The Miami Dolphins are going to need a big time performance from their nickel defenders in Week 8 against the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams offense runs on motion and misdirection to pull defenders out of position; helping the team to craft chunk plays and tally points at a rapid pace. And the Miami Dolphins can’t expect to sit in their base defense and counter Los Angeles’ misdirection strategies.
The Dolphins are going to need a big day from nickel defenders like Brandon Jones and Nik Needham if they’re going to knock off the Rams. When asked specifically about the importance of Needham, defensive coach Gerald Alexander painted quite the picture about the conflict Miami’s fringe secondary players were facing this week.
“I think for that position, the nickel position, again it’s different than playing the perimeter corner, like Nik has experience dating back to last season. For him to continue to develop, there are going to be multiple things we’re going to be asking him to do. We’re going to ask him to play man coverage, we’re going to ask him to play zones, we’re going to ask him to pressure, and a lot of it really has to do with playing with great discipline because there’s a lot of space when you go inside and understanding where your leverage is, especially in man coverage,” said Alexander.
“You’re a little bit closer to your help that’s in the middle of the field that’s present than you are when you’re on the perimeter. Now when you have offenses like the Rams, who present a lot of pre-snap movement, that’s going to test your eye discipline and making sure that your alignment and your eyes are in the correct place for you to be able to execute your assignment.”
Miami should have an advantage in the trenches when on defense. But can they secure enough strong play on the boundary to turn plays back inside? And can they get the tackling consistency they’ll need to shut down the Rams’ perimeter run game?
Those questions may end up deciding the outcome of the game on Sunday.
