5 Adjustments Miami Dolphins Must Make in Week 2 Matchup vs Jacksonville Jaguars
A win's a win.
That's been the mantra for Miami Dolphins fans coming out of the team's 17-10 victory over the Washington Redskins, a game that should have been much more lopsided in favor of the Dolphins.
There were myriad factors that contributed to that game being much closer than it had to be, but one of those was the game plan. If the Dolphins had made just a handful of adjustments one way or the other, they could have thoroughly dominated the game for a full 60 minutes.
That being said, while some of those adjustments can be applied to next week's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Dolphins must bear in mind that this is a new opponent, which means there should be a new set of focus points heading into the game.
So here's a look at some adjustments the Dolphins can make heading into their road tilt with the Jaguars.
Find the Checkdown/Hot Read
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Ryan Tannehill has been the league's most sacked quarterback since entering the NFL in 2012; he's been taken down 142 times, per Pro-Football-Reference.com, 17 more times than his nearest competitor, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. As easy as it would be to place the blame on one group of people, those sacks are not all the fault of the offensive line.
Tannehill has a propensity to hang onto the ball at times, and that's exactly what happened on Sunday. When Tannehill was sacked (three times), he held onto the ball for an average of 3.1 seconds before being sacked. That ranked right around the middle of the pack, which isn't bad, but imagine how much better the Dolphins offense could be if Tannehill would simply get rid of the ball.
Too many times on Sunday against the Redskins, Tannehill would be under pressure and would simply tuck the ball into his chest and take the sack instead of looking for the nearest open receiver. The Dolphins need to give him a checkdown option on every pass play until their protection is good enough that they don't have to worry about it anymore.
Get Lamar Miller Involved
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Head coach Joe Philbin has been criticized for failing to get Lamar Miller involved on offense. In his three years plus one game in the NFL, Miller has earned more than 19 carries on one occasion. The last time it happened was nearly two full years ago, on December 1, 2013, against the New York Jets.
In the season opener against the Washington Redskins, the trend continued with Miller earning just 13 carries and one catch. The Dolphins were able to sneak out of FedEx Field with a win, but they would have been much more dominant in victory if they had not been dominated in time of possession (37:56 to 22:04 in favor of the Redskins).
It's not as easy as simply running the ball; the Dolphins must be effective when doing it, or else they'll get away from it again. The Jaguars have a talented defensive line that features Chris Clemons, Jared Odrick, Tyson Alualu and Roy Miller up front. Those four linemen give the Jaguars the beef that they need to stop the run.
That being said, the last thing the Dolphins want to do is give that line a reason to tee off on quarterback Ryan Tannehill by being unbalanced in their attack. Get Miller involved, and everyone will benefit.
Dial Down the Blitzing
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An aggressive, blitz-heavy defensive game plan is at its best when used against an effective pocket passer. Thus far, in his two years as quarterback of the Jaguars, Blake Bortles has not been effective. He has completed just 58.6 percent of his throws at a rate of six yards per pass attempt, and he has thrown 12 touchdowns against 19 interceptions.
Against the Redskins, the Dolphins blitzed the quarterback on 12 of 32 dropbacks (37.5 percent). Against the Jaguars, they can probably afford to take their foot off the gas on defense a little bit.
They don't need to force the issue, because Bortles is prone to making some mistakes whether or not the Dolphins send extra pressure. The Carolina Panthers sent extra pressure after Bortles on 11 of 47 dropbacks in Week 1 and notched two of their five sacks on such plays, but Bortles threw a touchdown against the blitz and threw both of his picks when the Panthers sent a standard rush.
The Dolphins have employed an aggressive game plan in the past, but with one of the best defensive lines in the NFL, they no longer need to rely on blitzes to create pressure.
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Spread the Ball Around
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Slot receiver Jarvis Landry was targeted on 12 of Ryan Tannehill's 34 pass attempts. Tight end Jordan Cameron came in second with seven targets, trailed by wide receiver Rishard Matthews with six targets. Four other receivers/running backs came in with three or fewer targets in the passing game.
Most notably, first-round wide receiver DeVante Parker is still searching for his first NFL target, and veteran receiver Kenny Stills only hauled in one of the three passes thrown his way in the season opener. Those two explosive, talented pass-catchers should be much more involved this week.
The Jaguars secondary is not one of the deepest in the NFL—far from it. Aaron Colvin, Dwayne Gratz, Demetrius McCray and Davon House are all NFL cornerbacks, but they are not among the best the NFL has to offer. The Panthers spread the ball around to nine different receivers. Only three had more than three targets, while six receivers had three or fewer targets.
The best thing the Dolphins can do is force the Jaguars to defend the entire length and width of the field. The best way to do that is to make sure every receiver gets his fair share of opportunities to make plays.
Pick Up the Tempo
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Dolphins offensive coordinator Bill Lazor has often preached "tempo" as one of the key elements of his offense. That word can be interpreted several different ways, from an abundance of no-huddle offense marching quickly down the field to the time between the breaking of the huddle and the snapping of the ball. In any case, the slow pace of the Dolphins offense was alarming on Sunday against the Redskins.
Granted, some of that tempo may have been attributed to the imbalance of the time of possession battle, which heavily favored the Redskins. The Dolphins ran just four no-huddle plays in Week 1, and they might benefit from a more aggressive offensive strategy against a Jaguars defense that is still in transition.
A quicker tempo puts more stress on the defense to match up with the skill position players, which could mean a mismatch or two in the passing game. That might be all the difference in giving the Dolphins the advantage they need to pull off a second straight road win to start the season.
Unless otherwise noted, all advanced stats obtained via Pro Football Focus.
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