“We have to change the culture.” “We
need to breed a culture of competitiveness, finish and intensity.” “We need to
become a more aggressive front, team in general.” “You want to get the most out
of them, you have to challenge them…they have to be pushed and they have to be
worked.” “…we are going to scratch and claw and do whatever it takes to win
your one on one.” “I want us pulling the trigger, I don’t want us playing
conservative.”
These are direct quotes taken from
Dan Campbell’s introductory press conference about two weeks ago. Dan Campbell,
tight ends coach promoted to interim head coach after Joe Philbin was fired,
talked the talk & definitely walked the walk. The Dolphins were pretty much
sleep-walking through the first four games of the season, on to a 1-3 record. Everybody
in South Florida had questions about why we were struggling and even performing
worse than last season after all the moves that were made in the offseason. Campbell
took over during the bye week & was like a 4 a.m. alarm clock and an ocean
of freezing cold water in the Navy Seals that woke the players up. From the 38-10 win against the Titans
yesterday, the Dolphins appeared to be a completely different team & he
implemented the culture change he kept stressing two weeks ago.
Before Dan Campbell, the Dolphins were
starting out slow, couldn’t run the ball, couldn’t score, couldn’t block, couldn’t
set the tempo of the game, couldn’t stop the run, couldn’t get pressure on the
quarterback, just couldn’t do anything right. After Dan Campbell, they scored
their first touchdowns of the first quarter all season, we ran the ball and ran
it successfully, pass & run blocking was improved, the game plan & play-calling
was executed to the T, and the Titans were playing to catch up with us instead
of the other way around. Lamar Miller got his feet back and looked like the running back that averaged 5 yards a carry last year.
Best of all was the defense, the constant pressure and
the many big plays they made all game. The defensive line under Philbin was
nonexistent and only had one sack coming into the game. Under Campbell, they
totaled 6 sacks & Cameron Wake had 4 of them by himself. The whole d-line
was getting after Mariota all game and he lost two fumbles & threw two
picks. Linebackers held their own & the secondary was legendary, led by the
huge pick-6 from Reshad Jones & the momentum-killing interception by Brent
Grimes. All in all, the Titans finished the game with four turnovers, only 63
yards on the ground and only 4.6 yards a play. Not only did the Dolphins play
an all-around solid game, but individually and as a unit, it was a great
performance from everybody. Even the coaching staff had great moments. After
what appeared to be an incomplete pass that nobody questioned from Mariota
after he was pressured and hit, Darren Rizzi told Campbell to throw a red flag
on the play. As it turns out, we got the ball back after it was reviewed to be
a fumble. Even small decisions like being aggressive to try & score right
before the half with under 2 minutes to go or when we were up by 14 points in
the 4th quarter, pinned down against our endzone inside the 5 and coming
out the shotgun, Ryan Tannehill tossed a 38 yard bomb to Kenny Stills to get us
out of that heat.
The season is still young and if
the Dolphins continue to play like this, we might be able to salvage that 1-3
start and get ourselves back into the playoff picture. I was hesitant to get
overly excited about Dan Campbell and his words in the press conference because
I didn’t want to hear any more talking, I just wanted to see how they were
going to come out and play. After one game, I saw the culture change, the
intensity and the aggressiveness that he was talking about. Game ball
definitely goes to Dan Campbell. But still, it’s only 1 game. Now we’ll see if
they can follow up that performance with another win against the Texans.
