Same old Dolphins?

[Dave Gray]

Take this post with a grain of salt, but watching the pre-season game this week, things felt very samesy to me.

I know you can't really judge anything.  I get all of that, so I'm just kinda thinking out loud, but I couldn't help but feel that the play looked so much like what we've seen in the past.

The offense comes out and just can't do anything.  We can't really block on the line, we don't seem to tackle well.  We make 4 FGs.  But we end up winning the preseason game late, because our 3rd team of bums outmatch the other guys and they make a mistake.

I know I can't expect us to try to make big plays and show our hand in the preseason, but I just feel like I've seen this show before.

[Spider-Dan]

I think it probably should have felt very similar to last year, as (AFAIK) none of our offseason impact acquisitions stepped on to the field.

I suppose you could argue that Mike McD should have made an instant impact with his greatly improved coaching; personally, I don't think Xs and Os were ever Flores' problem.  Like the rest of Belichick's disciples, his problems were with personnel management/soft skills.

[EDGECRUSHER]

We all would prefer a 73-0 victory but realistically, I just want them to avoid injuries and Sportscenter's Not Top 10.

[Dave Gray]

I suppose you could argue that Mike McD should have made an instant impact with his greatly improved coaching; personally, I don't think Xs and Os were ever Flores' problem.

I disagree with this, partially.  Yes, Flores had management issues.  I think he was a good player motivator, but I think that his on-field play calling, specifically the Xs and Os, were terrible.  His play-calling, on-field decision-making, and time management, challenge use, etc....that stuff was really bad.

I've said the same thing 100 different ways over the years, but he coached like he was from a different era.  ...managing the clock, playing to elongate the game, pinning with field position.  The NFL just isn't built that way anymore and he's a relic from a dead era.

[CF DolFan]

I thought this was different and reading and listening to the professionals I thihnk it was. We ran vanilla plays, becuase that's what you do in the preseason, but we had play designs to get recievers open. We had a rookie qb play the whole game. A rookie in his first ever NFL game was the starter. That's pretty cool that he was able to perform let alone get better as the game went on. The team looked prepared and the coach looked like he had things in control. I was perfectly happy with it considering almost 20 of our starters didn't touch the field. The real fight was in earleir in live practice where our 1st offense moved the ball pretty well especially in the passing game.

McDaniel using the Force
https://twitter.com/i/status/1558847110136692737

[Tenshot13]

I thought this was different and reading and listening to the professionals I thihnk it was. We ran vanilla plays, becuase that's what you do in the preseason, but we had play designs to get recievers open. We had a rookie qb play the whole game. A rookie in his first ever NFL game was the starter. That's pretty cool that he was able to perform let alone get better as the game went on. The team looked prepared and the coach looked like he had things in control. I was perfectly happy with it considering almost 20 of our starters didn't touch the field. The real fight was in earleir in live practice where our 1st offense moved the ball pretty well especially in the passing game.

McDaniel using the Force
https://twitter.com/i/status/1558847110136692737

Him staring down the Bucs player was priceless, I was laughing pretty hard on that one when I saw it.

As far as Dave's assessment, I feel like we were watching different games.  The offense looked like it knew what it was doing out there, it all seemed so calculated.  We had a 7th round rookie playing all game and he looked nothing like a 7th round rookie.  Sure, drives stalled and mistakes were made, but I saw a lot more mistakes on the defense than the offense.  The defense was feast or famine.  We were halfway through the second quarter and the offense had 2 drives under it's belt.  That's unacceptable.  Then, boom, two turnovers back to back one for a scoop and score.
 
I thought it was a good start for a coach in his first season, he looked like he belonged there.

[Dave Gray]

Sure, defense points -- that's what we do.

But also, 4 FGs is what we do.  3 points in the first quarter.  I know none of it matters and McDaniels didn't look flustered or lost.  It's just I'm so tired of watching our first several drives and having no TDs.

[CF DolFan]

The lack of penalties on offense is a great accomplishment even if nothing else had changed but it has.

[Dave Gray]

I want to see Tua in the game.
I want to see multiple attempts to go downfield throughout the game in regular intervals.
I want to see us attempt to get first downs, rather than to play for field position.

None of those things really apply to game one of the preseason.  But that's my bellwether for the season.

[Phishfan]

I was actually excited to watch the game until it started. Wake me week 1.

[fyo]

The Dolphins had the absolute worst offensive line last season (ranked 32nd by PFF). For me, that is the #1 issue for this season. If the line winds up last again, the offense is going to look like crap.

Terron Armstead and Connor Williams were brought in to bolster the line for a combined $100 million or so. Neither player so much as sniffed the field.

Instead, we got last year's 7th round draft pick (Coleman) playing 93% of snaps at left tackle. He was joined by (left to right) Eichenberg, Deiter, Hunt, and Jackson - all of whom got exactly two series before they were pulled.

Coleman had some pretty bad plays and while the right side didn't look bad, they also didn't really get any of that snazzy outside zone blocking going for our running game. The replacements for the four starters looked a bit too much like their movie namesake, but we already knew depth was going to be an issue on the offensive line, so no surprise there.

My takeaway is that we still don't know anything. I'm just glad the center exchanges with Deiter all worked out, but since it wasn't Tua back there even that doesn't really mean much.

Overall, I liked the idea of giving Coleman (almost) the whole game. If he is what our depth looks like at tackle, he needs all the reps he can get. Alternatively, if he's borderline not making the roster, the coaches need to see as many reps as possible from him in order to judge his trajectory. Realistically, he's going to have to beat out at least one of Kindley, Robert Jones, and Greg Little.

The concept seems similar to the decision to give Skylar Thompson the whole game. Is he good enough to make the final roster?

[Dolfanalyst]

After last night I would say no way.

Granted the Eagles weren't using their starters, but the dominance exhibited wasn't anywhere near fully explained by that.  And that was without Waddle, Edmonds, and Armstead, three key pieces of the offense, and presumably without using the entirety of the playbook.

This team looks to have made a quantum leap offensively.