Yes Ricky was great! John Beck? Not so much. Those are NOT the subjects I’d like to discuss in the wake of the Dolphins 17-6 loss to Tampa Bay in the pre-season opener for both teams. There are two subjects I WOULD like to discuss: Jake Long and the Dolphins defense.
JAKE LONG
I read at least one lukewarm review of Jake Long’s first game action in a Dolphins’ uniform. With all due respect to whom ever wrote that review, I don’t share his point of view. I focused on Long for more than half of the Dolphins 28 first half plays. Lined up mostly against 2007 first round draft pick Gaines Adams, Long was consistently in control. That’s not to say that Adams didn’t test him. Adams frequently used his superior speed (4.6 seconds in the 40-yard dash) and power to put himself in position to make plays, despite Long’s efforts. However, Adams never actually made those plays thanks to Long’s persistence, solid base, and long arms. Long looks well on his way toward being an effective NFL left tackle.
THE DEFENSE: DEFENSELESS AGAINST THE SHORT PASS:
You may have noticed that the Dolphins offense couldn’t seem to get ON the field in the first half Saturday. That’s because the Dolphins defense couldn’t seem to get OFF the field. The Bucs ran off 18 and 19-play drives in that first half. 25 of those 37 plays were passing plays—most of them short passing plays. These were primarily responsible for moving the Bucs down the field. This speaks to two major failures:
1..THE DOLPHIN CORNERS ARE VERY LIMITED.
If your corners are elite, you put them closer to the line of scrimmage
to take away the short passes. In doing so, you have confidence
these elite corners can turn and run with the receiver if they go deep
(all of this is assuming a man to man defense). The Dolphins corners
are not elite and, therefore, must give receivers a substantial cushion.
The Bucs quarterbacks took advantage of those cushions over and
over again.
2. THE LINEBACKERS WERE A STEP BEHIND IN COVERAGE
Unlike previous years (i.e., unlike all of the years Zach Thomas played here), the Dolphins linebackers will all exceed 240 pounds this season. Guys like Reggie Torber and Akin Ayodele not only outweigh Zach, but they’re faster too. However, these bigger, faster guys did not show Zach Thomas-like instincts for being in the right place at the right time against Tampa Bay. Too often, tight ends and running backs were wide open in the underneath zones–the linebackers assigned to cover them appearing not so much slow-a-foot as slow-to-realize what was happening. Hopefully, this was just a function of the players not yet totally understanding Defensive Coordinator Paul Pasqualoni’s defensive philosophy.
The linebacker coverage problems appear fixable with more coaching and better film study. The cornerback coverage problems don’t appear fixable with the current group of players on the team. That’s going to put a lot of pressure this year on Joey Porter and the Dolphins other pass rushers to get to the quarterback often. If the Jason Taylor-less pass rush isn’t excellent, The Dolphins will be hard pressed to consistently defend the pass in 2008.
JHS
Smitty's Sightings 