Offensive Line

Don't look now, but Jonathan Martin is the 19th best pass protecting tackle in the NFL according to PFF, with a positive grade of 2.6. Unfortunately, he is 65th in run blocking. 37th overall. Martin allowed 1 sack against the Falcons, but it was partially because he was screened by Incognito on a stung.

Tyson Clabo jumped up to 44th as a pass blocker, but is tied with Martin as a run blocker. 56th overall. Clabo allowed 2 pressures against the Falcons, after allowing 1 sack and 3 pressures in week 1 and 2 sacks and 3 pressures in week 2.

At guard, Richie Incognito tied for 8th in pass blocking, but ranked 38th in run blocking. 15th overall.

John Jerry is 29th in pass blocking, but 56th in run blocking. 41th overall.

At center, Mike Pouncey is 4th in pass blocking, but 19th in run blocking. 7th overall.

Overall, the Dolphins are ranked 12th in pass blocking, mostly because they aren't giving up that many pressures compared to the rest of the league. The problem is the Dolphins are giving up a much higher number of sacks per pressures than the rest of the league.

This can be attributed to a combination of the offensive line, running backs, tight ends and Tannehill not getting rid of the ball.

From a run blocking perspective, the Dolphins are 3rd from last and the only player with a positive run blocking grade is Michael Egnew (who would have thought!).

On Defense

Dion Jordan had a 4.3 overall grade with a 3.7 pass rush grade. Jordan had 5 pressures, including the one that caused the game clinching interception.

Olivier Vernon also graded out positively with a 2.7 and a 2.0 pass rush grade. He contributed 4 pressures.

Despite 3 pressures, Phillip Wheeler had a negative -4.1 grade, mostly because of poor run defense and pass coverage. Wheeler had an astonishing 6 missed tackles.

As far as run defense, Chris Clemons, Derrick Shelby, Jared Odrick, Dannell Ellerbe and Cameron Wake all had negative grades.

Players that graded out positively on run defense are Reshad Jones, Nolan Carroll, Koa Misi and Dion Jordan.

In coverage, Brent Grimes was "shutdown", with a 2.2 positive grade, he allowed 1 catch for 9 yards on two targets and had one pass defensed.

Jimmy Wilson also graded out well, with a 1.5, allowing 1 catch on 4 targets for 2 yards. That was a TD allowed to a 6'8 tight end. He also had the crunch time INT.

Nolan Carroll struggled covering Julio Jones, allowing 5 receptions on 8 targets for 70 yards.

Nolan Carroll is playing very good imo.....70yds to Jones is a success full day for most corners

With a distinct height and athleticism advantage for Julio, I'll take 70 yards every day.

Another important statistic showing RT's maturation....

Completion Percentage Leaders - Qualified
RK PLAYER TEAM COMP ATT PCT YDS YDS/A LONG TD INT SACK RATE YDS/G
1 Tony Romo, QB DAL 83 115 72.2 771 6.70 53 6 1 6 103.9 257
2 Philip Rivers, QB SD 70 100 70.0 798 7.98 47 8 1 5 116.2 266
3 Matt Ryan, QB ATL 81 119 68.1 909 7.64 81 6 2 5 100.4 303
4 Jay Cutler, QB CHI 68 101 67.3 693 6.86 41 6 3 3 94.2 231
5 Peyton Manning, QB DEN 57 85 67.1 769 9.05 78 9 0 3 131.0 385
6 Andy Dalton, QB CIN 71 106 67.0 797 7.52 61 5 3 5 93.2 266
7 Matt Schaub, QB HOU 85 128 66.4 838 6.55 32 6 4 7 87.3 279
8 Aaron Rodgers, QB GB 81 122 66.4 1,057 8.66 57 8 3 10 105.1 352
9 Ryan Tannehill, QB MIA 71 107 66.4 827 7.73 67 4 2 14 94.3 276
10 Andrew Luck, QB IND 61 93 65.6 663 7.13 47 3 1 8 92.7 221
RK PLAYER TEAM COMP ATT PCT YDS YDS/A LONG TD INT SACK RATE YDS/G

Sorry it didn't paste the way I thought it would. RT is a top 10 QB in the league with 66.4 completion %

He needs to be finding the endzone more often and lower the sacks and fumbles. The interceptions are way down, but losing fumbles and drive killing sacks are just as damaging.

Would like to see him simply throw the ball away instead of taking the sack.

Agreed guys, RT needs to get rid of the ball but the RBs need to learn to block and/or get out in the flat for a dump off.

I really thought our team would be great at run blocking this year. What is missing?

Btw I luv this stuff Rich. Thanks for posting it

You're right. It seems Sherman insist on not using the RBs in the passing game. He ignored Reggie last year. But clearly Wallace and Clay are our most dynamic play makers. I hope our coaches realize then how wise it would be to get the ball in their hands most often

Every single offensive lineman had a positive pass blocking grade against the Falcons. Jonathan Martin led the way with a 2.3 pass block grade. Tyson Clabo and John Jerry were also in the green (1.0 grade or higher).

As a unit, the offensive line allowed three sacks and four pressures.

Run blocking continued to be a problem as Tyson Clabo and Jonathan Martin struggled at sealing the edge (which begs the question... why do the Dolphins keep trying to run to the outside on stretch plays so much??). Jerry, Incognito and Pouncey all graded out positively, with Pouncey being in the green. So if the Dolphins want to be effective at running the ball, a between the tackles, north-south approach would be more effective. Keep in mind that the Dolphins run a zone blocking scheme and Incognito and Jerry are better suited for a man blocking scheme. The Dolphins are trying to fit a square peg into a round hole here, which is something that I often find irritating about coaches. They don't adjust to the personnel, they try to force the personnel to fit their system.

Dion Sims and Daniel Thomas received low grades for their pass protection and each gave up a sack. I think that is well-documented.

Tyler Clutts and Michael Egnew both graded out positively in run blocking, although they only had 0.5 each. In his limited snaps, Egnew's blocking has actually been a plus while Sims, who was supposed to be a strong blocker, is grading out negatively.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a zone-blocking scheme by design a little disadvantageous for north-south running? Isn't it used to get the D-line going in a certain direction and the back will make a cut against the over-pursuit?

Not necessarily. You tend to see more stretch plays in zone blocking schemes because O-lineman are a little more athletic, but there's no reason you can't run power inside. Even Washington under Shanahan runs it more inside than outside with Morris.

I don't know why Miami continues to run stretch plays. They aren't working...at all. And even so they keep running them consistently.

All zone blocking really means is that a lineman blocks an area and if there is someone already blocked or no one to block in that area, he moves to the second level. The particular scheme you're talking about is a type of zone scheme designed to set up cutbacks, but that isn't exclusive to zone blocking.

Man blocking is getting a hat on a hat and guys like Incognito and Jerry are more "maulers", better suited to that scheme. So is Tyson Clabo as a matter of fact.

Three of our linemen are better at man blocking, but we run a zone scheme.

Just because John Jerry is big, he's a mauler?

That guy couldn't maul a 2nd grader at the line.

He is actually the highest rated QB in the Red Zone and I believe has the best Red Zone completion percentage.

Finding the end zone doesn't seem to be the problem, its moving the ball between the 20s that has lacked some consistency.

I said he is "more mauler" not "a mauler", meaning he is more of a roadgrader than a finesse/athletic blocker, which is what is required for zone blocking.

In 2011, when the Dolphins were still running a man blocking scheme, his run blocking grade was much higher than in 2012.

He also had the PI in the endzone against Roddy White. He had a bad day and if you go look at the tape, it showed. The miracle of the day is Ryan only targetted him about 10 times.

the phantom pi......oh ya...

looked to me he was playing the ball all the way...didn't go back and look at it but that call was weak

Well I don't let the refs get away with squat but had Carroll been playing the ball he would've had an INT because it thrown right at him. Instead he had his back to it and was pushing White OB long before the ball got there. It was PI in the worst way. He had other bad moments. On at least one of the long runs to his side of the field he was jogging expecting the LB to make the tackle. When that didn't happen the back then ran for 40yds. He also looked weak on the one blitz that I saw him try. We're lucky that Coyle moved him around a lot so Ryan couldn't find him.

He can if it's a lunch line...

Oh thank god, the bust label has finally worn off.