How the Dolphins’ defense getting ‘closer’ led to the play-of-the day vs. Saints
The Miami Dolphins didn’t get the defensive play call on the biggest moment of the game.
You read that right. There was not a call — simply Tyrel Dodson’s exclamation for everyone to get a man. Down 19-17 late in the fourth quarter, the New Orleans Saints opted to go for two rather than kick the point after try. As Dodson waited to hear defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver’s play, nothing came through — so he decided to call his own shot. The result: a game-changing pick-two courtesy of safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
“I was about to call a timeout, and then at the last second a couple coaches on the headset said, ‘no, he got the call, he got the call,’” coach Mike McDaniel recalled. “So then I walked back. I was aware of the issue. I was not aware that T-Dot called his own defense. But I think realistically, like we’ve said from the beginning, it’s less about the play call and more about the conviction of the entire group on how you’re playing it. So that’s a Mike linebacker that’s prepared and a defense that believes in him.”
If it wasn’t abundantly clear, the Dolphins’ defense has appeared elite as of late. Miami has forced seven turnovers — tied for the third most in the NFL — since Week 10 as well as allowed just 14.3 points per game during their three-game win streak. Just how it has gotten there, however, can be seen as a combination of growing familiarity with Weaver’s scheme, increased chemistry and improved play in the trenches.
“We have been getting closer over the [past] couple of weeks,” Dodson said, explaining that he, Jordyn Brooks, Bradley Chubb and Fitzpatrick have just decided to do more as a group. “We’ve been carpooling together, making sure Saturday nights we go out to dinner or Thursday nights we go out to dinner throughout the week. This defense is just gelling. ‘JB,’ Chubb, me and ‘Mink,’ we’re just trying to make sure we keep getting closer and closer.”
Added Fitzpatrick: “We obviously had a really rough start to the season, and I think what I appreciate most is the fact that even through our downs and our low periods, we were still sticking together. We weren’t pointing fingers. We weren’t worried about other guys. We were all worried about what we could do better, what I could do better and everybody kind of took on that personalit.”
That increased chemistry allows for moments when Dodson becomes defensive coordinator, but also for Jack Jones to predict the Washington Commanders’ play call in order to jump the route and intercept the ball in overtime.
“In these exact words, he said, ‘Ya’ll stop the run. He’s going to throw me the ball because he can’t throw,’“ Brooks recalled of what Jones told his fellow defenders before they stepped on the field for the extended period. “That’s what he said and that’s what happened. He spoke it into existence and won the game for us.”
This, of course, comes as a result of intense study. In Jones’ case, he had seen the Commanders run a similar play.
“Actually, I saw the tight end — he chipped,” Jones said after the 16-13 victory. “Once he chipped, he tried to sneak across the formation. I had good eyes, and that’s what coach [Mathieu Araujo] been hitting on us all year, really me specifically, because I’m an aggressive corner. You know, my eyes could be my weak spot. So he was just hitting on me — good eyes, good eyes, good eyes. I saw the tight end chip, had good eyes, and tried to go across the formation. I just want the steal.”
Similarly, Dodson, for example, has always prepared relentlessly, according to McDaniel whom he compared to four-time All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner of the San Francisco 49ers.
“It felt like the way Fred Warner was prepared week-in, week-out,” McDaniel said. “He made a defensive call on a two-point conversion because he was prepared because he thought about all critical scenarios and in this game plan, what’s the best call if the headset goes out? That’s not something that he just realized in the heat of battle. There’s no such thing as the perfect call. The perfect call is the supreme execution, unilaterally, from 11 players. Whether it’s a blitz or coverage, just being tied together – 11 as one – that’s what good defense is.”
The true growth of this defense will be tested Sunday when they travel to take on the New York Jets, a team that rushed for 194 yards on the Dolphins during their Week 4 contest.
This story was originally published December 1, 2025 at 4:56 PM.
