Josh Allen has dominated the Dolphins. Here’s how they plan to stop him
Life comes at you fast.
Just put yourself in the shoes of 2025 fifth-round pick Jason Marshall Jr.
The Miami Dolphins rookie saw Josh Allen dominate the league in 2024, throwing for 3,731 yards and accounting for 40 total touchdowns en route to winning his first MVP. Now, the nickel cornerback will be part of the unit tasked with holding the Buffalo Bills quarterback in check come Thursday.
“It’s definitely a great opportunity just to be able to step onto the field going against Josh Allen,” Marshall said, calling him “one of the top quarterbacks in the league.” “A year ago, I was watching him. Now, I’m going against him.”
The Bills offense starts and ends with Allen, so it’s no surprise that the Dolphins’ plan happens to be rather simple: stop the reigning MVP.
“He’s a heck of a football player,” Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said. “It’s going to take all 11 every play. You know he’s going to make his handful plays, and hopefully we can find some of our own, too.”
That, obviously, is much easier said than done — especially if you’re the Dolphins. It’s not hyperbole to say that Allen has his best games against Miami; the three-time Pro Bowler has completed roughly 66.3% of his passes for 3,737 yards to go along with 37 touchdowns and just eight interceptions. All of these marks are the highest — or lowest, in terms of interceptions — when it comes to divisional opponents, with his 37 touchdown passes being more than he has thrown against the New York Jets (16) and New England Patriots (19) combined.
Allen’s Dolphins domination has produced a record of 12-2, including a current, six-game win streak. In fact, Allen remains undefeated against the Dolphins at home with a 9-0 record.
“He’s top tier,” Tua Tagovailoa said. “If it’s not with his arm, it’s with his legs. That dude can do literally anything he wants. Definitely different skill set for me. I can’t do half of what he does when it comes to running the ball and any of that, and then with how he can just chuck a ball down the field with how far and the arm strength that he has, he’s supreme when it comes to that.”
Allen gets particularly dangerous when he’s allowed to improvise. His 647 yards on the ground against the Dolphins — surprise, surprise, that’s his highest mark vs. any opponent — means that he’s obviously a threat with his legs.
“He’s tougher to account for because it’s not the design quarterback runs — and those are a problem, certainly in the red zone — it’s the play after the play and defending that with him,” Weaver said. “You try to do a balance of rushing four, rushing five, try to eliminate some of the space, but you saw the Jets do that. They brought five, and he still ran for like 40-something yards.”
This is why the pass rush and defensive backs have to work in concert. If Zach Sieler and the touted group of edge rushers can corral Allen, as what was consistently preached from Dolphins coaches, then it puts far less pressure on the secondary.
“You’ve got to have sound rush lines and you’ve got to be able to get back there,” the star defensive tackle said. “You’ve got to make sure you work as a unit up front, it involves honestly all 11.”
If the pass rush doesn’t get home and Allen gets the chance to run around all day, not only will he gash the Dolphins with his legs, he has the unique ability to keep his eyes downfield in order to find his pass-catchers for big gains.
“The toughest thing, particularly when you are playing some zone defense and the play starts to break down, is now you have to find a body to cover,” Weaver said. “That’s when it gets the hardest. It truly becomes almost like a game of tag. He runs out, you better find somebody because if you don’t, he’s going to find them. You can’t put all the pressure on the DBs. You’ve got to have an aggressive but discipline pass rush where you try to at least funnel him away from his throwing hand. We’ve all seen it, his highlight play is when he is scrambling to the defensive left. We’ve heard it for years now. So we’ve got to do everything possible to keep him from scrambling to the defensive left.”
Although Weaver’s defense has looked rather miserable through two games, his game plan against the Bills in 2024 seemingly limited Allen. In two games vs. the Dolphins, the star quarterback averaged 65.5% completion for 187 yards and two touchdowns, slightly below his career numbers against Miami. The Dolphins, of course, will bring a far less experienced team up to Orchard Park, N.Y. for the first matchup of the season, but with 0-3 staring at the team like the grim reaper, it truly is now or never.
