Tuesday Dolphins Mailbag: Tua Topics, Chubb, Tindall, Stopping Running QBs, and More

Part 1 of the post-Bears game SI Fan Nation All Dolphins mailbag:

From Craig M (@Dolfan2334):

My question is, did the Chicago game tell us anything about the team that we didn’t already know? Offense looked great, but lots needed on defensive side of the ball. Thoughts going forward?

Hey Craig, hmm, no, I don’t think there was any great revelation from the Chicago game. We know the offense is capable of moving the ball down the field and we know the defense can be spotty at times. Maybe the biggest revelation was that the special teams finally produced a big play, thanks to Jaelan Phillips.

From Big Ern McDolphin (@dana_buice):

Hey my friend, I want to revisit an article you put out before the season began. Before I do as someone who puts their hat in the prediction game. I want to say predicting anything is a difficult thing and nobody bats 1000. Your prediction was the over/under for yards would be 150 yards combined for Hill, Waddle, and Gesicki. I have combined the 3 predictions but you did it individually in the article. Is it time to raise that bar, and why have they been so effective?

Hey Dana, if you recall, I said I didn’t like making predictions because … forget 1.000, nobody bats .500. I obviously underestimated just how well the offense would click. And instead of making another prediction that you can point out later was wrong, I’d rather skip it this time and continue enjoying watching the offense.

From Rob Hellebrand (@dolfanrob1):

I’m sure I won’t be the only one asking this, but what your evaluation of Josh Boyer? A genius keeping things together with a lot of broken pieces, or a dolt for not mentioning to Jaelan Phillips to contain the edge against a running QB?

Hey Rob, what makes you think he didn’t tell Jaelan to maintain the edge and Phillips’ eagerness got the better of him. I would think that would have been an obvious coaching point, particularly after six or seven successful Fields scrambles. Here’s what I would say about Josh Boyer: First off, understand that he hasn’t had Byron Jones all year and then lost Brandon Jones and Nik Needham for the year on a defense designed to have lock-down coverage on the back end and create havoc with the front seven. I also would mention the defense was most responsible for the wins against New England, Buffalo and Pittsburgh, and that too often seems to get forgotten because of what happened against Detroit and Chicago.

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From Reza Hariri (@Therealrezpect1):

Do you see Tindall’s role expanding against mobile QBs? Do you think we play more zone against mobile QBs in the future?

Hey Reza, I’m completely on board with the idea of playing more zone against mobile quarterbacks, though that won’t happen again until Week 15 when the Dolphins face Josh Allen (because Jacoby Brissett, Davis Mills, Jimmy Garoppolo and Justin Herbert are not running QBs). As for Tindall, no, I don’t expect an expanded role. He played five defensive snaps against the Bears and I saw him twice upon watching the game again and both times he was spying Fields and failed to stop him after first going the wrong way.

From Jorge Boyd (@raga1922):

Hi Alain, why do I feel the Dolphins were better prepared to somewhat control Lamar Jackson better than they did Justin Fields, and if you agree, why do you think that was the case?

Hey Jorge, that’s a good question and I don’t know if it was so much a matter of preparation as opposed to a different way of attacking by the opposing offense. If you noticed, Jackson ran up the middle quite a bit, including on his 79-yard touchdown, whereas Fields did a lot of his damage outside off the naked bootleg — though his long touchdown also came up the middle. So, I don’t know, the Bears have had Fields running a lot more the past couple of games, so the Dolphins knew he would be used a lot in that capacity. There was a lack of discipline on a lot of those bootlets, but the touchdown was just a great play by Fields.

From mikethewreck (@mgcroteau):

What can the Dolphins do to stop mobile quarterbacks? Other teams (hate to mention it but NY Jets) have had much more success. I thought we had talent on the D-line.

Hey Mike, yeah, it’s been a problem and I’m not sure there’s an easy solution. The Dolphins do have talent on the D-line, but mostly with big run-stuffing guys (Wilkins, Sieler, Davis) who aren’t necessarily very mobile and equipped to chase a fast QB like Jackson or Fields. One thing the Dolphins can and need to do better is be more disciplined on the edge and stop biting on the fake handoffs.

From Anthony Berardo (@berardo_anthony):

We are getting pressure but not finishing with sacks. QBs are getting ball out fast. What do they see in the coverage? Happening a lot. Is it the LBs can’t cover? Our injured secondary stretched too thin so our guys aren’t good enough to press? Missed tackles? How can we fix?

Hey Anthony, hmm, not sure I agree with your premise of “getting pressure.” Yes, it happened on a few plays against Chicago, but not a ton and also didn’t see it a ton against Detroit. Truth is, the pass rush hasn’t been good enough all season, which is why the Dolphins went out and traded for Bradley Chubb. I don’t think I’d say the LBs are great in coverage, but they’re not terrible either and the secondary has done fairly well given all the injuries. But the Dolphins just haven’t been able to go crazy with the occasional all-out blitz like they did the past two years.

From Rodney Keister (@LeftyRod):

Any way Dolphins will fire def coordinator and bring back assistant def coordinator from last year?

Hey Rodney, unless I missed something, the Dolphins did not have an assistant defensive coordinator last year. And, no, they’re not firing the current defensive coordinator. Or did we, because of sub-par defensive efforts against Detroit and Chicago, forget that the defense pretty much won the games against the Patriots, Bills and Steelers?

From Jon Rambo (@thejonrambo80):

How does the scheme the Dolphins run compare to what Denver ran? Is there going to be a big adjustment for Chubb or is it pretty much plug him in and let him go?

Hey Jon, Chubb himself said after arriving in South Florida that the two schemes were pretty similar, and maybe that’s why he was able to play so many snaps against Chicago only a few days after joining the Dolphins. As with everything, though, there are differences in the verbiage, but that’s not a big deal.

From Heater13 (@NICKYBOBBY13):

How are the Dolphins going to stop Chubb and Hunt and make Brissett lose the game for them?

Hey Nicky, very carefully? JK. Actually, if you look at what the Dolphins have done this season, they’ve been very, very good against the run — except for getting burned by a few long runs (Lamar Jackson, Dalvin Cook, Justin Fields). But, yes, stopping Chubb especially and Hunt to a lesser degree needs to be the focus in this game, and it will come down to not missing tackles, which is what often leads to those long runs.

From wayne mabis (@wmabis):

Seems we have gone away from the zero blitzing and also that when playing a mobile QB why the DE didn’t play more gap control rush then just rushing up the field to get to the QB drop back point seems like Fields would have got free less.

Hey Wayne, not sure I see a question there, but I don’t disagree with anything you stated. Yes, against Fields, the priority for the D-ends at the snap is to maintaing outside leverage (which failed to happen too often). The Dolphins also used a spy at times and that didn’t work very much. And they’re absolutely not using the zero blitz as much, which is a by-product of all the injuries at cornerback.

From Adnas (@Anase815):

Is the Tua vs. Herbert debate re-opened?

Hey Adnas, I’m not re-opening it. I will say it should be universally accepted — without debate — that Herbert has the better physical traits and that Tua is having a much better season.

From Nick Soto (@CertifiedSoto):

Is Tua making the OL look good or is it Armstead? Seems like the past two weeks the pressure has been minimal. Who gets the credit?

Hey Nick, I don’t get why it’s important to determine where credit should go, but since you ask: How about both? Tua’s quick decision-making and ability to get rid of the ball quickly absolutely helps the pass protection on certain plays, and on other plays he’s given ample time to scan the field or throw deep and that’s where Armstead comes in. It’s undeniable the difference he makes for the offensive line. Credit also should be spread to include McDaniel’s play designs and the receivers for getting open quickly to give Tua instant targets. As with everything with the offense, it’s a team effort.

From Daniel Brown (@DanBinthe813):

Has Josh Boyer lost his magic?

Hey Daniel, no, Josh Boyer has not forgotten how to coach. I’m not sure all fans appreciate what a luxury it was to have two stud cornerbacks like Byron Jones and Xavien Howard in terms of what it allowed the defense to do and the difference it makes not having Jones all season. And then on top of all that, now you have Brandon Jones and Nik Needham go down, and it’s suddenly not the same quality of personnel we’re dealing with in the secondary, which is the foundation of this defense.

From Jason Mitchell (@Mr_Ivorian):

Hey Alain, is it wishful thinking that B. Jones fixes everything on D (I know he will improve it but how much can one guy do) or do we have bigger problems/have we just been figured out on D with our blitz packages. Thanks as always.

Hey Jason, very good question. Yeah, I think it might be wishful thinking to hope that the defense makes a drastic jump the second Byron Jones gets back into the lineup (whenever that might be). And this is where the injuries to Brandon Jones and Nik Needham will hurt. But, make no mistake, having Byron Jones and Xavien Howard both healthy at cornerback would drastically change this defense.

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