A look at the Dolphins’ defensive excellence and a key text message exchange
The precise laudatory adjective to use to describe this Dolphins defense — Good? Excellent? Elite? — cannot be determined during this ongoing stretch of facing largely unproven or middling quarterbacks Aidan O’Connell, Tim Boyle, Sam Howell, Will Levis and perhaps Boyle again.
Full perspective on this ascending defense won’t crystallize until Miami faces Dak Prescott, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen and playoff quarterbacks every week beginning on Christmas Eve.
But this much is clear: This defense, perhaps Miami’s most talented in 15 years, is playing as well as anyone’s in the league.
Through the past four games, coinciding with Jalen Ramsey’s return from August knee surgery, Miami has held every opponent to less than 300 yards.
The Dolphins defense throttled the Jets in a 34-13 win on Friday, holding New York to 159 yards for the game and two first downs in the first three quarters.
“We’ve done a good job here of late, and I think they’re gaining confidence in it,” coordinator Vic Fangio said.
For the season, the Dolphins are now seven in average yards permitted, allowing just 305.2 per game. Miami is sixth in run defense and 11th in pass defense and is third in sacks.
Christian Wilkins, Zach Sieler, David Long Jr. and Raekwon Davis — among others — have been instrumental components of the stout run defense.
On the back end, beyond Ramsey’s first-month brilliance (quarterbacks have an absurd 7.7 passer rating in his coverage area), the Dolphins have benefited from good seasons by Jevon Holland, Xavien Howard and DeShon Elliott. And Wilkins (6.5 sacks), Bradley Chubb (six sacks) and now injured Jaelan Phillips (6.5 sacks) have spearheaded a potent pass rush.
Since struggling in the opener at the Chargers, the Dolphins are third in the NFL in rushing defense (78.8), fifth in total defense (292.4), fifth in first downs allowed (17.8) and second in yards per carry allowed (3.4).
But they will need to move forward without Phillips, who will miss the remainder of the season with a torn Achilles tendon.
Getting to this point was stressful at times. That was partly because Miami was missing Ramsey, an All-Pro talent.
That was partly because of the complexity and nuances of Fangio’s system.
“He has a genuine playbook,” linebacker Jerome Baker said. “It’s not just like one of those playbooks where calls are kind of similar. You really have to know his language and know how he calls things. It’s a challenge, for sure.”
From a communication standpoint, nobody on defense has more responsibilities conveying what they see to teammates than Baker and safety Holland. More than a month ago, when the defense was teetering, Holland texted Baker one night.
During a quiet moment at his locker, Baker relayed that conversation this way: “Jevon came to me a few weeks ago and was like, ‘This is what we got to do. This is how I feel. How do you feel? How can we come together and make this defense better?’”
What specifically was Holland referencing? “It was our defense as a whole, things he was seeing, how he felt about a lot of different things,” Baker said, careful not to reveal too many details.
“He just wanted me to know what he goes through and vice versa. I wanted him to know, ‘All right, help me on this.’ Some things I can’t help him on [because] he’s on the back end. Some things I can help him on. It was one of those things like, ‘How can I help you? How can you help me?’ It really worked out for us.”
Asked about that text exchange, Holland said: “I was going through a difficult time, feeling like I had a lot on my plate when I really didn’t. I thought I was holding a lot on my shoulders when I really wasn’t. I just wanted to know if anybody else was feeling that way and that I’m not crazy for feeling this way. I reached out to [Baker] asking if he’s OK.
“I reached out to David [Long Jr.] and a couple other guys, trying to see if they’re on the same page. It eventually kind of worked itself out. We’re able to communicate a lot easier on the field.”
Was all this about learning nuances of a complicated defense and being on the same page?
“It was working on getting comfortable in the defense, trusting my teammates to be where they’re supposed to be and trusting in me to be where I’m supposed to be,” Holland said.
And time was needed in the transition from Josh Boyer to Fangio, Holland said.
“This is our first year in the defense as a collective,” Holland said. “A lot of the time, when the offense is new, people give them time to adjust [but they] expect defenses in new processes to just get it right away.
“You have to see it in live speed against actual opponents. It takes time for people to adjust to things.”
Long said that October text exchange among Holland, Baker and himself was “a little check up. It was a little reminder that we have the potential to be as good as we want to be.”
The more time the players have spent with Fangio, the better the results. Miami held Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs to 4.8 yards per play, the Raiders to 5.0 and the Jets to 2.9, which is elite.
“His wealth of knowledge is really crazy,” Baker said of Fangio.
The Dolphins have blitzed a lot less under Fangio, but they’re getting to the quarterback more (38 sacks, compared with 40 all of last season). With Boyer last season, Miami blitzed 33.3 percent of passing downs, third most in the league, per Pro Football Reference. This season, Miami is 25th in blitz percentage at 20.3.
Asked why he opts for more four-man rushes than blitzes against inexperienced quarterbacks, Fangio said: “It’s not that we’re adverse to calling pressure. Sometimes the way the teams are playing dictates that it may not be as advantageous, whether they’re keeping a lot of guys in to block or throwing it real quick. So you have to get a feel for it.”
Fangio is known for disguises; Dolphins players often line up in similar ways for defensive calls that are dramatically different.
“A lot of coaches say they want to do that,” Baker said. “But Vic truly lives by that.”
And now Fangio is being rewarded with a unit that has been as good as any in the league since late October.
This story was originally published November 27, 2023 at 12:20 PM.
