ANATOMY OF A PLAY: WEEK 2 - DOLPHINS VS VIKINGS

The second week of the season has passed us and we are still undefeated. Doesn’t that sound great to say? We beat a tough Vikings team in their own stadium with a young team. I am very pleased. Henning called yet another efficient game and Henne still hasn’t committed a turnover this season. The Dolphins really took advantage of the Vikings’ weaknesses, which I discussed late last week in a previous blog entry. We also saw some Wildcat, actually quite a bit of it, which is a little surprising. Sounds like Dan Henning and David Lee talked it over. Speaking of David Lee, I often here that he’s responsible for the Wildcat. Either him or (Auburn offensive coordinator) Gus Malzahn, who I absolutely love to watch I may add. However, neither are responsible for it. Hugh Wyatt, a high school coach is. If you ask Gus Malzahn where he got it from, he’ll never tell you but truth is, its from Hugh Wyatt. Malzahn came across it on accident when he was coaching high school football in Arkansas and then brought it to Arkansas when he coached there. David Lee brought it to the NFL.

Have we ever been so dissatisfied by a divisional win, or by any win at all?  I doubt it.  Especially when you consider that we have not been 1 – 0 since most of our current players have even been on this team.  We have had big expectations since the day the Brandon Marshall acquisition made quite possibly the loudest off season roar of the year.  He did not look bad either, sloughing off some of the preseason doubts that were raised with 8 catches.  Could have been 9 for much more yardage and a TD as Sparano explains below, but still not a bad day.  Add in a few key blocks and remember that Marshall’s mere presence allows guys like Fasano to do what they do a little better, and you have what looks to be a great signing by our team.  Oh, and our other big free agent looked good too.  Anybody remember Dansby?  He and “the kids” at linebacker helped key a solid defensive performance.

What really should excite fans is just how good of a game Misi played, as well as Wake.  If they can continue to perform against the stiff competition we will face in the near future, Dolphins fans will soon forget this “disappointing” victory.  No, it was not the statement to the rest of they NFL that we were hoping the Dolphins could make, but they will take time to gel, and our young contributors should improve as well.  I guess the fact that we can be disappointed about how we won is better than wondering if we will ever win, as we did a few short years ago.  Maybe the win doesn’t say that we have arrived, but for those who want to continue to fly under the radar, this win at least says that we are preparing for takeoff.

ATTACKING FAVRE AND THE VIKINGS

The Minnesota Vikings are coming off an opening week loss to the (Super Bowl champion) New Orleans Saints, in which they struggled to in more ways than one. The Vikings scored only nine points and ran the ball a total of 23 times. Adrian Peterson had only nineteen carries, which is the majority of the total team carries but not enough for the star running back. Brad Childress focused on getting Brett Favre, who delayed his comeback to the NFL once again, in rhythm with his pass catchers but the Saints had other plans, holding Favre and company to 171 passing yards. On defense, the Vikings played the run well but struggled against the Saints passing offense, which saw nine different players catch the ball including six with at least three receptions. In this blog entry, I will focus on what the Saints did to stifle the Vikings offense and how they got the best of the defense. I want to start with the Saints passing and running  offense against the Vikings pass and run defense.

ANATOMY OF A PLAY : WEEK ONE - DOLPHINS @ BILLS

Today marks the debut of the Anatomy of a Play feature of the regular season! The Dolphins had a real quality game this past Sunday against the Buffalo Bills, in which they won 15-10 I may add. Dolphins fans already know the score of the game but it never hurts to repeat it. There were a few plays in the game that the Dolphins did a very good job on and I felt that since we were coming off a win, I should focus on positive plays, not negative plays. Nobody wants to read about negative plays, right?  I chose to dissect one of the first zone blitzes that Mike Nolan dialed up as the Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator.  The play resulted in a Karlos Dansby sack on Buffalo Bills quarterback Trent Edwards. With that said, lets break it down!

The Bills opened up in a shotgun formation with a trips package to one side and a single receiver on the opposite of them and asingleback next to quarterback Trent Edwards. The singleback is lined up to the passing strength (also known as the strong side). 

A topsy turvey world, that is.

The Texans beat the Colts?  The Seahawks crushed the Niners?  The Redskins beat the Cowboys?  The Chiefs beat the Chargers?  What NFL is this? 

And the Dolphins, our beloved Dolphins, got a road win against a division opponent and a conference opponent.  To me it is our division to lose right now.  Yes, the Patriots have us beat by how they beat the Bengals (by a larger point margin), but if we stay on top of our defensive game and capitalize on points we left out on the field - 2 interceptions, a caught pass and a field goal that should have been at very least - we might be able to win the division.  We now have a blueprint to beat the Jets this year, (hope he feels better soon) and Jenkins is out for the year.  We know that Mankins and Moss are unhappy in NE, though they'll go out and play like all pros.