I have been writing comments in the Snap Count articles noting what Pro Football Focus and/or Andy Herman thought about the performance of the various players versus.  I would contrast that with what I had written immediately after the game ended based on just watching the game live.  Sometimes PFF agrees with me and sometimes they seem to think I am an idiot.  Ditto with Andy Herman.  So, I thought I would write a separate article.  Here are the PFF grades along with Andy Herman's grades when I can find them for the Miami game:

LINEBACKERS:

Here is what I wrote in the Snap Count article:  "It might turn out that some entity like PFF gives one or several of the linebackers terrible coverage grades, but any grades should be ignored.  The plan was to allow the catch over the middle and rally to the ball to limit the gain."  I agree with Herman when he said in his podcast Wednesday that the Packers were willing to allow Miami to try to dink and dunk their way down the field.  If that meant TE Jonnu Smith and the RBs to catch a bunch of short passes over the middle or in the flat, so be it.  I don't think even Fred Warner could drop that far into zone and still stop Jonnu Smith from catching those short passes in the middle of the field.  I thought Walker had a better game than PFF thought, and about the same as Herman.

The Packers took the first read away from Tagovailoa (who had been getting the ball out quicker than any other quarterback in the NFL), especially in the first half.  I thought they loosened up on the press coverage in the second half while still leaving the short middle open.  PFF can note that Quay Walker allowed 7 catches on 7 targets for 50 yards, but I don't care.  34 yards were after the catch, meaning the receiver caught the pass just 2 yards past the line of scrimmage, on average.  Quay Walker also had 4 pressures.  He has been getting better at pass rushing.  McDuffie allowed 11 catches out of 14 targets for 141 yards, but I still don't care too much.  That said, I do note that only 68 of those 141 yards came after the catch, meaning those receptions were made farther downfield.  Still, I like the physicality McDuffie brings.  They ran at Eric Wilson, and sometimes he got run over.  He also gave up 4 completions on 4 targets for 39 yards.     

Defensive Backs:

I have been pushing for Valentine over Stokes, and even Valentine over Nixon, as the starting perimeter corner back.  PFF prefers Nixon to Valentine or Stokes, and it seems clear that Nixon has held up well outside.  The coaches made the right choice there.  Nixon is cheap at $6M per year.

PFF gave 29.6 grades to both Valentine and Stokes for tackling in the Miami game due to missed tackles.  [I assume Run Defense includes coming up strong in run support and taking good angles, not just tackling.]   Herman did not give numerical grades for Valentine, Stokes, or Evan Williams, but Williams was Herman's third-lowest graded defensive player.  Herman noted that PFF gave Bullard a poor grade whereas Herman gave Bullard a positive grade.   

I am kind of old school, so let us look at the lines.  Plus, it is easier to see the offensive and defensive lines during the live telecast than other areas of the field.  I wrote that in the Dolphins game the pass blocking was good and the run blocking was adequate - at least there were very few negative runs.  

Offensive line:

I should note that Pro Football Focus has been giving poor grades to Elgton Jenkins for quite some time, or at least they have given grades that were far worse than Herman's.  I have complained that Jenkins has not played as well as a $16M per year guard should, but PFF's 59.2 grade season-long grade for Jenkins is too low.  In previous weeks Andy Herman often just flatly disagreed with PFF about Jenkins.  However, against the Dolphins, they are in accord that Jenkins had a rough game, with Herman noting that it started out well but Jenkins had some problems later in the game. 

Since Herman's highest graded offensive lineman was Rhyan at just +0.15, and Tom was Herman's lowest graded offensive lineman, Walker's grade must be roughly neutral, neither particularly positive nor negative.  I, myself, did not get the sense that Jenkins was having such a terrible game.  I saw him miss a couple of stunts and thought he sometimes missed his blocking assignment when run blocking, but I thought they were fairly isolated incidents.  I thought Jacobs was playing really well (86.4 PFF grade and +1.20 grade from Herman), but his average of 2.3 yards/carry suggested some issues with the run blocking.

DTs and DEs:

Clark had a solo tackle, a sack and a tackle for loss.  I have been down on Clark for the last few years because I think he has prioritized pass rush over playing good run defense, and of course, for his contract.  In this game, Herman said that Clark (and Slaton) soaked up a lot of double teams and did not get moved, allowing others to flow to the ball to make the plays.  I only noticed Clark a couple of times and I failed to notice Slaton at all.  

Herman gave Wyatt his worst defensive grade, but PFF gave him a 64.9 grade.  As to Wyatt, PFF thinks I am an idiot and I think PFF is the idiot.  I think Wyatt looks like a pass rush specialist, which is rather underwhelming for a first round pick.  I am taking more of a wait and see position with Brooks and Wooden.  They have time on their side as year two, day three picks.  I think Brooks has shown more flashes than Wooden.    

I did not write much about the DEs, other than Van Ness.  I wrote that other players flushed the opposing quarterback and Van Ness merely chased the quarterback down without beating the offensive tackle.  He gets what Mike Wahle calls hustle sacks and tackles.  PFF thinks I am an idiot, and it looks like Herman (+0.35 for Van Ness) would not disagree.  Van Ness is big, strong, and really fast, but it looks like no one has ever taught him any pass rushing techniques.  Gary seems to be getting more pressures lately, though the sacks have been elusive.

Photo courtesy of Dan Powers, USA Today Network