Another look at the final set of downs vs. Jets

Normally, I'm on to the next game on a Thursday.

Today is not a normal Thursday.

The Dolphins don't play until Monday night so we'll have some time to get to the New England game soon enough. Meantime, I want to take you back to the final set of downs the Dolphins had against the Jets Sunday night.

The NFL Network did a good job of relating those final important downs in a breakdown segment that took Brandon Marshall to task for his effort on those final four downs.

Host Mike Mayock began the segment by showing Marshall's 30-yard catch and run that got the Dolphins to the New York 11 yard line with 54 seconds remaining.

Mayock, former NFL wideout Sterling Sharpe and former NFL DB Solomon Wilcots then break down Marshall not exactly flying off the line of scrimmage on first down -- a fade pass from Chad Henne in the end zone that Marshall didn't get to despite only man-coverage from Antonio Cromartie.

"Go get the ball! Go get the ball!" Wilcots said as Mayock was saying, "I know he's tired. I know he's gassed, but his hand doesn't even go up. He doesn't jump ..."

On second down, the criticism gets sharper with Mayock circling Marshall on the telestrator and saying, "he's just jogging, he's just jogging," on the play coming off the line.

"Now, you've got third-and-9. [The Jets] are going to bring three and drop eight, and here's our guy [Marshall] again. You traded, and paid this guy a lot of money. Beat the jam and get open. It's done. He's going to check is down to the far side. They're not even looking at Brandon Marshall right now, the best player, supposedly, on their team. Fourth down, game on the line, down eight points. [The Jets are] showing five, they're only going to bring three. Brandon Marshall, is he working hard?"

Wilcots chimes in, "No."

At the end of it all, Sharpe gives something of a note to Marshall with the kicker line in his thought to Marshall being: "At the end of the day, you my friend are going to have to bring it."

And here are Salguero's thoughts:

Aside from the look of Marshall, I want to know why the Dolphins aren't in shotgun? Look at the video and every time, even when they have no backs in the backfield, the Dolphins put Henne under center. Why?

Offensive coordinator Dan Henning will speak in a few minutes. Marshall is scheduled to speak today also.

Come back for their reactions.

[UPDATE 1: Henning was apparently not in the mood to give straight answers on a couple of questions today. One of those was why put Henne under center during that final set of downs and no RBs in the backfield, although he did reveal Henne does prefer to operate under center.

I asked Henning what his thinking was for having Henne under center on the final set of downs ...

"Is it better for him to be in shotgun?" he said to me.

"I don't know, I'm asking you," I said to him.

"We didn't have any thinking about whether he's under center or in shotgun. It doesn't make any difference, he works well out of both places," he said. "We had two timeouts left. We have a running game and there's all kinds of possibilities left. He in particular like to be under, by the way. But those plays we called had no bearing whether he was in shotgun or not."
  

Comments

[Victor Barney]

Henne is from Michigan, power-play football, so I'm sure that's why Henne wants to be under center; unlike quarterbacks like the Jets Sanchez, who played open-football at USC!

[Tracy474]

Here's my final thoughts on that stupid Jets game:
Wearing the darker colored jersey (even if it was the famous Orange Crush) while the Jets wore white when it's still hot and muggy in Miami was one of the reasons players were tired in the fourth quarter! Shoulda saved the Orange for an at-home game later in the season, in my opinion.
How come you never see Rex Ryan and Rosie O'Donnell at the same place and time together? Hmm...

[Mark in Toronto]

Because he ate her.

[Lageman]

"DUDE" there are 3 QBS with ZERO PICKS-- Peyton, Sanchize and Vick. Good luck with the haterade....its going to be a long 10 years of "The Mexican Sensation" pouring tequila on Dolphin graves.

[Mark in Toronto]

Sure lageman, 5 1st downs

[dude]

Lagerman...don't forget the other stats, like Sanchez ultra low quarterback rating, his pathetic td to int ratio overall. This season is still young my friend. By the way, are you older than 17? You write like a hot dog.

[Lageman]

I write quickly so you dense Floridians can grasp my concepts. Sanchize QB rating this season is great actually. If you want to go back to last season wecan do that too. We can talk about going to the Championship game with a rookie coach/qb combo

[Lageman]

REALLY HOWS JASON TAYLOR DOING NOW???? WHATS REALLLLY GOOODDD

[Dolfdan13]

All this undercenter vs. Shotgun is stupid. We should have ran the ball with Polite, Automatic 2 yards Period.

And Shotgun actually gives you a slight chance for a bad snap, high snap, and I'd rather have him undercenter with a critical play on the line.

C'mon guys it's Thursday. Forget about the loss and focus on the game Monday night vs. the Patriots.

Go Dolphins.

[Lageman]

I have a good idea....try the Seminole its the effective version of the Wildcat. You might have saw it Sunday briefly while a blurry Green #16 jersey ran by Carlos Dansby 3 0r 4 times

[Lageman]

I cant wait till B-Marsh startsto pout....WHAT A SLOUCH!!! 2 2ND ROUNDERS!!! FAIL

[Lageman]

Another good idea, how bout I introduce you guys to my mom. She loves to suk on Dolphins fans ballzzz while wearing my Jeff Lageman Jersey.

[Lageman]

I might even blow 40+ Dolphin Fans to celebrate 40+ years of the Jets sukin, blowin and chokin. I'm just as good as mom

[Lageman]

Lageman, that and my Klecko jersey hang proudly in my bedroom at the trailer. One day I mightn't able to afford a hat to make it formal outfit

[Lageman]

"LAGEMAN" dont be sad cause you cant handle the juice baby! Take a swig of that Jets Kool Aid itll cure what ailes you! Come up with somethig good and funny! Those posts were horse turds

[Lageman]

My Lageman shirt looks like Monica Lewinskys dress. So many guys have blown a load on it it is permanently stained.

[Lageman]

Only Turcos here are lonely Jets fans with no life or brains.

[Lageman]

"LAGEMAN" let me know when you have something remotly humerousto respond to...im the mean time i will continue to speak true facts abt the lowly FINS

[Lageman]

"LAGEMAN" Your posts are like are like farts in my class 5 hurricane of insults. I really was hoping you guys would put up a fight today.

[Lageman]

Like the 40 + years of the Jets suckin? Or all those years the Jets choked? Or the fact I'm just sooooo f u c king stoopid I don't know we are 2-1 just like the Dolphins? Or the fact only a P U S S Y like me would go on another teams blog? Which do u wanna talk about dumbfuck?

[Lageman]

Just because our records are tied doesnt mea we aret in first place. BEEEIOTCH!

[Lageman]

How did it feel to see Jason Taylor bvitch slap your QB....he even got a gatorade bath!!!

[Lageman]

My parents are so embarrased they bought such a complete failure and ASS-Hole into this world. Somebody who sukscock AND is a Jets fan

[Lageman]

Again your attempts FAIL

[Lageman]

I'm a Jets fan on a Dolphins blog, slurp slurp slurp. And I really and truely believe that I'm not a total ASS-Hole diksucker for being here. Slurp slurp slurp

[bond 9]

if Henne isnt in shotgun because he doesnt like it, he bettet get used to it quick. all sucessful QBs now a days work the shotgun Brady, Brees, Peyton. i sure hope we havent exposed a weakness here. Now if its Henning making the call to not put him in shotgun then i have to agree with ODINSEYE criticizm of Henning. Hes far out. Man...

[Charvas Coley]

The fins were beat when we could not stop the Jets on that last drive! We had them 3rd and long and gave up a long pass. The PI in the endzone was bogus the DB clearly looked for the ball and made pro football contact fighting for the ball!

Marshall was awesome, I agree we should have ran the ball at least once. Why did they not put Marshall in the slot and in motion to give him the chance to get open and make a big play?

I dont fault the player's they got us down there! The coaches should have pulled out there best plays to try and tie the game.

Mistakes were made and lessons were learned. I hope the Fins can shake it off and get better for Monday night!

Honestly, there is not much Marshall can do being pressed on the sideline! If we want this guy to be the star that he is THE COACHES need to improve and try to get the favorable match ups that will enable him to flourish!

Me personally I would like to see Chad Pennington play!

[redsky]

Armando, you should have challenged Henning on using Henne in the shotgun

[Mike W.]

We can talk about the failures in the last set of downs and why Henne wasn't in the shotgun in a empty back field set. We can talk about the timing of using the wildcat or should it be used period. And we can talk about bad play calling and bad defense. But the one play that turned the game around was the 67 yard touchdown run by Braylon Edwards. You see, after the Fins took the lead 17-14. The Jets were on the ropes. Miami was hitting on all cylinders. The Jets were on their heels. They didn't know what was coming next. They didn't know if Miami was going to throw the left hook, uppercut or right cross. Rex was worried, head down pacing the sidelines. All the Fins had to do was throw the knockout punch and the game was over. But that 67 yard touchdown let the Jets off the ropes. It gave them new life. Miami lost control of that game. They lost their edge. After giving up that touchdown the Fins lost some the drive needed to score a touchdown of their own. They settled for field goals. The defense lost some of their intensity. You saw the effect in the Jets last drive with 6:02 on the clock. This was a learning experience for the Fins. Hopefully individually, they will learn to prepare better for their opponent, and help preserve a lead once they get it.

[Scott]

Mix it up some. 3rd down the Jets are rushing 3.. 3... why not a QB sneak. If you look at the replay, their is a hole the size of rex ryans mouth..

[Victor Barney]

In my book, Chadd Henne is the only potential problem on the field that Miami may have! He is no Sanchez in my book and I feel that only time will prove me right or wrong and I hope that I'm wrong, but Parcels has "never" impressed me with his quarterback selections, except for Phil Simms(Tom Brady, if he at least was the one who drafted him)? I don't see quarterbacks coming out of power play Michigan! Great NFL quarterbacks come out of schools playing what is called open football, like Sanchez's USC, where he only played like 16 games, unlike Henne, who played like 45 games for Michigan! No wonder Henne wants to be under center! Watch! P.S. I do agree that Michigan is a place to get linemen and linebackers, just not quarterbacks?

[jeff]

8 defenders back, doesnt that scream run?

[LEGO MY LAGEMAN]

Again you guys talk about running against the Jets, what is wrong with you people? You cannot run the ball against the number 2 rush D in the league! The Jets baby, see ya in Dallas!~

[chad]

defense, jason allen lost this game not the offense. yes the play calling at the end of the game was terrible.

[LEGO MY LAGEMAN]

Jason Allen what a sham of a corner, he wouldnt be allowed to wash the Jets dirty laundry.

[Cooper]

2 things haveto happen for the Dolphins. 1 get rid of the Wildcat. Everyone knows its going to be a run.
2) Get rid of the FLAKE Rick the junky screwed up head case Williams!!!!!

[ARPAS12345]

STOP LIVING IN THE PAST, THE JETS ARE THE FUTURE, COMPLETE DOMINATION , THE TOP DOG IN THE AFC !
GO J-E-T-S ,JETS,JETS,JETS, SUPERBOWL BOUND :)

[GUINESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS]

LOL