Slow starts, Offensively

Alot of talk about this in the local media, and for good reason. The stats are out there, and they're ugly.

Anybody but me put the lion's share of blame of Jeff Davidson? Doesn't he script the first dozen or so plays?

IMHO, we have the most talented offense that we've had since 2003. They play terribly in the first quarter. Execution, or gameplanning?

 

It is harder to execute with shitty gameplaning and playcalling.

We have to convert 3rd downs and we have to stop the other team on 3rd downs. Of course, if we don't get to third downs much on O (not likely in this O) then shitty 3rd down conversions aren't so terrible. An if the other team get's 1st downs on 1st and second downs, then they don't get stopped either. pffft

 

I have no faith in DAvidson to turn it around, either. At least Henning had a salty history - he'd proven he could make creative changes. He's doing it now - with another club.

Maybe Fox is more involved than we think - and his game management style is OK by me, but it's not working if you get zero first downs until you're down by 2 possessions.

And speaking of game management, as down as I've been on Delhomme, he seems a great fit for this type of play. Suck, then get behind, then use your cajun ju-ju and leadership to rally the troops and make shit go.

Innaccurate? Yes. Inconsistent? Yes. Goofy? Yes. Able to rally the troops when the close game gets too close and squeak out a win? Yes.

 

Jake does do pretty good in the 2 minute (conversely, McNabb does terrible, as does others). Wonder if Davidson does much at all as far as playcalling, prior or whatever durring this time. If not, then we know who playcalls better, kinda, huh.

 

I would like to see us be a little more creative to start these games. We generally use a very basic variety of plays to probe what the defense is doing, instead of being in "attack" mode.

We're not designed to jump on people. It's been the Fox mentality. It was the same with Henning. It works out fine when the defense is playing at a high level, but obviously presents problems when the defense has a day off. As for third downs, I'm hesitant to put all the blame on Davidson because we had the same problem in Henning's last year. As much as we all love Jake, his struggles in these situations continue to be the elephant in the room for many people. You're never going to be a good offense if you can't convert and keep your team on the field, regardless of who is calling the plays.

 

IF we lose the toss this week, I'd like to see us start the game off with an onside kick. Then I'd like to see us run a single wing offense with Deangelo at QB and Stewart and Smith at RB.

 

I am no Henning hater and don't think he was the root of all evil when he was in Carolina, but it is worth noting that his Dolphins are exactly 1.8% better converting third downs than Carolina is currently which puts both teams in the lower part of the NFL. I would also argue that he has better personnel in Miami this year overall than he had in Carolina in 2006.

 

I don't know that I can call Jake the elephant in the room for 3rd downs - although he contributes.

I kinda think the problem with 3rd down conversions has as much to do with sucking on 1st and second down - not excluding penalties, stuffed runs, sacks, and Jake sucking.

 

Definitely worth noting.

 

yeah, that trickery (much of which is attributed to the QBs coach, Lee, as college convention) doesn't really sub for long drives or third downs.

They have a solid unit there. Credit to them for identifying a QB in Pennington who had something left and getting him to speed quickly, that's been a big part of it.

As far as personnel, a lot of people who talk glowingly about Henning forget that he chose that group for 2006, and that was realistically what he expected to field other than the Wharton injury. You can't discount the personnel direction of the offense for being a part of what happened with Henning and Maser, and certainly some of the personnel issues with guys like Shelton and a few others, Henning's being cut off from the press, and other things played a part.