Newsgroup: it.sport.americani
Titolo: Dan Pompei suul'attacco dei Dolphins

Dolphins' offense can
            be downright
            offensive
            DECEMBER 15, 1998 
            Dan Pompei
            With an offense more conservative than
            Pat Buchanan, whatever the Dolphins
            accomplish in the last weeks of the
            regular season and in the postseason
            is likely to be generated by their
            defense. 
            By necessity and design, the Miami
            offense is fairly simplistic. In boxing
            terms, the strategy can be summed up
            thusly: Don't get knocked out. 
            As a result, it is incapable of carrying
            this team. 
            During a recent visit to Dolphins camp,
            the following statement was uttered
            repeatedly by coach Jimmy Johnson,
            coordinator Kippy Brown and receiver
            Lamar Thomas with regard to the
            Dolphins' offense: "We've got what
            we've got." 
            (Can't you just hear the chant at Pro
            Player Stadium when the Dolphins
            have the ball? WE'VE GOT . . . WHAT
            WE'VE GOT! WE'VE GOT . . . WHAT
            WE'VE GOT!) 
            Most teams celebrate drives that end
            in points. The Dolphins celebrate drives
            that don't end in turnovers. Avoiding
            turnovers, in fact, is Johnson's No. 1
            professed goal for his offense. 
            Receivers typically dream of catching
            long touchdown passes. Oronde
            Gadsden dreams of first downs. 
            "For us," Gadsden says, "getting a first
            down can be just as big as any other
            play." 
            At some point in most of our lives, the
            realization sets in that maybe we are
            not going to achieve all we desire. The
            Dolphins' offense is at that point. It is
            about lowered expectations. And it is
            smart. Johnson does not have enough
            offensive players with special traits,
            and he knows it. 
            Sure, the Dolphins still have Dan
            Marino, who has passed for more yards
            than any man in NFL history. But they
            do not have Mark Clayton and Mark
            Duper for him to throw to anymore.
            They have a group of receivers that
            assistant Robert Ford jokingly
            compared to a '54 Ford truck. 
            The Dolphins also have a new offensive
            playbook, so they have moved slowly
            this season while making sure
            everyone understands their
            assignment. 
            The passing game actually has picked
            up in recent weeks as Brown has felt
            more comfortable asking receiver O.J.
            McDuffie to line up in different spots in
            an attempt to free up the Dolphins' best
            receiver, or get a mismatch against a
            safety or linebacker. Brown estimates
            McDuffie has lined up in seven
            different positions. 
            But aside from their creative use of
            McDuffie, the Dolphins' offense is a
            low-risk operation. In years past,
            Marino used audibles as frequently as
            anyone; now he uses them as
            infrequently as anyone because the
            Dolphins do not want to risk making a
            communication mistake. 
            "The fact that we are plus-14 in
            turnover ratio says something," says
            Brown, a first-year coordinator who has
            shown promise. "We're not giving it
            away a lot. That's the most important
            thing we're doing offensively." 
            The Dolphins are not giving it away
            mostly because they protect Marino as
            if he were the Hope diamond. They do
            not even use him in quarterback
            sneaks because they do not want some
            slobbering defender's grubby paws all
            over his nice clean jersey. 
            You will not see the Dolphins sending
            five receivers out because that would
            mean keeping only five blockers in.
            They want to have a minimum of six
            blockers available at all times. They
            also use a lot of short drops and quick
            patterns. 
            "We want people to know we'll do what
            we have to do to protect him," Johnson
            says. "Sometimes we give the illusion
            we're protecting him with seven or
            eight, but we're really not." 
            Protecting Marino is important because
            he loses effectiveness when he is hit a
            lot. Before Sunday, the Dolphins had
            given up fewer sacks per play than all
            but two teams. There have been games
            when Marino has not even touched the
            ground. 
            And, in Johnson's estimation, Marino
            has been playing "as well or better"
            than he has since Johnson came to
            Miami in 1996. Marino, for his part,
            says that at 37 he feels better at this
            point of the season than he has in
            previous years. 
            Marino also is throwing less than at
            any previous point in his career. He is
            on a pace to finish with 48 fewer
            passing attempts than last season even
            though he remains the Dolphins' best
            offensive weapon. 
            Should he be throwing more? Marino
            directing a running offense is not what
            people want to see. But when the
            Dolphins run the ball at least 25 times,
            their record is 9-2, and when they run
            it less they are 0-3. They have little
            choice but to run. 
            It is still nice to know Marino is back
            there if you need him, but he is only
            one component of the passing game.
            With perhaps the slowest receivers in
            the league, the Dolphins are incapable
            of stretching the field. Only five teams
            had fewer pass plays of 25 yards or
            more before the weekend. 
            "We probably haven't gotten it downfield
            enough," Brown says. "We call it. But
            we don't have a lot of waste downs. We
            have to make them all count." 
            It makes more sense for the Dolphins
            to run on first down for 2 yards than to
            throw a bomb that has about a 3
            percent chance of being completed. 
            It would be different if the Dolphins
            knew they could run for 5 yards on
            second down. But they can not count
            on doing that, either. So the Dolphins
            run on first down. 
            There has been improvement in the
            run game. In part because of the
            addition of rookie John Avery, the
            Dolphins are getting more long runs. 
            But the running game still is not
            vibrant. The Dolphins had converted or
            scored on only 35 percent of their
            short-yardage runs (3yards or less to
            go) going into last Sunday. That's a
            sickly number. And only five teams had
            a worse yards-per-carry average than
            their 3.5. 
            But Brown says for the Dolphins, yards
            per carry is not as important as
            number of carries and controlling the
            clock. 
            Remember, they've got what they've
            got. 
HOOP RULES
           Doc
De Marco Johnson De Marco Johnson De Marco Johnson
Niners in 99 baby
Sixers someday somewhere

            percent chance of being completed. 
E di questo tutti ce ne eravamo accorti. Anche le difese
avversarie....
Stendo un pietoso velo sul resto.
Ripiombo in un dignitoso silenzio sulla mia squadra NFL del cuore.
Chissà se mai riacquisterò la favella.....
Ciao
Charlie Brown
G O   D O L P H I N S ! ! !
mail to: 
chNOS...@excite.com
better remove NOSPAM when replying....

Che t'agg' a dicere?
Anche se il simpaticone ci va giu' pesante non e' che abbia proprio
torto....
Sinceramente nessuna controanalisi sposterebbe di troppo la verita' dei
fatti.
Peccato, se avessimo un attacco all'altezza della difesa non staremmo a
questo punto a doverci giocare
l'ammissione ai playoffs contro due squadre che hanno un cumulativo di
25-3.....
Ammesso e non concesso che ci arriviamo, andiamo a Patriots alla
wildcard...
deja vu.
Un urlo al management: VOGLIO UN RECEIVER! (non che un runner farebbe
schifo, sinceramente. Jabbar fara' 1000 yds
con lo stesso numero di portate con cui Terrel Davis ne fara' 2000 o giu
di li')
Le colpe non sono di Marino. Date quell'attacco in mano a Elway.
Pensate: si gira tutto contento, perche' ha un numero 30 a cui dare
l'handoff....
poi si accorge che non e' Terrel Davis ma Bernie Parmalee.
Bye.
Depresso.