Mailbag: Talking defensive strides, offensive line, Dolphins primetime game vs. Ravens
The Dolphins win against the Houston Texans last Sunday ended a seven-game losing streak and was a sigh of relief for all involved after Miami went nearly two months without a victory. But it was a mistake-filled win, leaving much to correct with just three days to prepare for a Thursday night home game against the Baltimore Ravens.
In this week’s mailbag, I take a look at how the continued Watson reports have possibly impacted the team and more. And a reminder that if you have questions you would like answered in future mailbags, you can ask me on Twitter or email me.
Here we go:
How legit is the defensive turnaround? Buffalo game was good, this was great. - @miasportsminute
I guess we’re going to find out Thursday night, right? The Dolphins defense was able to take advantage of a bad offensive line and a quarterback playing for the first time since Week 2, but I think there are some things to be encouraged about, especially with players seeming to settle into respective roles. The emergence of young safeties Jevon Holland and Brandon Jones has been a bright spot in an otherwise disappointing season. Whether the unit is blitzing more or not than it did in the early part of the season, the defense is applying more pressure and as we saw against Houston, it can still take the ball away in bunches. Again, you take it with a grain of salt considering it was against the Texans. The matchup against Baltimore will be telling.
The inept O-line and offense. Zero points in the second half?? How?? - @JosephVirginio
At this point, it’s almost fascinating that on an average day, this Dolphins offense is incapable of scoring more than 20 points, even against some of the worst defenses in the NFL. Blame can be placed on a lot of people, but it’s hard to ignore how limited the Dolphins are with an offensive line that has struggled as much as it has this season. According to Pro Football Focus, the Dolphins are allowing an NFL-high 234 quarterback pressures — 47 more than the second-worst unit, the Carolina Panthers. Miami’s offensive line ranks last in pass block win rate. The quarterbacks can be better in reading the field and taking chances downfield, the play-caller(s) can be better in dialing up more explosive plays but in the NFL, it’s hard to do much of anything if you don’t have a respectable offensive line.
Greg Little hasn’t played a single snap this year. Given the state of this OL, wouldn’t it be prudent to evaluate players like him in live action. Robert Jones as well? - @Dan_B_Phin_Phan
At 2-7 and very well staring down 2-8 with the Baltimore game days away, you would think that the coaching staff would transition into trying to give some younger guys an extended look. But let me play devil’s advocate for a moment: The season hasn’t gone the way anyone has expected but Brian Flores and his staff have every incentive to keep trying to win games. The offensive line is a young bunch and for many of the starters, the organization invested valuable draft capital in their selections. Though they have struggled, given their high draft status the staff has to exhaust all possible options in developing these players and see if there is anything salvageable. But I agree: a few more losses — and continued struggles on the offensive line — and I think both players should get an opportunity.
What can Miami do different to have a chance to slow down Lamar Jackson? - @Showtime_Mia
Ravens have pretty much owned Miami for years. Any ideas how Miami can limit Ravens ground game (Lamar mostly)? - @safcknowitall
This is obviously the key to the game, and Jackson poses arguably the toughest individual test of any player for the Dolphins defense this season. As a former Ravens reporter, I can say that one thing that stood out to me from some of Jackson’s worst games is that he was impacted early and often by a disruptive defensive line, like in playoff losses to the Tennessee Titans and Buffalo Bills. Those defensive fronts, particularly the interior linemen, were able to dominate their 1-on-1 matchups and stifle a lot of the option runs that coordinator Greg Roman likes to run. In the pass rush, they were disciplined, stayed in their lanes and were able to pressure without blitzing while sitting back in zones and using a spy to limit Jackson’s scrambles. There are very few defenders that can keep up with Jackson in the open field, so it really does need to be a collective effort in bringing him down on designed runs and when he escapes the pocket.
Everyone is quick to point out how much of an athlete Jackson is, but he has improved so much as a passer since he has entered the league and the Ravens have built a system around him that marries the passing game with the run game in their play-action and run-pass options. He has legitimate pass-catchers too in Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, Mark Andrews and Rashod Bateman so the Dolphins’ linebackers and defensive backs can’t sell out for the run every time they see what appears to be a handoff.
All that being said, players like Emmanuel Ogbah and Christian Wilkins are going to have to play their best games of the season if they want to pull off this upset. The Ravens have had a ton of injuries this season and their offensive line hasn’t been spared. Interestingly enough, Jackson has been one of most blitzed passers in the league this season, a risk with someone as dynamic as him. I’d expect a lot of different looks from the Dolphins defense against Jackson but everyone has to stay disciplined in their assignment to contain him.
