Through 3 games, Dolphins defense has gone from first to worst in this category
The first few defensive drives of the Dolphins’ 31-28 overtime loss to the Las Vegas Raiders last Sunday looked quite familiar by 2020 standards.
A mixture of timely third-down stops and an interception returned for a touchdown to halt another promising Las Vegas possession. But by the time the dust settled, and players cleared the field of another thrilling game at Allegiant Stadium, the state of Miami’s defense was one that didn’t reflect last season.
Through three games of the 2021 season, the Dolphins have the worst third-down defense in the NFL, allowing opposing offenses to convert on 59.1 percent of their opportunities. They had the stingiest third-down defense in 2020, only allowing first downs 31.2 percent of the time.
In the loss to Las Vegas, the Raiders went 8 for 15 on third down. The Dolphins were able to get a string of third-down stops as they erased an 11-point deficit and pushed the game to overtime, but Las Vegas found their most success on third down as they scored 25 straight points in regulation.
“I’ve taken a hard look at this myself,” Dolphins coach Brian Flores said Wednesday, “and at the end of the day, our opponents are making more plays than we are. It’s just as simple as that. Good throws, good catches, contested catches. The rush is probably a half-second late, so we need a half-second more coverage.
“The difference between winning and losing those plays, it’s small. The margin for error is small on those, and right now we’re not — as far as the contested plays, the contested catches, getting the ball out, getting the extra half second or quarter of a second to get to the quarterback — we’re not getting there. We’ve got to do a better job and that starts with me. I’ve got to do a better job of getting our guys in position to make those plays, to keep leverage, to get the ball off of them.”
Similarly, the New England Patriots were 11 for 16 on third down in the Dolphins’ season-opening win. In the 35-0 shutout loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 2, the Dolphins allowed seven third-down conversions on 13 attempts. Issues on third down, compounded by the continued struggles of the offense, have resulted in a defense that’s spending more time on the field and allowing 27.3 points per game, which ranks 23rd in the NFL and is six more points than it gave up last season.
“Obviously when you give up third downs, you extend drives, you extend plays,” defensive coordinator Josh Boyer said Tuesday. “You give them more opportunities. We need to do a better job in that and that starts with me, making sure we coach it better, put them in a better opportunity to succeed and then when we have opportunities, make sure we go out there and execute.”
Safety Eric Rowe said first and second down is important to keep the offense out of manageable third-down situations. According to Football Outsiders, the Dolphins defense is rated as the fourth-most efficient unit on first down but that ranking drops to 15th on second-down plays.
“It starts on first and second down,” Rowe said Wednesday. “Right now, we just aren’t doing that strong on first and second down. That obviously leads to a more manageable, for the offense, third down. Third-and-short. That’s a situation that we don’t want to be in. We want to get them in second-and-long, get them to third-and-long and then get to our exotic stuff and get off the field.”
When the Dolphins’ defense matches up with the Indianapolis Colts at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday, it will face an offense that has had its own struggles on third down. Indianapolis has converted 11 of 36 opportunities on third down, which ranks 22nd in the league.
“It’s really up to us as players to spend extra time studying or really putting the pressure on each other to perform when the lights are on, on a Sunday afternoon,” cornerback Byron Jones said. “This is a tough learning process. In the league, if you’re off just by a little bit, the scoreboard could be ugly or it could be a tough game like this. We’re looking forward to the challenge of the Colts next week, and try to get back on the winning side.”
