Tag: 2020 Week 1

The Miami Dolphins will be ready to close the book on a frustrating Week 1 when they arrive at the team facilities tomorrow to begin preparations for yet another AFC East opponent next Sunday. Miami, who will face the Buffalo Bills in Week 2, will need to learn quickly from their errors on Sunday — and perhaps learn a lesson or two from how they handled personnel amid the swings of momentum throughout the game for the Dolphins throughout their 21-11 loss to the Patriots.

Scanning through the summary of snap counts for Miami offers no shortage of surprises — and we’ll need the next few weeks to identify whether these usage trends are a sign of something bigger or simply offer a look at Miami’s game to game flexibility in personnel.

Here are the biggest standouts from Miami’s Week 1 snap counts against the Patriots.

Defensive bookends

The Dolphins saw Shaq Lawson (60 snaps) and Emmanuel Ogbah (55 snaps) serve as staples for the Dolphins up front. The usage of both ends dwarfed both primary interior defenders in Christian Wilkins and Davon Godchaux (who logged 43 and 44 snaps, respectively). Yet for their volume of snaps, the Dolphins couldn’t quite seem to secure a consistent level of production from either player — and the Patriots had success on several reps working the edges against the Dolphins in the zone read game. Miami knew coming into the season that neither defender was super fluid or twitchy to move in space, but how the team looks to counter in the coming weeks as teams attempt to replicate New England’s success on the edge will be a critical storyline to watch.

The Miami Dolphins will wake up this morning with an 0-1 record after yesterday’s frustrating Week 1 loss to the New England Patriots. Despite the fact that the Dolphins lost by a 21-11 final score, there were plenty of silver linings to Sunday’s football game. Not among them, however, was the offensive production. Between Ryan Fitzpatrick’s three interceptions and receiver DeVante Parker missing the second half of the contest with a hamstring issue, Miami’s offense was, well, offensive. 11 points scored and 269 yards of offense simply isn’t going to get it done on very many weeks.

And perhaps the most pressing issue at hand for the Dolphins is finding some space to operate offensively — because there was no one open against New England. NFL’s Next Gen Stats has marked Ryan Fitzpatrick as the NFL’s most “aggressive” quarterback of Week 1 thus far. With 40% of his 30 pass attempts going into “tight” coverage, it is very clear that the team has little in the way of separation. Next Gen Stats identifies any throw that comes with a defender within 1 yard in coverage as a tight window throw — nearly half of Fitzpatrick’s targets in Week 1 qualified.

Just two other NFL quarterbacks were above 24% of their targets qualifying for such a designation, which is a resounding point of evidence that Miami simply didn’t separate and create room to work.

The Dolphins receivers have universally praised this Chan Gailey offense over the summer for the added flexibility it allows in the passing game. But with that added flexibility comes a need for greater chemistry and timing — things that can only come courtesy of added reps in the passing game. Fitzpatrick’s play was a sore spot for Miami, but he also didn’t have much to work with in terms of open receivers.

Now for the silver lining: you won’t find a better man-coverage defense in the NFL than the one in New England. From top to bottom, the cornerback room might be the best in the league. So it is understandable for them to stay sticky on Dolphins receivers, especially without Parker in the second half. But moving forward, Miami will need more from their secondary receivers and hopefully find a way to get either Lynn Bowden Jr. or Malcolm Perry ready to play so that the team can feature more of a reasonable separation threat in the middle of the field.

A divisional clash between the Dolphins and Patriots awaits tomorrow afternoon — but if the experts have anything to say about the contest, it seems as though the Dolphins are poised to start the year off on the wrong foot. According to NFL Pick Watch, who aggregates expert picks from the far reaches of the media and displays the results all in one place.

Needless to say, the experts don’t think too highly of the Dolphins chances. A total of 91% of the picks for the Dolphins’ contest in Week 1 favor the New England Patriots to win the game.

The Dolphins are used to being slept on after a challenging 2019 season that saw the team serve as a massive underdog for the majority of the games that they played. But by the team the Dolphins reached the end of their season, the team had shown a knack for bucking the expectations of those picking the game — whether that be against the spread or in straight up picks.

Will Miami strike once again and secure their first win of the season in their first try? We’ll find out soon enough — the long wait for Dolphins football ends tomorrow.

As the Miami Dolphins continue to finalize their defensive game plan install for Week 1 against the New England Patriots, mystery remains amid the preparations. We’ve had no opportunities to see the Dolphins operate to this point in the season — the lack of preseason games offers little clues to how Miami will look to operate. Just like their opponent, the New England Patriots. But looking over the roster, we can begin to anticipate what the Dolphins’ game plan will look like and where the Dolphins will focus their energy.

Where should we anticipate the Dolphins attacking the Patriots when New England has the ball?

Bracket Julian Edelman in the slot

Edelman is the engine which the Patriots’ passing offense has run through in recent years. If the Dolphins can keep him busy and ensure his slew of option routes aren’t constantly breaking open in the shallow spaces underneath, then the entire offensive game plan will force the ball to secondary threats in the passing game.

Contain rush versus Cam Newton

Newton’s athleticism threats to derail Miami’s pressure opportunities, so staying disciplined on the outside and not allowing Newton to break contain of the pocket is a big key to the game. Miami must remain committed to trying to collapse blockers into Newton’s lap and not allow him to find open space as a thrower — forcing him to stand tall in tight spaces and win as a passer will best test the Patriots’ chemistry and timing with so many new pieces.

Fill interior gaps quickly

The Dolphins should aspire to slam the door shut on inside gaps in the run game. With Newton’s presence as a potential runner, the Patriots will have an extra gap to work with in the run game and Miami must be able to fill suddenly and avoid uneven levels up front. The Patriots will miss RB Damien Harris in this game but the rest of the backfield features plenty of power — so don’t let Newton and the backs start gouging the interior.

As the Miami Dolphins continue to finalize their offensive game plan install for Week 1 against the New England Patriots, mystery remains amid the preparations. We’ve had no opportunities to see the Dolphins operate to this point in the season — the lack of preseason games offers little clues to how Miami will look to operate. Just like their opponent, the New England Patriots. But looking over the roster, we can begin to anticipate what the Dolphins’ game plan will look like and where the Dolphins will focus their energy.

Where should we anticipate the Dolphins attacking the Patriots when Miami has the ball?

Attack the middle

The Patriots will sorely miss linebacker Dont’a Hightower on Sunday. The same can be said for hybrid safety Patrick Chung. And with nose tackle Danny Shelton now in Detroit, the Patriots’ interior will need to prove they’re up to the task. Miami would be wise to test their competency early and often — and if Miami find success up the middle, they’d be wise to not let their foot off the gas, either.

Isolate Kyle Dugger in coverage

One of the key replacements for the Patriots’ defense is rookie Kyle Dugger. Dugger played at Lenoir Rhyne, a small school that will force Dugger into a big leap in the level of competition. Dugger will help cover the loss of Chung on defense — but how competent and confident will he be in his first NFL game? Dugger made a huge impact as an athlete in college but you’ll need more than just athleticism to be a plus contributor in the NFL. Miami should find out just how ready he is for the pro game.

Force tackling in space

Miami’s offensive concepts under Chan Gailey are expected to be rooted in spacing the field. Miami’s ability to create after the catch will be key in creating the chunk plays necessary to avoid having to play a perfect game from a quarterbacking perspective — and so Miami should emphasize mismatches they like in the spaced field and task their players with forcing a missed tackle to create extra production for the unit.

The Miami Dolphins will kick off their 2020 season on Sunday with the hopes of avoiding the same slow start that plagued the team’s 2019 campaign. A divisional win is the best kind of win — it gives you a firm lead on a competitor that could end up standing between you and the postseason. Miami will have their work cut out for them looking to gather that first win against the Patriots. But what will Sunday’s game look like? We have five bold predictions for the Dolphins versus the Patriots.

CB Byron Jones logs an interception

The Miami Dolphins gave Jones a big contract this offseason and for a short while Jones was the NFL’s highest paid cornerback. That ship has sailed thanks to big extensions for Darius Slay, Tre’Davious White and Jalen Ramsey already this summer. But Jones will still need to prove his worth to Miami as a big-money addition and his lack of interceptions in Dallas was a hot-button issue. Our prediction? Jones comes up big in Week 1 with a forced turnover to help prove his standing as a great offseason addition for the Dolphins. It may come courtesy of a lack of chemistry between Cam Newton and his new receivers, but all turnovers count the same.