In a play that the Fox announcers* failed to recognize last Sunday, the Dolphins lined up in a wildcat formation.
Brock Osweiler was flanked to the left. Jakeem Grant was the running back. And Kalen Ballage was the QB.
It was an interesting alignment, and I wanted to see what would happen. But, alas, someone lined up wrong and Adam Gase had to burn a time out.
We never tried that formation again.
This is one of many reasons the Dolphins hover in the 20’s for points per game: They try some ingenuity, but then they have to cancel it before the attempt is made. To make matters worse, we don’t try it again.
Remember in 2008 when Ronnie Brown ran the wildcat once and only once in the famous Patriots game? We ran it once and stopped, right? No. We were onto something and kept it. Not once. Not twice or thrice. But many times.
Lining up for a trick play and then going back to your base vanilla offense does not help the Dolphins. It’s as if Adam Gase paid no attention to which plays have been the most dynamic this year. When he utilizes Grant and Wilson, good things happen. With Wilson gone now, we need to rely on Grant all the more.
Did you see the way Kansas City kept feeding the ball to Tyreek Hill last Sunday? Play after play after play went to the Chiefs’ most dynamic player, and the result was 45 points. When Hill took a break, they fed the ball to Kareem Hunt, their 2nd-most dynamic player.
KC utilized its best tools. Adam Gase not so much. We can’t miss a step with Albert Wilson gone. We must rely on Jakeem Grant.
I’m not proposing we run the wildcat formation every other play. But I’m saying we need to mix it up more. Running some kind of misdirection to Jakeem Grant once per series instead of once per game. Something like that.
Of course, none of this matters if the defense forgets to come to the stadium again like they did last week.
I’ll have the game day chat ready to go. Hope to see you there, and tell your friends. The more the merrier.
By the way–to continue pointing out facts about the disparity in our schedule–the Dolphins-Packers game just got moved to a 4:25 start. So not only do we have to play in frigid Wisconsin, the league is now making us play in the dark when it will be 20 degrees colder. Can we PLEASE get an owner who will fight back and challenge the NFL when they screw us over, instead of simply accepting all the unfair nonsense we’re forced to endure?
*I like Dick Stockton, but he misses too many things in his announcing. He’s okay as the Dolphins’ main play-by-play man for pre-season games, but I’m surprised Fox keeps him on the payroll for real games when the season starts.
I agree about your take on abandoning plays that break the monotony of Gase’s playbook but I would rather see them get better at just standard routes. Grant should be targeted 8-10 times per game (if not more) in the seem or crossing routes. This guy only needs a little space and he’s gone. Hell, try the FAMOUS and never flagged Patriot-Pick play for Grant and you might take an early lead.
No game chat tonight?
Gase play calls are the worst. Hey Gase ever hear of a QB sneak with 4th down and 1 ft. ?
Never happen it’s too logical. That play and a few QB runs to keep drives going and they probably only lose by 7 haha! The D is hot garbage…
Thomas are you new here? You sound exactly like the site Admin, and you’re both right
Until this owner is gone, he sells team or he croaks, the team and we fans will be stuck in this spiral going nowhere. No improvements to speak about for the team- so big deal, he puts an awning over some portion of the stadium…that’s not improving the team and by team included are coaches just not players. It’s pathetic what has happened to this team since Ross became the owner. He down right stinks. Cares about his NYC real estate and UMich. Dolphins are just a trinket on his keychain. Disgusted.