Black & Gold Xs & Os: Offensive Gameplan Vs. The Dolphins

I'm calling it now. This will be Reggie Bush's breakout game for the 2009 season. He will get the ball early and often against an aggressive Dolphins defense. I could finish the article right now, and some of you would think I'm brilliant, while most would think I lost my mind.

Okay, so there's a little more to the Saints offensive game plan than giving Reggie the ball as much as possible. But first, what kind of defense are the Saints facing?

Dolphins Defensive Scheme

The Dolphins are primarily a 3-4 defensive front team. This means they have three guys who line up with their hand on the ground and four guys who stand up behind or next to them. Most people know that.

What some may not realize is the way the Dolphins play their scheme, it is much closer to a 5-2 defense, where you have five rushers and two linebackers who play the middle of the field.

When they show their base 3-4, which is really a 5-2, it is quite common for them to bring all five and play their two middle backers in coverage. Other times, they will play one outside backer a little further off the line, showing almost a 4-3 look.

And some downs they will take one of their D-Linemen out, put their two outside backers as defensive ends and add a secondary player. This defense is essentially a 4-2-5.

Just in their fronts, the Dolphins give you a lot to prepare for as an offense.

To bring pressure, the Dolphins like to show blitz from the outside and come up the middle, bringing as many as six rushers at a time. It may be a little tougher for them to do this against Brees though since he has such a quick release.

They are not a huge overload blitz team, like the Jets, but from time-to-time will overload one side just to give a different look and try to catch the offense off guard.

One thing I found is that the Dolphins will allow their outside backers to play man-to-man coverage against tight ends or running backs when those guys are lined up tight in the slot. Pete Carmichael Jr. and Sean Payton must decide if this is a matchup they want to look for. I say it is.

And when receivers come in short motion into the formation, the inside linebackers will often get matched up on them man-to-man. Again, I believe this is something the Saints would like to take advantage of.

In the running game, the Dolphins are very stout, not just because they struggle in pass coverage, although that is a small reason for their high rush defense ranking. More often though, they do a really good job on the line of "two-gapping" meaning each linemen is responsible for an entire gap, of which there are four.

The nose tackle pretty much takes up the entire "A Gap". The defensive ends take up parts of both the "B" and "C" gaps. This leaves only the "D Gap" open, but they generally fill this with one of the linebackers, or occasionally a safety coming up in run support.

They also will use some run blitzes by their middle backers to fill gaps, while they stunt and twist their linemen to confuse the offensive line. Because of these factors, running up the middle is very difficult on this defense. The key is to be more physical and push them off the ball.

In the secondary, they play primarily man-to-man coverage, despite giving a lot of playing time to two rookies, in Sean Smith and Vontae Davis. These youngsters, along with Will Allen, have been burnt deep quite a few times in recent weeks by the Chargers and Jets. Don't think Brees hasn't noticed that in film study this week.

Saints Counter to the Dolphins' Scheme

Any time an offense shows two backs, it seems to act as a catalyst for a Dolphins' blitz. Therefore, in two backs I would run some screens, draws, outside zone and toss plays, along with some quick throws into the flats to Bush, Evans, and/or Shockey.

But also if an offense feels confident in their ability to pick up that blitz, this becomes a great time to go deep to guys like Henderson or Meachem. But also don't forget about Colston with his size as a potential deep target as well.

I would also look for some "21 Pony", which is when the Saints play two of their tailbacks in the game at the same time. Generally it is Bush and either Thomas or Mike Bell. The benefit of this is the ability to maintain a running threat while also using Bush as a receiver and getting some matchups on linebackers, which he should be able to expose.

Formations to use for this that are advisable are to put him and Shockey lined up on the same side, guaranteeing you will get one of them on a linebacker, both of which are mismatches. Bush probably lines up in the slot with Shockey flexed out but only a couple yards away from Bush.

This could even lead to some run plays to that side with Reggie clearing out his defender and Shockey coming inside to block. You would probably use a draw look or perhaps a counter.   

I also like going Empty in this game, because while you are probably going to get a blitz, you have a QB who can pick that up mentally very quickly. More importantly though, you have man-to-man, five-on-five basically.

I'd probably use Bush and Shockey, and rotate the receivers as far as who gets to take advantage of this obvious mismatch. Shockey could get matched up on a safety, as could Bush. I love these matchups.

A Few Keys to Success for the Saints Offense

Don't Turn the Ball Over

This really is a key every week, but even more so this week. It seems highly likely that the Dolphins are going to try to bleed as much clock as possible when they have the ball.

Score Every Chance You Get

I know this sounds rather obvious, but in case the Dolphins offense is successful at keeping the ball away, it becomes paramount to score when we possess the ball.

Stick to the Run

I know I pretty much told you that they are very vulnerable to the pass, and they are, but against this pass rush, it is dangerous to become one-dimensional. Be patient, you may not get a lot of yards early, but it will help with play action and just keeping the defense off guard.

Running the ball outside and get them chasing sideline-to-sideline will tire them out, which will later open up in the inside running game. A reverse doesn't figure to work to well against a disciplined defense such as this one, but a double reverse, or some other kind of trick run might.

Score Early

This season has changed my opinion on the debate "If we win the toss do we want the ball now, or in the second half?" I used to be adamant that I want the ball in the second half in case the first half didn't go so well. But I've realized that's a form of passive aggressiveness.

Good teams go out and rip the opponent's heart out at the beginning of the game. The Saints are a better football team, but Miami is good enough to beat them if the Saints allow them to stick in the game. Get the ball to start the game, score, and win. How's that for a simple game plan?