Game Day: Falcons @ Dolphins

[Admin]

Since DirecTV was so screwed up I didn't get to see this happen and be able to tell what was really going on but this hit was pretty damn nice. Similar to the play the Falcons LB had last week against the Rams, although this was bigger as it caused the fumble that turned the game around. I'm almost surprised there wasn't a penalty for driving Douglas into the ground, but maybe that's only called on QB hits?

[jy23]

That lady is absolutely terrible. Good lord. And that game really pissed me off...we were running it all over you guys and got away from it in the 3rd, not once actually going for it on 4th down when you have good field position, and that pisses me off more than anything about mike smith. That last possession I was screaming at the tv for them to go for it. Defense actually played well...outside of Decoud...I really have no idea how we lost that game

[Admin]

That lady is absolutely terrible. Good lord. And that game really pissed me off...we were running it all over you guys and got away from it in the 3rd, not once actually going for it on 4th down when you have good field position, and that pisses me off more than anything about mike smith. That last possession I was screaming at the tv for them to go for it. Defense actually played well...outside of Decoud...I really have no idea how we lost that game

I was thinking the same thing about why y'all went away from the run in the 3rd. Falcons RBs were really putting in work today and breaking away from initial tacklers. Mike Smith is very conservative and that definitely hurt y'all but you also have to put this on Mike Nolan and many of us were confident that Miami could win the game on that last drive because we've seen that Mike Nolan defense too many times not be able to hold leads. He's just too timid and doesn't have his defense go after it. Tannehill had all day to throw on that final drive and it wasn't because our O-line all of a sudden learned to block, it was because Nolan just had his guys play a prevent style of D. Atlanta definitely shouldn't have lost that game but that's been a big part of all 3 of Miami's wins this year, holding the other team to a FG or nothing when they drive on us, especially in the 2nd half. Same way last year but we didn't have an offense capable of scoring last year and this year we do.

[Dnice]

If I was on Twitter I'd be like, #sityoazzdown... Still pissed but not as much as I slept on the loss. At least they have 1 NFC loss, too bad it was a division loss though.

[macdaddy]

That game pissed me off. Its not just the coaching that's conservative. Ryan has got to make some plays. He seems to be playing scared this year like he's afraid to make a mistake. I understand you don't want to try to force something that isn't there but how often do you see a throw away on a big third down.

Everything that we were all worried about was actually good. It was celebrated passing game that didn't close the deal. Defense, pass rush, running game, protection was all good. Passing and special teams which have been hallmarks of Mike Smith's Falcons did us in.

[benhillboy]

I was thinking the same thing about why y'all went away from the run in the 3rd. Falcons RBs were really putting in work today and breaking away from initial tacklers. Mike Smith is very conservative and that definitely hurt y'all but you also have to put this on Mike Nolan and many of us were confident that Miami could win the game on that last drive because we've seen that Mike Nolan defense too many times not be able to hold leads. He's just too timid and doesn't have his defense go after it. Tannehill had all day to throw on that final drive and it wasn't because our O-line all of a sudden learned to block, it was because Nolan just had his guys play a prevent style of D. Atlanta definitely shouldn't have lost that game but that's been a big part of all 3 of Miami's wins this year, holding the other team to a FG or nothing when they drive on us, especially in the 2nd half. Same way last year but we didn't have an offense capable of scoring last year and this year we do.

That's a damn good analysis having not watched the whole game. I was impressed with the Dolphins. I already knew about Grimey, and so did Matt. There was maybe 1 catch against him? Carroll, not so much. I always liked Hartline and see him as the #1: he's tougher, more disciplined, and seems to be abke to run a few more routes than Wallace. Snelling is always impressive to people who see him for the first time, been doing it since day one. It was funny seeing Peria finally push around someone, and it had to be his little brother! I think we definately would've won with the zone blitz Biermann affords us with Tannehill's questionable awareness, and of course our signal caller and fastest linebacker in the middle instead of an undrafted rookie when we got gashed early with the run. With that said, no excuses, we lost to a solid up-and-coming team on the road. The -45 penalty yards for us didn't do no favors with the turnovers and fumbles even. I think we bounce back Sunday Night versus NE. Edited September 23, 2013 by benhillboy

[Guest]

Mike Smith plays not to LOSE, instead of playing to WIN!!!

[macdaddy]

Is it Smith or Mularky (do we still have Mularky?). Or is it Ryan or all 3. Can't keep settling for FGs

[jy23]

Mularky is gone...dirk koetter is the offensive coordinator now. And it really wasn't on joplo that they gashed us with the run bc that guy is the fastest lb we had on the field and maybe the most talented...there's a reason he took Nich's snaps last week and probably will take them for the rest of the year. Worrilow was also taking snaps from Dent this week...I'm personally hoping we see joplo, spoon, and worrilow to end the year. Dent has looked a tad better and if he keeps improving then I'll be fine with him instead of worrilow but we'll see. I'm honestly still confused at how we lost this game...everything that we needed to do we did. Protect the qb, establish the run, put pressure on them, cause turnovers....the Harry fumble and the timid play calling in the red zone is the only thing I can come up with. Oh well on to new England

[Admin]

Mularky is gone...dirk koetter is the offensive coordinator now. And it really wasn't on joplo that they gashed us with the run bc that guy is the fastest lb we had on the field and maybe the most talented...there's a reason he took Nich's snaps last week and probably will take them for the rest of the year. Worrilow was also taking snaps from Dent this week...I'm personally hoping we see joplo, spoon, and worrilow to end the year. Dent has looked a tad better and if he keeps improving then I'll be fine with him instead of worrilow but we'll see. I'm honestly still confused at how we lost this game...everything that we needed to do we did. Protect the qb, establish the run, put pressure on them, cause turnovers....the Harry fumble and the timid play calling in the red zone is the only thing I can come up with. Oh well on to new England

The Falcons will never win like they are capable of with Mike Smith or at the very least Mike Nolan as coaches. Nolan is way too timid and he backs off and lets teams back into games and you saw how little pressure Tannehill had on him on the final drive of the half and the game. I saw that play out so many times during his 2-3 years in Miami and I'm glad he's gone. He's a damned good DC but he's very predictable and doesn't have that killer instinct. Looks like Mike Smith either allows it or suffers from the same thing.

Oh and I was VERY impressed with Bartu, he's pretty darn good. Trufant is an excellent young corner as well.

[macdaddy]

Mularky is gone...dirk koetter is the offensive coordinator now. And it really wasn't on joplo that they gashed us with the run bc that guy is the fastest lb we had on the field and maybe the most talented...there's a reason he took Nich's snaps last week and probably will take them for the rest of the year. Worrilow was also taking snaps from Dent this week...I'm personally hoping we see joplo, spoon, and worrilow to end the year. Dent has looked a tad better and if he keeps improving then I'll be fine with him instead of worrilow but we'll see. I'm honestly still confused at how we lost this game...everything that we needed to do we did. Protect the qb, establish the run, put pressure on them, cause turnovers....the Harry fumble and the timid play calling in the red zone is the only thing I can come up with. Oh well on to new England

Thanks. Couldn't remember who we replaced him with. Koetter looked like a genius at the beginning of last year i remember but so far i think things are looking suspect on the offensive end. Of course it may just be execution.

[Guest]

Since that failed 4th and 1 against New Orleans 2 years ago (I think), Mike Smith seems to be gun shy. When he first got here, if he won the coin toss, he would always defer and send the defense out first. The last 2 years he has done the oppossite. Maybe it's time to switch it up so the offense can get going in the 2nd half.

Offense can't score in 3rd quarters and defense can't stop anybody in the 4th quarters.

It seems that the Falcons have not converted a meaningful 3rd and 1 by running the ball on forever.

Edited September 23, 2013 by JayBirdHawk

[jy23]

The Falcons will never win like they are capable of with Mike Smith or at the very least Mike Nolan as coaches. Nolan is way too timid and he backs off and lets teams back into games and you saw how little pressure Tannehill had on him on the final drive of the half and the game. I saw that play out so many times during his 2-3 years in Miami and I'm glad he's gone. He's a damned good DC but he's very predictable and doesn't have that killer instinct. Looks like Mike Smith either allows it or suffers from the same thing. Oh and I was VERY impressed with Bartu, he's pretty darn good. Trufant is an excellent young corner as well.

Yeah I didn't hear clays name much but I do know that Brandon Gibson was killing us...I guess I should have listened to u lol. I see that with Nolan as well but I really can't blame him bc it's been that way on this team for a while now. No killer instinct...so I don't know if it's Nolan or just the culture here. Regardless I still think we have what it takes to win a Super Bowl, both of the games we've lost were games that we could have won so we're right there. The injury bug is hitting us hard right now but its making other guys step up and I think that'll be better for us later on in the year. You guys have a good young squad tho...it's looking good in Miami. Jop is one of the few UDFA signings that I think could actually turn ino a gem for us, I give Dimi mad props for that one. Trufant is also looking good. I'm excited to see his progression. Worrilow you didn't see much of but I think he has the goods as well. He caused the interception by tannehill by bull rushing the back into his face and not allowing him to step into his throw. If we give him more time I think he can be another UDFA gem.

[EazyRoc]

Lets not overreact about this loss. Smith is a good coach. This team just has major weaknesses in the trenches and at linebacker that hold this team back. Lets not forget the many times we've made gutsy calls to go for it on fourth down since he's been here. I don't think he expected the Dolphins to be able to go down the field likethey did. It wasn't like Tannehill was firing on all cylinders. He looked pretty bad all day until that last drive.

[macdaddy]

Lets not overreact about this loss. Smith is a good coach. This team just has major weaknesses in the trenches and at linebacker that hold this team back. Lets not forget the many times we've made gutsy calls to go for it on fourth down since he's been here. I don't think he expected the Dolphins to be able to go down the field likethey did. It wasn't like Tannehill was firing on all cylinders. He looked pretty bad all day until that last drive.

I like Smith as coach and one of the reasons was the gutsy calls. But like JayBird said I can't remember a whole lot of risk taking in the last season and 3 games. Hopefully they snap out of it but Sunday will be tough.

[Admin]

Yeah I didn't hear clays name much but I do know that Brandon Gibson was killing us...I guess I should have listened to u lol. I see that with Nolan as well but I really can't blame him bc it's been that way on this team for a while now. No killer instinct...so I don't know if it's Nolan or just the culture here. Regardless I still think we have what it takes to win a Super Bowl, both of the games we've lost were games that we could have won so we're right there. The injury bug is hitting us hard right now but its making other guys step up and I think that'll be better for us later on in the year. You guys have a good young squad tho...it's looking good in Miami. Jop is one of the few UDFA signings that I think could actually turn ino a gem for us, I give Dimi mad props for that one. Trufant is also looking good. I'm excited to see his progression. Worrilow you didn't see much of but I think he has the goods as well. He caused the interception by tannehill by bull rushing the back into his face and not allowing him to step into his throw. If we give him more time I think he can be another UDFA gem.

Clay had 4 for 40 but he drew a lot of attention in the deep middle on a lot of his routes, which let Gibson get single coverage underneath and he's too good at getting open, same with Hartline (4/56/1 TD), whom I hope you can see how good he is at getting open now as well.

Tim Ryan of Fox Sports had this to say about Clay (which I'll admit I'm not convinced about myself but this guy is getting better and better)

“I think the wild card out of all of them, and nobody is talking about this dude—Charles Clay,” Ryan said. “If that guy stays healthy, I’m telling you, his versatility and the upside for that guy as a player—he’s gotten better as a blocker, but as a receiver and doing some of the things—I don’t want to get way too far ahead of myself, he’s got Antonio Gates-like release stuff when he’s coming off the line of scrimmage when he’s flexed out. It’s hard to stay with him.”

Then about Hartline, his big swinging d*ck TD dance is apparently gone viral as they discussed it and had a good laugh on NFL AM about it. http://www.nfl.com/videos/miami-dolphins/0ap2000000249969/Hartline-on-team-s-3-0-start

I saw good things from both of your UDFA LBs in this game and y'all gave us fits with the rush up the middle, which if you'll recall I told you was how you get to Tannehill and disrupt him as he hasn't learned to deal with that yet. He takes WAY too many sacks too by holding onto the ball so if the DBs cover the WR's really well and you can get any sort of real pressure up the middle on Tannehill he will take a sack. Hopefully he'll learn to step up and take off with the ball as he's incredibly athletic and runs the 40 in about the same time as Luck and RGIII did.

[Admin]

Lets not overreact about this loss. Smith is a good coach. This team just has major weaknesses in the trenches and at linebacker that hold this team back. Lets not forget the many times we've made gutsy calls to go for it on fourth down since he's been here. I don't think he expected the Dolphins to be able to go down the field likethey did. It wasn't like Tannehill was firing on all cylinders. He looked pretty bad all day until that last drive.

Pretty bad? 24 of 35 for 69% completion (which was better than Matt BTW) and 236 yards with 2 TDs. What looked bad all day was our line and especially our RBs couldn't block your blitzing LBs and were constantly putting pressure on Ryan so he took a sack instead of throwing the ball into coverage.

[EazyRoc]

Pretty bad? 24 of 35 for 69% completion (which was better than Matt BTW) and 236 yards with 2 TDs. What looked bad all day was our line and especially our RBs couldn't block your blitzing LBs and were constantly putting pressure on Ryan so he took a sack instead of throwing the ball into coverage.

I was watching the game Dolfan. Trust me when I say he didn't look that good until the end. Yes your line and RBs were struggling blocking, but he was making bad decisions and could have easily had a few picks to add to the box score. Not to mention, the last drive he had at least 5 completions in a row. It wasn't the sacks, because all except for maybe one was completely on his line RB and OL. He didn't play that well for most of the game. That really can't be contested.

[Admin]

I was watching the game Dolfan. Trust me when I say he didn't look that good until the end. Yes your line and RBs were struggling blocking, but he was making bad decisions and could have easily had a few picks to add to the box score. Not to mention, the last drive he had at least 5 completions in a row. It wasn't the sacks, because all except for maybe one was completely on his line RB and OL. He didn't play that well for most of the game. That really can't be contested.

And I didn't watch the game? Trust me I've seen every game for Tannehill and when he had time he looked fine. You crack me up with this opinion of yours and it is completely contrary to what I've read from real analysts and from what I've seen from them on TV as well who had nothing but praise for Tannehill. But that's okay I can understand why you're hating on him after he beat your team.

[EazyRoc]

You're a homer obviously. I gave an honest assessment of what I saw. He didn't look good until the end of the game, when he looked really good. And I'm hating Dolfan ? You're trying to paint Tannehill as the second coming, but from the outside looking in he was fairly average until the end which is important because he did win the game for his team and played well when it mattered. If you would think rationally, you could have gotten that from my posts, but because you're so far gone I guess I have to spell it out for you.