Effects On Fins Passing Game With Verrett Out & Landry Questionable

Given the lack of a bye Landry’s knee is a bit of a concern

Verrett is out for the Chargers, but his absences is offset by a gimpy Landry

The injury report hit the news late Friday with some serious ramifications for both teams: Los Angeles Chargers talented cornerback Jason Verrett is out for Sunday’s game with a knee injury, and now Jarvis Landry is questionable with a knee injury as well.

The question now is, how do these injuries effect the battle between the Dolphins passing game verse the Chargers secondary.

First, in Week 1, CB Verrett was targeted 4 times, allowing just 1 catch for 4 yards. So, this loss will be big for the Chargers. This is now Verrett’s second knee injury in as many years.

We all know the value of Landry, who practiced on a limited basis Friday. I expect him to dress, but this isn’t a good sign for him through the rest of the season, given that there’s no bye.

With both Jay Ajayi and Landry nursing sore knees, you just have to shake your head. the injury bug is voracious this year. This means the once super deep receiving core is already being tested and weakened before Week 1 even starts.

Jakeem Grant and, to a lesser extent, Leonte Carroo will be called on to fill the gap.

So what does this mean to the Dolphins chances of passing the football on Sunday?

Studying the film of the Chargers v.s. Broncos as much as I have, I was so looking forward to seeing a replay of this with #14:

Landry is the leader of a deep and talented core

But Landry’s injury will hamper his play if he touches the field… and maybe he shouldn’t, because you don’t want to mess around with knees of your star receiver.

You have to admire Landry a bit more given he’s playing for ‘peanuts’ and now nursing a bad knee going into a contract year. This has to be something on his mind. It’s a bit of bad luck that this injury stems from or was exasperated by practice. Will he be cautious or go 100%… knowing Landry it’s the later, but he is human.

So will Miami be able to pass the ball with or without him?

Well, first you need to take into account the Chargers pass rush… it’s good–real good. I am rarely amazed as I go over film. Most plays are a product of the unit creating a good situation for a player who must simply do his job. Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram are different. They are the type of players that pop off the screen and create plays through superior talent. And when you combine both of them, it’s ferocious to behold.

But, their skill is offset by an uneven secondary. Added to many, many missed tackles, when the pass rush didn’t arrive, the Chargers had several plays like in the video below.

If Landry doesn’t suit up, the Fins still have a deeper WR core than the Charger CB corp

The Broncos are a great indicator of how the Dolphins will perform this week. They run a similar offense and Zone Stretch run scheme–albeit with Cutler there will be less designed QB runs. PPF ranked the Broncos as the 25th rated Offensive Line, after the Forest Lamp injury; the Dolphins were graded as 26th. Broncos have a rookie starting at Left Tackle and the Dolphins have Laremy Tunsil who is re-acclimating to that position.

Below is a performance tally of QB Trevor Siemian‘s game, along with his Offensive Line and Receivers:

Presure Inside: 6
Pressure Outside: 8
Excellent Throw: 2
Good Throw: 2
Routine Throw: 2 TD / 10
Off Throw: 1 -TD
Almost Intercepted (bad read / good play by CB): 1/ 0
Drop: 1 TD / & 1 / 1 Int
Late throw: 1
Scramble : 4 / 1TD

I’m not saying this is a perfect perception, but it’s near enough to show that Siemian had a solid, but not spectacular game, and still out played Rivers.

Given that Miami has better skills players, and the Chargers thin Cornerback core is now see through, Cutler should outperform Siemian. Add in a better Running Back in Jay Ajayi, and Damien Williams and Kenyan Drake in the pass game, and you could be looking at a substantial increase in Culter’s stat line…

…If Cutler doesn’t fumble when he is sacked, panic and enter picktardation, and the Tackles can limit Bosa and Ingram the way the Broncos did, Miami will play the dominant role through most of the game. Cutler will be sacked. No doubt. But turnovers and penalties will go a long way to being the X factor much like they were in the Broncos / Chargers game. If Dolphins play sound ball, as the better team, they will win… but by how much, your guess is as good as mine. Go Fins!!!