The Miami Dolphins defense has popped up as a side argument on different threads, but let’s put it front and center. I know 2 things about their defense: 1. Jack 2. Squat Are they worth a dang…..or not? I’ve read conflicting articles and posts about their good run defense, and it seemed pretty solid their first 4 games (although they lost 3 of them), but no so good the last 2 (even though they have won both). Huh? What do you know about their key defensive players? Strengths? Injuries? What should Sparano’s approach be? I thank you in advance for keeping the discussion on track and leaving anti-Sparano and anti-Tebow comments for another time.
They have an incredibly stout run defense. Probably one of the best run D's in the league. Their secondary is inconsistent. They can either step up a bit or completely shit the bed, mostly due to the inconsistency of Sean Smith.
There really good against the run, they have a nice pass rush but they suck against the pass. Keep them honest with the run, pass heavy and pass protect and we should be alright.
Pretty much. The defensive line is monstrous and deep: DE Jared Odrick - not a pass rushing specialist but very stout vs the run DE Cameron Wake - dynamite pass rusher DT Paul Solai - A man amongst boys. He was the NT when they ran a 3-4. The guy is simply unblockable one on one. DT Randy Starks - Versatile. He's played all positions on the line and is dominate plus he has pass rushing ability. They have guys that rotate in that are good also. DE - Olivier Vernon the rookie from UM has shown flashes. Good pressures and 3 sacks so far this year but he's raw. DT - Tony McDaniel - he's your prototypical veteran big guy with a little quickness. Mostly a run stuffer. DT - Kheeston Randall - he's another run stuffer type...a rookie drafted in the 7th round. The linebacker core has improved ever since the scheme change to 4-3, especially OLB Koa Misi. He looked like trash in the 3-4. Burnet has been okay and Dansby has been pretty beastly. The secondary? Eh... Sean Smith really stepped up his game this year. He used to be bashed for giving up big plays and not tackling, but now he's tackling and limiting WRs. One week it was Fitzgerald, then the next week it was AJ Green. Reshad Jones is the starting safety. It looks like he's improving but he needs to show more consistency. The rest of the secondary blows for the most part.
Same formula as the Patriot games. Their secondary is awful. Establish a halfway decent running game to keep them honest and Sanchez should be able to throw the ball on them effectively.
I'd put them between 8th and 10th on both Pass and Run D. Regardless of where you put their D, their Pass D and Run D are approximately equal.
As long as Austin Howard and D-Brick have good games, we should be ok. Their pass rush is pretty good, especially Wake.
Gotta give it to the Jets though. After Holmes, Keller, and Revis went down, I thought they'd implode. That was one hell of a battle in NE.
I'm not scared of the Patriots. Brady can be rattled when pressured too much, even when he was in his prime. Dirty Sanchez even outplayed him for the most part.
I know what you meant I was just throwing that in. It seems like they've come back down to earth. They're not gonna blow teams out anymore.
Our run defense is pretty darn good. Our pass defense allows a lot of yardage until you get into the redzone. Our D is ranked 8th in points allowed. I believe in regulation except game 1 we have not allowed more than 21 points. We allowed 13 points against the Jets, Oakland and Bengals, 21 against Arizona and 14 against the Rams (all in regulation). The game against Houston was outside the norm. Houston scored 24 points in a 7 minute span due to turnovers. On all 4 drives (3 TDs, 1FG) were started at midfield or better (2 drives started at our 31 and 27 yard line). Jets will be facing a D which will be tough to run on, easy to pass on but hard to score on. Pretty much like last time.
Thanks to "finomenal" and "Phins_4_Ever". Really nice posts. I feel like a scout! The Houston game was a outlier for sure. I wondered what happened there. Just curious, what most concerns you about the Jets offense?
I'd have to say the player that scares me the most is Dustin Keller. in the Texans game Owen Daniels did very well against our defense, especially over the middle. I'm also not sure about Stephen Hill, last game he got past our CB's a couple times and he would've had a TD if Sanchez didn't overthrow him, but I'm pretty sure Sean Smith was covering Holmes, so his effectiveness may not be as good as last time because of Smith now guarding him. Also, we haven't given up a 100 yard rusher in almost 20 straight games. In the Bengals game we gave up 1 long rush for 20 or 30 yards to Bernard Scott and then they did nothing else after that and it was a lot easier for us to contain Benjarvis Green-Ellis since Bernard Scott injured his knee that game and never came back. The Rams ran pretty nice, but their only great run was by their Rookie and instead of him getting about a 15 yard gain he went 40 or so yards because Chris Clemons took a terrible route to the RB and caused the big run. So I think our Defense will be stout against the run, especially against Shonn Greene. I don't think he's ever scored a TD against us rushing, has he? And I believe he averages about only 50 YPG rushing against us in his career.
Their defense is stout against the run and their pass d is suspect. If the Jets want to win, Sanchez needs to play big. Expect Sparano to call plays getting Keller the ball. He should know that Keller shreds the Fish up.
