From: chf0@harvey.gte.com (Curtis Fennell)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.pro
Subject: Re: Serious Miami Fans
Date: 7 Oct 92 13:25:05 GMT
Organization: GTE Laboratories

In article <1992Oct6.182832.20308@cs.uwp.edu> krueger@cs.uwp.edu (Gerald Krueger) writes:
>1) What is this Hybrid Defense?

The hybrid defense was called that by the announcers. It's unclear
what the Dolphins were calling it.  

>			I heard it was 5 LB's and then I heard it was
>			5 DB's.  I would guess it would be 5 LB's because
>			the Dolphins are deep at linbacker and weak on
>			the line.  

Nope. It was 5 DB's.  John Grimsley was injured, so they moved David
Griggs to LILB and played a sort of 4-2, like so:

     X   0   0   X        51-Cox  99-Klingbeil  91-Cross  90-Coleman 
    51   99  91  90       92-Griggs  56-Offerdahl
        X     X
       92     56

>    O is a lineman
>    x is a linebacker

The DB's looked like this:

    C             C       23-Vincent  37-JB Brown
   23             37
      S    S    S	  25-Oliver  29-Hobley  26-Williams
     25   29   26

However, one thing Miami did was to rotate defensive players A LOT.
This did two things: it kept them fresh against the no-huddle and it
probably confused the Bills. 

They made a *lot* of use of rookie linebacker Dwight Hollier and
Vestee Jackson.

By all rights, this defense should not be very strong against the run,
because they only had 6 guys up front, but we know it was effective,
so *why*?  There were two things I noticed during the game that could
explain it:  

1. Klingbeil and Cross were very effective at tying up the middle of
the field.  They refused to get pushed out of the way.

2. Both the linebackers and the DB's closed very rapidly on the ball.
Therman Thomas refused to go down on the first hit, but he was almost
always hit 2,3, or even 4 times in succession.  Notice that Troy
Vincent lead the team with nine tackles.

>2) Will this defense be used often or was it a one time thing?

I think you will see this again, especially against the Bills, Houston
and possibly the 49ers.

>			The Saints use a 3 - 4 but rush Jackson and Swilling 
>			like lineman.  Why not use a 2 - 5 and rush a
>			LB or two?  The offense doesn't know which LB's
>			are going to rush and are off-balance.  I think
>			it is an excellent strategy for the Dolphins.

That's really what they did.  The only problem is that the Dolphins
still need a dominant pass rusher that can break through to the QB
(like Reggie White).  The pass coverage by the Dolphin DB's was
excellent throughout the game, forcing Kelly to hold on to the ball
for a long time before he threw and even then, forcing him to throw
into well covered receivers.  If the Dolphin pass rush had been
even a little better, the could have had 6 or 7 sacks.


>			Can this sort of defense stop the run?  Were
>			the Dolphins getting penetration into the backfield
>			or using the "bend but don't break" strategy that
>			wasn't working in the past?

The Dolphins were getting some penetration into the backfield -
including the beautiful open-field tackle that Griggs or Cox (I can't
remember which) put on Andre Reed for a 7 yard loss on a reverse.

However, the Dolphins were definitely using the "bend but don't break"
philosophy.  They only blitzed a few times, but unlike past games,
their blitzes were particularly effective - one by Offerdahl hit Kelly
just as he was releasing the ball, causing the first of Louis Oliver's
interceptions.  Another time, Offerdahl came right through the middle
of the line and ended up right in Kelly's face.

>------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Next Week: Falcons at Dolphins			Jerry
>I hope Deion has a great game -                 krueger@cs.uwp.edu
>for the Braves
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a magnificent performance by the Dolphins. Now they just have
to remember that they have 12 more games to go before they reach the
playoffs.

Curt

"If the NFL were oil tankers, the Patriots would be the Exxon
Valdeez" - Boston Globe, Oct 7, 1992
--
Curt "I always pick the Dolphins - even against Buffalo!"  Fennell
			DOLFAN in New England.             
'72 Dolphins - The perfect team in the perfect season - 17-0