TDMMC Sociology Experiment

[Thundergod]

I never want Miami to suck/lose. But if that's what it takes to make some changes (again) to right this ship, then I won't be shedding tears anytime soon. I'm a half empty dude.

[Doc-phin]

I have spent the last few weeks getting much more educated in the X's and O's of football.  I have been dramatically enlightened. 

I am swayed by three things.  I can now see why this front office and coaching staff has made the moves they have made.  We now seem to have a true possible prospect at QB.  And lastly, we can't bank on Luck (even by trade) who in my opinion is so far ahead of the other QB's in this draft it is ridiculous.

Side note - If you think any other QB in this draft is anywhere near as good as Luck, I say your scouting skills SUCK!

With all of that said.  I want to finish what this front office has started and is on the fringe of accomplishing.  I want us to win every game from here out to keep this staff.  You can't see it because it takes all the pieces to make it work, but this staff is quietly and brilliantly putting together a team of absolute match up nightmares.  What they are asking the QB to do is so complex it made my head spin when I learned what they are doing.

I am sold on what we are doing as long as we have a QB that can get it done and I think we do.  If we win all or close to all of our remaining games, it will likely prove to me that Moore can handle things and we can develop a backup plan behind him.

It would be nearly impossible to explain what I have learned, but I am telling you guys that we are in much better shape offensively than I thought.  I understand exactly why the picked up Bush, Marshall and Thomas.  Bess will likely become a full time slot receiver and the wildcard to all of it is the development of Clay and Gates (particularly Clay).

[suck for luck]

I'm picturing you in a swampy area breaking down game film on a holoprojector with a very small green entity with pointy ears.

[Pappy13]

Doc-Phin, you want to enlighten us as to how you came about this insider knowledge? Who brainwashed....er...."educated" you?

[JVides]

I am definitely a half-full kind of guy.

I never felt comfortable rooting for a loss, but must admit that by game 5 I was in full-blown "aw, screw it!  At this point, you might as well lose 'em all".  Despite being a half full guy, though, I had a sneaking suspicion that this team was too competitive for its own good and would find a way to win 4-6 games.  I also had a feeling that the team with a horseshoe as its symbol would luck into a QB named Luck.  Two very half-empty thoughts, I will admit.

[Doc-phin]

Swampy?

Insider would imply that I know someone on the team.  I know someone who isn't in the league but was and has strong knowledge of the game.  I won't mention names because this is a public board.  He went through some details with me for a couple hours on presnap reads, post snap reads and how certain defenses are attacked.  I was surprised at the generosity of his time.

I will point you to a resource that covers that and many more topics, but it only focuses on a few examples of scenarios rather than investigate the variations of all the things going on in each alignment.  What it does well is give you a sense of what it takes to make a play and team successful.  Read the book "Take Your Eye Off the Ball" by Pat Kerwan.  I particularly liked the DVD that came with it because of the visuals and extra tidbits in there.

I got my hands on a few other things that aren't readilly available, but that book alone is probably good enough to get your head in the right place.  You start to see how things that are happening aren't quite as random and lucky as they appear.  It is far more complex than I would have thought and I already thought it was fairly complex.

I keep running out of time, so I will come back and put another post as to some of the things I believe are happening that we aren't so clued into.

[Pappy13]

Don't take it the wrong way Doc, here's where I'm coming from...

" I can now see why this front office and coaching staff has made the moves they have made". "What they are asking the QB to do is so complex it made my head spin when I was learned what they are doing." "I understand exactly why the picked up Bush, Marshall and Thomas.  Bess will likely become a full time slot receiver and the wildcard to all of it is the development of Clay and Gates (particularly Clay)."

Those quotes from your post suggest knowing something that someone outside the organization really wouldn't. I don't care how smart someone is or how well they know football, some things you can only know if you're within the Dolphins inner circle. Now you or him may just be expressing your opinion that you know this stuff based on what you have seen and that's fair, but that's just your opinion or possibly his.

I'm not trying to say he's wrong or that you're wrong, I just wanted a clarification on what made you say what you said. You have given me that and I believe it's a fair opinion of the Dolphins, but I think it's merely an opinion based on what someone has observed, not based on any insider information. That's what I was trying to determine.

[Doc-phin]

OK guys, I have just been too busy to really figure out how I am going to explain this.  I really need a white board or something.  It won't sound as good when I put it in general terms, but let me try to point you the right direction.

I believe that we are trying to out Patriot the Patriots.  Most people will say, that we can't out Brady, Brady and you are probably right.  But if you look at what the Patriots have figured out and the direction they are taking their offense you will see that they are playing a particular strategy.  Brady just happens to be smart enough to understand option routes really well.  It is his intelligence that makes him win, not his arm an accuracy like many think.  Keep in mind it is no accident that we have persued ex-Patriot staff in Daboll and even Mangini.

The Patriots have gone to a (big time) 2 receiving tight end front with a great slot in Welker.  This is the key to creating a match up nightmare.  We don't have Brady but we do have an advantage over the Patriots because we also have a true X receiver in Marshall that requires rolled coverage more than 50% of the time and this makes things much easier for Moore to read.  I also think it is an advantage to have your second tight end be an H back like we have in Clay, but the guy is a rookie and has a lot on his plate so his development is going to take a little while.

What I see us doing is this...  We are going to have an enormous amount of alignments with one personell set.  It will be 2 tight ends and one back.  One of our tight ends will be an H back so they won't know if we will use him as a tight end or full back.  We will have 3 receivers with Marshall on the field and Bess as a full time slot at all times.  Again, we will have a ton of alignments in order to get match up issues because it is highly unlikely that any defense will be able to assign players to each of the players they want and if they do we will always know they are in man coverage.

Once we get our pre-snap and post-snap reads down.  Our chances of success on each play will be very high because every defense has a weakness.  Sounds simple right?  Wrong.  Most teams don't trust their players enough to make all of these reads and adjustments.  These reads are very fast and both the QB and receivers have to make the same read.  Some teams don't even allow an audible, which it is obvious we do.  But look at the players we are getting.  Fasano, Bess, Hartline are all smart.  Marshall doesn't have to be smart, he just has to be able to hold his own against safety help and consistently beat single coverage (which he can).

On top of all of that, we got Bush and Gates.  Bush is already ready to add a whole new wrinkle to the numbers game and he will likely be used like Faulk was used for the Rams.  Gates will be subbed for Hartline against certain defenses and is being prepared for his roll by making him a returner.  Already we are in a position where we will be able to attack defenses in ways that no other team can, but Gates and Clay need a little more time to learn how to do what they need to do.

Then there is the final wildcard in the whole thing.  I think we are going to see a return of the wildcat once Thomas is ready.  I don't think it will be a huge part of the offense, but I think it will be more successful that in was last year and there will be more throwing out of it.  They really need an offseason to get it ready though.  I know that people don't really seem to like the wildcat anymore, but I think wildcat 2.0 will be much better.

I will stay away from comments about the defense, but I do have a better understanding as to why it was to our advantage to go 3-4 and have man coverage corners.

Last tidbit...  Go to this link, http://thefinsiders.com/video , and go to Sparano's press conference on 12/08/11 (yesterday) and move forward to 7 min 30 sec and listen to Sparano give his code language on match up issues and 2 tight ends.  It was awesome to hear him talk about it so soon after I was "enlightened".

The funny thing is how he gives very vague information on what he is trying to do.  Get the book I recommended before and you will start to see that this is far more complex than Sparano is letting on.  Don't underestimate how numbers oriented Sparano is.

[Doc-phin]

Don't take it the wrong way Doc, here's where I'm coming from...

" I can now see why this front office and coaching staff has made the moves they have made". "What they are asking the QB to do is so complex it made my head spin when I was learned what they are doing." "I understand exactly why the picked up Bush, Marshall and Thomas.  Bess will likely become a full time slot receiver and the wildcard to all of it is the development of Clay and Gates (particularly Clay)."

Those quotes from your post suggest knowing something that someone outside the organization really wouldn't. I don't care how smart someone is or how well they know football, some things you can only know if you're within the Dolphins inner circle. Now you or him may just be expressing your opinion that you know this stuff based on what you have seen and that's fair, but that's just your opinion or possibly his.

I'm not trying to say he's wrong or that you're wrong, I just wanted a clarification on what made you say what you said. You have given me that and I believe it's a fair opinion of the Dolphins, but I think it's merely an opinion based on what someone has observed, not based on any insider information. That's what I was trying to determine.

The only thing I can say are that both the coach I am talking about and Pat Kirwan worked with Parcells.  It isn't exactly "insider" info, but I felt like the information was clear enough to make a judgement on what we are doing, have been doing, and will likely be doing.  Sorry if it isn't good enough. 

[Doc-phin]

I have one more post to make and while it probably belongs in another thread, I have gone so far in this one that I think it is best here.

I had a major question as to whether this team actually wants to play for Sparano.  I feel like I got my answer from this...

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/videogallery/66639416/Sports/Xs-and-Omar-with-Steve-Svekis#gl-2

Get to around the 2:15 mark and listen through to around 5 minutes and you will see that Omar Kelly is certain that this team believes in Sparano.

[Pappy13]

The only thing I can say are that both the coach I am talking about and Pat Kirwan worked with Parcells.  It isn't exactly "insider" info, but I felt like the information was clear enough to make a judgement on what we are doing, have been doing, and will likely be doing.  Sorry if it isn't good enough. 

I'm not saying it's not good enough, I just wanted to know where you were getting the info. Now you have mentioned that it's a coach that worked for Parcells, well I'd buy that he might have a bit better understanding of what Sparano is attempting to do than most guys would, but I wanted to hear you say that. That's all I asked for.

Perhaps the "brainwashing" comment put you on the defensive. Don't let it. I was only suggesting that if someone WAS within the Dolphins inner circle, that they might perhaps just be a little bit biased.

[Tenshot13]

Good stuff Doc!

[Doc-phin]

Wow!  Just saw an article by the Sun Sentinel that is eerily similar to what I was discussing about two tight ends and match ups.

I just want to clarify that I am not with any news source, including the Sun Sentinel.  Nor do I know any of those guys.  Nor do I participate in their reply sections (whatever you call them).

They probably just picked up on the same thing from Sparano's press conference, so it is likely coincidental.