NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell spends the bulk of his week watching coach’s tape, and has done so for years. So he’s well-versed in what a team does well – or doesn’t do. You can follow him on Twitter @gregcosell. Here’s his take on the Redskins matchup with Miami.
On Why Miami has played better of late: “Last week it was in specific to the Chiefs. The Dolphins played with their base personnel the entire game. Their third receiver Davone Best played nine or 10 snaps the entire game and that’s very rare in a passing league. They stayed with two tight ends, often with [running backs] Reggie Bush and Daniel Thomas sometimes on the field together. When you stay base, then defenses stay base and defenses tend to be far more predictable in their base personnel packages than in their sub-packages. They also did some creative things with Reggie Bush to get him the ball, things people expected to see earlier. But they did them in that game and it proved to be very effective…. And when you’re playing against two tight ends or sometimes six offensive linemen, those aren’t blitz personnel packages.”
On what problems Bush presents: “The main thing with someone like Bush is he’s a space player. He does not like to be around a lot of bodies. If you use him as an I-formation back and run him inside, he tends to run away from people. He’s not going to press the hole. He looks to run to space so you have to create runs for him in which he’s essentially in space so he doesn’t have to go find it. His 28-yard touchdown run was a beautifully schemed play where there were two backs and two tight ends. He was aligned as a glorified slot to the left and it became a speed sweep to the right. They put him in motion and handed the ball to him as he was in motion so he took the ball with a running start, running to the perimeter…. This is one of those games where you hear a lot of the old chestnuts, but they’re all true: it’s imperative that the [Redskins] must set the edge. You can’t let Bush get outside.”
On the Redskins’ defense: “For the most part their defense has been solid. You have to understand when you play on a team where the offense is not very good, your defense is forced to play more snaps. My guess is, after watching them on film, if they were part of a team in which the offense could sustain better and control the ball better this defense would be pretty good…. The Carolina gam is an intriguing example. That was 9-6 at halftime and the Redskins’ offense is just not good enough. Every drive becomes a struggle. They don’t have a feature back. Torain once in a while shows flash but he doesn’t show the durability and consistency you’d like and his track record is extensive there. Roy Helu is a rookie; I personally don’t see him as one of those guys but maybe I’ll be wrong. Really, what Mike Shanahan wants to do as his foundation of offense, they’re not able to do and they don’t have a quarterback who can compensate for that.”
On John Beck: “There’s no mystery about John Beck. He probably has above average arm strength. He’s a timing, rhythm quarterback and the ball needs to come out quick within the timing of the drop. He’s essentially a three- or five-step drop quarterback. Yes, they can orchestrate a shot once in a while on a deeper drop. He’s a play-action quarterback, he’s a boot-action quarterback. He’s not as accurate as he needs to be given the style of quarterback he is. He won’t sit on his back foot in the pocket and drill the ball into tight windows 22-24 yards downfield. A quarterback like that has to be a rhythm player and you can’t miss routine throws. He’s only played three games, but he misses too many throws.”
On his doubts about Roy Helu: “He’s very straight line. He has limited lateral agility and quickness. I don’t think he can create his own space. This may sound ridiculous, but he needs a hole to run through. He’s a straight-line zone runner with speed and some power. I don’t think he’s a highly-skilled runner in terms of shiftiness, elusiveness, lateral agility. He doesn’t possess those traits.”
On Miami’s defense: “The Dolphins’ defense has struggled for a number of reasons. You can only sign so many players and when those you sign don’t play well, that causes problems. [Linebackers] Karlos Dansby and [Kevin] Burnett have not played well. I don’t think their safeties have played particularly well. That’s caused a problem. That’s the middle of their defense. Their pass rush has been intermittent. Cameron Wake on any given Sunday can be a good pass rusher. I expected more out of him based on what he did last year, but he’s been up and down.”
On where the Redskins’ offense can be successful: “Remember one thing. Leonard Hankerson was the starting wideout last week and he played almost every snap. So now you’re dealing with rookies and he has limitations. You have that element as well. This stuff doesn’t happen overnight. Fans assume this stuff just happens. Shanahan designed some [deep] plays last week and they were there and Beck did not pull the trigger. There’s all kind of reasons why plays work or don’t work. But the timing… Beck is a timing player and now he’s playing with Hankerson, Jabar Gaffney is a nice solid professional… but they don’t have much at the receiver position. The scheme has to get guys open. At some point you have to win against man coverage. I watched Hankerson for five or six games on tape at Miami and I was not a big fan. I thought he was a little sluggish. I didn’t think he had much juice to him and that’s what he looks like with the Redskins.”
On Dolphins’ QB Matt Moore: “I kind of liked him coming out of Oregon State; I thought he had a chance to be a quality starter. He’s disappointed me. He doesn’t have the feel for understanding coverage and processing information the way I thought he would. He’s not as accurate as he needs to be because he doesn’t have the big arm. Last week he made very accurate throws so he looked good and he did beautiful things on designs so the throws were there. If I had to sum up, I’d say he’s erratic in terms of processing information and reading defenses and erratic with his accuracy.”
On Brian Orakpo: “I like Orakpo a lot. He has a chance to be a really good player. There are times he flashes and you go, ‘Wow, that guy is really good.’ I’m not sure they have much else. When I watched Ryan Kerrigan, he was better early in the season. I thought he was a try-hard guy [at Purdue]. I liked him as a player. I did not think he’d be a big-time NFL pass rusher. I didn’t think he could play a 3-4 outside linebacker. Maybe I’m proven wrong on that. He’s shown more movement skill than I thought he had watching him at Purdue. He’s a relentless grinder. He’s not an elite physical talent.”
To subscribe to my weekly Friday email report, click here. This week: going inside the run defense, an insider’s look at the Dolphins, and inside the game info from Stephen Bowen.
