Preseason 2011: Panthers at Dolphins

[dolfan13]

As a dolphin fan to the bone, I want to see Henne play well this game.

Daboll's schemes look pretty good, and he will have all his weapons to work with. I want to see Henne overcome all this BS, grow some stones, and lead this team with a good performance on the field.

[fyo]

I don't expect we'll see much of Daboll's "schemes" in a preseason game. The only flavor in August is "vanilla".

[dolfan13]

i wouldn't agree with that... this team on offense needs as much reps with the real playbook as possible given the shortened amount of time to get ready for when the bullets fly for real.

henne and the offense need to get off to a fast start this season. they can't afford to learn on the job when the real games count.

the early part of this schedule is no cake walk, and if they stroll into it going 1-4 in the first 5 games things will get real ugly.

[mecadonzilla]

I think it's important to this team's psyche for Henne to lead them to some kind of success.  Play as long as the half or more and really try to light it up.  Give this team something to rally and build around.

They're gonna have to hit the ground running come week 1.

[Dave Gray]

What would you consider a successful game for Henne? 

I just want to see him hit open receivers and not throw picks.  I tell ya, it's very disconcerting to see him make bad throws.  Even the ones that aren't his FAULT (and I agree that they aren't), he's at least partially responsible for.  Last week, that pass that bounced off of our TE, if it were throw to the correct spot and dropped, would've fallen harmlessly to the ground.  Instead, it bounces off the back shoulder and pops straight up in the air.  As a TE, you still have to catch that pass, but a better throw makes the ball easier to catch, and less problematic, if you don't.

[mecadonzilla]

At this point, a success for Henne is not throwing an INT.  A couple of touchdowns would be nice, but just some nice throws and no picks would be, IMHO, a huge success.  The bar is set sooooo low for this guy that meeting minimal expectations might shine positive light on him.

[Pappy13]

I tell ya, it's very disconcerting to see him make bad throws.  Even the ones that aren't his FAULT (and I agree that they aren't), he's at least partially responsible for.  Last week, that pass that bounced off of our TE, if it were throw to the correct spot and dropped, would've fallen harmlessly to the ground.  Instead, it bounces off the back shoulder and pops straight up in the air.  As a TE, you still have to catch that pass, but a better throw makes the ball easier to catch, and less problematic, if you don't.

I completely agree Dave that the throw could have been better, but Henne seems snake bit. I see guys like Sanchez throw 5 passes a game that are wounded ducks that seem to find the ground and Henne throws a pass that's 1 foot from where it should be and it's picked off.  The guy HAS to be the unluckiest guy I've ever seen. Sooner or later that's GOT to start evening out.

[Doc-phin]

A brief scouting report on the Panthers...

I watched the early part of the Panthers 1st preseason game to get a feel for what we would encounter and this is what I noticed.

- Clausen did have a silly interception, but looked much better than expected.  He was poised and accurate with all but one pass.

- Newton was really impressive.  His first drive had every chance of being an awesome touchdown drive if it hadn't been for a couple of OUTSTANDING plays by a few corner backs in the red zone.  Newton was excellent in the pocket and didn't take off to run.

- Their tight ends really seemed to be a primary weapon.  Clausen particularly leaned on them and they delivered for the most part.

- Williams was running very well.  He broke a couple of excellent runs early.  Their O-line was way ahead of ours at that point. 

- They have a pretty good returner that they are jazzed about.  There return blocking was pretty crappy and he still was able to get to the edge.

- Their defense wasn't weak but it wasn't strong.  They played solid, but not top tier.

Again, I didn't watch the second half at all.  This time Newton is with the 1st team so it is a bit of a switch up.  Newton's stat line is a bit deceiving.  His passes were much more accurate and creative than expected and he was aggressive at pushing the ball downfield on several attempts.  Their receivers seemed pretty good for no big names.

[Sunstroke]

Really impressed with the Miami offense during the first two drives of this game. Reggie Bush looks good, Henne is making smart decisions and hitting his receivers. He just had a play where the pocket collapsed, and Henne slid up and delivered a strike down the middle to Marshall. It isn't a "clicking perfectly" level, but it is a lot better than what I saw from this unit in the first preseason game. Only a couple of penalties from backup OT Murtha on the negative side.

[MikeO]

Bush can take a 2 yard dump pass into a 20 yard gain. That will be our most succesful play all year. Not complaining but I expect to see a lot of that. Bush will earn his paycheck this season!


P.S....daniel thomas looks terrible

[Sunstroke]

^^^ No argument on Thomas...he hasn't shown much at all so far this preseason.

Vontae has made two great defensive stops on 3rd down to end Panthers drives. Sky's the limit for Vontae this season...he could step up into that upper echelon of NFL corners.

[MikeO]

Lex Hillard is our #2 RB on this team. He's just better than everyone not named Bush

Fasano stinks as well. Get a real TE and this offense won't be terrible this year. maybe not great, but not terrible

[dolphinfamily]

did i hear correctly the dolphins were in a 5 wide receiver set? when was the last time that happened?
Im getting pumped up for the season.

[Sunstroke]

Good performance by Henne...and Daniel Thomas even woke up a bit. Starting D didn't give up a point, and only one turnover...fumble by Moore when he got sacked.

Solid "we can build off it" win for Miami, imo...

[MikeO]

o-line played better. Murtha stinks. If he is forced into any action this year due to injury we are screwed royally. Dude had 3 penalties alone in the 1st half.

Liked what I saw out of Pouncey aside from one high snap.