The (missed) block the Dolphins believe would have changed the outcome of a game this season
There are multiple things that happen in an NFL game that we do not see with the naked eye. Or the naked television. Or even the naked All-22 film.
They’re small things that coaching staffs pore over because those details are sometimes the difference between winning and losing. The rest of us? We got lives so we watch the game and move on.
But the details stay with coaches and the players they try to teach because those small, often unseen things, can be the difference between winning and losing.
Such is the case with the play below. Dolphins coach Brian Flores brought it up in a press conference on Wednesday. He was vague but this is what he said speaking in the context of what needs to happen for the Miami Dolphins to finally win a game this season:
“We need two or three more plays that have to be made,” Flores said. “I don’t know where they will come from. Maybe it’s – we missed a block on a punt return in Buffalo that we may spring one. Nobody knows that, but that’s a big play in the game.
“There are little small plays like that, I guess the masses don’t know or they don’t see those plays. If you make one of those, the outcome is different.”
So what was he talking about? After searching the All-22 film, this is obviously the play he’s talking about ...
The situation here is the Dolphins trail 24-14 with 4:09 to play. And the Dolphins stop the Bills and force this punt. Preston Williams returns the punt 19 yards to the Miami 40 yard line.
But the detail Flores is talking about is Chris Lammons running downfield with his hands in the air as if signaling he didn’t block anyone in the back. Well, actually that’s true because he didn’t block anyone at all. And the guy he was supposed to block tackles Williams.
Based on what Flores said, if Lammons makes his block, Preston Williams would beat the punter and score a touchdown, making the game 24-21 with four minutes to play.
Full disclosure: The Dolphins scored on this drive anyway. But that touchdown came with 1:54 to play. And I’m told if Williams scores two minutes earlier, Miami feels like it’ll get the ball back with maybe 2 minutes to play, down only a field goal.
The Dolphins must believe they would have gotten that tying field goal or a winning TD because, remember, the offense had another touchdown in them anyway.
Agree or not, Flores points out that missed block hurt the Dolphins’ chances of winning. In fact, he believes, “if you make one of those, the outcome is different.”
This story was originally published October 31, 2019 at 12:02 PM.
