The Ringer NFL Show - Tua and the Dolphins: The NFL’s Most Dangerous Offense? | The Play Sheet [VIDEO]

Episode Date: September 14, 2023

The Ringer’s Ben Solak breaks down how Tua Tagovailoa, Mike McDaniel, and the Dolphins somehow look like the have a more dangerous offense than they did last year after their Week 1 win over the Chargers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Howdy, I'm Ben Solac and this is the play sheet. This is a show about me being a football nerd. Every single Wednesday, I'm going to grab something that happened on Sunday that I thought was super sick and show it to you with films, diagrams, and clips. It's a lot of fun. Let's get into it. The opening script. Tua.

Tua, folks. A few things in the NFL were cooler last season, and the Mike McDaniel and Tua Tung of a low experiment in Miami. I mean, we did videos about it. We wrote articles about it. Jalen Waddell and Tariq Hill, how their speed changed to the offense, how the motion got free releases for the receivers. Tua, in the way that his anticipation, his accuracy, his trust, his velocity,

all made this offense work better than it ever had before. It was so sick, but it had hiccups. Not just Tua's injuries, but there were schematic issues. In the middle of last season, the Dolphins ran into the 49ers defense, and then the Chargers defense, who kind of chucked some speed bumps in front of an offense that was previously going 100 miles per hour. Last year against the Chargers, Tua was 10 for 28, 145 yards, worst game in the season. So you assume in year two, defensive coordinators across the league, you're going to spend time watching that film,

and they're all going to get better at throwing those speed bumps in place. And the question becomes, what's Mike McDaniel going to do to anticipate and create counterpunches? How is Tua going to elevate his game to the next level? And we couldn't have gotten a better opponent for that check in year two because, hey, in week one, guess who Tua might be Daniel and the Dolphins have? They've got the Chargers defense. Last year, the Chargers did an unbelievable job taking away the middle of the field. That's the area Tua throws two more than any other quarterback. and throws two more successfully than any other quarterback.

2-0 was 1 for 6 against the Chargers last season, throwing between the numbers more than 10 yards down the field. And we can do a little play action, rewind, baby, season 2, we've got new gags, and talk about what that Chargers defense did. Inside an upfield. Inside an upfield. What are the Chargers saying with this? They're saying, hey, we know what you want.

You want the intermediate middle. This is, Tua throws to this area of the field more than any quarterback in the league by a mile. We are not going to give it to you. anything that is inside and breaking up field, we are going to have leverage on. We're going to have a lurking safety, right, robber safety dropping this area of the field. We are not going to give it to you. It's not open. So Tua needs should see pre-snap.

The second this ball snapped and he gets his eyes there to this safety. Once the safety is in this area of the field, check and see the leverage of these corners, he should know this is not open. This is never, ever, ever, ever open. He should be processing post-snap and not throwing this ball. He throws it because Tuma doesn't do a lot of post-nap processing. And so that line that that handsome young bright-eyed Ben Solac ended on that Tua doesn't do a lot of post-nap processing, it wasn't true on Sunday.

And it was the difference in the game. Last year, one for six, thrown to the middle of the field. This year against the Chargers, seven of 11. And a lot of that was Tula doing what he typically does very well, but Mike McDaniel came with the changeups for year two. Let's go to play action. All right, this is first and 10 against the Chargers this season, right? And we saw last year they would boom, jet motion, bring Tyree kill all the way across. you would get in the stack alignment, they would snap the ball, right?

And then you would have this route here. You would have Tyree Kill continue along on the wheel. And then you would have like this tight down. He would come and he would run into the flat. And this would be your look, right? This would be your stretch that you would get. And they would hit this route in the middle of the field until the cows came home. Well, this season, Tyree Kill is not lined up all the way over there, is he?

No, he's right there. He's like, it's like an H-back alignment. This is where you usually put a tight end. And if we watch as the player runs, Tua is just going to send him in low motion. and then they're going to snap the football. This right here, this stack, this movement should look familiar. This is the same stress we would get last season.

But instead of a motion for a second and a half, a motion that sure it changes the strength of the defense and it forces this player to rotate up and this player to rotate down and these linebackers to shift, it would cause a lot more movement. It also would give the defense a little bit of time to decide, hey, this is how we're going to adjust.

Hey, communicate you over here, you do this. Now they're just going to hit you with it, right? Now, now we're just going to say, boom, Tyreek's moving. So now when they get to snap this football with a running start for Tyreek without spending all the time to get there. They still get the advantage of his speed coming off the line, right? J.C. Jackson trying to get connected to him. He can't press him because he's hiding in the stack. They get all that advantage without taking as much clock, without teleghing it to the defense.

And all of a sudden, you get Tyreek Hill running free of J.C. Jackson. This ball's about to come out, right? Two is already throwing it. Tyreek's just now breaking. they still have this mess in the middle. Watch where this ball arrives. I mean, like right on the hash, hits him in stride, J.C.'s turn around, safety's nowhere near,

and that's what allows you to get run after the catch. So, all right, we found a new way to get to the middle of the field. Now, just because you have to evolve doesn't mean you throw out last year's playbook. Last year's playbook turns out was pretty good. So it's Jet Motion this time, right? We're going to bring the tight end across the formation. Watch Eric Kendricks here. He's the important player on this play.

Firstly, when they go to run the Jet Motion, immediate check, right? Like the second he moved, he's like, listen, we're checking. going to be in a cover two iteration here because we know this jet motion's coming. They do this all the time. Okay. So the ball's about to be snapped. We're going to get flat route here from the motion, man. This is going to be a little pivot route underneath. And these two routes are just trying to control underneath defenders. Hold Michael Davis in the flat. We're trying to keep the first level shallow because the second level is going to be super deep. This is the threat of Tyreek Hill, right?

When you have to worry at all times about this route from Tyreek Hill, you have to line your deep safety off 20 yards off the ball, right? That's the fear that Tyree Kill instills. So if we can keep that first level of the defense low, we create intermediate space. That's what we want to hit. So this route actually ends up being from Tyree Kill, a route into that space, right?

They're going to be bang eight post. So like I said, the player to watch here's Eric Hendrix. He's the important player on this rep for Tua. So, okay, we snap the ball. Two steps back in his drop. Just one step and drop and he's ready to throw. You're looking right now at Tyreek. He's going to break into this space.

what's cool about this offense is that you can kind of throw this route differently conditional on where the defense is. Eric Kendrish right now, he's looking, he's peeking, but he's a little bit wide. He's still inside the hash. And this robbing safety, he's more worried about, like, the robbing safety is more worried about this route right here. Like, that's the route that he's going to go get connected to. This bang eight post he's not going to be able to get to.

So if we like the Eric Kendricks has a little bit wide right now, a little bit too far away, then all right, all right, let's fire this thing right here. Very fast release, very fast football, between two defenders. This is the thing that Tua does that makes this offense work that other quarterbacks wouldn't be able to do.

So watch the speed of the throw. Fast release, just in front of Eric Kendricks, and it stops Tiree Kill. See, he has to slow down to catch it, but that doesn't matter because you're getting it in the window between two defenders,

and then Tari Kill does what Tariqil does. Derwin James misses, J.C. Jackson misses. Now we're off to the races, and it's an explosive game. Knowing what we know now, we watch this play, right? It's not going to be jet motion this time,

they're just going to bring the back out of the backfield, but you get the same effect, right? The defense has to shift over because of the motion. So this time our route combination. Running back is just going to stay behind line scrimmage. It's just like a checkdown. He's just eye candy. We're going to get an underneath route here.

We're going to get this underneath pivot route. And then we're going to get Tyree Kill, working that bang eight post, just as he always has been, right? Tyree Kill also making the safety play all the way back because you're worried about the threat of this route coming down the field. So here's what we're hitting. It's the same concept, the same stretch, but it's going to end up being a different throw.

It's a different throw because of Eric Kendricks, right? So, okay, watching two is process in the pocket. One step drop and he lands. This time, Eric Kendricks is so tight to the route, right? He's already connected. He was pulled over by the motion. Kenneth Murray tied down here by the tight end. The space is going to open behind Kendricks.

It's going to open up not like an immediate velocity throw between two players, but instead it's going to be more of a touch throw over the top of Eric Kendricks in front of this safety. The nature of the throw changes because the, the route's going to change a little bit because of where the coverage is. This is the way it adjusts on the fly. So, okay, now we're watching Tua. We're watching Tua's throw in the pocket.

Firstly, again, quick release, right? He never really telegraphs it. A little bit more air under it. And look at where that thing lands. This time not slowing Tire Keill down, but pulling him up field, pulling him away from Eric Kendrix, catches it on his face mask, and then he's Tyree Kill. So potentially make a guy miss, and we're in the low red zone. So this is all still kind of how the offense worked last year, right?

There's different window dressing, there's different poles, there's new bibles and tricks, but in general, we're on the same stuff. Now, why didn't the Chargers have success defending this offense if they were so good last season? Well, last season, Tua really struggled against pressure. He was like first in EPA in everything under the sun, but when he was pressured, he was 15th and expected points added over the course of last year. And the pressure issue for the dolphins is about more than just like the offense and how it runs and two under pressure.

It's also about Tua's health, right? Remember, a lot of his concussions were because he was getting slammed into the turf by defensive lineman. If you want Tua not just to play well for 17 games, but to play for 17 games to be healthy, you really have to do a better job protecting him from hits this year. Well, in week one against the Chargers, zero sacks, two quarterback hits. We absolutely do not have enough data to responsibly do this, but here's the same quarterback under pressure chart in 2023. Now, Chargers head coach Brandon Staley was asked about why the team struggled to pressure Tua,

of this game and he gave this answer. Let's go to underpressor. The pass rush, you know, Joey and Khalil both healthy. Like, why wasn't it getting? The ball was out, Daniel. The ball was out. And we did affect him more in the second half. But when he got to the top of the drop, the ball was out.

Or it was well protected with seven or eight guys in the protection and the ball was out. Now, Staley said we did affect him more in the second half. And that's true. They doubted up the blitzes a lot. They blitzed him once in the first quarter and then 16 times over. the next three quarters, Tua was 11 for 17 against the Blitz in this game. And that's what we started with. That's the crux of this is that Tua on Sunday was unflappable. Tua was aggressive in the face of pressure. Tua was creative in the face of pressure. And this was not something he was doing last

season. It's a one game sample size. We can't get too excited. But man, this is something that Tua needed to add to his game. And it looks like he did. This is the game winning play. Okay, it's starting 10. You got less than four minutes left. You're down by four. You're not thinking about, well, if we punning three timeouts. No, like, you got to get this to stay in this game. First and ten was a blitz, incomplete. Second and ten was a blitz, incomplete.

Third and ten, what's the defense doing? Watch Derwin James. I'm going to go line up over here. No, it's a trick. I'm actually, I'm going this way. And the safety, no, and now I'm moving the other side. So we're presenting a very muddled look, right? This is meant to be complex.

Don't give Tua a clean pre-snap look. Make and process post-snap. So what does Tua do? We're going to snap the football. It's in a little back in motion. and we're at the top of our drop. What do we got? We are running that same in-breaking route, man.

I mean, this is the money route. The Chargers know it's the money route. The Chargers ended up dropping Derwin James deep middle. That's Derwin right here. And then the two safeties stepped down and they're operating as robbers. Their whole goal is to take away that intermediate middle of the field, take away that area that Tuo wants to throw the football to.

So this route's breaking right here, right? Tatoo this guy at the 35-yard line. Maybe you pick up a first down. And Tua thinks about it. Right? We're going to watch, watch Tua, get to the bottom, the top of his drop, and start to separate the hands. You see him right there. Separate those hands. He wants, he's thinking about throwing this route, but the receiver's falling down, right? Now, Tua's not throwing it even if the receiver stays up because he's already made the decision. That's the safety stepping down. So firstly, we have the decision not to throw this, which is great.

Even if the receiver stood, it's doubly great because the receiver fell down. So now it's third and ten, and the chargers took away your first read. Typically against Tua, this is ballgame, right? This is done. Watch Tua. Climb up in the pocket. You can see that head flip over to Tariq, and then this throw. On the move, Kaleel Mack reaching a paw out for you,

45 yards down the field. I mean, in the bread basket. And Tua had missed some deep throws in this game because of arm strength, because he couldn't get enough air under it. This throw on the field. the move? Watch him whip that thing. First to 10 inside the 30.

Earlier in the game, third and eight, money down. Got to have it. This is the concept we showed earlier, right? It's going to be fast motion. Right out right now with Tyreek Hill. He's going to run vertical, vertical, vertical, and then bang, turn around, right? It's going to be this comeback route at the sticks. This right here is a clear-out, and then Braxton Barrios is going to come in from the other

side of the formation. But Tyreek is what we want. This play is designed to go to Tyreek Hill right at the sticks. There's two at the top of his drop. But look, this is going to be nicely covered. This corner is a great job. sitting right on top of it. He knows he has safety help.

And so Tua thinks about it, right? You're going to see him. He thinks about it. Separates the hands. Then, no, you know what? I can't throw those. First reason is covered. I got to go create.

And so gets face masked. Why Joey Bosa leaving the pocket. Stays upright. Keep your composure. Eyes on burios. Look at that fast release. Ball is out. And that's what allows this ball to arrive before that waiting corner can play on it.

First end. Fourth quarter, down four. Third and 15. Ain't no motion coming to save you on 1315, baby. I go pick it up. You're going to get a corner route from Tyreek Hill, corner from Jalen Waddle, and then Braxton Barrios is going to work middle of the field

and come across. Two is in the pocket. He's going to get protection from his back, and then a check release from the tight end. They're going to blitz. They're sending five. Two is at the top of his drop. Looking at Tyreek, safety on top.

Looking at Waddle, safety on top. All right. So we sit in the pocket. We're looking, we're looking. We start to feel pressure off our right-hand side. Goes to step up. realize you can't step up, spring out of the pocket, moving to your left again, Khalil Mack bearing down on you.

This is the only option. You have to make this throw up to the 35-yard line. That's football. End zone view. All right, eyes. I got to get out, got to create. Look at the three. Release is so freaking fast.

Look at his hip. Snap. Get that ball out. First down, it's week one. And we have to, we got to try to remain calm. And I'm talking to me, as much as I'm talking to you. But this new. look, Dolvin's offense is better than even I hoped it would be over the course of the summer,

the evolutions, the improvements, the changes, and then the individual improvement of Tua. I hope it is something that continues for the rest of the season. If it is, we are in for a real treat. I mean, we are in for a sight to see folks with this Dolphins offense. And that'll do it for us on the play sheet. It's in here with the new set. And we got lights and I'm looking pretty. And Dolphins offense is looking pretty.

And you're looking pretty. You subscribe. to the channel and listen and watch the videos. It can be good. Every week. I got to make sure I say every week. I forget to say every week. We do this every week.

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