Miami Dolphins run defense worst in the NFL because of these players and plays like this

An NFL team doesn’t just rush for 195 yards in a game because it is dominant — especially if that team comes into the game as the NFL’s No. 19 rushing team in Week 10 of the season.

And yet, the Green Bay Packers, the NFL’s No. 19 rushing team, ran for 195 yards against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.

And as a result, the Dolphins are now No. 32 in the NFL against the run. That’s dead last.

And that’s understandable since Miami also had games in which it allowed 188 rushing yards against Houston, 248 rushing yards against Detroit, 164 rushing yards against Chicago and 175 rushing yards against New England.

So something significantly awful has been happening for some time now. And something equally awful had to happen to make this possible against Green Bay.

Either the Packers imported the old Washington Redskins Hogs in their prime, or the Dolphins defense had no interest in competing.

Or the third and actual reason: The Dolphins have players on defense who played terrible against the run at Green Bay — and, yes, other games also.

That’s the one. I’m sure of it.

Because I have the tape.

And middle linebacker Raekwon McMillan, outside linebacker Kiko Alonso, Miami’s set of defensive tackles and Miami’s safeties did not do a great job of stopping the run at Green Bay.

And of all those McMillan, Alonso, and T.J. McDonald were the most egregious in missing assignments or running to the wrong gaps or missing tackles.

Green Bay running back Aaron Jones rushed for 145 yards on only 15 attempts. He averaged 9.7 yards per run.

And he got 67 of those on this play ...

Hard to watch. I mean, neither McMillan nor McDonald is touched on this play. And they still managed to take themselves completely out of it even though it was a fundamental run up the gut.

But the bigger problem is Alonso did not fill his gap. He got blocked by tight end Jimmy Graham, who actually was supposed to block defensive end Cameron Malveaux, and totally whiffed on his assignment.

How does this happen?

Obviously there were other problems. And this one below is more worrisome than most because it suggests it isn’t a problem with taking correct angles or filling the right gaps.

It suggests getting physically beaten ...

Why can’t anyone get off a block?

Anyway, sometimes the Dolphins defense has problems with tackling. And sometimes that happens when it is logical that an NFL-caliber defensive player should make the tackle.

That’s the case below with McMillan missing an open-field tackle on a screen pass.

You will see that McMillan does a good job of recognizing the screen. And the blocker isn’t looking at McMillan as the linebacker closes on the ball carrier.

But as he approaches the ball carrier, McMillan seems to just fall apart. He chop-steps and ends up tripping over himself as the ball carrier simply runs past

The Dolphins have used a 4-3 defense for years under Adam Gase. And the great thing about that is South Florida remembers kind of what it’s supposed to look like because starting 23 years ago, the Dolphins used the 4-3 under Jimmy Johnson.

And that 4-3 had Zach Thomas in the middle. And Tim Bowens in the middle. And others.

And Bowens spent his entire career swallowing multiple offensive linemen every run play so Thomas could roam sideline to sideline and average maybe a dozen tackles per game — many of them at or behind the line of scrimmage.

But this latter-day Dolphins 4-3 doesn’t have great tackle play. And even when it gets good tackle play and the interior linemen take on one or perhaps multiple blockers, we’re not seeing any downhill linebacker play with any consistency.

And we’re certainly not seeing it from the middle linebacker position. As evidenced here ...

Now, one of the things I’m starting to see on a weekly basis is McMillan doesn’t trust his eyes or his reads or himself.

There’s a lot of uncertainty. Maybe even confusion.

He is not playing with confidence.

And it shows on plays.

Look again.

You will notice at one point McMillan actually turns his back to the play.

The hope here is obviously that he can make a play or two and build some confidence and figures things out. The hope is even if he makes mistakes he makes aggressive mistakes.

You’re out of position? Hit somebody, anyway!

What I’m seeing is mistakes that totally take him out of plays. I’m seeing uncertainty. And it is hurting the Miami Dolphins to the extent they boast the worst run defense in the NFL.

Follow Armando Salguero on Twitter: @ArmandoSalguero

This story was originally published November 13, 2018 at 1:44 PM.