Postgame view of Dolphins victory at Buffalo

Are you unhappy with the Dolphins 15-10 victory on Sunday?

You might be because everything didn't go well. The offense was sluggish. The defense gave up a TD drive in the fourth quarter when the game's outcome still hung in the balance. The special teams missed a field goal, booted a kickoff out of bounds and had no returns to speak of.

And yet the Dolphins won.

As I write in this column there are specific issues the Dolphins must address starting today. One issue, in my humble opinion, involves how coaches handle the running back rotation. I get specific in the column so please check it out.

Another issue involves the play-calling with regard to flow. The Dolphins were working the Bills in their base set in the first half and then they went to the wildcat. It changed the flow and the drive stalled.

At another point, Miami was again bullying the Bills on an apparent drive. Then they called for an end around with Davone Bess. Bess who is a fine slot wide receiver with good quickness, but does not have a lot of speed to get wide. The reverse went for no gain.

So the Dolphins, who self-scout, would be well-served to check that out.

"We did the best we could this week to get ready for [the Bills] and they threw some stuff out there that we kind of weren't really prepared for," Bess said after the game. "But our coach put us in positions to be prepared at all times. When we saw the certain coverages, we had answers for them."

Said quarterback Chad Henne: "I think we just need to go back to work and we've got to concentrate. I've got to put the ball in better places and become a little more accurate and we have to and we have to come up with more catches out there and get the ball in the playmakers' hands. Overall it wasn't pretty, but we got some things done."

The defense got most of the things done. It is interesting to me that the unit that was totally revamped in the offseason -- from the coordinator to the captains to starting rookies and others that hadn't started before -- was the unit that carried the day.

Defensive coordinator Mike Nolan showed he can scheme pressure on the quarterback almost immediately when Karlos Dansby collected his first sack as a Dolphin on the game's third play. On that play, the Dolphins brought the blitz with Dansby and Wake on the same side and Dansby came unblocked.

"I was hiding behind [Cameron] Wake, he's a threat," Dansby said. "Somebody's got to make a decision on who to block. Coach Nolan did a great job of dialing up that play, we just put it in this week as a matter of fact and we executed well."

I told you when the Dolphins signed Dansby they loved his ability to rush the passer as well as cover as well as play inside. Then coach Tony Sparano said Dansby was signed to play inside linebacker and talk of moving the player around died.

... Until yesterday.

"I'm all over the place," Dansby said. "You can't really pinpoint me. I've got a lot of guys around me. All I'm trying to do is to help them become better as ball players."

The defense tackled quite well for the first game out, I thought. There were no costly or obvious missed tackles like the ones that plagued much of last season. That will continue to be key as the Dolphins prepare to stem the Adrian Peterson tide next Sunday.

It was interesting perhaps only to me that Nolan employed in the first game what former defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni always hesitated doing: Matching up corners on receivers.

Under Pasqualoni, the Dolphins played a straight right-left scheme. Vontae Davis was always the left cornerback while Sean Smith was always the right cornerback. When I would ask why he wouldn't match up, Pasqualoni would say it created other problems he didn't wish to deal with.

Nolan apparently has no issues dealing with those. And he obviously has no issues dealing with the advantages of the strategy, either.

So Sunday, Jason Allen followed Lee Evans all over the field. Wherever Evans lined up, Allen lined up, be it left or right of the formation. Davis followed Steve Johnson all over the field.

That strategy will get interesting when the Dolphins play passing teams like New England and Green Bay. It will speak to which cornerback the Dolphins feel has a better opportunity to contain the likes of Greg Jennings or Donald Driver or Randy Moss.

One would also hope, by the way, the Dolphins will throw a changeup to this strategy at times, also. That means I would guess there will be times the Dolphins don't match up so as to not be predictable. Nolan will do that, too. He's pretty impressive so far.

Comments

[bootang25]

Odinseye,
Funny the Trifecta gets trashed about misses, but never credit for the true 'acorns' Cameron Wake is a perfect example. He looked unblockable yesterday, and should have drew at least 2 obvious holding calls.

[enrique1085]

Bootang25- True that, everyone is already talking about him, and he hasn't done anything yet!

[mrmikejohnson]

The play from the defense was very encouraging. I knew Jason Allen could play CB in this league. Chris Clemons was all over the field. Odrick played well. Even Misi (who screwed up constantly in the pre-season) only screwed up bad on that one run.

If the defense plays this well against Minnesota, this team is for real. The offense WILL be good eventually.

[odinseye]

Hennings is driving me crazy.

You don't get cutesy or conservative when nursing a small lead in the third quarter. You go for the jugular!

Making it a two score game in the third makes all the difference in the world. You can't get conservative and shy away from this.

It makes the other team one dimensional because they have to abandon their run game.

This in turn sets up our defense to T-off on their quarterback. Can you imagine the sack total yesterday had Edwards been forced to try and throw the ball the entire second half?

[ALoco]

ok all you coaches and mangers leave hennings alone ,if he fucks up we parade him ,meanwhile shut your mouths .the defense was the problem not hennings last year .

[Darryl Dunphy]

Sweet just got a 8,000 dollar fine from the IRS. The real estate company that I invested in has failed to file the income tax from 2008-2009. I'm pshcyed!!!! Please make the jets lose tonight, this is going to be the only thing that can right the ship for me today. No more lip from those cake eaters. They must go down tonight or my day will be completley fckd!!!!!!

[Account Deleted]

I'm pretty surprised that no one has mentioned the play of the offensive line. Someone in here may have but I'm talking about members of the media.

Coming into the opening game i read more than one story about the offensive line seeming to have regressed from last season. I also read from more than one reporter that the constant shifting of players along the o-line might be keeping the o-line from gelling.

But holy s**t the offensive line was stout on Sunday! Over 170 yards rushing and Henne had all day to throw the ball. The one big mistake I noticed was Carey's whiff on one of the sacks. The other two sacks, one on Ricky not holding his block and one on Henne who held the ball too long because of good coverage.

Over all it was a very good performance for a unit that has supposedly regressed. The only thing that worries me is the fact that Buffalo doesn't have a strong defensive line which may have made our o-line look better than they are. The schedule is going to get really tough now so we'll see what they're made of against better defenses.

[Account Deleted]

I agree enrique, Ross should get off his butt, fly to NO and hire Sean Peyton as our new DC!!

So BOTH of you want Nolan fired as DC and would like to bring Peyton aboard? Odd. I think you mean OC and I believe Peyton is a defensive guy. You guys have lost me on this one.

[odinseye]

OK Aloco, we're sorry.

NOT!

Henning Sucks! Henning Sucks! Henning Sucks!

PS: ;p

[odinseye]

NYScott,

I thought it started with a typo DC instead of OC. Then when they kept going with it, I got really confused.

No wait, I mean I realized they were the ones
that.................................

Oh never mind!

[odinseye]

"I was hiding behind [Cameron] Wake, he's a threat," Dansby said. "Some body's got to make a decision on who to block. Coach Nolan did a great job of dialing up that play, we just put it in this week as a matter of fact and we executed well."

How refreshing! We got a beast of an ILB, he comes in and has a monster game.
Talking to the press afterwards he praises his teammates and coaches and lets his own play speak for itself.

That's my definition of CLASS.

PS: I wonder what Joey Porter thinks of his new teammates and coaches?

[Yazzi]

Which One of you is Blogging from a Yacht?
.
.

[bootang25]

I think by far the player I was most impressed with was Chris Clemons. Not that the Bills strike fear with their passing game, but it looked as if the game has slowed down for him. I will be watching him as closely as anyone now that we begin to face the Favre's, Brady's, Rodger's of the NFL. He didn't hesitate when he saw something, and showed great instincts. Combine those things with his speed and athleticism, we may have a pretty good player back there.

[bootang25]

Odinseye,

I loved reading thay quote from Dansby. I said that he and Marshall bring a lot to the table, but their swagger might be the best thing. They both seem to want to let their play do the talking, which is awesome.

[tzey]

"Under Pasqualoni, the Dolphins played a straight right-left scheme. Vontae Davis was always the left cornerback while Sean Smith was always the right cornerback. When I would ask why he wouldn't match up, Pasqualoni would say it created other problems he didn't wish to deal with."
Probably one of many reasons why he's a FORMER DC with the Fins.
Not too happy the way the team played but it was a win. They'll need to play better. my expectations aren't high but happy for the win.

[josephus]

I am happy with the W.

Couple of points:
1) This game was there for the taking for Buffalo and they weren't good enough to get it done. The Dolphins were basically begging them to take it away in the 4th Q and Buffalo's just not good enough. That will not be the case starting next week. Every single team we play up until we get to the Bears is capable of pulling that game out with the trinkets we left on the field.

2)Offensive play calling has been really puzzling to me. When we were coming off the 1-15, I could see it. We were a bad team that had to use any means possible to get an edge.
That is no longer the case.
We get too cute.
We use the Wildcat at weird times.
We do things like Bess' end around.
There were so many games last year where the offense was clicking and they went Wildcat or pulled out a gadget play.

I don't know what that is. But we need to instill confidence in ourselves and doubt in the minds of the opponents that we can play you straight up and just win.

[dfins006]

Hey Mando,

Stop being sooo negative and be more realistic...

Have we heard anything on Odrick's injury? Is it serious?

[finsfan4ever]

It was a good win,against a pretty good D. Henne showed his ability to manage the game. I'll bet Penny was proud of him. It was a Pennington type performance. No mistakes,no forced throws,do what it takes to win the game! I thought the long pass to Marshall got hung up in the air from the wind, just like what was happening on kickoffs/punts in one direction. Don't think Henne takes the full rap for that one. The touch pass to Fasano was beautiful,and we should see alot of that this year with Marshall demanding so much attention!
Henne is just starting to scratch the surface now. I think his future is bright...gotta get my shades!

[ALoco]

a mexican female reporter was harassed by the jets players .

nfl trying to find out .

[ALoco]

a sexual harassment will be filed shortly against a few jet players.
i hope that will affect these players .

[ALoco]

i hope the fat coach is invloved

[ALoco]

NFL INVESTAGTING ???

THE JETS WILL BE INVESTAGTE ?

[odinseye]

The fat coach?

Ain't he the mouthy honky on HBO?

If it's a white coach, Godell will quitely sweep it under the rug.

[ALoco]

ODIN, tonight the tv broadcast will be about the woman reporter .

[odinseye]

Where sre you getting this?

[ALoco]

odin, i am at work,i have access to a lot of news .

[joeywatts]

Just like John Madden said many times.....
"how the hell do you run a pattern short of the first down marker on a third down".... thats what the dolphin receivers did yesterday all day long.... and thats why we can not move the ball..... PLEASE its not that hard......

[Account Deleted]

odinseye, exactly! hahaha oh well.

[ALoco]

some sources they ,there were mainly coaches doing the jokes w/the mexican reporter.pray to god the fat coach is involved .

[kyphinfan]

read the article espn has on it http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/news/story?id=5568266

[odinseye]

Sainz attended practice Saturday as a working member of the media. According to an account in the New York Post, Jets defensive backs coach Dennis Thurman purposely overthrew footballs to players during a drill for defensive backs so that the passes would land near Sainz on the sideline.

Linebacker Jason Taylor, who is not part of Thurman's unit, volunteered to take part in the drills, the Post said. Jets coach Rex Ryan also got involved, according to the Post, when he had Thurman run a pattern near the sideline and intentionally overthrew the coach in Sainz's direction.

Afterward in the Jets locker room, Sainz was reportedly greeted by catcalls and hooting. When a reporter approached Sainz to see if she was OK, lineman Kris Jenkins yelled, "This is our locker room!"

Members of the Jets public-relations staff were present and did not discourage the behavior.

Wow! Classy organization Top to Bottom!

[Account Deleted]

bootang I agree with how impressive Clemons was. And he was laying BIG hits. Not just tackling guys but punishing them for daring to catch or run the ball. It was awesome and I hope he keeps it up. Jason Allen made Evans dissapear which was also surprising. And how about the tackling? These guys seemed to have learned how to tackle in one off season! Or is it that they got rid of all the guys who were missing tackles? Could be a little of both but every time the defenders got to a guy they made a great tackle. Not to mention the swarming that was going on. So many guys to the ball and lots of players backing up the first defender to the ball so even if he missed there was help. Very exciting watching that kind of defense and I hope they keep it up.

[ALoco]

thank you odinseye, i didn't know the fat coach is invloved ,let see what the nfl will do .the fat coach is young and dumb.

now we need a similar thing in MIN .

[kyphinfan]

yeah real class from JT too (sarcasm) seems like when he abandoned the fins he lost all his sense of class and dignity and just got that groupthink mentality. Goodell should sanction them rather than fine them since a fine would not mean anything to them whereas a possible suspension for coach (including Ryan) and or players would send a better message that such behavior will not be tolerated, and it is the jets so the stiffer the penalty the better IMO

[ALoco]

JT THE MARRIED man .he loves mexican women .

[odinseye]

How nice. I couldn't imagine opening week being any better.

We're 1-0 and the jets, well, they're the jets.

What a cess pool. From the 5 rolls on rexy's chin, all the way down to the public relations staff.

PS:Armando, get Katina back on your show and ask her how her and JT are getting along.

[bootang25]

NYScott,

Not just good tackling, but swarming team defense. We look much improved in terms of team speed and athleticism on defense. The great thing is if you had to pick one running back to play against that you must have good tackling along with swarming to the ball, you'd pick AP. I wanna see how we do against him this week.

[Account Deleted]

That doesn't surprise me in the least. Ryan is a classless loudmouth and his team mirrors his personality perfectly. What's with the Jets and their fans disrespecting women so much.

Two years ago they had to put extra security in the stands at the meadowlands because male fans were whistling at girls to show their breasts and if they didn't comply they would be spit on and have beer bottles thrown at them. A couple of the women who had witnessed this sexual harrasment ended up complaining and there was a law suit filed by a victim.

With all of that being said, I LOVE to hate the Jets! I mean how great is it to have a team to root so hard against. It makes me want to watch Jets games because it makes you a fan of the other team. I love that Rex put that target on their backs! It will be fun watching them fall.

[ALoco]

good post nycott,you reminded us of last year incedent .

[Account Deleted]

Yes,, that will be a true test. I hope they're up to it. I hate that Favre is the QB though because they guy has forgotten more football than half of our defense knows today. We have a very young D and I hope they don't get caught in too much over pursuit. Favre loves the pump fakes and play action plays and will definitely get a few guys to bite. Counting on Nolan to have a good scheme in place.

[enrique1085]

JT was confessed to me after a game, he told me he has fantasies about hot Spanish ass, I mean women. He went on to tell me that's the main reason why he loves Miami so much and begged the Tuna for a new contract.

[DC Dolfan]

Person I was MOST impressed with yesterday was...myself. I drank 3 glasses of this wicked punch I made before the game, and 4 during. I never wavered, or passed out (during or after the game), and only yelled at the tv once (the INT Sapp shoulda had). Otherwise, I was a stellar fan, and broke nothing in my house. Quite impressive.

[ALoco]

JT IS A MAN OF INTEGRITY .

[BoulderFinFan]

I just saw the sprano QA today on phins.com. These reporters sucked. Not a single question regarding the offense. Every question about our defense.
Pathetic

[odinseye]

Well, I think it's up to Ray Lewis too right this wrong.

Mr. Lewis should do the right thing and stand up for beautiful women everywhere around the world.

Mr. Lewis,

Could you please Be-atch slap Fat Rex during pre game warm ups tonight? PLEASE?

While you're at it, would you mind knocking all that acne of Sancheto's pizza face. It's sickening, I can't even have snacks while watching this looser play.

What do ya say Mr. Lewis?

[Account Deleted]

From what I've read JT was only in on the field shanningans and lets be honest guys, throwing the football close to a pretty girl so the players can check her out or show off with nice catches isn't sexual harassment. We've all been there, done that. JT was just having fun with some of the younger guys trying to hook them up like a big brother would most likely. I don't think anything will come of that part. Most likely it was brought up to show a pattern of interest in the reporter from the players. As in "it started outside with some flirting and turned into harassment in the locker room".

The locker room stuff was over the line if what was written is true. It's already an uncomfortable environment for women. Sometimes their paper sends them there and they don't have a choice in the matter. They shouldn't be degraded and treated like a piece of meat. That women could be someones mother for christs sake and she's definitely someones daughter. If that was my daughter it happened to I would be pissed.

[kyphinfan]

And what about the other investigation into the Jets offseason workout the hot dog eating Sanches had out west with some of the receivers; seems Rex and Schottenheimer were there could call for loss of draft picks (but we know the commish is a jets fan so it will be swept under the rug or minimalized)

[enrique1085]

Person I was MOST impressed with yesterday was...myself. I drank 3 glasses of this wicked punch I made before the game, and 4 during. I never wavered, or passed out (during or after the game), and only yelled at the tv once (the INT Sapp shoulda had). Otherwise, I was a stellar fan, and broke nothing in my house. Quite impressive.

Posted by: DC Dolfan | September 13, 2010 at 04:51 PM

Quite the opposite of me!
I drank 7-8 Heinekens and a couple glasses of wine. I woke up the baby twice, and pissed off the wife. I then went on to yell at my TV everytime I saw the not so Wildcat, and after every dropped INT. Now the wife wont talk to me and I could care less, cuz we WON!!!

[Account Deleted]

woman

[Account Deleted]

Boulderfinfan, why do people expect the media in todays world to be judge jury and executioner? I'm just saying back only 15 years ago the media mostly reported the news, as in what happened, and sometimes they reported about off field goings on.

But from the sounds of your post you seem upset that the reporters at .com didn't get on Tonys ass about the offense. As if they should've sat there and harassed the guy after his team won a game on opening day to a division rival in their stadium.

Am I wrong? Is that what you want to see more of?

[odinseye]

I vaguely remember passing out on the living room floor after the game.

I woke up at 5;00 am and remembered we won.

I celebrated with a few more "night caps".

[tonyphin13]

A WIN IS A WIN IS A WIN!!!! YOU GUYS IN SOUTH FLORIDA NEED TO LEARN THAT. THE PHINFANS UP HERE IN JERSEY AT MIAMI MIKES SPORTS BAR LOVED THE OPENING DAY WIN UP IN BUFFALOSER TERRITORY!!!!! GO PHINS !!!!!!! THE BIG O CAN BL@

[Cooz]

I'm a fan of ANYTHING that might distract the Jets.

Why?

Because they're the ONLY team in the NFL who actively SELF-PROMOTES THEMSELVES.

For some reason...their coach wants to transform his team into a bunch of guys from the WORLD WIDE WRESTLING FEDERATION.

The NFL has always been a High Class League...
It has no place for Trash talking Coaches.

If the Jets implode then REX RYAN will be the cause.

He's a combination of the EVIL KARATE (Kid) SENsei
and JABBA The Hutt!
.
.

[odinseye]

I don't think I would make a good reporter.

I wouldn't have asked about our offense either and my question about the defense would SOUND more like a statement.

I could just see it now, Tony calls my name for a question and I'd be like:

Odin: TONY! Did you see our DEFENSE?

Odin: We ROCKED!

Odin: WooHoo-YEAH BABY!

Tony: Next question PLEASE?

[bess15]

any news on odrick yet? he was big yesterday hopefully he only misses a week

[ALoco]

watch for that story to have legs tonight tv broadcast .

1-the woman us beautiful
2-the jets coaches look like pizza venders
3-the players are ugly ....all good for a good story .

[Account Deleted]

Boulder I'm not trying to attack you I'm seriously just curious because I've noticed a change in the way people think of reporting in todays society. It seems like we put a lot of pressure on reporters to ask questions that don't have definitive answers which just makes them look either dumb, or like a complete a-hole.

[finfaned]

enrique

LMAO my wife hates football season. I am the same way she can look at me and tell if we won or not. if she is mad and we won i dont care and if we lose and she mad im to mad to give a $

[bill_cnnrs@yahoo.com]

well i was right on about the game, bobby wasnt close. im one up on him. my early but not final prediction for vikes games is : vikes 31-17

[finfaned]

though after 16 yrs i do have her trained shes wears a jersey on game day now. i make her wear it all day too. there was a game last year wherw she took it off before the game was over and we were winning but lost after she took it off. so i tell het she has to wear it until its over