Sorry for not doing these the past couple of weeks. We were having trouble with the PFF account.

As bad a loss as the game against the Bills was, there were some positives to take out of the game.

John Jerry and Mike Pouncey had good games, not allowing a single sack or pressure. They excelled in pass protection and were serviceable in run blocking.

Richie Incognito also did well in pass protection but had a -3.4 in run blocking.

Jonathan Martin was the complete opposite, excelling in run blocking with a 2.6, but doing pretty badly in pass protection, allowing an astounding 7 pressures.

The only player worse than Martin in pass protection was of course Tyson Claob, who allowed 2 sacks and 7 pressures.

For the non-linemen, Michael Egnew has really improved his blocking. He had a positive run block and pass block grade.

All three starting Dolphins wide receivers had positive grades in the passing game. Gibson, Wallace and Hartline all had good games.

Both running backs had good games as well despite subpar run blocking.

It is no secret that Ryan Tannehill had a poor game as a passer, throwing two picks. He had a -1.3 grade as a passer.

Contrary to popular belief, Tannehill is not struggling against the blitz. He had a positive grade of 2.3 when facing the blitz. It is when he is not being blitzed that he is struggling with a -3.0 grade. This is probably due to him not getting a good amount of time to read when 7 players drop into coverage because his offensive line cannot block a 4 man rush.

Overall, the Dolphins allowed 2 sacks and 16 pressures, so even though Tannehill wasn't sacked until the 4th quarter, he was pressured on 16 of his 37 other drop backs.

On defense, Randy Starks had a monster game both in run defense and rushing the passer. Starks had a sack and 5 pressures as well as two stuffs in the running game.

Jared Odrick wasn't far behind with 4 pressures and 1 stuff.

Paul Soliai had three stuffs.

Chris Clemons and Reshad Jones had good games. Jones had 6 stuffs and Chris Clemons had a big interception.

Dion Jordan had 3 pressures in 24 snaps. Makes you wonder why he isn't on the field more often, especially since Cam Wake only played on 22 snaps.

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Just curious. How many pressures is acceptable vs. what is essentially the fourth best sacking defense in the league? I can't find a stat on pressure #'s yet.

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Not sure I understand your question. I can tell you the Bills average 18 pressures per game.

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OK cool. So we allowed 2 less pressures than they normally average.

All in all a better day than we've normally seen from this O-line in pass pro imo.

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The guards and center held up very well.

The tackles did not.

We also did a good job of running the ball so that helps negate pressures.

I'm sure if we were our typical pass happy selves the Bills would have set a record for pressures in a game.

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And why they didn't maintain their strategy into the 4th Qtr to keep it up is once again beyond me.

Have to add that I get absolutely zero accomplished at work the day after a Dolphins' loss. My day is spent looking for answers.

Thankfully, I'm self employed.

Yeah I brought this up yesterday on Phinfever Live. The difference in protection was the play of the guards and Pouncey. The pressure still came fast and furious from the outside.

Honestly, I wouldn't mind seeing a combination of McKinnie and Garner soon, depending on how Bryant acclimates.

Here's a little more from Pro Football Focus.



https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2 ... -week-7-2/

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PHINFEVER FACEBOOK - JOIN US!

Haha same with me. I've got no new positions in the market right now, so I'm bored as hell and this is where my attention is.

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Maybe the Phins would be more successful if they could run more of the plays where they get 21 personnel?

The Bills stepped up the blitzes in the 2nd half and got to RT 3 times. He might be completing more passes against the blitz but he's also taking his share of sacks. I think that "rating" is a little bit of a misnomer. I'll bet the house that the Patriots bring it early and often this week.

Even though he was only sacked twice and one of the sacks came from a four man rush?

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I guess the fumble wasn't counted as a sack? That was 7 guys coming on that play and an 8th about a yard off the LOS.

Yes and the fumble which cost the game doesn't factor into QB rating.

Yes, the fumble was ONE OF TWO sacks...

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Well these are averages over the whole game not one specific play. Agreed fumbles are not put in QB ratings. But your point does provoke a question about his other fumbles. I wonder if they have been mostly when blitzed or not blitzed?

Rich, you're right there were only 2 sacks. The third one was nullified by a defensive holding penalty. Kudos to you for pointing out that agregious error on my part.

All I know is the Bills didn't have a sack until the 4th quarter when they started to blitz. They had no choice they were running out of time.

They had no choice they were running out of time.

Yep and they sure ended the game the way they wanted to.

But Mario Williams's first sack was on a four man rush. Tannehill was barely finishing his drop back when he got slammed.

See the picture you posted in this thread. Four guys rushing.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9917

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yes...I saw the unecessary roughness sack about 10 times. The Bills stepped up the blitzing in Q4 and forced a key mistake to win the game. That sack, as bad as it was, wasn't the game winner.