Dolphins vs. Lions: Breaking Down Miami's Game Plan
Coming off a promising 37-0 blowout victory against the San Diego Chargers in Week 9, the Miami Dolphins now face a much different type of opponent, the Detroit Lions. Each team is looking for their fourth consecutive victory, and the Lions are coming off their bye week.
The Lions are built similarly to the teams that often trouble the Dolphins, featuring a tremendous defensive front seven with tons of speed and pass-rush ability. For those who haven’t seen the Lions much this season, think of the Buffalo Bills or New York Jets. The Lions defense is more talented than each of those teams as it has a star linebacker, DeAndre Levy, to account for every play.
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On offense, the Lions have weapons galore around Matthew Stafford. ESPN.com reporter Michael Rothstein confirmed on Wednesday that All-Pro wide receiver Calvin Johnson will return from the injury list and play against Miami. On the other side of Johnson is Golden Tate, who is fourth in the NFL with 800 receiving yards this season.
Stafford also has the luxury of Reggie Bush in the backfield and tight end Eric Ebron, a highly touted rookie who was selected in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft. Bush is also expected to suit up, despite injury concerns, according to Justin Rodgers of Mlive.com.
With Miami entering Game 2 of a very difficult four-game stretch of opponents, it’s important that the Dolphins players and coaches stay focused on this game. Resting on the laurels of the last few wins is not an option.
Thus, we’ve created a game plan that will highlight the Dolphins’ strengths and try to exploit the Lions’ weaknesses. Detroit hasn’t faced many good teams this year, so their 6-2 record seems somewhat bloated by notching narrow victories.
Using the blueprint of what the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers did in their wins against Detroit, Miami can find itself in position to be victorious come Sunday afternoon once again.
Shadow Megatron with Optimus Grimes
It may be a cheesy tagline, but it’s what must happen for the Dolphins defense to bog down the Lions’ explosive offense. As great as Calvin Johnson is, Brent Grimes has been a similarly elite player for the Dolphins, which we looked at earlier this week.
Johnson is one of the elite athletes in a league filled with amazing physical marvels, and he has incredible football acumen that makes him an all-time great player. Simply put, history will always remember Johnson fondly for the accomplishments he’s made throughout his career.
Still in his prime, Johnson is nearly unguardable for any single defender. At 6’5” and 235 pounds, he’s incredibly fast and physical. He has an innate ability to high-point the football and rip it away from defenders. He’s the prototype for a No. 1 wide receiver.
Although lacking the size to disrupt Johnson off the line of scrimmage, Grimes has the technique to bother Johnson and make a play on the ball. There should be times where safety Reshad Jones helps Grimes in coverage on deep routes, but for the most part, Grimes can be trusted to play well.
Matthew Stafford is the type of quarterback to make very high-risk and high-reward throws, allowing his receivers to make a play on the ball. This borders on the edge of reckless and genius, depending on the result of the play. By putting Grimes on Johnson, expect the Pro Bowl cornerback to have some opportunities to make a good play on the ball and maybe add to his interception total on the season.
With Johnson unable to play the last three games, Golden Tate really benefitted statistically. Tate is a very good route-runner with great hands. He isn’t the most explosive or fastest player, and a lot of his yards could be considered empty. The quality of secondary play the Lions have seen so far does not compare to the Dolphins, and Tate found himself wide-open a handful of times each game due to defensive breakdowns.
The duo of Cortland Finnegan and Jamar Taylor should be able to keep Tate in check this week, with each playing well this season as boundary cornerbacks. Miami’s defensive philosophy is to allow the short gains, but in the big picture, by keeping the offense attempting more passes, there are more chances for a forced turnover.
Ride the Hot Hand
Building an offensive attack against the Lions is difficult because of how good they are. Statistically, the team ranks as the No. 1 defense in both points allowed and yards against. The Lions are top-five in passing and rushing yards given up as well, per NFL.com.
Looking at their defensive talent, it’s easy to see why. With a front four featuring two excellent defensive tackles in Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley, it creates immense pressure on the opposition. It doesn’t matter if the play call is a pass or run, expect penetration to happen quickly.
Miami has been more of a run-centric team compared to most this season, ranking 22nd in the league in pass-play percentage, per TeamRankings.com. After Ryan Tannehill’s excellent play the past month, this week should resemble the Chargers’ game, where Tannehill was trusted to fully run the offense at his discretion.
Running the ball effectively may prove impossible this week. Andrew Abramson of The Palm Beach Post reported that Lamar Miller was "limited in practice" due to a shoulder injury, which he struggled with in college as well. He’s expected to play, but being nicked up against the Lions defense will not make anything easier.
For more of a look on the Lions’ run defense, check out Bleacher Report Featured Columnist Jeff Risdon’s take on how it's become an elite unit.
Getting Tannehill in rhythm by using read-options and easy dump-off passes is key. The Chargers were not prepared to handle the looks given by offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, including using Jarvis Landry out of the backfield as a receiver. This type of creativity and motion must continue this week.
With Tannehill showing confidence in his abilities and the offensive design, Miami cannot be afraid of giving him the ball in tough spots. Keeping offensive balance and providing short third downs will be crucial as always, but Tannehill has delivered on his potential as the offense becomes more natural.
Feature Clay and Landry
In two of the last three games, Charles Clay has been the player Miami often featured in 2013. With his versatility, quickness and speed, Clay is a true receiving weapon. His ability to convert in the red zone is key for the Dolphins offense, but it's not the only place he needs to make an impact this week.
Against the Saints and Panthers, the Lions often allowed receivers and tight ends to freely roam the middle of the field. This is surprising, as the Lions have a linebacker in Levy who is an excellent athlete, capable of making up a lot of ground quickly. But it’s the part of the field that Miami routinely attacks and the Lions struggle to defend.
That means it’s Clay-time on Sunday. Clay has seen an increased number of plays designed to get him the ball, including the clear-out below.
Landry is another primary receiver for the Dolphins, even if he is a slot man. He’s been the focal point of the offense recently, being used in a variety of roles, causing defenses to breakdown and lose assignments.
Clay and Landry are vital this week because they allow Tannehill to get rid of the ball quickly, and each is able to do damage in the open field. Giving Tannehill quick passes will not only help minimize the aforementioned interior presence of the Lions but also the talented edge-rushers Ezekiel Ansah and Jason D. Jones.
The Saints often use Marques Colston and Kenny Stills in the slot, and they were able to rack up 111 and 103 yards, respectfully, against the Lions. Many of those yards came right down the middle of the field.
Similarly, the Panthers found success with tight end Greg Olsen and receiver Kelvin Benjamin down the seams, totaling 118 yards on eight catches between the duo. The Lions have a good safety in Glover Quin, but he is often kept in deep Cover 2 to prevent big plays. That opens up opportunities in the middle of the field when the linebackers do not retreat deep enough in coverage.
That’s where the Dolphins offense must look first when passing the ball.
Win the Field-Position Game
As much as we’ve talked offense, the reality is that we will see two elite defenses square off with this matchup. According to Odds Shark, the over/under on the total points scored is just 43.5, meaning the experts believe this game will be a nail-biter that could be determined by a few select plays.
Winning the field-position battle is old-school, but when possessions come at a premium, it is critical. There are multiple ways to ensure this battle within the war is won, such as winning the turnover battle. On the season, Miami is plus-six in the turnover margin, ranking sixth in the league. Detroit has just one more takeaway than giveaway, which is 14th.
Miami also must get better play out of its specialists, punter Brandon Fields and kicker Caleb Sturgis. Each has struggled with the consistency that must be demanded from situational players.
The decline of Fields has been shocking, as he was the best punter in 2012, averaging just over 50 yards a punt. Even last season, he was at a very good mark of 48.8. This year, he is positioned near the least effective punters in the NFL, sitting at 44.9 yards a punt. Miami must get more production out of Fields in crucial games such as this one.
Sturgis was a highly touted kicker coming out of college, but he has yet to be a consistent player for Miami. He’s made just 80 percent of his field goals this year, which is tied for 23rd in the NFL. In crunch time, we can trust Sturgis as much as Rick Grimes trusted the Governor in The Walking Dead.
Miami has an opportunity to move to 6-3 with a win against a good Detroit Lions team this week. The Lions are far from a perfect team, and this game should be a knockdown, drag-it-out-style game. If the Dolphins are able to be the better team in the aforementioned areas, they have a better-than-not chance to claim their fourth straight victory.
All stats used are from Sports-Reference.com.
Ian Wharton is a Miami Dolphins Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report, contributor for Optimum Scouting, and analyst for FinDepth.
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