Did our defense "no show" or were they injured and exhausted?

I don't know what happened..if it was play alling on D..or what..but we had an 11 point lead going into 4th qtr..D has to hild that

 

I disagree. The defense, all year, have failed to close out teams. 3rd and 15+? Don't even put our defense on the field. It's been a problem all year. Against good teams, we look downright mediocre. This defense is a fraud. I get that today we weren't full strength, but this has been all season.

 

our offense gave that defense all the points they needed to win the game.

 

No, the defense could have held them to 3 points, thereby still having an 8 point lead, in your scenario. The defense would look even worse if Denver doesn't miss that field goal, and Manning doesn't fart on a couple deep throws that should have been completed.

 

The defensive strategy/calls at the end of the 1st half and in the redzone were the primary culprit. Poor tackling and bad angles from the secondary did not help things, but strategy-wise, Kevin Coyle was playing with less than a full deck...unfortunately he dealt the deck himself.

I think you somewhat had to expect Denver to run successfully. They were bringing in tackle-eligble players all day and double-teaming both of the DTs Miami had in the game.

Bill Belichick's always said that to beat Peyton Manning that you have to disrupt receivers and make them run. Miami's D, and CBs primarily, don't fit that. I think Kevin Coyle tried that and was doing a good job until that last drive in the 1st half. He flubbed that and Denver found success running right at Miami and Coyle never recovered.

His redzone calls were a travesty in and of themselves.

 

I don't think Taylor sucks, he had the one bad play. He was clearly better than the dregs who followed.

 

Exhausted? They had ten days to recover from their last game, the sad fact is not one player made a play when we needed big plays, as banged up as they might have been there were still alot of star players on the field for them who disappeared today. Wake was invisible as we're most of them. I mean did Denver punt more than once?

 

I have been saying those same exact words since the game was over. Eerily reminded me a little of the last two games last year vs.Buffalo and the Jets

 

they were awful, and in the end if one defensive player would have made one play the dolphins win that game. the offense did everything they possibly could to win that game and the defense did everything to lose it.

 

You have to give Anderson some credit, dudes. The kid is a load. He beat us singlehandedly. He was falling forward for 3 or 4 yards after contact, consistently.

 

Give me a break, we just faced the best QB in NFL history, on the road, with Walk Aikens, Lowell Rose, and Jimmy Wilson playing the majority of the game, what did you guys expect to happen on defense?

If we had Finnegan and Taylor for the entire game this would of been a different story.

 

Well said. Cameron Wake especially, (many people say one of the leagues best pass rushers) he wasn't even double teamed on passing downs & couldn't pressure or sack Manning at all. It's all hype when talking about Cam Wake, he's no Jason Taylor.

 

I put more blame on Coyle here. We could not cover to save our lives, and thats fine considering who we played and who was healthy. We needed to blitz all second half though. Needed to send the house all second half. Guys were waltzing around wide open anyway.

 

I could have sworn I saw double teams on Wake.

 

I wondered who that was. Now I know a name, but still have no clue who he is.

 

Hmmm..dude, Peyton was getting rid of the ball extremely fast, there is no pressuring that. Unless you press the Denver wideouts, Peyton is going to get rid of the ball in 2 seconds, and you have no shot getting pressure.

 

...I had to look up his first name...

 

We had those guys stopped a number of times though. Certain penalties like Wilson's illegal use of hands kept them going. Starks had a neutral zone infraction that gave them a first down and it might have been Wilson who gave them 15 yards on unnecessary roughness on a play they were stopped for no gain I think. More disciplined play would have taken 4-8 points off the board for Denver IMO.

 

That garbage drive before half time was the beginning of the end. You could see momentum and confidence on the Broncos faces when they went in at half time. Just have to hold them to a field goal there. I mean it was what 3rd and 20 and we gave it up? Some really bizarre inexplicable crap happened in that game on defense. Should have won that game, its incredibly frustrating how close we are to being like 9-2 and having beat some of the best teams in the league. But at the same time this might be as good as this team gets, we might have peaked with this coaching staff. Its tempting to want to reload and see what we can do next year but its tempting to blow it up again. Whew. Tough game. Exhausting.

 

Do you honestly believe that Walt Aikens, Lowell Rose, or Jimmy Wilson would be able to shutdown the Denver receivers. I thought the defense played well given that we really did nothing to slow down the double tight end set. We got out coached. The defense was tired and injured. We should have gone to the 52 to stop run earlier. They just wore down our defense. add the offensive disappearing act for most of the second half, and there was no chance for this defense.

 

Miami was unable to cope with the Broncos power package. It isn't something you should have expected, but it's something they should have adjusted for better.

 

If I am correct, Aikens and Rose were playing late in the game. We were getting torched before they got in the game.Offensive disappearing act?....This defense could not stop them once...not once in the second half. We were almost forced to score on our every possesion. 36 was more than enough.

 

As iffy as Taylor has been, the entire dynamics of the game changed when he left. Rose and Aikens were toast and we all knew it. Is there any word on Finnegan? We need him back.

 

I don't think it would have mattered if we were healthy in the secondary because the front seven laid a goose egg today, it was their worse game of the season. Don't sugarcoat it.

 

Gave up 6.2ypc to a third-stringer who got the ball 27 times. Yeah, I don't know if it's a "no-show," but there's no way injuries/exhaustion are an excuse for that. Can't expect to win games where you let that happen.

 

This defense has consistently failed to make plays in the closing minutes of games against the better teams on their schedule. They have built their stats against many of the weaker offenses in the NFL.

I didn't expect them to win today, but I certainly expected the defense to put up a better effort than they did today. If the defense was as exhausted as you say they were, they have no one to blame but themselves.

The offense certainly did their part by keeping the Broncos defense on the field for the majority of the first half. Perhaps if the players on defense had made some tackles or covered the receivers of the Broncos in the second half, they could have gotten off the field and they would have been able to get some rest on the sideline.

As far as this being a top 8 defense. Perhaps they are a top 8 defense when they play against the bottom tier or the other mediocre teams in the league, but against the better teams in the NFL, they have for the most part proved to be average or below against these teams. Especially when the game is on the line in the closing minutes of the game.

 

I am not a big Philbin supporter, but the game today wasn't a case of being out coached. It was a case of the defense getting their butts whipped by the offensive line of the Broncos.

When your offense puts up 36 points and yet the defense still can't make the plays to prevent the other team from out scoring your team, that is on the players on the field and not on the coaches on the sideline.

If you are going to blame the coaches for the terrible play of the defense today, you must also give them all the credit for the play of the offense.

As far as your suggestion that the Dolphins should have gone to a 5-2 defense to stop the run. Based on all the room the defensive backs were giving to the Broncos receivers, all stopping the Broncos running game with a 5-2 defense would have done was create move space in the secondary for Manning to complete passes.

There was not a single unit on defense which played effectively today.Changing to a different defensive set wasn't going to make up for the fact the defensive players forgot how to tackle on the trip from Miami to Denver.

 

Not true. On the only "sack" of the game, Wake was doubled. He was triple-schemed on one of the dump-offs to the running back where he was chipped by the back (where the back stayed in giving the look of a double-team), then he released, and the guard picked up the rest. Wake is double-teamed more often than not, and there is a reason for that. He also gets chipped then doubled on plays. He is certainly earning his paycheck. Miami has other rushers as well.

 

DEs were not getting any pressure and the injury bug crawled up the whole team's arses.

 

There is a reason for that. We were unable to get pressure after being worn down by the power running package.

 

I would rather have more space for the passing game to click than have our front 7 ground down. That is why they used the double tight end set. It's purpose was to eliminate our pass rush. Have you heard of running at the best pass rusher to wear him down. It is a tried and true strategy. We did nothing to prevent it! That was a monumental mistake.

 

Couldn't stop the run. I didn't really think we would sack Manning but put him out out of his comfort zone.
When you run the football like they did. Makes it tough.
WTF was it with that on side kick. That was gay and lame as hell.

 

We were giving up 4.2 yds per per play for most of the first half. Do you believe this is a coincidence. The entire game plan was to road grade our front seven. To wear them down until they were ineffective during the second half. It worked.

 

Not fair...anybody who paid attention knew this kid was their future RB.

Don't look past the home field advantage. Tough environment to play a long game in. Not an excuse, but something to take into consideration... keep in mind theyre 6-0 at home now. Its not like we're the first ones to struggle up there.

 

Beyond the fact they were playing Manning on the road...the reason they looked exhausted was because they were. It appeared as if the altitude got to them. I am surprised nobody is considering this.