Let’s talk about the Miami Dolphins

[Floresdontplaythat]

Originally Posted by Lionstone

Yes, we will have a difficult time with Kelce. Rowe has been very good versus TEs, but this will be a more difficult assignment than when he erased Kittle from the game versus the 49ers.

Agreed. Xavien and Byron should be ok but Rowe on Kelce worries me. I think we'll see a lot more Grugier-Hill in this game to help with him.

[tredadda]

Originally Posted by Lionstone

Yes, we will have a difficult time with Kelce. Rowe has been very good versus TEs, but this will be a more difficult assignment than when he erased Kittle from the game versus the 49ers.

I doubt Rowe slows him down too much. Its pretty clear that Kelce is and has always been Mahomes #1 target. In spite of that he has a record five straight 1,000 yard seasons. If slowing him down was that easy someone would have figured out how to do it long ago.

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by VanDolPhan

While I don't expect Miami to win. I feel the need to clear up some issues with your post. Early on in the season Howard was still working toward being 100% from his knee injury. He was on limited snaps the first week in NE. Jones went down the first few plays of the Buffalo game. Miami inserted 20 year old corner Noah who got his butt whooped bad. Kid just wasn't ready. Suffice to say Miami would have won that game if Jones hadn't gone down. Noah also gave up several critical plays against Seattle in what had been a tight game. Against the Cardinals they just couldn't stop Murray from escaping all the time (He literally ran for over 100 yards).

So basically you all haven't seen zero blitzing the way Miami does it combined with having 3 solid corners and 2 solid safeties (former corners). At the same time Miami is crap at handling mobile QB's. Get Mahomes on the move and he will run all day long.

It should be an interesting matchup as CB Nik Needham has been playing well lately. Giving them 3 good corners combined with a solid set of corners/safeties. Where K.C. should hit them is our LB's. They've been pretty terrible in coverage and in stopping the run. Also sticking with the run is the way to go as besides our LB's sucking in run support. So do our safeties beyond Brandon Jones as he's the only real safety out there. McCain and Rowe are former CB's who aren't that good at playing the run.

If Miami zero blitzes, we'll score 50. Who your corners are literally doesn't matter anymore. You can't cover Hill, Watkins, Kelce, and Hardman manning up. Mahomes is also ranked #1 against blitz packages, and yes, quite comfortable moving outside the pocket, where he is also ranked #1.

That's not the way to slow this offense down, and if Flores tries to do that, it'll get really ugly really fast.

I think Flores is a hell of a coach, and I expect him to do the exact opposite. Stop the run and play coverage, mulitiple looks, etc. Make Mahomes dink and dunk and hope for a turnover. Although he's become quite a bit more patient this season, so that's still kind of picking your poison. And if you can't cover Kelce, you're still screwed.

Your best shot is really to be able to get to Mahomes with 4 rushers. If you can do that and play zone, you've got a shot.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by VanDolPhan

While I don't expect Miami to win. I feel the need to clear up some issues with your post. Early on in the season Howard was still working toward being 100% from his knee injury. He was on limited snaps the first week in NE. Jones went down the first few plays of the Buffalo game. Miami inserted 20 year old corner Noah who got his butt whooped bad. Kid just wasn't ready. Suffice to say Miami would have won that game if Jones hadn't gone down. Noah also gave up several critical plays against Seattle in what had been a tight game. Against the Cardinals they just couldn't stop Murray from escaping all the time (He literally ran for over 100 yards).

So basically you all haven't seen zero blitzing the way Miami does it combined with having 3 solid corners and 2 solid safeties (former corners). At the same time Miami is crap at handling mobile QB's. Get Mahomes on the move and he will run all day long.

It should be an interesting matchup as CB Nik Needham has been playing well lately. Giving them 3 good corners combined with a solid set of corners/safeties. Where K.C. should hit them is our LB's. They've been pretty terrible in coverage and in stopping the run. Also sticking with the run is the way to go as besides our LB's sucking in run support. So do our safeties beyond Brandon Jones as he's the only real safety out there. McCain and Rowe are former CB's who aren't that good at playing the run.

I appreciate the context on the Jones injury.

What makes Kelce such a difficult cover is that there really isn’t a way to cover him with one person. If you match him up with a LB, he’s going to use his movement skills and route running to creat huge separation. If you match him up with a DB, he’ll run more traditional TE routes and then YAC that DB.

Unless you have a S that covers like a corner and tackles like a LB, Kelce requires two men to actually slow him down and force the ball elsewhere. The often-broken Derwin James is kind of the template you need. It doesn’t sound like Rowe has that.

Zero blitzing and leaving Kelce, Hill, Hardman, Watkins singled up one CB is a recipe for disaster, no matter how good those guys are.

Go look at what Hill did to Carlton Davis against Tampa. That’s a good, emerging CB and he made him look pathetic.

[VanDolPhan]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Unless you have a S that covers like a corner and tackles like a LB, Kelce requires two men to actually slow him down and force the ball elsewhere. The often-broken Derwin James is kind of the template you need. It doesn’t sound like Rowe has that.

Shall see. Ever since Boyer moved him into the role no TE has gone over 50 yards on him that I recall. Even Kittle was limited to 44 yards on 4 catches.

I don't expect Rowe to keep that up against Kelce, but I do hope to keep him down to around 4-6 catches and under 70 yards hopefully. Or hopefully the team will alternate doubling up Kelce and Hill. I don't like the idea of running man against either too often.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by VanDolPhan

Shall see. Ever since Boyer moved him into the role no TE has gone over 50 yards on him that I recall. Even Kittle was limited to 44 yards on 4 catches.

I don't expect Rowe to keep that up against Kelce, but I do hope to keep him down to around 4-6 catches and under 70 yards hopefully. Or hopefully the team will alternate doubling up Kelce and Hill. I don't like the idea of running man against either too often.

Yeah, it will be a matchup to watch.

Noah Fant had 4/55 yards against Miami a few weeks ago. That's the best guy they've faced since Kittle, and honestly, neither is comparable to what Kelce is as a receiver. Kittle is a freak and great YAC guy and Fant is super fast, but neither runs routes with the grace and deception Kelce does (he runs routes like a WR, just incredible feet).

Honestly, Miami's best bet is to rush 4 and hope Ogbah and company can get there, or hope the Chiefs have a penalty which causes a drive to stall.

[ChiefsFanatic]

Originally Posted by VanDolPhan

Shall see. Ever since Boyer moved him into the role no TE has gone over 50 yards on him that I recall. Even Kittle was limited to 44 yards on 4 catches.



I don't expect Rowe to keep that up against Kelce, but I do hope to keep him down to around 4-6 catches and under 70 yards hopefully. Or hopefully the team will alternate doubling up Kelce and Hill. I don't like the idea of running man against either too often.

If the defense holds Kelce to 4-6 catches for 70 yards, that means Tyreek Hill and a random receiver or running back had big games. It's very rare for teams to stifle both Kelce and Hill in the same game.

Sent from my GM1915 using Tapatalk

[tredadda]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Dolphins fans are REALLY confident in their CB duo of Howard and Jones and their secondary overall.

Considering what the passing attacks of Buffalo, Seattle, and Arizona did to them, I don't quite get it...

Average performance from Allen, Wilson, and Murray was:
70% completions for 10.5 YPA, 341 yards, 2.7 TDs and 0.3 INTs

Those teams each put up 31 points. KC has a deeper/better group of playmakers and a better QB than each of those teams.

I expect KC to put up something like 38 points and 500 yards. Big day for Mahomes, especially early if the Dolphins try to leave Howard and Jones on islands against Hill and Watkins.

Having Watkins back is so big. If teams are employing the New England approach and doubling both Kelce and Hill, Watkins against single coverage (and, at best, CB #2) is the matchup KC can use to kill them.

Honestly I don't. While they could, I don't believe they will. They seem to only do that in "statement games". I don't think Miami is a statement game. I see those types of numbers happening against NO more than I do Miami. I could be wrong, but they seem to play on a whole different level against teams viewed as the elites of the NFL.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by tredadda

Honestly I don't. While they could, I don't believe they will. They seem to only do that in "statement games". I don't think Miami is a statement game. I see those types of numbers happening against NO more than I do Miami. I could be wrong, but they seem to play on a whole different level against teams viewed as the elites of the NFL.

I expect the game to look a lot like the Denver game. Something like 27-17 and people will once again be worried about it.

[DJJasonp]

Originally Posted by tredadda

Honestly I don't. While they could, I don't believe they will. They seem to only do that in "statement games". I don't think Miami is a statement game. I see those types of numbers happening against NO more than I do Miami. I could be wrong, but they seem to play on a whole different level against teams viewed as the elites of the NFL.

eh - how many TDs were "stolen" against us last week?

Last week was way more close than it should have been - and that wasnt all on the chiefs......

[Lionstone]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Dolphins fans are REALLY confident in their CB duo of Howard and Jones and their secondary overall.

Considering what the passing attacks of Buffalo, Seattle, and Arizona did to them, I don't quite get it...

Average performance from Allen, Wilson, and Murray was:
70% completions for 10.5 YPA, 341 yards, 2.7 TDs and 0.3 INTs

Those teams each put up 31 points. KC has a deeper/better group of playmakers and a better QB than each of those teams.

I expect KC to put up something like 38 points and 500 yards. Big day for Mahomes, especially early if the Dolphins try to leave Howard and Jones on islands against Hill and Watkins.

Having Watkins back is so big. If teams are employing the New England approach and doubling both Kelce and Hill, Watkins against single coverage (and, at best, CB #2) is the matchup KC can use to kill them.

Dolphins fan here. I echo our coaches comments that I wish we could have 14 defenders to cover all the weapons you have on offense. It is going to be a tough challenge for the D.

One comment about your post. Byron Jones did not play many snaps in the Bills game due to injury and missed the Seahawk game. Both corners played in the Cardinals game.

[Marcellus]

Chiefs are 20-1 their last 21 games and they ain't going to 20-2 after Sunday.

[smithandrew051]

Dolphins offense is atrocious. They rank right there with the Bengals, Eagles, Bears, and Giants in total offense. They rank middle of the pack in scoring, which tells you how bad they need turnovers to create short fields.

If we don’t turn the ball over, the Dolphins have zero shot.

[staylor26]

Originally Posted by smithandrew051

Dolphins offense is atrocious. They rank right there with the Bengals, Eagles, Bears, and Giants in total offense. They rank middle of the pack in scoring, which tells you how bad they need turnovers to create short fields.

If we don’t turn the ball over, the Dolphins have zero shot.

That’s also with a lot of games where Fitz was at QB. Their offense is significantly worse with Tua.

[smithandrew051]

This Dolphins team is really like a 6-10 or 7-9 team who is going to finish maybe 9-7. They’re losing a minimum of 3 of their last 4 games (maybe all 4).

Their win against the Rams is a real head scratcher.

The Dolphins only ran 48 plays for 145 yards. 3.9 yards per pass and 2.2 yards per catch.

The Rams ran 92 plays for 471 yards, but lost by 11.

The Rams ended the first half offensively with:

Interception
Punt
Fumble returned for TD
Punt returned for TD
Interception
Fumble
Field Goal

That’s about as bad as it gets. Credit to the Dolphins for taking advantage, but that type of shit doesn’t happen often against good teams.

The Dolphins longest drive was 33 yards...