Playing A Broken Record
This article is going to sound a lot like a broken record because I am going to repeat – AGAIN – that the Dolphins must find a way to start off the game strong. The problem of the ‘Phins coming out flat and unable to perform in the first quarter of a game is a broken record, is a broken record, is a broken record…and the season opener was another skip of the same note. Miami needs to slam their hand down on the table this week, make the needle jump this scratch, and move on to the rest of the song called “Playoffs”.
I wish I could say it’s just one side of the ball. However, the entire team, along with the coaches game plan, is to blame for Miami playing only two quarters in most games. What really boggles my mind is that under Philbin’s guidance, Miami has actually done a very good job making adjustments in the second half, which is a credit to the coaching staff. So it’s not like they don’t know what they are doing, but the coaches need to start having a better opening game plan.
On offense, the Dolphins need to focus on just getting first downs to start of the game. They can’t keep starting games stacking up three and outs. My own “2 cent” suggestion is to start the game pounding the ball ( we had all of TWO carries in the first half of week 1) and if successful, draw the defense in further with some screens. We need positive yardage on early downs and we need to give our Defense some splinters from sitting on the bench.
The other problem the Dolphins seem to have is that they play to the level of their opponent. Last season, when the Dolphins played against the Packers and the Broncos, are prime examples of Miami stepping it up against two very good teams. For whatever reason, the players came out and started strong against those two teams. And even though they did not win those two games, they were able to go punch for punch and have the lead on both for a majority of the game. However, when they played teams like the Redskins and the Jets, who were not very good, they came out flat and trailed on the scoreboard before they woke up and started playing better football. Consistency is the axiom of every coach and consistency is the constant complaint on Miami’s game.
This upcoming Sunday the ‘Phins will be playing the Jaguars, and this is a game where the best sportsbooks in the world are already favoring the Dolphins by -6 on the road, and on paper that means they should win. The Jaguars have been the laughing stock of the league for many years, but they played the heck out of us last year and are not going to lay down and die. So the Dolphins need to act like the better team, come out strong, and not look back. Do the rest of the Miami Dolphins news fans think the ‘Phins can actually fix this broken record, or are we going keep repeating the same mistakes as long as Philbin is the head coach?
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