,(spiraling knuckle ball) that was going to miss wide left. The block actually changed the direction of the ball more accurately toward the uprights.

These two (EASY) missed opportunities equated to 10 easy points taken off the board. Everything else the same. Miami's Dolphins could very well have won 20 - 12 on opening day in Seattle rather than falling by a score 10 - 12.

In the end;
It took (a turnover-less) Ryan Tannehill just shy of 56 minutes to drive Miami 86 yards into the End-zone for the TEAMS first 2016 go ahead Tannehill Touchdown run. Against the leagues leaders in defensive scoring for the last 4 consecutive years!

It took Russell Wilson 59 and a half minutes to get his team into the End-Zone for 2016's first time, and the go ahead/winning touchdown's twelfth point.
Against what was goin-in. (A questionable Dolphin defense)!?


Appears as though that Miami might be able to compete and play with the BIGG-BOYZ!!!

A VALIANT EFFORT, (GOTTA GIVE'EM SOME CREDIT)!!!

GOFINS!!!


PS;
The Bills, and Jets, lost to lesser competition, and NY was at home.
GOOAAHHH Arizona Cardinals !!!

Miami Dolphin QB Tannehill Erases 4th Quarter Failures

"It’s huge," Ryan Tannehill said. "We’ve had a couple situations this year where we had a chance to do it and we weren’t able to do it. To finally go out and execute it and come away with a win, it feels great."  Tannehill completed 7 of 9 passes for 156 yards and the Dolphins scored 17 points, overcoming 14-7 and 21-14 deficits, in a 4th quarter barrage that left Miami fans wondering where this team was hiding for almost 4 weeks.

Joe Philbin said it best, "You need to win some games like this. I think it's important for a quarterback to do this, any quarterback. Ryan Tannehill certainly, but any quarterback in this league, I think has to demonstrate an ability to do this." As Riverdog pointed out in a comment earlier, it was the first time the Dolphins won in 49 opportunities when trailing by seven points or more entering the fourth quarter.

This has been the missing link in Miami since 12/18/2005… The starting QB in that game against the Jets was Gus Frerotte, but Sage Rosenfels stepped in for the injured Frerotte and threw a 50-yard TD pass to Marty Booker to clinch the victory. Sage Rosefels, not Gus Frerotte, Joey Harrington, Daunte Culpepper, Trent Green, John Beck, Cleo Lemon, Chad Pennington, Chad Henne, Tyler Thigpen or Matt Moore, ten QBs and none could pull off the illusive come-from-behind victory.

All elite quarterbacks in the NFL are judged on the ability to bring a team from behind in the fourth quarter and win. This trait separates all ten wannabe QBs listed above from names like Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Payton Manning and Tom Brady. The first and foremost stat defining a great quarterback is wins. At the end of a game when a crucial plays are the difference between winning and losing, the great ones find a way.

One come-from-behind victory does not place Ryan Tannehill in the elite status, but it does bring hope the rookie has what it takes to carry a team when the pressure is on. For the entire season, fans in Miami have been waiting for a sign that Tannehill has the special something missing since 2005 and more realistically since Dan Marino retired in 1998. Sage Rosenfels is never going to be associated with the word "elite" but perhaps Ryan Tannehill will.

There were many other reasons for the Dolphins victory, the running game finally got on track with 189 yards and a 6.8 average. Reggie Bush and Daniel Thomas finally developed continuity as a tandem gaining 147 yards. The defense held Marshawn Lynch to only 46 yards on 19 carries for a season low 2.4 yards per carry.
 
The Seahawks had every opportunity to beat Tannehill and Miami. Russell Wilson went 21 for 27 for 224 yards and two scores, increasing his season total to 17 TD passes. He also ran for 38 yards. Old Dolphin nemesis Leon Washington took a kickoff untouched for a 98-yard touchdown. The return came after Tannehill threw an awful interception across his body in the endzone that was fortuitously nullified by a roughing the passer penalty on Seattle safety Earl Thomas leading to a Miami score.

The Dolphins and Tannehill could have thrown in the towel, but the 4th quarter showing was the rise from the ashes Phoenix game Tannehill and Miami needed after losing twice in overtime and once by 4 points. These are the defining games that set great quarterbacks apart.

Seattle entered the game with a defense ranked No. 2 in points allowed and No. 3 in total yardage. It was not a victory against a lowly defense and once Miami reverted to the fast paced, no huddle offense that served the Dolphins so well early in the season, the Seahawks quickly wore down and had no answer.

There is talk of playoffs still alive in Miami, but those words mean nothing with the Patriots looming on Sunday. The Dolphins and Tannehill have won one game under come-from-behind 4th quarter pressure, the real test is when Tom Brady is slinging the rock on the other sideline. Great QBs do not shy away from these games, they seek them out, the great ones know, to be the best, they must beat the best.

The Dolphins will know Ryan Tannehill has arrived when games against the Tom Brady’s of the NFL are no longer viewed as easy Patriot victories. It will come, when Tannehill and his Miami Dolphin 4th quarter comebacks are feared in a league where seven points or less is most often the margin of victory.

The first step came Sunday, the next step will be huge…

Forget Seattle, bring on the Patriots!

5 Keys to Resurrecting the Miami Dolphin Offense

Talk in Miami is centered around the regression of Ryan Tannehill and the stagnation of the Dolphin offense.

The Miami Dolphin wide receivers cannot get off press coverage. Miami does not have physical receivers and secondaries are pressing tight on the line of scrimmage, taking away Ryan Tannehill’s bread and butter quick throws. The culprit has been easy for defensive coordinators to pinpoint and Miami does not have an answer.

Initially, Houston timed up Tannehill on three step drops and were able to bat balls in the air leading to INTs and broken plays. Tannehill overcame that by finding throwing lanes and not staring down his intended target. Defensive backs were giving enough cushion for Davone Bess and Brian Hartline to release from the line on quick slants and back shoulder sideline routes.

Not knowing the Dolphins tendencies caused defenses to play honest early in the season, but much has changed in the past month. By applying physical press coverage, defenses have taken away the three step drops. By bringing an eighth man into the box, defenses have added an extra run defender. These two changes have virtually shut down the Miami offense.

Ryan Tannehill’s inexperience has him reverting to the same audible calls against known defensive alignments. By presenting Tannehill with certain packages, defenses know the checks he will call and move defenders to take away the play after the snap.

These are the keys to Miami coming out of the offensive funk and using their own tendencies against defenses. 

1. Drive off press coverage by throwing medium to long range on 1^st down.

a.       Play action off typical 1^st down run.

b.      Two receiver route to max protect.

c.       TE and RB slide to flats for second options after blocks.

       2. Load the field with 4 and 5 WRs early in the game on early downs.

a.       Mix with option number 1 above, using the same personnel.

b.      Split TE and RB into slot.

c.       Use pick slats on 3 step drops.

       3. Use a fast tempo offense in 4 and 5 WRs formations to pull the 8^th man out.

a.       2^nd and 3^rd down run the plays fast and furious.

b.      Do not allow the defense to set.

c.       Script plays for faster tempo.

       4. Use the QB draw early in the spread formation to initiate a defensive spy.

a.       The Draw is a called play, delayed draw.

b.      Sprint draw.

c.       Spread option, wildcat back in motion.

       5. Change Tannehill’s routine audible calls into play fakes off the old favorites.

a.       Play action off plays normally called.

b.      Self scout to see tendencies and play off them.

c.       Keep changing; don’t fall into same tendencies during the game.

Following these five keys the Dolphins can force defenses out of the box and dictate tempo.

One of the biggest problems for Miami has been allowing the defense to control the line of scrimmage. It is not always the fault of the linemen because when an offense becomes predictable defenses shoot known gaps. The problem for defenses, like offenses, is these can be exploited by using the motion to leverage defenders in the direction they are already moving.

The Miami Dolphins have been making the fatal mistake of not taking their own tendencies one step beyond the fix. Many times teams will know what they tend to do in certain situations, but the fix is not the obvious first response. Like a great chess player, the team must be one step further ahead. When adjusting for an obvious tendency, the team must anticipate the defensive adjustment as well and go one step further.

Adjust for the fix of the tendency... The concept is foreign to those not inclined to the chess board, but for those with understanding of the age-old game, the strategy is well known. Think a little further ahead than just the next move. Anticipate what the opponent will do to adjust and attack the adjustment.

Joe Philbin gives the impression of being one of the more cerebral coaches the Dolphins have seen since Don Shula, but he has issues that have been hard to overcome. The last two weeks have been quick turn around games with a rookie QB not 100% healthy. There has been little time to install layers in the schematics and Miami has been caught unprepared.

These are double rookie mistakes; one for the coach not recognizing the need to use the bye week to install another layer to the offense and two by a rookie QB being limited in his ability to absorb and process the extreme amount of data. When a QB has two off-seasons and one year as a starter under his belt he has seen three times the number offensive situations as Ryan Tannehill. This is the issue with an inexperienced rookie on a young team.

There is the sentiment that if Andrew Luck can do this and Tannehill cannot than Tannehill is not in the same league as Luck... Wrong! Luck started 37 games at Stanford. Over a full NFL season's worth of games compared to Tannehill's 19. That's the reason most NFL personnel people say a QB should have at least 30 collegiate starts. The game experience is invaluable and cannot be simulated.

Tannehill showed the abilities required for quarterbacking in the NFL, but simply does not have the experience and it has caught up with the Dolphins. He is too easy for defenses to scheme around and unfortunately there is little the Dolphins can do but have patience and spoon feed him situational football.

With ten days to prepare Miami should come out against the Seahawks with some new wrinkles, but Seattle is a tough physical team. A receiver corps that is not good at getting off press coverage represents a huge problem against Seattle. The Seahawks have perhaps the most physically daunting secondary in the NFL and it will prove a mighty challenge for the Dolphin offense.

Much of the media and fan chatter has begun to fall on the legitimacy of the personnel in Miami. Jeff Ireland enjoyed a reprieve while the Dolphins won three consecutive games, but the bulls-eye is refocusing on the Miami GM. Once again this is misguided, the talent level is simply not that much different between teams in the NFL with a few very exceptional exceptions.

It all centers around the quarterback. When there is exceptional performance from this position the entire team plays well. When there is mediocre performance at this position the team plays mediocre and when it is bad, it is bad... That does not mean Ryan Tannehill is bad or was not a good draft pick for the Dolphins. It means, he has the skill for the position but is seriously lacking in the experience and it is coming to light as the season progresses.

There is no choice Dolphin fans... Endure these rough times as Miami fans have learned to do and realize, there are better days ahead when Ryan Tannehill has about 40 games of experience.

Looking at the team and the QB in these terms sets a time-line realistically aligned with expectancy. The Dolphins are a couple years away, again. It seems to Miami fans as the never ending story, but the kid has the tools and the coach has the smarts.

It may seem impossible for fans to fathom, but things are looking up in Miami...