5 Bold Strategies That Didn't Pay Off For The Dolphins Vs. The Patriots
By Matt Dolloff (@mattdolloff)
It seems Patriots opponents can't come to Foxboro and put up an effort representative of an NFL team, let alone go 60 minutes without making bone-headed, embarrassing mistakes that leave their fans shaking their heads in disbelief while a schadenfreude-hungry Patriots Nation revels in the other team's incomprehensible ineptitude.
The Miami Dolphins are only the latest example of a league that, disturbingly, is showing its glaring incompetence compared to the Patriots on a weekly basis. Patriots Nation has been privileged to have a coach and quarterback who rarely make any mistakes, let alone the kind of fundamental blunders that their opponents continue to roll out.
At this point the Patriots just need to show up and not make their own mistakes, and wait for the opponent to commit their weekly blunder. No wonder they like to go with a "bend but don't break" defense; barely any QB in the league can make it all the way down the field against them without a single mental power outage.
You have to think, they aren't all this stupid...right??? These are NFL-caliber teams with NFL-caliber head coaches, right? The Patriots aren't playing CFL teams, right? The Patriots aren't really THAT much better and more prepared than everyone else, are they?
If the Dolphins weren't just hilariously inept, you'd have to think they were simply employing some bold strategies that nobody had seen before. You know the classic line from Dodgeball that has become one of the internet's favorite memes...It happened with the legendary botched fake punt by the Colts last week, as well as just about every other team the Patriots have faced this season. And it would certainly apply here with the Dolphins.
There were plenty of audacious decisions that didn't quite work out for the Dolphins in Foxboro last night. Let's go over some of the more daring moves made by Miami Thursday night...
1. Ryan Tannehill's dazzling no-look snap into a barrel-roll to score a safety
It's not a typical strategy to spot the Patriots points in Gillette Stadium, but the Dolphins knew that New England would be expecting that. So why not try staging a botched snap that leads to a safety through the back of the end zone?
Word is Dolphins interim head coach Dan Campbell did not like his team's field position at the time, and decided to get the ball back to the Patriots so they could stop them and end up in a better spot. And he reportedly calculated that it was worth sacrificing the two points to see if Julian Edelman would muff the punt.
Here's a step-by-step breakdown of the play...First, after letting the ball sail by him, Tannehill gets in the lunge position then uses his big-time reach to dive straight for the ball...
...then gains control of the ball with his knee still in bounds...
...then shows outstanding agility rolling up on the ball with perfect form.
...and finished the process by getting into the fetal position.
Nothing wrong with the execution. It's just gameplan-wise...not the usual strategy teams use to beat the Patriots.
2. Tannehill's perfect pass to Logan Ryan
You often hear the phrase "There's no defense for a perfect pass." So how would you categorize this play by Tannehill? He executed a perfect pass to Logan Ryan, as he anticipated the receiver getting to the right spot and dropped the ball perfectly into his hands. Just one problem...Ryan plays for the Patriots.
It seems that Tannehill thought Thursday night was a joint-team scrimmage. Things got especially confusing when Tannehill bolted to the Patriots sideline and berated Ryan for making the play.
3. The 3rd and 28 dump-off
Seeing the benefits in executing a 3rd and long play with a running back after the Patriots converted a 3rd and 16 screen to Dion Lewis, Campbell called for Tannehill to take two sacks to set up a 3rd and 28 secret weapon that the Dolphins had been waiting all season to deploy (not pictured above).
Unfortunately, they ran right into Bill Belichick's "Don't Give 'Em An Inch" defense, as Pat Chung stopped Jonas Gray on the dump-off for just 3 yards. The Patriots defense, like many other units in the NFL, have a strong success rate on 3rd down plays of 20+ yards, so it was a risky decision to say the very least for Campbell to start his team in that situation. Speaking of him, how about...
4. Dan Campbell's "Strong, Silent Type" Strategy
Campbell certainly has a presence about him. He can command a locker room as well as any head coach in the NFL. But he may have gone overboard when he announced he would coach the Dolphins by communicating only with stoic poses and blank stares.
The safety was the first play ran in this system, so it's curious that Campbell would keep deadpanning throughout the game - even as the Dolphins went down by as many as 29 points. He said after the game that he needs to look at the film to see what happened, but that was an odd statement considering this was exactly how the Dolphins drew it up. It was a gutsy gameplan that could use a few tweaks.
5. The "Cover Everyone But Dion Lewis" Defense
Lewis returned to action for the Patriots after missing the previous game with an abdominal injury, but looked just fine as he had another big game with 112 total yards and a touchdown. He has shown an electric ability to make defenders miss in the open field all season...so it was quite daring of the Dolphins to position everyone on the field at least 10 yards away from him.
Here's a handy diagram from Michael Hurley detailing the X's and O's of this radical gameplan:
It's a low-percentage play, for sure, but the Dolphins practiced it for weeks and entered the game confident that they would execute it to perfection. They did - which left Campbell befuddled as to how the Pats scored.
And Koa Misi's "Break My Own Ankles" technique was a major dice-roll that did not go his way.
What other bold strategies did you notice from the Dolphins last night? Share your findings in the comments below.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read more from Matt here. Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
