Coach Explains What Went Wrong on Sieler Penalty

It's been a little over a week since the Miami Dolphins' loss against the Buffalo Bills, but special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman got his first opportunity Friday morning to discuss what happened in the game.

More specifically the costly roughing-the-kicker penalty that kept alive the Bills' game-winning touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.

For those who have forgotten — or chosen to forget — Zach Sieler's penalty on fourth-and-7 from the Buffalo 49 ruined the Dolphins defense's third consecutive stop and prevented the offense from getting the ball in a 21-21 game.

Buffalo took advantage of the second chance to end the drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Josh Allen to Khalil Shakir, then tacked on an insurance field goal after Terrel Bernard's interception on the Dolphins' ensuing possession.

AUKERMAN TAKES THE PLACE

Sieler was flagged after he bowled over long-snapper Reid Ferguson — the brother of former Dolphins long-snapper Blake Ferguson — and his momentum landed him into the feet of punter Cameron Johnston.

Ferguson appeared to kick his leg updward after falling on his back and may or may not have given Sieler even more momentum toward Johnston.

But Aukerman didn't want to go there, instead putting all the blame on himself.

“I look at it in my position to put the players in the best situation, and I got to do a better job of that," Aukerman said. "What we asked Zach to do is exactly what he did as far as, hey, we're going to bull-rush the center. We're going to drive them back. Unfortunately, he was too successful with that. And it's just one of those deals.

"Zach is such a great player. I mean, the guy was like a speed bump to him. I just got to do a better job of putting him in a better situation, maybe not rushing, maybe not doing anything to that extent, and maybe just taking a couple of steps up, let our offense get the ball back and stuff like that. Zach is a great player, does everything that we ask him to do, like he did there. But it's just one unfortunate situation. And again, I got to do a better job of putting those guys in a better situation.”

Aukerman explained the idea of rushing Johnston instead of simply laying back to secure the return and get the ball back to the offense.

“I mean, obviously, anytime there's a penalty, you're going to always second-guess it," he said. "But the biggest thing we want in plus-50 situations, you still want to try to put a little bit of pressure on the punter. You don't want them just to stand back there, allow the gunners to have enough time to go down there and force a fair catch or catch the ball at the 5-yard line. You want to try to have them speed up the process a little bit to try to hit a touchback. That was the thought process. Again, I got to do a better job of putting those guys in a situation. And if they do punt the ball at the 5-yard line. We fair-catch the ball there, so be it. It allows us to give the offense a chance to go down there and score.

“I'm always gonna put that on me, not on anyone else.”

CHECKING OUT THE JETS

On another topic, Aukerman said he paid attention to all the big special teams plays around the NFL last weekend, including the Jets' punt block returned for a touchdown by Will McDonald against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“it was a little bit of a push there," Aukerman said. "I thought when I looked at it at first, it was the guy off the edge that got it because he came really close, but it was another interior push. So that's a big point of emphasis with the guys. We obviously showed in McDonald. Chris Banjo, the special teams coordinator was at Denver, they tried it last year with Patrick Surtain. So that's one of the biggest things. It's not only McDonald that could do it. It also could be some type of skill player. And I wouldn't even put it past Quinnen Williams, number 95. How big and athletic that guy is, could be able to jump. Because I know Cleveland does it with Myles Garrett.

"So it's something that we talk to players. We put a big emphasis (Thursday) on McDonald, where he's lining up at, because he's lined up all over their place on their field goal block unit, whether it's on the edge, all right, the second guy in, weak side. It's something, obviously, that was a big part of last week on special teams.”

More Miami Dolphins Coverage: