 Posted: Wed 5:06, 16 Mar 2011 Post subject: Tight ends punish Miami Dolphins' defense |
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| Tight ends punish Miami Dolphins' defense
The Dolphins are trying to halt a trend after the Jets' Dustin Keller became the latest tight end to flourish against them. BY DAVID J. NEAL [url=mailto:dneal@MiamiHerald.com]dneal@MiamiHerald.com[/url] The Dolphins have moved 12 months forward from [u]Tony Gonzalez Jersey[/u] and Dallas Clark; moved on from Akin Ayodele and Gibril Wilson; and yet remain in the same painful place when it comes to covering opposing tight ends. And they know teams will punch at that sore spot until the Dolphins come up with a balm of coverage. ``If you watch film, wouldn't you do the same thing?'' safety Yeremiah Bell said the day after the Jets' Dustin Keller feasted on the Dolphins. Bell desperately grabbing at Keller's arms as the tight end caught a 24-yard touchdown pass Sunday night seemed to fit in the video file with linebacker Akin Ayodele chasing Indianapolis' Dallas Clark up the field as Clark shed Wilson and raced to an 80-yard touchdown in last year's nighttime Dolphins home opener. Clark, Keller, Atlanta's [u]Tony Gonzalez Jersey[/u], New Orleans' Jeremy Shockey, Tampa Bay's Kellen Winslow Jr. all scorched the Dolphins last season. The two longest plays the Dolphins allowed in 2009 were Clark's touchdown and the 81-yarder by New England's Sam Aiken. That was last year but it's becoming this year, too. When Minnesota's Visanthe Shiancoe caught six passes for 86 yards in Week 2, it could be excused as a factor of Shiancoe being perhaps the only healthy receiver Brett Favre trusted after Percy Harvin went out with a hip injury. Favre threw to Shiancoe nine times, four more than Bernard Berrian, the next most targeted receiver or tight end outside of Harvin. But Keller's six catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns, the second past Bell and linebacker Bobby Carpenter's coverage, indicated the troublesome pattern remained. ``We had him double-covered twice in his six catches, and one of them was a touchdown,'' Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said. ``First of all, it was a hell of a throw. But that aside, fundamentally in the double coverage, we probably could have played it a little bit better. But a hell of a catch. That's a good player. He catches one, [Sean Smith is] right on him. One time we lose a little bit of leverage on one of them. The other time we had a mental error on the ball [toward] our sideline. It kind of looked like a throwback.'' Said Bell: ``You could see he was the focus of their game plan. In a lot of their sets, they switched his and [wide receiver Jerricho] Cotchery's job to throw us off a bit. At the same time, we let him run free a couple of times in some coverages we shouldn't have and he got some yards that way. ``It's definitely something that we have to take care of early in the game instead of making adjustments like we have. When we make the adjustments, we're fine.'' Indeed, all of Keller's production came in the first half. Throughout that half, whether lining up as an H-back or tight end, he got into his pattern unimpeded by any contact in the 5-yard legal chuck zone. ``We've got stuff built in where we . . . get some hands on [the tight end],'' Bell said. ``But if you give those guys a clean run, you see how they can hurt you. We've got to do a better job of getting hands on him and being more physical. We can't let guys run free back into coverage and things like that. When you let guys go, quarterbacks are going to find them.'' Especially if quarterbacks are looking for them. |
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