Miami Dolphins Preseason: Coach's Review of the Game vs. Jacksonville

The Miami Dolphins defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-26 in a game that was postponed for two hours due to lightning in the Jacksonville area. Of course, this doesn't tell the story, especially in the preseason, where the final score might mean less than the coin flip that starts the game.

Last week, I relied on my coaching experience during the Dolphins-Buccaneers first preseason game and wrote up an analysis. You can review that analysis here—

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/436116-miami-dolphins-preseason-game-1-coachs-review-of-the-game

Unfortunately, due to the weather and technical difficulties, I missed some of the Miami-Jacksonville action, but once again here are my thoughts about the game from a coaching perspective—

On offense, Chad Henne's statistics will lead you to think that he had a fantastic game since he completed 11 for 14 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns.

He was even better than that.

His two touchdown throws to Anthony Fasano stood out. On the first play, he sold the action to his left and then rolled right to hit Fasano in stride on a crossing pattern. Granted the Jaguars handle passing about as well as a tractor trailer in a rainstorm but the precision of the play was flawless.

On the second touchdown, Henne eluded a rusher and stepped up into the pocket to fit the ball into Fasano for the touchdown. Both throws showed mobility, a strong arm, and command of the offense.

Brandon Marshall showed glimpses of his Pro Bowl self. On one play, he slipped a good form tackle and continued up field for six more yards. When Chad Pennington (yes, that Chad) made an appearance in the second quarter, Marshall showed why it’s nice to have a big receiver. Pennington's throw was essentially a lob and Marshall tipped and then snared the jump ball. 

Arguably, Marshall's best contributions weren't his four catches for 67 yards. It was his outstanding blocking on Fasano's first touchdown and on a Pennington touchdown pass to Ronnie Brown in which he cleared cornerback Don Casey completely out of the play.

Ricky Williams still has the speed to turn the corner on the outside and lower the shoulder to finish. It's clear why the Dolphins will still have him go across the formation in the Wildcat. Once Williams’ gains momentum he is hard to bring down, even at 33 years of age.

The defensive story of the game for Miami was much different. Thankfully, Mike Nolan didn't dial up his multiple blitz schemes.

Unfortunately, Miami will really, really need them in the regular season if the secondary continues to struggle. Vontae Davis once again slipped and was beaten on a pass route and Sean Smith continues to look stiff in coverage.

I would like to get another look at Mike Sims-Walker's two big catches to see exactly what happened.

I did get a good look at the two yard touchdown pass to Mike Thomas. Nolan Carroll has to at least bump the receiver to throw the timing of the route off. It was a bad night for Carroll in coverage and I wonder if this is yet another player who has great straight-line speed, but doesn't have the natural hips to turn in coverage. It's one game and he is young so we'll see.

Another concern is the lack of a pass rush in a base package without Nolan's blitzes.  There were two players that pressured the quarterback. 

On one play, Randy Starks easily shot the "A" gap (between the center and guard) and ran over Josh McCown.  But, this type of play is pretty rare for a nose tackle as are sacks in general.

Charles Grant knocked David Garrard out of the game with a chest injury and seems to get good pressure even though he could stand to shed a few pounds. Grant is not a starter, however, and you have to wonder how many plays he is going to get from game to game.   

Assuming that Cameron Wake will pressure the quarterback on a regular basis, that still doesn't give Miami enough pass rush options. 

Other Quick Notes

Patrick Cobbs doesn't seem to have quite the acceleration that he did before his ACL tear last season. This comes as little surprise as the true recovery for this type of injury is longer than just the time it takes to get back on the field. Cobbs is still a valuable commodity, but I'd certainly work him back slowly which the coaching staff seems to be doing.

Patrick Turner is still too slow and making too many moves on his routes. He faked a step towards a post pattern and then rounded back out towards the sideline on a play where Thigpen had already delivered the ball (albeit poorly).

Nolan Carroll is Miami's starter at kick returner. He hit the crease on a first half return and outran an opposing player to the corner. His dynamic ability is a stark contrast to Devone "Fair Catch" Bess (Devone, I still think you are a darn good slot receiver) on punt returns. There might be some mistakes due to Carroll's inexperience, but he also might be able to take one or more kicks the distance.

I can't believe that Tony Sparano would be ready to turn over one of the tackle spots to Lydon Murtha if Jake Long or Vernon Carey were to be injured. I need to watch the tape again, but Murtha seemed to be extremely slow at protecting the edge on a play that got Thigpen decked.

Where is the Larry Izzo of the Dolphins' special team's unit? You want someone who is just going to run down on coverage and destroy the returner or blow up the return. I don't see that player on the roster right now, but hopefully he will emerge.