Coach Talk Week 9: Review of the Coordinators Press Conferences
Every week the Miami Dolphins upload their coaches press conferences to their YouTube channel. They’re useful to watch and they can help give a better understanding of the team’s success and failures in certain aspects of the game. Let’s review Wednesday’s press conference with our Offensive and Defensive Coordinators, and I’ll share my thoughts leading up to Week 9’s game against the 5-2 Arizona Cardinals:
Josh Boyer (Defensive Coordinator)
Josh Boyer has done an excellent job with the defensive unit this season. Under his leadership, the defense now ranks number 1 in fewest points allowed. However, the Defensive Coordinator isn’t taking his foot off the gas anytime soon, and he wants to continue to build on the unit’s success. His message to the media this week was about finding ways for the defense to improve and to eliminate the mistakes they’ve made during the season. Boyer also spent time during his presser giving high praises to the Arizona Cardinals’ offense. Which at least confirms he understands the threat that they present to Miami this week. He also stressed that teamwork and the unit’s communication will need to be at a “high level” this week if they want to win.
The Miami Dolphins “Achilles heel” this season has been dual-threat quarterbacks, like Kyler Murray. His ability to run and extend plays out of the pocket can hurt any defense in the NFL. If the Dolphins want to be successful in this game, then they’ll need to contain him. However, that’s easier said than done if you’re Miami. Every game that they have lost this season, has been to teams with mobile quarterbacks. If the defense needs to improve in anything this week, it’ll be trying to keep Murray in the pocket and to prevent him from making big plays. A key match-up will also be the Dolphin’s secondary against the Cardinal’s wide receivers which feature DeAndre Hopkins, who currently leads the league in receiving yards (704), and Larry Fitzgerald who is a walking legend and can still carve up the defense at 37 years old if they’re not careful.
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Chan Gailey (Offensive Coordinator)
During his press conference, Chain Gailey shared that the offenses’ game plan, going into the LA Rams game, was to protect quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and mitigate the pass rush with quick throws, screens, and the run game. Once the Dolphins went up 18 points in the second half, Gailey confirmed that the game plan shifted focus to the screen and run game. Another interesting, and somewhat concerning titbit from Coach Gailey’s presser was when he revealed that Tua Tagovailoa did not get many reps with the 1st team until he was named the Dolphin’s starter. I would have imagined that Tua’s reps, with the 1st team, would have gradually gone up as the season progressed. Especially, if the team’s plan was to get him ready to play at some point this season. At least now we have a better understanding of why Tua and the offense looked completely off last game against the LA Rams.
Chan Gailey will have to figure out how to get his rookie quarterback comfortable with the offense this week and get them going. If Gailey’s unit can not keep up with the Cardinals and their offense then it’ll be a long day for the Miami Dolphins. Establishing a run game would help take the load off of Tua, but the problem is the Dolphins haven’t had a run game all year, and starting running back Myles Gaskin (knee) is ruled out for this week, as well as his back up Matt Breida (knee). Chan Gailey has his hands full for this game. Getting a rookie quarterback used to the speed of the NFL and at the same time trying to fix the offense’s issues within a week, can be a daunting task for any NFL coach. But if there is one coach on the Miami Dolphins’ staff, with the pedigree and experience to deal with it all, it’ll be Chan Gailey.
My Prediction
All good things must come to an end and I’m predicting that Miami’s 3 game win streak does this week. Miami will continue to struggle on offense, I don’t believe a week is enough time to fix their issues, and with the offense not being able to establish a run game, they’ll have a hard time sustaining drives and keeping Arizona’s high-powered offense off the field. Add in the Dolphin’s inability to contain mobile quarterbacks on defense and it just seems too much for the team to overcome. I have the Arizona Cardinals beating the Miami Dolphins 31-20.
