Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

...than the Giants. Granted that would be easy since we murdered them, but what I'm getting at is I think this might be a close game.

This game comes down to our D not letting them grind down the clock with their rushing and short passes. Our F-Line and LB corps will have to shine. Porter and Harper will be brought up to help, but the DL and LBs have a chance to make a statement against this kind of Offense.

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

Miami is probably going to make this a closer game than the Giants did. They have such an unusual offense that it will be difficult to keep them off the field with their running game out of the wildcat offense. Missing Fujita is going to hurt us some because the Dolphins are going to test the linebackers. I anticipate Drew having another big day with a lot of quick strikes. Our running game will only be used to keep the defense honest.

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

Am I the only one not real worried about their run game?

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

I will still predict a Saints' victory against the Fins, but AFC East teams have kept the Saints offense in check for the most part. The Bills and Jets held the Saints to no passing TD's. I don't think that will be the case this weekend with the Fins having an average secondary at best, but it still will be a tough challenge. I think GW will have the defense ready for the Wildcat.

My prediction: Saints: 38; Fins: 20

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

after watching the game winning drive last week, i am truely concerned about the wildcat

normally i would say blitz the house and make ronnie brown beat us through the air, but chad henne has been a pleasant surprise for the dolphins and ted ginn can beat us deep

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

Gap discipline and a spy on Ricky Williams when in motion on the wildcat. Ginn has only made 1 catch on the deep route against the Jets and he has dropped some others. He doesn't scare me much.

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

despite our pass defense this year, we have a history over the past few seasons for giving up big plays on defense.....there are only a few WRs in the league that can spread the field like ginn and with henne's arm, it makes him that much more of a threat

on another note.......its funny how in the NFL you can have a michigan boy throwing to an ohio state boy and think nothing of it

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

The more I think about this one the less I worry.

The only thing you need to worry about is the WC. If we can stop them once or twice and put up a quick 14 on their suspect secondary, this thing if over before it started. The Phins have to start passing, and Gregg Williams can release the hounds on Henne in his 5th NFL game.

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

In my opinion, their running game is very worrisome. The Saints haven't really faced a prime time running back yet this season, so we haven't really been able to see how they'll handle a good rushing attack. I've watched a couple of Dolphins games this year, and I will say that it's an impressive offense when the passing game gets going. If Henne has a good game, they'll be hard to stop because there are just so many options for them.

When Henne's off, it's easy to pack the box and stop the run, but he was pretty awesome in their win over the Jets.

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

actually kevin smith is in the same boat as PT....underrated by the rest of the league but pretty talented

brian westbrook is pretty good

thomas jones and leon washington are 2 good running backs behind a beastly offensive line

fred jackson isnt a starter but he is pretty good as far as backups go

brandon jacobs and ahmad bradshaw are studs on one of the best running teams in the league

id say that we shut down teams pretty well as far as the running game is concerned

also dont forget that making our opponents pass the ball early is a huge part of why our defense has been so successful.....

while it may be hard to stop the wildcat, if they cant stop our offense then they will be playing the way we want them to

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

I said PRIME TIME, not "pretty good" or "good". Ronnie Brown is one of the best backs in the league. We have not seen a back like him yet this season (Thomas Jones is close, but he only carried the ball 13 times in that game, and Brandon Jacobs is averaging 3.6 yards per carry this season). Nor have we seen the wildcat. Point is, this is a dangerous team when they're clicking, and they looked like they were clicking in their last game. I still think the Saints are the better team, but we need to take this game seriously.

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

brian westbrook and thomas jones arent as good as ronnie brown?

thomas jones has 481 yards on 96 carries and 6 TDs

Brown has 443 yards on 93 carries and 6 TDs

ahmad bradshaw has 423 yards on 68 carries with 3 TDs

fred jackson has 415 yards on 98 carries and hes a backup

i understand that ronnie brown is the ideal player to run a wildcat formation but as far as running backs go, ronnie brown is not a head and shoulders above the other running backs we have played....he may be slightly better, but not a ton

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

Your forgetting that those numbers are with Ronnie having a bye week. Last week he was #2 in yards and tied for 1st in td's. Ricky was #13 last week as well.

Most of Thomas Jones yards came last week against a garbage run D in Buffalo

Westbrook was one of the best in the league over the last few years but has dropped back into the pack a little now.

The Giants duo is very good I just think Ronnie and Ricky are a hair better.

A lot of people forget that 2 years ago Ronnie was leading the league in all porpuse yard and just starting to hit his stride when he got hurt and was out for the rest of the season. This is the 1st year he has been back to 100% since that happened.

On a side note you guys have a great running triple threat as well. Not that I needed to tell you guys that but I think a lot of people think you guys are an air it out all day team and don't give you credit for how balanced your attack is.

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

first i'll address the bolded.....most of thomas jones' yards came against a terrible run defense in buffalo.....but most of brees' TDs came against a terrible pass defense in detroit and nobody is discrediting him for his talent.....just saying.....you can only play the teams on your schedule and your job is to do well....jones did his job

in fact....we know exactly how ronnie brown felt because we had a running back named reggie bush who was leading the league in touchdowns before suffering an injury last year

the fact of the matter is that we have faced quality running games and while you may think ronnie brown is better than them all, the stats dont say that and our offense puts up too many points too fast for our opponents to commit to running the ball

i used to love the dolphins but they have fallen off my radar a bit.....i just cant see their offensive line holding up against our defensive blitz and i think we will score too quickly to allow the wildcat to hurt us

of course this is just my opinion and theres really only one way to tell what happens.....heres to a great game and my boys in black and blue coming out on top:cheers:

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

also....a couple more stats

our run defense is ranked 5th in the league

we have faced the 12th, 5th, 2nd, 20th, and 22nd ranked running offenses

despite facing some quality run offenses, our defense has managed to only allow 83 ypg on the ground

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

Canton and Deuce and well, Finfan - you guys all make really good points (REP up). But the one dividing factor is the Wildcat. Plain and simple. People keep saying we "handled it in Philly" but we really didn't. Philly had success when they gave it a half-hearted attempt.

AND

That really opened the door for Kevin friggin KOLB to light us up!

Bottom line is the WC will be the equalizer bc the fins run it well.

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

Don't get me wrong I think Jones is good. I think some times stats can be deceiving, for one Ricky takes a lot of carries away from Ronnie and I understand you could make the same argument for Jones/Washington and the Giants duo but Ronnie also has one less game then then all these guys mentioned.

If you look at the yards per game not total yards Ronnie is 3rd behind only Peterson and Chris Johnson and like I said before the bye last week Ronnie was tied for 1st in td's.

Of course there is no real right or wrong here it's just a matter of opinion. While I don't think Brown is the top RB I do think he is the most versatile, I mean how many RBs also play QB for 20% of the teams snaps.

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

The Dolphins are 2-3. If Atlanta can handle them, surely the Saints can handle them.

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

All 3 of those losses came with "Noddle Arm" Penny behind center. We are 2-0 with Henne "The Robot" as starter.

Don't get me wrong, we owe Penny a lot. With out him we don't win the division last year plus he was a great mentor to Henne.

This is an entirely different offence with Henne back there. Teams can no longer just stack the box because they now have to respect the long ball. With Penny every throw was underneath dump passes.

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

i know your more than content to talk about your offense....but how about switching over and telling us a little about your defense....how do you think they stack up against the best offense in the league(statistically)

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

This has "trap game" written all over it.

I sure hope that we have the chinstraps buckled on tight on defense.


I think that the best thing that could have happened for the Saints was the Dolphins winning last week.

That should prevent any of the players looking past Miami to the upcoming game with the Falcons.


I think Miami controls the ball more than we would like in this one.

Saints win 34-21 (I'm calling for a defensive TD by our Saints late in the game).

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

Whoa, whoa, whoa. He had a bunch of yards, but darn near half (163) were in Q4 when we'd already hung 40 on them.

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

Running the WC is predicated on creating man-to-man mismatches. Frankly, I feel like our D can man up to any offense in the league right now.

But I agree wholeheartedly with Canton...Kolb made us look weak against the pass after the Eagles opened the field with the WC and the 'Fins are FAR more efficient in running it. With Fujita out, we may have problems.

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

I agree with that Fujita being out may be an issue. But I have to agree with WhoDat that Kolb's passing yards were junk yards after the game was all but done. The few WC plays they tried were laughable otherwise.

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

I was referring to the wildcat, which neither Pennington or Henne has anything to do with.

...but as Henne is concerned, you may think Henne is it, but everyone thought Sanchez was it as well until he met the Saints defense. Everyone also hails Eli Manning as a great QB, yet he met the Saints defense and looked a lot like Trent Dilfer.

Again, any given Sunday... sure the Dolphins could beat the Saints, but that would be an upset.

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

The season is too young. At this point, I would predict that the Saints will steamroll Miami, as they have pretty much done to everyone all they way back to the beginning of preseason. I would not be surprised if the Saints finished 19-0.

At the same time, since I have been tuning-in since '67 I have the right to say this, I would not be surprised if they finished 5-11. :)

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

This is going to be a hard game fought game. A key for us is that no one else goes down. Getting Chad ot of the line up has been an upgrade for Miami and you cannot argue with what they have done with the running game. I am going to be cautiously optimistic for the rest of the season teams are going to come after us with their A game from here on out. I am praying that G Williams has a plan for these guys. Atlanta caught the Fins early on and I do not see this as a good measuring stick as we have not played Atlanta yet either. I see them progressing as the season unfolds and it all is based on Henne. I am hoping we can stuff the wildcat early on and force them to go to a traditional set where I believe we have the advantage.

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

Ohhh Noooo..

Kolb's numbers were inflated by a 70 yard play in the first quarter, after which he proceeded to do nothing, until the 4th quarter when the score was like 40-17 and the game out of hand, some Saints starters had been pulled out, and the Eagles completely abandoned the run and started throwing the ball.

Kind of the same thing happened last Sunday: game's out of hand, starters get pulled out, and David Carr throws a TD with Sharper, Porter, Greer, Smith, Grant, and God knows who else looking from the sidelines.

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

OK, I'll buy the "garbage time" scenario where the Eagles were throwing every play from scrimmage in the 4th (which is also the time that Sharper got his pick six). But even throwing out Jackson's 71 yd TD, Kolb was STILL able to post 321 other yards in the effort and he's no McNabb!

Living in Iggles hell like I do, let me throw some WC stats about this game at you to illustrate my concern:
11 WC plays
3 stopped by our D for no gain
8 WC gains for a total of 47 yds (avg. 5+ per play)

...and this from a team fielding a 2nd string QB and not nearly as proficient with the WC offense as the Fins. I too am curious to see what my newest man-crush (Greg Williams) can scheme to keep this from being a game where the Fins can keep it close. You'd best believe that I too see this as a trap game. I'm not worried per se, but I'm not in any way overlooking a potential for disaster.

I guess that comes from being a long time Saints fan! LOL

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

Not a game to take lightly they are a different animal.

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

Here, I throw a better stat at you:

Saints 48
Eagles 22

McNabb don't play defense.

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

One thing that hasn't been said yet is that this is an away game. For that reason it will be a tough game as long as the crowd is in it. Also, Miami's rushing attack (including WC) is similar in quality to NYG, and you have to expect them to put together a couple of long scoring drives like the one the Giants had where Ahmad Bradshaw had almost all the yards on the drive (I say a couple because they won't abandon the run as early as the Giants did). It may stay close until the third quarter depending on turnovers.

However, Miami's passing defense is below average (esp. against TE's), which means Brees will torch them all day. The WC offense won't be able to keep up with the quick strike Saints offense. Late in the game the crowd will be a non-factor and Miami will have to abandon the WC and try passing, at which point any Henne turnovers will turn the game into a Saints rout.

For Miami to have a chance, Henne has to be perfect, Brees has to be off, and turnovers have to go Miami's way.

Saints 38-20

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

I think people are under the impression that we run the wildcat a lot more then we do. As far as me thinking Henne is "it" I didn't say that I was just stating we haven't lost with him yet. I agree it is WAY to early to pronounce him the next coming of Marino. With that said I do like what I've seen so far, and its a fact that with is arm strenth teams have to prepare and play us differently.

The best thing about the wildcat isn't even the formation in my opinion it's the amount of time you force another team to prepare for it and it takes away valuable time they can't practice for our base offence and with Henne behind center there is simply more coming out of our base then there was with Penny.

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

I won't say I'm 100% sure we are going to beat them...I'm can only say I'm not worried. Henne has been fair, glad to see it. Also glad to see Ricky thriving as well.

Welcome to the site Fin. Always good to have another teams fan here. Good luck the rest of the season....well, except for this Sunday.

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

Thanks SapperSaint I love your avatar, I must have every Calvin and Hobbes book ever made.

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

Well...not everyone. I was doing some research before we played them and I saw Sanchez's measurables sliding down from the first. Check out his stats. Look at his avg yds per pass and completion %. Just thought I'd pass on the information.
Mark Sanchez: Game Logs
For me, Henne is still something of an unknown at this point. He's done well the 2 games he's started. He's gotten a lot of pressure and stayed calm and made good decisions. Having been a 4 year starter in college, as well as sitting last year probably has helped him adjust. But he's got to do it week in and week out. I said in another thread, he may have a good game or he may buckle under the pressure of the Saints' pass rush. Neither would be a complete shock to me. I think he has the tools to be very, very good. But he's also young and inexperienced. Plus as you said, Manning couldn't handle it last week.

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

We Have to get a fast start, and hopefully force them into all-pass mode.

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

In one word ...... NO!

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

Oh yeah, Miami is definitely a potential for trouble. Weird offense, we're not sure what to expect. And I've seen some flashes from their QB, too.

Re: Anyone think Miami will be harder to beat?
 

any given sunday....Oakland/Eagles