Phins Secondary Scorched in Blowout

M.J.

5 years ago

The Cleveland Browns proved that they have a far more talented roster than the Miami Dolphins in their Sunday matchup. Ohh boy, they sure did prove it. The Phins 41-24 beat down opened with 4 of the Browns’ first 5 offensive possessions setting up a 28-0 lead.

To the Dolphins credit, they pulled within 11 points of tying the game after a series of Browns blunders. Then Cleveland snapped out of their funk and pulled away for good. Despite the late tease, the hope of Miami making it a close game was never a reality due to an anemic rushing attack and porous pass defense.

Is it the chicken or the egg with Ballage and the O-Line

How many games will it take Offensive Coordinator Chad O’Shea to give Patrick Laird a greater role in the run game? Now I’m not saying Laird is the next Marcus Allen, but he’s light years ahead of Kallen Ballage when the blocking doesn’t go according to plan. Even if Miami can pick up 3-4 yards on their rushes it’s better than the less than the 2.0 per carry they are getting now with Ballage.

Now, I’m not saying Ballage is terrible, he isn’t. With the right blocking, Ballage’s speed, size, and strength as a one-cut, downhill runner will provide good rushing production with big-play potential. Ballage has a much higher ceiling than Laird… but also a much lower floor.

Laird seems to have developed a subtle running back skill to a high level. Beyond his hop-skip and short-area quickness, Laird has a talent that Marcus Allen perfected late in career when his speed diminished: sheering or glancing off a tackle and falling forward. By doing this a runner doesn’t take a hard hit but also tacks on a ‘cheap’ 1-2 yards after contact.

At a certain point, a coach needs to accept a player’s limitations

Ballage’s sub-par instincts and poor agility pigeonhole him on his rush. His inability to adjust, whether by instinct or lack of athletism, to an O-line that misses at least one block per rushing attempt is killing Ballage’s stat sheet and the Dolphins chances of winning

Ballage’s 7 carries for 13 yards and 1.9 yards per carry isn’t an aberration. So far this season, Ballage has 71 carries for 135 yards and 1.9 yards per carry on the season. At least he’s consistent. This won’t change until next year when Miami (hopefully) spends some ammo to improve the O-line.

Whether Ballage or the offensive line bears most of the responsibility shouldn’t be the focus at this point with this amount of data. Fact: These are the players Miami has and this is what they will produce with this combination of players. It’s time to switch up the formula.

As ugly as the run game was, the pass defense is worse

Minus Howard, McCain, and Jones and facing ultra-talented Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham the Browns were expected to wrack up points. But, the ease with which Baker Mayfield moved up and down the field through the air was alarming. Landry piling up 2 touchdowns and 148 yards receiving make it sure bet with the top pay per head services for example www.AcePerHead.com that secondary will be addressed early in the 2020 Draft. Given how hard it is to find quality corners that Miami will spend one of their top 4 picks on a corner, Howard or no Howard.

The problem is the Phins have a lot of holes.

Nik Needham played another good game, so he’ll be in the mix next year. But other than Needham and Howard (and a last gasp for Tankersly), Miami has nada at the boundary. Given how valuable the position is, how thin Miami is at corner, and Howard’s ever injured knee, if Miami doesn’t bring in quality corner help this offseason, 2020 will be another ‘tank year’ for sure.

At least Phins fought hard… and inched up to the 3rd Overall pick

Miami did compete as best they could… given their void of talent. Also, the Redskins won, so the Phins now has the 3rd Overall pick. Small consolations are better than no consolations. Right?

Still, it’s quite clear that the Dolphins will take a little longer than expected to become competitive. I had hope for a competitive team in 2021, but unless Grier and Allen pull off an elite draft this season, I don’t see Miami ready to make waves until 2022. That’s not the end of the world, though. The goal is to become a quality franchise… and patience through the process is key for both fans and the regime.

What’s another few years among friends?! Go Phins!!!