‘That wasn’t our standard:’ Dolphins defense saved the day but has room for improvement
Four days after the Dolphins defense gave up 34 points but made a game-saving stop in a two-point win against the Los Angeles Chargers, coordinator Vic Fangio aptly summarized the debut of the unit.
“Good enough to win a shootout, but not good enough to win a lot of games,” Fangio said Thursday.
The Dolphins’ thrilling win in the season opener, headlined by one of the best performances of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s career, a bit masked a lackluster outing for the new-look defense until the late stand.
“We all know that wasn’t our standard,” defensive lineman Christian Wilkins said.
Miami’s defense was able to register two of its three sacks on quarterback Justin Herbert on the final possession with timely blitzes. But otherwise, the unit struggled to get consistent pressure. And the run defense, which was the bedrock of last year’s unit, allowed 234 yards to the Chargers. It’s the most Miami has allowed on the ground since the Chicago Bears ran for 252 yards in Week 9 last season.
Earlier in the week, defensive players accepted fault for ceding so much yardage on the ground, and coach Mike McDaniel mentioned players “trying to independently make plays and not thinking about technique, fundamentals.”
Fangio, however, pointed the blame at himself.
“That was basically my fault,” he said. “Just didn’t have the guys ready to play the type of game that I think they’re capable of playing. Somewhere along the line, I didn’t do a good job of preparing for the run game during the week, 10 days of preparation because we started the week earlier. And so somewhere along that way, I missed getting ready for that.”
Fangio said the defense had specific goals entering the game, specifically limiting wide receiver Mike Williams. And the unit was successful on that front, as Williams caught four passes for 45 yards. But the issues against the run are a point of emphasis ahead of the Dolphins’ prime-time road game against the New England Patriots on Sunday.
“We just have to be better technique, fundamentals and just executing the plays that are called,” Wilkins said. “Each one of the 11 doing their job.”
The first real look at Fangio’s defense in Miami also offered interesting personnel decisions. Inside linebacker David Long Jr., whom the team signed to a two-year, $11 million deal in the offseason, played just 17 defensive snaps. Andrew Van Ginkel, who normally plays outside linebacker but cross-trained at inside linebacker during training camp, played 51 snaps, most of which came next to Jerome Baker.
Fangio said that the reason for the difference in snaps was that Long is the starter in the base defense packages and Van Ginkel is the starter in the nickel packages, which the Dolphins primarily used against the Chargers.
“He kind of won the job on merit,” Fangio said of Van Ginkel.
A shift in opponent and tendencies could mean an increase in snaps for Long in Week 2. Of the Patriots’ 78 offensive snaps in their Week 1 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, 27 featured fewer than three wide receivers, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats.
In the secondary, cornerback Eli Apple played 74 defensive snaps, while rookie Cam Smith did not log a defensive snap. At safety, DeShon Elliott started and played all 81 snaps alongside Jevon Holland. Brandon Jones, the 2022 starter who was limited in training camp as he returned from last year’s ACL tear, only played two defensive snaps.
“He’s been way behind in practice reps,” Fangio said of Jones. “Just didn’t feel he was quite ready to be out there yet. But he’s closing that gap. Hopefully, we’ll get to see him more here soon.”
For as much hype as the potential of the Dolphins defense garnered in the offseason, it’s still a unit with a style that deviates from Fangio’s predecessors.
“It’s completely different,” safety Jevon Holland said. “It’s in a completely different defense with a completely different person with a philosophy, completely different defensive coordinator, so obviously there is going to be an adjustment period and it’s going to be different because it’s not the same human that was calling the defense last year.”
Fangio, though, doesn’t think the learning curve should be very steep as the group looks to clean up its mistakes.
“I think that’s a convenient narrative,” he said. “We should be adjusted. I’ve got to be adjusted to know what style best fits our players moving forward. And that can change from week to week on who the opponent is we’re playing. So, I don’t put a lot of stock into that.”
This story was originally published September 14, 2023 at 2:34 PM.
