Joe Philbin happy with progress of Dolphins' defense

That's right, and trust me when I say that is why Coach needs to get Jeff Luc and Bobby McCain on the field..they are real good at creating turnovers so far in their young football life...I know they can do it.. I feel it. JMO and it would be great if I am right.

 

Not surprised Philbin is happy.. more importantly, Sceeto I think you bolded the right thing: a good portion of our defensive collapses just have to do with the attitudes of our players (in the past). I've often felt they didn't have the mental toughness to continue playing tough when the going got tough!

 

I agree with you on that 100% that's exactly how I felt if he didn't win it to start the season he would take over at some point during the season.

 

so philbin asked Coyle to simplify the defense because he didn't want communication issues and didn't think they were on the same page...

you mean like allowing cam newton to drive down the field right before half, or calling timeout against greenbay on 4th and 14 at home so you could get your stupid defense aligned correctly..cost us two games right there.

 

IMO our defense broke down for two reasons. Neither more important than the other. One, our DL got pushed around. They were impressive, even dominant early on. I don't know if they wore down or if it was a scheme change that our coaches never adjusted to. Second, we had mental break-downs in the secondary. I don't believe we had physical break downs back there. With today's pass favorable rules everybody can get beat, but I didn't see that as being the big change. I thought the change was that we were out of position more often. Obviously as our run defense struggled there was more pressure on the secondary to provide run support and that made them more vulnerable to the explosive play so there was an interplay there. It's all intertwined, but I believe our D was horrifically bad at the end b/c they couldn't stop the run and were giving up explosive plays. Therefore the key to correcting that is having a better DL that won't breakdown and/or is good enough to dominate regardless of scheme. And health at S (Delmas) or a simplified coverage scheme that minimizes the mental errors if we have backups come in (or obviously backups who don't make many mental errors).

So when people question whether bringing in Suh was worth it, I respond with a resounding "yes". I think he would easily have gotten us one more win last year. I believe that if we had had Suh on the team last year that we probably make the playoffs and all those idiots who can't differentiate team accomplishments from individual performance would have to find another criticism for Tannehill. Not that there aren't some valid criticisms or areas where he can improve. But those exist for every QB. People just forget or minimize those criticisms when their teams win and magnify them when their teams lose. Narratives change when teams win. Arguably, if Finnegan plays with outside leverage on that critical play against GB then suddenly Tannehill is a QB who led his team to the playoffs despite not making a single better decision or throwing a single pass better. In the minds of many that would make him a better QB.

And with Suh and health in the secondary, I don't think it's beyond the realm of reason to believe this defense could be a top 10 or even top 5 defense next season. Reality is that at about the midpoint of last season or so they were the #1 rated defense in the league according to several measures. Part of that was due to the opponents, but not all. They had played very well against some excellent offensive teams during that stretch. If they had been able to sustain their performance for a full season instead of just half the season, they should have easily finished among the top 10 if not top 5.

 

Mosley was a huge under the radar signing for us.

 

Will be interesting to see what happens this season. I think Kevin Coyle has shown he's capable of putting together very smart/sound gameplans at times. To me, the best example of this is the opener against the Patriots last year. You lose 2 of your 3 starting LBs (Wheeler was already out prior to the game) within the first quarter and you're able to adjust and hold the Patriots scoreless in the 2nd half. The Chargers shutout was dominant and I think the Packers gameplan was pretty good until the end; same with Detroit. Buffalo on TNF was very good.

We've also seen absolute clunkers: 1st Buffalo Game, KC game, Minnesota, both Jets games - I suppose you can argue the 2nd half of the first game was better, but you get the idea. I think other than sustaining injuries, the biggest challenge will be for Kevin Coyle to NOT meander back into adding more calls, packages, getting cute with stunts, etc.

I think LB is probably the most intriguing camp battle on the whole roster. Jelani Jenkins is set in stone, but we still don't know yet for sure if they end up with Misi in the middle and McCain on the strongside, or if they decide to move Misi back outside and insert Kelvin Sheppard in the middle. There's also the trio of UDFAs, and seeing if one of those guys can shine through is worth watching. In terms of making the team, I'd probably rank them 1) Vigil 2) Luc and 3) Hull right now, but who knows how that plays out?

Miami's certainly got the personnel pieces in place. I think they'll end up between 8 - 12 in terms of PPG allowed...or least they should, given what they have, and I'd like to think if Coyle stays true to keeping the defense simplified, they can exceed that.

 

You know it's funny how the media is responding our offseason. I think we have upgrade tremendously on defense, and all I hear is how the JETS and BUFFALO are the defensive powerhouses. It's so irritating. The Jets have no QB, nor do the Bills and Our defense matches up as good or better IMHO than theirs on paper.

 

Coyle designed a lot of diff blitzes and alignments in order to get Wake one on one match ups. Suh is gonna handle a lot of that this season, freeing Coyle to simplify things or scheme to create advantages elsewhere.

I like the run D. Not many teams will will be able get a consistent push, the LBs should be clean enough to make a lot of plays. The pass rush could be devastating, especially if McCain can step in and add his talents to the unit. I'm a little worried about the secondary. I don't see the the DB unit being capable of lining up man to man and challenging the better WR groups. The pass rush should hide that weakness most weeks, it'll be important for them to show up week in and week out. The last thing, perhaps the most important, is forcing TOs. Being ready to pounce on rushed/off target throws, gang tackling, getting off on third down will be key as well.

If if they stay healthy and Taylor/McCain come to play top 8-10 is the floor imo. If the offense gives them some leads to work with they could be scary good.

 

Both of their defenses were better than Miami's was in 2014, and both of theirs got better. In terms of total defense, Buffalo was 4th and the Jets were 6th; Miami was 12th. In points allowed, Buffalo was 4th, Miami was 20th and the Jets were 25th (I think this is misleading given some of Geno Smith's poor games and their poor performance offensively not helping the D). IMO, I think the media sees that and sees Rex Ryan taking over an already top 5 defense in Buffalo and acknowledges it got better. I think the media sees the Jets getting Todd Bowles (Cardinals were 5th in points allowed last year) who have more talent in the front seven than Arizona did a year ago, plus they added Revis and Cromartie back and drafted the consensus best defensive player in the Draft in Leonard Williams.

I think through that lens, it trumps Miami adding Ndamukong Suh, Brice McCain, Jordan Phillips, the rookie CBs and retaining Kevin Coyle (whose defense has declined each of the three years he's been coordinator). Miami's also got more question marks, like it or not, than either of those two teams when you look at their starters.

It's up to Miami and Kevin Coyle to change that perception.

 

On paper the philosophy of stopping the pass first and foremost is good, but when the rubber hits the road it could be that getting ran on shatters a defenses morale. We want to be able to stop the run with our front 7, if we can't is Suh going to get frustrated? Time will tell.

 

I think we already know how Suh plays when the run defense isn't that good: he plays at Pro Bowl level and starts making the run defense better.

Suh was drafted in 2010.

In 2010, the Lions ranked 24th in rush yards allowed, Suh was rookie of the year (for almost everyone) and went to the Pro Bowl
In 2011, Lions ranked 23rd.. only year Suh missed the Pro Bowl
In 2012, Lions ranked 16th,
In 2013, they ranked 6th,
In 2014, they ranked 1st

In 2015, Suh comes to Miami

 

I'm a little worried about the free safety position. Delmas is coming off a serious injury, despite his apparent mutant healing. And he does have a history with injuries otherwise. Truthfully, there was nothing we could do to shore up the FS position outside of re-signing Delmas, so I can't really complain. I like the depth at CB, but still question Jamar Taylor as a starter. He's one of the guys I'm really going to pay attention to come training camp and pre-season. Outside of those two positions, we're looking solid. McCain, Misi, and Jenkins could be a pretty solid LB trio.

I'm also hoping Luc, Vigil, or Hull step up in camp. Even 1/3 would be huge... Luc and Vigil are two guys who I really like to make the team. Would be nice if anyone of those three exploded in camp, as I'm not a huge Misi fan, especially with his injury history. All three are def. on my "must watch" list.

 

Don't you think there's going to be some type of adjusment period in the beginning of the season due to the coaching and system changes (both offensively and defensively) for these teams? I do think the Jets and Bills are going to be very good on defense toward the middle of the season, but I'd guess it would take a few weeks to get running 100%. And if they somehow do start out the season awesome on defense, I think it'll be offset by the bad offenses.

Mediocre QB's + new system early in the season= bad offensive output, IMO.

Luckily we face both of them within the first 4 weeks, with the Bills game being in our brand new stadium.

 

I dont think the Dolphins were embarasssed by the Jets lol that game was as meaningless as the Pro Bowl. Both sides wanted to leave the game healthy, neither side were going to risk long term injury. So that game against the Jets meant nothing. If the Jets kept Geno because of his high qb rating on that game then it is a good thing we barely tried.

 

whoa sceeto, thats a big jump for Luc, I'm a fan but damn, wucha seeing?

 

No, I'm pretty sure they were embarrassed.

 

Cause that game changed anything? That game was flag football.

 

Re: Jeff Luc, he kind of reminds me of Cedric Thompson in a certain manner. They're both imposing physical specimens for their respective positions. I was watching some Cedric Thompson highlights last night...he's so up and down. Certain plays or series or even quarters he's absolutely lights out and doesn't miss a tackle or assignment in coverage to the point where you think, "Hey, this kid is an absolute steal in the 5th round; should have been drafted higher." Sometimes the very next play, series or quarter you watch him and you just think, "Holy $H1T, what the **** was he even looking at?" because he's SO FAR/BADLY out of position. Watch Cedric Thompson against Wisconsin last year. There's a few plays where he's just reading God knows what and is WAY, WAY out of the play...but then he's such a good athlete he manages to track down Melvin Gordon on a long run. Tracked down a receiver on a long pass from 20+ yards back; he saves touchdowns on both plays, but if he was where he's supposed to be, he's saving first downs and not 50+ yard TDs. That said, at least from a physical standpoint, I think he vs. Walt Aikens could be a helluva battle next year to, presumably, replace Louis Delmas.

It's easier for a safety to be more out of position than a MLB as the nature of the position calls for more ground to be covered, but that's something I've noticed with Luc; he doesn't seem to process his key reads quickly and consistently. Certain plays he's right there filling the gap and making a tackle. Other plays, you're just waiting on him to see the play developing and get to the gap and he...just does it pretty slowly. I think the mental side of it and being able to process what he's seeing and knowing what to do and having that become second nature could foul him up in the NFL. This is probably a poor comparison based on sample size, but he's the opposite of Jordan Tripp from the preseason last year. Tripp was very quick to recognize his keys and almost moves to quickly (especially against the run) and almost overruns plays.

 

I think those are excellent points to consider, gonna have to re watch some things.

 

And he creates TO's. I know we saw him down here in high school just dominating and he covered the backs out of the backfield pretty good. One of the games that he played in was against a crosstown rival..Westwood High School...guess who was dominating on that team? Kalil Mack and for that night, Luc stole the show lol..Ronin, as good as your eyes are at reviewing players, I wish Luc could have been a starter at UC for all 4 years of college because I think in that time that you would have seen allot more of him and looked at it differently...I love his passion, his fire, and his Love for the game..this kid absolutely loves football, he is a very hard worker, and is a student of the game..I hope that he makes it...by a HUGE margin...Luc will be our Suh of the LB unit.

 

Serious question. If Luc is such a talent why wasn't he drafted?

 

could be what Ro said, slow trigger, not smart..need to go back and look again..

 

If they weren't embarrassed, they shouldn't be playing in the NFL. You dont put in all of the blood, sweat, and tears into getting into the NFL, unless your the kind of person who cant stand to lose. ESPECIALLY TO THE JETS.

 

Go watch and read post game interviews and tell us that again.

The defense gave up 32 points per game over the last 6. That's not good. That's ridiculous.

 

One of the worst starting quarterbacks in the league had a perfect QB rating against us, something that only happens like once or twice a season, usually by the actual good QBs....forget about embarrassed, they shoulda been disgusted with themselves. I can't believe no one lost their job after that.

 

Well, technically Cortland Finnegan quit...

...so I guess Eric Decker is still open.

 

I was at the game, the whole team played like sh^% and quit.

 

I can believe it. History has showed that teams playing for pride alone can usually go for about 1 quarter before they throw in the towel.

If the majority of the best football athletes in the world do it, I suppose we all would--and quicker.

Human nature.

 

Here's a sad stat I just looked up: In the past 10 years, there have been 13 times a QB posted a perfect QB rating. THREE of those times the Dolphins were the opponent that gave up the perfect QB rating! Only the Raiders share that distinction with us. Only team to have been on the winning side three times was Pittsburgh with Roethlisberger.

 

REX Ryan is overrated and lucky for us within 2 or 3 years will begin to tank Buffalo's defense. Soon as the almighty begins to tinker with it. Why people on here or the media continue to project this guy as a savior is beyond me. Those defenses that gave Rex his reputation were nothing he built. Buffalo like New York will start their decline under Ryan. He managed to inherit a defense ranked #2, next year went to #1, and then the decline into the 20's where they stayed for 4 years. It is what got Rex fired

Personally I cant wait, people in New York have zero patience. In Buffalo they have even less, ------trust me I grew up there

 

I agree with you wholeheartedly Rafael. This team could've done much more if they could address those issues.