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There was much excitement in Miami when former Philadelphia Eagles quarterbacks coach Bill Lazor was named as the Dolphins offensive coordinator for the 2014 NFL season.
Lazor was expected to bring in a Chip Kelly style of offense that would get the most out of Ryan Tannehill and the team's rebuilding supporting cast. Kelly runs a spread-out system with an up-tempo style that puts players in space and stretches the defense with options for the quarterback on almost every play. With Tannehill, a former wide receiver who had shown plenty of promise in very difficult situations over his first two seasons, the expectation was that Lazor could run a very potent offense.
Through the first couple weeks of the season, Lazor's play-calling and the Dolphins offense as a whole proved to be extremely inconsistent. Lazor wasn't aided by an underwhelming offensive line and starting wide receivers who continually dropped the football in good areas, but his overall impact on the offense wasn't what was hoped for.
In Week 7 against the Chicago Bears, the Dolphins offense, and Tannehill in particular, enjoyed its most impressive game. Part of the production could be attributed to the poor quality of the opposition, but the biggest alteration from previous games was Lazor's altered gameplan. Lazor used Ryan Tannehill's athleticism on various running plays while the offense ran through the peripheral pieces instead of focusing on Mike Wallace and Brian Hartline, the team's two starting and least reliable receivers.
The Dolphins failed to get a first down on their first drive of the game, as the offense came out with a traditional dropback that led to a sack on the first play of the game. The Dolphins haven't had too many snaps this year where they haven't run a play-fake or option-fake from the shotgun formation this year, but that was one. Often it has appeared that the Dolphins have run option plays on a regular basis this season, but Tannehill has rarely ever kept the football and too often he has looked like he is just going through the motions of the option rather than actually running it.
To start the second drive of this game, that changed.
Tannehill immediately pulls this ball back when he sees the defender move out of position. He recognizes the defenders hesitation and escapes to the outside with a lead blocker to gain a first down. His athleticism was put on show, even though he didn't break any tackles or extend the play down the field. Keeping the ball this early in the game forces the defenders to give the quarterback's rushing threat more credence on every single play. Immediately after this play, the Dolphins compounded that credence by calling a designed run for Tannehill.
After Tannehill's first run, the Dolphins called a different option play. On this occasion, Tannehill doesn't hold the ball out for Miller to run through it while he reads a defender, instead he makes the decision based on the alignment of the defense at the snap. Lamar Miller motions into the flat behind three receivers to the left. He is moving at the snap, giving Tannehill a quick bubble screen option. Once the ball is snapped, the Dolphins pull two interior offensive linemen to the other side of the field, giving Tannehill a convoy of blockers to lead him down the field.
Tannehill breaks outside running the ball. He is given at least five yards because of the execution of his blocking and the horizontal stretching of the defense from the play design. Had Tannehill not slipped on the Soldier Field turf, something many players did on Sunday, he would have set the offense up in at least a Second-and-Five situation.
From there, the Dolphins built a touchdown drive on big plays down the field. Plays of 25, 13, 9 and 13 yards combined for Charles Clay's first touchdown of the season.
Even though the Dolphins have more money than any other team invested in their wide receivers, Clay is their most talented offensive weapon by some distance. He hasn't been featured much in the passing game to this point in the season. That is partially because of injury, but also because the offense has seemingly put a premium on getting the ball into Mike Wallace's hands in a variety of ways. Clay caught a 13 yard touchdown pass and a 25 yard pass that came immediately after Tannehill's two running plays.
It's important to note that the Dolphins threw this first pass to Clay off of play action after the quarterback's two runs. The Bears defensive line were clearly slowed by the play fake and that gave Tannehill a clean pocket to throw from. With Clay streaking across the field against inferior coverage talents, the quarterback had a relatively simple throw to his tight end for a big gain. His 13 yard touchdown reception was a result of route combinations that broke the Bears zone coverage, leaving Clay wide open in the end zone.
Clay finished the game with four receptions for 58 yards and a touchdown. His usage rate can still grow, but it's significant that the offense as a whole wasn't forcing the ball to specific receivers. Tannehill attempted eight passes before throwing a pass to Brian Hartline, and nine before throwing to Mike Wallace, a touchdown pass that was exceptionally impressive from the quarterback.
With Tannehill effectively running the offense, Lamar Miller running the ball very well and more receivers being targeted through the flow of the game, this was the Dolphins offense at its peak.
The execution of the players isn't something that can be relied upon moving forward, because all players are inconsistent and the Dolphins have proven to be as inconsistent as anyone as a team. Yet, Lazor can easily replicate this approach by choice every single week of the season. With a healthy Clay, a promoted and improving Jarvis Landry and a varied rushing attack, Lazor has all of the pieces he needs on his offense to consistently keep defenses off balance.
Hopefully he has finally found that much-needed balance in his play-calling.
Tre Mason's Arrival
It's been a very frustrating season for St. Louis Rams fans. Their optimism took a massive hit during the preseason when quarterback Sam Bradford was lost for the season again with his second torn ACL injury. Once the losses began, that feeling of apathy that has immersed the franchise in recent times seemed inevitable. Yet, maybe the most frustrating thing for Rams fans has been the treatment of their rookies. Defensive lineman Aaron Donald has been involved throughout the whole season and been very impressive, but fellow first rounder Greg Robinson and his former college teammate Tre Mason weren't being used on offense.
Robinson was sitting behind Davin Joseph, one of the worst offensive linemen in the NFL. He wasn't playing well and he wasn't even proving to be reliable with his assignments, so there appeared to be no reason to start him over the rookie guard. Mason on the other hand was sitting behind Zac Stacy and Benny Cunningham. It was tougher to argue that Mason should be starting because he had proven to be a liability in pass protection during the preseason, but making him inactive seemed unecessary considering his exceptional talent as a runner.
In Week 7 against the Seattle Seahawks, Mason had a huge game and Robinson helped him to it.
Mason had 18 carries for 85 yards and a touchdown against a highly-thought of Seattle Seahawks run defense. While the Seahawks run defense isn't as impressive as some numbers would suggest, successfully running against them should still be considered an impressive feat for a rookie runner getting the first significant workload of his career.
The exciting thing about Mason and Robinson's insertion into the lineup for the Rams is the combination they can create with Rodger Saffold upfront. Saffold and Robinson are both mauling guards who can move in space. Both were previously offensive tackles, so they have the mobility to move laterally or advance to the second level. With Mason's aggressive style between the tackles, the unit should be able to run effectively against any opponent.
For Mason's touchdown run, we could see the Rams' interior rushing attack at its very best.
In the redzone, Robinson is lined up at left guard with Saffold at right guard as per usual. The Seahawks have spread their defensive line and have just two linebackers in the box to defend the run. This isn't typically how the Seahawks align their defense in the red zone, so they were essentially daring the Rams to run the ball.
The Rams duly obliged.
By using both Robinson and Saffold, the Rams are going to create a clean running lane into the secondary right up the middle of the defense. Number 99, the Seahawks left defensive tackle, is going to be trapped by Robinson after initially lining up across from Saffold. Saffold is a tough matchup for any defensive tackle, so it's tough for the defender to hesitate at the snap and anticipate any trap without giving up an advantage to Saffold if he doesn't trap him. On this occasion, Saffold advances to the second level where he effectively picks up a linebacker while Robinson gets a free shot on the defensive tackle.
Robinson didn't show great technique when he arrived at the defender, but he maintained his balance and his power was enough to knock the defensive tackle out of the play. That is where Robinson's raw athleticism allows him to excel in spite of his undeveloped technique. It is a dimension that Davin Joseph simply doesn't add to the Rams running game. As for Mason, this play was relatively simple. he was given a free and wide running lane to attack up the middle of the defense. His acceleration through the hole should be appreciated, but his greatest contribution was the broken tackle at the goalline.
Mason against any defensive back should play into the runner's favor. Against Earl Thomas, his abrasive running style allowed him to bounce into the endzone.
Mason was drafted because he showed off the intelligence and subtly between the tackles that allowed him to make the most of his physical talent. He has the quickness, speed and power to be a very effective between-the-tackles runner in the NFL. He showed this on a regular basis against the Seahawks and was able to be productive because of his play as much as the improvement of the team's offensive line as a whole. The Rams appeared to adopt the identity of Mason and Robinson for their offense with the duo playing large roles in their success.
The rookie may still be limited overall as an all-around player, but his fantasy value should remain high. He will produce so long as the Rams continue to give him carries. In spite of his late game fumble and his inability to pass block, the Rams shouldn't be rushing back to Zac Stacy or Benny Cunningham anytime soon.
Other Thoughts from the Tape
There is only so much that the Cincinnati Bengals offense can do with Andy Dalton as the starting quarterback and three important receivers on the sideline. Offensive coordinator Hue Jackson had carried Dalton through the early weeks of the season this year with some very quarterback-friendly play-calling, but that was exposed against the Indianapolis Colts. Dalton has never given us reason to think that he can carry an offense and it doesn't appear like he is going to do that at any point this season.
Staying in the AFC North, the Baltimore Ravens offense has been spectacular as of late. A culmination of different things has helped the Ravens be effective against weaker opposition, but this offense still feels very much like Gary Kubiak offenses of the past. By that I mean it won't be a surprise if the unit comes undone against better quality of opposition.
The doom and gloom continues in this division as the Pittsburgh Steelers escaped with a victory on Monday night against the Houston Texans. The Steelers enjoyed a freak couple of minutes late in the second quarter when the Texans imploded on themselves. It's hard to think that this unit has rebounded, because the same obvious flaws remain. Adding Martavis Bryant to Antonio Brown and LeVeon Bell could prove to be an interesting move though.
Rounding out the AFC North, Brian Hoyer can't be too far away from finding his way to the bench in Cleveland. Hoyer hasn't played all that well to this point in the season, but the Browns have been competitive and winning games so it's largely been brushed over. In their loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars last week, his poor play stood out. Neither he or Blake Bortles looked like NFL caliber starters in that game.
The Percy Harvin trade was fascinating. All of the off-field stuff is difficult to comprehend because none of us receive it first-hand so it's less trustworthy. It's especially less-trustworthy when it's coming from a team that just let a player go. Harvin is actually going to a team with more veterans, so even though it's the Jets, this may be a better situation for him. In terms of his fantasy value, he should be more productive moving forward. The Seahawks and Harvin just never figured it out. Hopefully the Jets will just insert him into their regular offense with some sporadic plays that are designed for him.
