A lot of Dolphin fans have announced their displeasure with how the offense has played so far. Some say they look worse offensively than last year. Some think the offense is quite boring, which is something many thought wouldn't be the case following the hiring of Cam Cameron. But Cam has cleared everything up, so let's all calm down.
So what's the deal? We all just need to have some patience for now.
"Vanilla" is a nice way to put it. In fact, Cameron has said that in preseason games, they have only probably used 20% of their offense. Instead, what Cameron is stressing is execution. He's stressing the importance of running the ball and of pass protection. That's what he's using the preseason for. And don't expect a change in this philosophy next week despite it being the 3rd preseason game, the game in which teams typically play their starters longer and expand their offense a bit.
"We sell our guys on the fact that we don't play the game and practice any different, especially this time of year. We're going to play the same out here, especially in those padded practices. For us, that's just like a preseason game."
He makes a good point. Not many teams have the luxury of being able to practice every day against one of the top defensive units in the NFL. So why show off some of the multifaceted, innovative offense that we've all been promised in the preseason when other teams can scout it? There's no need to when you can practice it against a great defensive unit day in and day out in practice, where the opposition can't see it and attempt to break it down.
So how do the players feel about this? Chris Chambers doesn't seem worried at all:
If the team's #1 receiver isn't concerned, then I'm not, either. It's no secret that Cam's offense utilizes shifts and motions to create mismatches. And we haven't seen any of this during the preseason, which is why all Dolphin fans need to relax and take a "wait and see" approach before judging Cam and this team.
In my opinion, Cam's taking the right approach. If this team can't run the ball, they will not be successful this year. So why not pay extra attention to the running game? With an offensive line like the Dolphins got, with so many different players playing different positions, they need to extra experience to learn to work together and gel. The preseason is as good a time as any to do this. Same goes for pass protection. Let them make their mistakes now so that they have a better understanding once the regular season rolls around. After all, isn't this what the preseason is all about?
So basically, what all this is saying is that it's not going to be until September 9 in Washington when we finally see this offense become more exciting and more productive. For now, let's just let Cam do what he thinks he needs to do to prepare for that da