Miami Dolphins Quarter Grades: Coaches & ST’s

This was going to be two different posts but I figured they would be much easier to write together in one…again keeping you from having to read two separate articles…AGAIN. I know, but it’s Sunday and I feel generous.

The Dolphins special teams have not been impressive this season and we will look here individually at all aspects of each on it’s own.

Kick-off and punt return:

Two muffed punts by Jarvis Landry have off-set the one 70 plus yard run he has had. The Dolphins are not doing themselves any favors in the return game and Landry isn’t getting it. He has fielded two punts behind the 10 yard line and in both cases was unable to advance the ball. The Dolphins signed former 2nd round running back LaMichael James to the practice squad and he could be the team future answer to the return game. The team also brought back Marcus Thigpen. That should be enough to answer what kind of faith the team has in their return game.

Grade: C – The Dolphins have had one nice run back but they are so inconsistent that frankly you don’t know if every time a team punts they are going to turn the ball over. Oh and that is a C not a C-.

Punts and kick-offs:

Brandon Fields has had one punt blocked and shanked three others. It’s very out of character for him. Some of that is the pressure from the defensive line but there are no worries at all when it comes to Fields.

Punt game grade: C – even though Fields is a solid punter you can’t take away coverage issues, shanked punts, blocked punts, and long gains on returns.

Kick-offs belong to Caleb Sturgis and is not impressive in his duties. He was brought to Miami because he has a big leg and you better if you are going to be drafted in the NFL. A 5th round pick, Sturgis can’t consistently get the ball out of the end zone and because of that opposing teams are starting around 1 or 2 yard line and taking the ball out past the twenty. For that reason Sturgis gets a “D” grade in kick-0ffs and the unit as a whole gets the same as a result.

Field Goals: 

Sturgis has connected on all but one of his field goal attempts and the defense has done well enough but to be honest there is nothing that really matters here except the kickers accuracy. Sturgis was not very good last year and the Dolphins opted for a haphazard competition in camp that seemed more or less a trial by Sturgis’ groin pull issues.

Grade: B+ 

The larger issues with the teams special teams come from the number of younger players that are being asked to step up. The team made some moves in the off-season that left core members of the special teams without a job. As a result the team is relying on rookies, un-drafted free agents, and 2nd year pro’s. The return of Koa Misi and emergence of Jelani Jenkins could move Jason Trusnik back to the special teams units where he was a leader and a huge asset. The team should get better as the year progresses.

COACHING

It’s hard to read what is going on with the team in terms of coaching strategy. Is Joe Philbin too involved? Not enough? Is Bill Lazor’s offense still to young in the process to be fully utilized? Is Joe Philbin asking him to tone it down?

Bill Lazor will get a B for the first four weeks. The offense is up and down and that is part of learning this system and execution. What we have seen so far from the offense when it is flowing the right way gives fans hope that this offense is what the Dolphins need moving forward. At times it looks very very good and we have to imagine that we are only seeing the surface of it. Lazor has also done a much better job of making adjustments in the games and that kind of brings into play questions about Joe Philbin’s involvement as we have seen some looks that resemble Mike Sherman more than Lazor. Lazor has spent his time in games on the sideline as opposed to in the coaching box and that looks to be a good choice as well.

Kevin Coyle is largely unimpressive to me. He will often use designed blitzes at the wrong time, although he has improved in this over the last two years. More often than not I feel like the defenses successes come in spite of Coyle rather than because of him. Something I don’t feel on the offensive side of things. Coyle has the most talented players at every position but linebacker but you can’t discount the play there with the hand they have been dealt Coyle needs to get more creative and when he does the defenses consistency will improve. There is no reason why this team can not have two or three defensive All-Pro’s on the roster.  Coyle gets a C+

Joe Philbin, to me, isn’t a good head coach. His clock management skills border on atrocious and I have seen more energy from a numbers caller at a BINGO parlor at a nursing home. To his credit he isn’t reading off index cards this year post-game but his delivery is uninspired. I get the fact that these are professional players and don’t need rah rah pep talks to get motivated but don’t discount the relevance of that. Do you think the players don’t get fired up before running out of the tunnel each week? Of course they do. Coaches in the NFL still motivate their players and they use different tactics to get it done. Whatever Philbin is doing isn’t working and it often feels as though the players are winning on their own or on the decisions made by the other coaches.

On the field Philbin is just as unemotional and that is hard to rally behind. He doesn’t need to be jumping up and down but teams will more often than not emulate their coach and Miami does exactly that on offense where Ryan Tannehill is often as emotionless.

Aside from his drab personality Philbin doesn’t seem to get the basics of being a head coach. He has asked his team to take knees instead of driving ahead of the half and has wasted timeouts using them at bad times or not using them at all. At other times he seems confused about rules and rarely argues calls that go against his team. He is however very good with his use of challenged calls.

Overall Philin is coaching for his job and he is relying on his players to keep him around despite bad decisions or no decision he makes. This team is talented enough to win without Joe Philbin at head coach and talented enough to make the playoffs and save his job with or without him and that seems to be the problem with Joe Philbin. I’m not even going to mention his decision on Tannehill. Let’s just give him a C and be done with it.