Ravens’ John Harbaugh eager to avoid 2021 repeat against Miami. And Dolphins notes
A six-pack of Miami Dolphins notes on a Friday:
▪ In 13 years, the Dolphins had rarely flummoxed or frustrated a John Harbaugh-coached team, losing eight of nine games against Baltimore since Harbaugh took over.
That is, until their Thursday night game last November, when the NFL world couldn’t believe what it was witnessing.
By blitzing their safeties more than any team in NFL history and playing tight man coverage, the Dolphins suffocated Lamar Jackson and the Ravens offense in a 22-10 win that helped Miami turn around its season.
The teams play again on Sept. 18 in Baltimore, and it will be interesting to see the chess match unfold between a very good Ravens coaching staff and two bright minds calling plays for the Dolphins: Mike McDaniel on offense and Josh Boyer on defense.
“They beat us and took it to us,” Harbaugh said in the lobby of The Breakers at the recent NFL owners meetings. “We have to do the best we can to play a lot better than they did last year. We respect everything they’re doing. They’re a formidable opponent.”
It will be fascinating to see if Boyer blitzes nearly as much as he did in that Thursday night game, and how the Ravens will counter it with more time to prepare.
“They did a great job with it,” Harbaugh said. “We’ll have to do better than we did last year.”
▪ I asked Boyer this: Even though the Dolphins — at their best — had considerable success with their defensive approach and return with mostly the same personnel, how often do you think about making subtle changes in the approach, and adding wrinkles, so that teams cannot predict what you’re going to do based on last year’s game tape?
Boyer said he thinks about that “a lot. It’s non-stop. A lot of stuff we try to tweak or do it better. Or [think about] if there are adjustments you can make. The big thing is when you’re installing, you’re looking for a logical teaching progression. Those thoughts are constant and there are always variables, what teams are doing to you and what you’re looking to do to teams. There will always be game plan element.”
Blitzing defensive backs likely will — and needs to be — a continued staple of this attack because safeties Jevon Holland and Brandon Jones are really good at it.
The Dolphins defense finished 16th in points allowed per game and 15th in yards relinquished per game but was very good — with the Titans game the only exception — during the final nine games, when Miami permitted just 15.5 points per game, compared to 29.1 for the first eight games.
Miami won eight of those nine. But it’s also fair to point out that Jackson was the only above average quarterback that the Dolphins beat in that stretch. The others: Tyrod Taylor, Joe Flacco, Cam Newton, Mike Glennon, Zach Wilson, Ian Book and Mac Jones.
As we explained here, the Dolphins believe their excellent defensive work over the second half of the season was more a reflection of their own ability than the deficiencies in most of the quarterbacks they were facing.
▪ Boyer, on virtually the entire defense being kept intact, with Jason McCourty, Vince Biegel and Justin Coleman the only subtractions and rookie third-rounder Channing Tindall and veteran Melvin Ingram the only significant additions:
“It puts you at a different starting point that there’s some familiarity. I guess there’s some things that, with our guys having familiarity of certain checks that we get in and out of, that obviously helps us that you’re not spending time on something that’s a brand-new concept. With some of it, there’s recall.
“That gives you the ability to do some very similar things but tweak it a little bit here or there to improve it. I think it gives you some advantages. Probably the biggest advantage is just the communication between the players and — not only do they know the guys that’s next to them — they know how they play.”
▪ Boyer, on the Dolphins re-signing Emmanuel Ogbah, who has 18 sacks the past two seasons and 126 quarterback pressures during that time (sixth-most among all NFL edge players):
“He gives us some versatility because he can do multiple things. We’re obviously excited to have him back. He’s a good worker. … He understands the system and the process, so all positive with him being back.”
Ogbah is a very giving teammate. He’s looking forward to helping Jaelan Phillips develop.
“Jaelan is a smart kid,” Ogbah said. “I know the first year, it felt like a lot of things were moving too fast. The second year, he’s going to settle down and I’m looking forward to seeing him succeed in his second year.”
▪ Count NFL Network’s David Carr, the former quarterback and No. 1 overall pick, among those who believes the Dolphins can legitimately challenge Buffalo in the AFC East.
“You’ve addressed every need you possibly could want,” Carr said. “You add Tyreek Hill, who’s an absolute burner. You add Mike McDaniel, who we know is a great play caller. He’s obviously brilliant.
“Tua Tagovailoa’s strength is ripping through his progressions. The nice thing about this offense that Mike McDaniel is going to run is it’s almost plug and play if you’re a quarterback. We’ve seen it with Jimmy Garoppolo. As long as you can get through your reads, you’re going to find the open guy. It’s going to be the same thing in Miami.”
NFL Net’s Joe Thomas, the former All Pro left tackle, said: “Tua has everything he possibly needs. Will he be able to push the ball down the field now that he has the fastest receiver in the NFL? Is he going to be not so fast to take the check-down?”
▪ What struck me at the owners meetings is how liked and respected McDaniel is among his peers.
“It’s really fun to see guys that work and grind and are so humble and you see that hard work pay off,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “He is a bright mind. I think he’ll do a phenomenal job because he cares about people and he’s genuine. I don’t ever see him losing that.”
LaFleur coached with McDaniel at Houston, Atlanta and Washington.
This story was originally published May 27, 2022 at 2:28 PM.
