"What I really think I'm not going to say, honestly, because we play in a couple of weeks," guard Justin Smiley said. "I have a lot of respect for Calvin Pace because I think he's a heck of a football player. But the one thing I am going to say is we have game upon games of game film to watch. People know what we run. "We're not running Statue of Liberties out of Wildcat. We're running base and power. You have to stop it. You have to stop it, and until you stop it, nothing's going to change. That's the way we approach it. One-on-one, man-on-man, and whatever anybody wants to say about it, that's their opinion. But until you stop it, nothing's going to change." http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolphins_in_depth/2009/10/miami-dolphins-respond-to-calvin-pace.html
I do have to take issue with what both Rex and Pace said about the Wildcat. I have always had a ton of respect for Dan Henning, going back to when he was calling the offense for the Jets. He stepped in as OC in Miami, and designed a very effective offensive attack with his existing personnel. He had a rookie QB and at the last minute picked up an oft-injured veteran QB with a weak arm, but also had 2 VERY good runningbacks that were pretty versatile. He dug deep and thought outside the box of rigid NFL gameplanning and designed an offense that made up for the deficiencies on his roster, and beat some tough rivals to win a division championship last season. And on Monday night, he used that same style of thinking and made one of the toughest defenses in the league look mediocre because he knew they weren't taking his philosophy successfully. Rex and Pettine pretty much announced that during pressers last week. Calling the way the Phins run the Wildcat a gimmick is on par with people back in the day calling the forward pass a gimmick. It's only a gimmick until teams find a way to dominate with it and incorporate it into their gameplans with regularity and consistency. There's a reason why this is a copycat league, and there's a reason why more than half the league has installed versions of Miami's offensive weaponry into their own gameplans. It works. HOWEVER - anyone bringing up the PI call that put us on the goal line late in the game and saying that's the only reason the Jets were in it to the end needs to pull their head out of their ass. I counted at least 4 obvious offensive holding non-calls on the Dolphins' last 2 drives that would have killed either of those drives (twice on Jenkins) and they ended up scoring with both opportunities. The refs, as usual, got calls wrong on both sides of the ball, stop blaming them or using them to make a point, because your point ends up being weak and small-minded. Bad calls are as much a part of the game as anything else.
People who understand who they are and what they are about don't need to talk the talk they are walking the walk. People who need to talk to get themselves ready to be aggressive are also generally the kind of pussies who need an entourage and often whip themselves into a frenzy of aggression that's exploited by misdirection and those who are calm and see clearly. Maybe that's why Miami so easily whipped us? Bottom line while trash talking has always been a part of sports, great athletes who study their craft, treat their bodies right and perform quietly like champions are the guys who set the example and are worth listening to. When guys talk and don?t perform they deserve all the ridicule they get. When guys perform they deserve the right to be listened to and hopefully they are saying something worth hearing. Guys who make it to the professional level should carry themselves professionally and not like a punk.
i was telling people about the holding calls, but i then reiterated, a truly good team can play above bad calls. but I know what your referring too. 3rd and something and Henne launched one to Camarillo, Jenkins blew up Grove off the snap and was about to get a release and annhiliate Henne and he was being held all the way. wouldve moved them back to a very unmanagable obvious passing down at about midfield. but like I said, good teams can play past bad calls, that doesnt excuse the fact about them moving in 3-5 yard chunks at will.
Not saying it isn't effective, obviously it is right now, and in my opinion Pace had no business saying what he did after that game....pure sour grapes. I was simply correcting the ascertion that the Wildcat is smashmouth football, because it isn't. And you can't really say that "...you know whats coming...." either, because any time you line up in that package you can run 3 or 4 options out of it and the defense has to protect against them all. That is the whole idea behind the single wing concept, so to try and say that it isn't based on deception, or confusion if you prefer, is kind of ridiculous.
At the end of the day it's about blocking and tackling and they were getting their blockers into the second level of our D all night.
i think stopping the wildcat was more effective cuzthe ravens have better overall DL depth. you MUST neutralize the OL from getting a push cause that causes the hesitation on the play if its a counter or reverse and results in the Backs picking their hole as they take the snap. if we had DL depth id say run a 5-3 with someone spying on the swingback up top and another just on the back taking the snap but we dont so the rest if for rex to figure out.
Yup...and that's the real story of the game, isn't it......the Miami oline totally dominated the Jets defensive front. That's the root of the loss, right there...
Honestly, after watching Rex and Pettine's pressers last week, I just think they weren't taking that formation seriously at all. I remember both of them saying that it wasn't a huge part of the Phins' gameplan and they only used it an average of 8 downs a game. They pretty much stated that the wildcat was detrimental more for the fact that they had to devote any time to it at all during practice than it's effectiveness on the field amounted to. You had to know that Tuna, Sparano and Henning heard that and adjusted accordingly. Hello 17 wildcat plays on Monday night. I love watching Rex's pressers, he's an intelligent guy and I think he will learn from this. But if he continues to tell the press how they are preparing for the other team in the week leading up to the game, they are going to get their asses kicked because of it.
I disagree with you on this one. The NFL made the decision years ago to turn this league into a passing league. One of the first rule changes was allowing OL men to extend their arms to reduce the rush of the edge. That rule change not only made holding a judgment call it also made it a very difficult call in the interior line when the lineman are engaged up close. PI however is obvious and right out there for everyone to see. There simply was no PI on that play it was an unimpeded dropped ball.
Of course you do, it's one of the points you keep railing on. You're wrong. There was a non-call where Grove was pretty much clothes-lining Jenkins on during the Phins' second-to-last drive and Jenks was right in front of Henne - he wasn't just extending his arms, he was hooking. It was as obvious as the nose on your face, WB. A sack would have made it at least a loss of 10 yards because it was a long 5 step drop. It's only a judgment call until it's completely obvious. Was the PI a BS call? Fuck yes it was. Was it the only mistake by the refs that influenced the outcome of the game? Fuck no it wasn't. Holding non-calls also allowed the Phins to win the game. But they happen, just as BS PI calls happen - they are as much a part of enabling this to be a passer's league as PI calls are. They are part of the game. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. I can guarantee you that Phins fans aren't.
The Ravens had a great DL last year no doubt. But, there's more to it than that. We were missing two of our starting offensive linemen (Smiley & Thomas) last season when we met them. Both those guys are healthy this year so far. We also added an upgrade at center in Grove.
Not that I'm any kind of expert, but I think there are two ways to combat it...either you attack it or you choke it. In either case, you have to first contain it inside, and then either attack the mesh point (the point where the backs commit to an option), or forgo an attack, spy the ball and choke the gaps closed instead. I agree with what you said about it being critical to nutralize any push that the oline tries to generate - especially if you take the latter route. But I'm sure Rex knows a hell of a lot more football than I do, so I'll put my trust in him. I'm pretty sure there is no way in hell he's letting this happen again on his watch.
The Jets have actually been running the Seminole for longer than the Dolphins have run the Wildcat. I think you first started using it in 2006 if I am not mistaken. We just started doing it last season.
I think those holding non-calls were crucial in this last game. As pissed as I still am about our inability to sack the QB, the complete absence of pressure or even penetration on the run was a large result of the holding non-calls. And quite frankly, I think the Miami O-line realized those were not getting called, and as the game progressed, became bolder with that shit, especially on that Grove recreation of a scene from Oz with Jenks!
Abyz, i completely agree with you about all the missed/non-calls of holding that went against us the entire game. Anybody saying that the only reason we were in it was due to to a bad PI call (which, in fact, may even have been warranted if watched in real-time speed) has a weak argument, because it went both ways. I don't know what the fuck was up, but the ref-ing was fucking horrendous. On top of the non-hold calls, on the drive where the dolphins scored to make it a 17-10 game, there was a play where ronnie brown took the ball out the wildcat, and we tackled him in the backfield, as his knee was down. however, after his knee hit the ground, he threw the ball away, and the refs called it an incomplete pass instead of a tackle for a loss of about 4 or 5 yards. the next play was a manageable 3rd and 6, and ricky got the 1st down out the wildcat. not trying to nitpick about calls, but if people want to complain about how bad calls 'kept us in the game', all it really is is bullshit because there were horrendous calls both ways all night.
You can't argue that it takes a certain mindset to play NFL football , or any sport for that matter. How many times do you hear about players who are lunatics on the field , but are solid upstanding citizens and soft spoken off the field. To me trash talk is part of the mindset which gets players fired up and in the right mental aspect for the game. Its not everyone's cup of tea and there are players who rather go about their business quietly - but if some players use it for their mental advanatge I'm all for it. In my opinion a punk is someone who is totally self absorbed and does not buy into the team concept. Obviously there are numerous other examples like killing dogs , raping women but IMO trash talking in context of the game or opponent does not fit that category.
The video is right there for all to see, Revis basiclaly has him covered until about the 20 when he turns his head looking for safety help , at that point is when Ginn blows by him.
IMO the problem on Monday was the Jets ends were coming up the filed too far and not maintaining containement. This combined with a good push by the Fins OL provided too many gaps for the Fins Rb's/Qb's . If the ends maintained contain it would have filtered everything to the middle giving us better numbers at the point of attack. And bottom line this wasn't just the case with the wildcat , it was the same with the Dolphins standard sets also.
