Inside Dolphins’ defense collapse: What has unraveled. And news from McDaniel
You can blame the Dolphins’ personnel decisions at cornerback all you want, and it would be a fair criticism in trying to understand why Miami’s defense has permitted points on 13 of 15 possessions that didn’t involve the Colts or Patriots kneeling on the ball.
But there’s far more to the team’s alarming defensive regression beyond the miscalculations made in replacing Jalen Ramsey and Kendall Fuller.
In fact, the front seven, and the safeties, shoulder a lot of the blame for the Dolphins ranking 31st (second worst) in opponent points per game (33.0) and 26th in yards allowed per game, at 375.5. What’s more, the Dolphins have created no turnovers and have allowed third-down conversions 52 percent of the time, which is second worst in the league.
Consider:
▪ Defensive line: The Dolphins are an above-average 13th in the league in yards allowed per carry (4.0), but the group hasn’t been impactful enough in controlling the line of scrimmage.
Among 120 interior defensive linemen, Pro Football Focus rates Zach Sieler 111th, rookie first-round pick Kenneth Grant 101st and rookie Jordan Phillips 47th.
“Up front, we’ve got to stay locked in, read our keys, don’t be fooled by any of the stuff they do up front and play good, sound football,” Sieler said Tuesday.
Navigating the rushing lanes has been a problem against the Colts’ Daniel Jones (seven rushes for 26 yards and two touchdowns) and the Patriots’ Drake Maye (10 for 31, one TD).
And that will be an enormous problem Thursday against Buffalo’s Josh Allen — perhaps the NFL’s top quarterback running threat — if it’s not corrected.
“We’ve got to get back there more,” Sieler said of rushing lanes. “We are either being too conservative or not being sound enough up front. We have to work together as a unit together better, which I’ll take the ownership for, as the leader of the unit up front. We have to be better.”
▪ Linebackers: As usual, the Dolphins’ pass coverage at inside linebacker has been inadequate. Jordyn Brooks has allowed all five targets in his coverage area to be caught, for 86 yards. Tyrel Dodson has permitted nine completions in 10 targets for 81 yards and already has four missed tackles this season.
Willie Gay Jr., who was a training camp standout, has played only three defensive snaps. He said he’s capable of filling the “green-dot” QB of the defense role that Tyrel Dodson handles, but coordinator Anthony Weaver said he’s not interested in changing that.
Among 114 outside linebackers, PFF rates Matthew Judon 74th, Jaelan Phillips 84th, Bradley Chubb 91st and Chop Robinson 113th.
Both Chubb and Robinson are rated in the bottom 10, of the 114, as run defenders.
▪ Safeties: Ifeatu Melifonwu, who is now sidelined by a calf injury, has allowed touchdown passes in both games, and PFF ranks him 67th of 77 safeties.
Rookie Dante Trader Jr., who is ranked 46th among 77 safeties, has had some good moments, but there also have been rookie growing pains.
Minkah Fitzpatrick, the leader of the unit, is ranked 29th among 77 safeties but has missed three tackles, including a costly one on Sunday. He has been targeted just four times in two games, with two completions for 18 yards. He has gone 28 of his past 29 games without an interception.
“I think we need to tackle better and make the plays that come to us and not force it,” safety Ashtyn Davis said Tuesday of the safeties. “Tackling is a big thing. When the ball pops, we’ve got to get them on the ground.”
Davis could play more after Melifonwu’s injury; he said he’s 100% after missing most of training camp with a foot injury.
As for the cornerbacks, Storm Duck struggled against the Colts before sustaining an ankle injury that has him sidelined this week.
Jack Jones and Rasul Douglas played all 60 snaps against the Patriots, with Douglas permitted just one catch in two targets for 6 yards.
Jones allowed a 16-yard TD catch by Kayshon Boutte, but Jones had good coverage on the play, allowing Boutte just 0.3 yards of separation, per Next Gen Stats. Overall, Jones allowed two completions in three targets for 24 yards.
Rookie nickel cornerback Jason Marshall Jr., who played 23 defensive snaps, allowed the only target against him to be caught, for 14 yards.
The Dolphins have allowed Jones and Maye to produce a 126.1 passer rating against them, second worst among all teams after two games. (Only Chicago is worse.)
But the blame extends well beyond the cornerbacks.
Injury update
Receiver Malik Washington, who popped up on the injury report this week with a thumb issue, said he will play on Thursday at Buffalo (8:20 p.m., CBS 4 and Amazon Prime).
Center Aaron Brewer, who has been dealing with a hip injury in the wake of Sunday’s game, has a “strong chance of if there’s a will, there’s a way” to play Thursday, McDaniel said.
“He’s a captain of this team for a reason and willing to do whatever it takes as a captain to touch the ball on every snap. I feel very optimistic.”
McDaniel said it’s undetermined if running back Jaylen Wright or tight end Darren Waller will play Thursday but said he’s more optimistic about Wright of the two. WSVN 7 has reported that Waller is unlikely to play because of a hip injury.
McDaniel said defensive tackle Benito Jones “is a man on a mission” to try to play Thursday, but it’s unclear if his body will allow it. “It’s important for him to be out there this game; I feel more optimistic than I would have a week ago.”
Duck and Melifonwu appear unlikely to play Thursday. Cornerback Ethan Bonner (hamstring) remain limited in practice.
More from McDaniel
▪ I asked McDaniel if Tua Tagovailoa has his blessing to scramble late in close games even if he puts himself at risk. (General manager Chris Grier said in January that he must protect himself.)
“You want him to be competitive within reason,” McDaniel said. “Tua got himself injured because he’s a competitor. As a leader of the team, it’s a difficult task to be avoid big collisions but try to earn those extra yards.
“Place in the game, what’s on the line, always impacts how aggressive you can be. But if you put yourself in harm’s way, where you’re not available for extended periods of time, we’ve seen how that looks. It’s an inexact science. We have to talk through all of those scenarios.”
Removing that dimension of attack — albeit for understandable reasons of protecting Tagovailo’s health after a history of concussions — seems limiting to Miami’s offense. But there’s no team rule against him scrambling.
McDaniel said the whole issue is “tricky” and “the art is extend it when the play is there to be made.”
Tagovailoa has averaged 2.8 yards on 154 career carries.
▪ McDaniel said tardiness has not been an issue this season — aside from “one alarm clock issue in Week 2 of camp” — and thus nobody has been fined for that.
This story was originally published September 16, 2025 at 4:31 PM.
