Miami Dolphins defense has begun playing like Superman. But it does have a kryptonite | Opinion
At some point this season, probably around the time cornerback Byron Jones got healthy from a groin injury that forced him to miss a couple of games, the Miami Dolphins defense seemingly stepped into a phone booth as Clark Kent and emerged as Superman.
Because the Dolphins went from an inconsistent unit that had communication issues to the NFL’s best defense.
The standard for NFL’s best defense, by the way, is that Dolphins are No. 1 in the NFL in fewest points allowed.
(NFL games are ultimately decided by points — not yards or first downs or turnovers — so being the best in the most important statistical category is a good thing.)
And think about it: The Baltimore Ravens allow 18.9 points per game. The Pittsburgh Steelers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Chicago Bears allow just under 21 points per game.
The Dolphins, meanwhile, are giving up 18.6 points per game.
Better than everyone else.
Superman.
So excuse Dolphins defenders if they’re feeling good about themselves, especially after their latest outing — Sunday’s 28-17 victory over the Los Angeles Rams.
The Miami D had four turnovers in that game, including an interception by defensive lineman Christian Wilkins. Miami scored a defensive touchdown, and one of the scores it did allow came on a 15-yard drive after a turnover by Miami’s offense.
“I thought the defense played great, and it’s something we can continue to build off of,” linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel said.
Van Ginkel scored on a 78-yard fumble return. But he thinks the Miami defense could have been better and can continue to improve.
“There were so many plays that we wish we could have back that didn’t really go our way,” he said. “I dropped a pick, or whatever the case may be. There’s just little corrections that many fans or a lot of outsiders don’t see. We’ve just got to continue to build and continue to get better off of it.”
Dolphins defensive coordinator Josh Boyer, aware no trophies are awarded to defenses through seven games, is similarly thinking about getting better.
“Everything that we do has a rhyme and it has a reason, and obviously we’re trying to improve like I said, the things that we don’t do so well,” Boyer said. “And the things that have done well, we try to build off of that. As far as the numbers go and all that stuff, ultimately what we’re trying to do is win the game.
“We’re trying to keep the point totals down and get the ball back to the offense. That’s really what we’re trying to do, and we’re trying to improve on a week-in, week-out basis.”
And that brings us back to Superman. He’s great at catching bad people. And the Dolphins are great at catching quarterbacks who have trouble escaping.
Miami’s Superman defense, you see, has dominated quarterbacks that are either pocket passers or aren’t very mobile.
Joe Flacco, not mobile, struggled against Miami. Jimmy Garoppolo, still suffering the effects of a high ankle sprain, could not move against the Dolphins and was benched at halftime. And Gardner Minshew and Jared Goff, both primarily pocket passers, also had rough outings against Miami.
It is then no coincidence the Dolphins beat the Jets, Jaguars, 49ers, and Rams.
But Superman has trouble with kryptonite. And the kryptonite that so far has troubled Miami’s defense is mobile quarterbacks.
Cam Newton actually led the Patriots in rushing against Miami. Josh Allen, big and strong and fast, had a big day against the Dolphins. So did Russell Wilson, who is perhaps the NFL’s best at evading pressure and moving around to allow receivers time to get open downfield.
Three mobile quarterbacks. Three Dolphins losses.
It’s been a problem. And it’s potentially a problem this week because the Dolphins are scheduled to travel to Arizona to play against Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
Murray, you see, is nothing if not mobile.
“We know the Cardinals have a really good team,” Dolphins safety Bobby McCain said. “And we’ve got a really good team. It’ll be a good battle. It’ll be a good game. We’re going to go up there to Arizona out west and try to get a W. We know what they’re capable of. We know Kyler Murray is a really good quarterback, an emerging quarterback in this league.
“We’re going to come and have a good week of practice and at the end of the day, it won’t be about them; it’ll be about us.”
Yeah, it’s about both.
Because one key reason the Dolphins have been able to win some of these games is by putting extreme pressure on quarterbacks who couldn’t move.
The Dolphins have at times sold out on defense, blitzing those quarterbacks and giving them no time to find open receivers. And because those quarterbacks are generally not able to escape, the waves of defenders Miami sends limits their ability to function.
Case in point: Sunday’s win against the Rams.
“They just brought as many [defenders] as they could,” said defensive linemen Michael Brockers of the Miami defense he watched from the Rams sideline. “They brought more than we could block. That’s kind of the way I saw it. I felt it was 11 guys along the line of scrimmage and they had all our wide receivers one-on-one and once he snapped the ball, everyone was coming.
“To be honest with you, I’ve never seen that before, that many times.”
Miami’s strategy is called Cover Zero.
It means no safeties play deep, but instead often blitz. It means man-to-man coverage on each receiver. It also means everyone else is attacking and rushing the quarterback.
It is a potential disaster if the quarterback finds enough time to throw to an open receiver because there is no deep defender. But if the quarterback is immobile or unable to avoid the rush, the advantage shifts to the defense.
And this: The Dolphins believe they could play this dangerous, gambling style because Jones is very good in man coverage. And fellow cornerback Xavien Howard is very good in man coverage.
So the combination of getting Jones back from injury and playing a quarterback that couldn’t escape the pass rush was a formula for Superman to pounce.
“It’s awesome,” Van Ginkel said. “You can’t have a pass rush if you don’t have DBs guarding or covering guys in the secondary. It goes hand and hand, and vice versa. Just seeing them lock their guys down, getting picks and pass deflections is huge.
“Knowing that upfront we can go and get after the quarterback. I’d say it works hand and hand together.”
The problem with this idea, however, is when the quarterback is able to run around and escape the rush it creates problems for the defense. It shifts the advantage to the offense.
That’s one reason it’s unlikely the Dolphins will employ a similar strategy against Murray. Because Superman needs to figure out how to beat kryptonite.
This story was originally published November 4, 2020 at 12:00 AM.
