The Jets will have a second opportunity at stopping the Dolphins’ run-pass-option on Sunday.
It will be the key matchup to watch as Gang Green heads to Miami for an AFC East showdown against a team that already has a 24-17 win on the books against Robert Saleh’s team and has won five straight games to get back in the playoff hunt.
Last week wasn’t a great performance against the Saints, but the Jets (3-10) made progress on defense holding New Orleans to 23 points until surrendering a last-minute touchdown. On most Sundays, that effort would have given the team a chance to win if their offense had shown up.
And the Jets defense can build on that outing as they face a Dolphins offense that is only averaging 19.5 points per game (23.2 ppg during their win streak).
Seeing the Dolphins (6-7) for the second time in four weeks also provides Saleh an idea of what Miami’s plan of attack is.
“You always have your core principles with regards to what you are, the identity of what your football team,” Saleh said. “I don’t think that will change but there’s always going to be wrinkles, there’s going to be stuff that we’ve shown on tape over the last four weeks that teams have been able to exploit on us. There’s going to be things that teams have done to them that have exploited them also, but to balance that within the identity of who you are with adding a couple of wrinkles that you haven’t seen yet.
“You can see that they have kind of shifted at least from an offensive standpoint with their identity.”
RPOs are the staple of the Dolphins’ offensive identity. So the Jets’ defensive strategy again must center around limiting the damage.
The RPO gives Tua Tagovailoa the choice to hand the ball to the running back or throw to a receiver running a slant or hitch over the middle. Nearly 30% of his passes are either to the flat or slants, according to Next Gen Stats.
The read is usually on a weakside linebacker or the nickel cornerback, who is the conflict defender with run-pass responsibility. Sometimes the Dolphins added a pre-snap motion across the formation to cause confusion. Sometimes the target runs a flat route or a wheel. A perfect example of their RPO success came on wide receiver Albert Wilson’s 64-yard gain against the Ravens on Thursday Night Football in a Week 10 win.
Tagovailoa leads the NFL in passing yards through RPO (720, per Pro Football Reference) and almost 40% of his passing yards are through RPO.
In their first matchup, Tagovailoa threw for 279 yards with two touchdowns. Neither of the TDs came off RPO, but the Jets allowed the former No. 5 overall pick to produce explosive plays using it.
On two of the Dolphins’ touchdown drives, Tagovailoa completed a pass through RPO that resulted in a big gain. In the first TD possession, Tagovailoa threw a 26-yard completion to tight end Mike Gesicki off RPO. And a few plays before the 65-yard touchdown throw to Mack Hollins, the Jets allowed a 34-yard reception to Wilson off of RPO. It was called back due to an illegal man down the field.
RPOs get Tagovailoa and their offense in rhythm.
Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich feels the experience from November should help them contain one of the biggest tools in Tagovailoa’s arsenal.
“It definitely helps. We got a taste of it,” Ulbrich said. “I think we have a fairly good plan as far as defending it and knowing what’s coming. So, it definitely helps that we played them. We got to do a better job than we did the first time around and we will.”
The young and inexperienced Jets secondary, which has flashed plenty of promise and plenty of struggles in this lost season, is the key to limiting the Dolphins’ success.
Bryce Hall, Ashtyn Davis, Michael Carter II, Brandin Echols and Elijah Riley must be disciplined in their assignments and not get distracted by the Dolphins eye candy — they use motions on 53% of their plays (11th most) — that can lead to busted coverages.
“We just got to be disciplined,” Davis said. “Play our rules and we’ll be fine.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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