A week has passed since the end of the 2019 NFL season and the Miami Dolphins are ready to kick off the 2020 offseason in their effort to rebuild this team from scratch. But before we put the 2019 season behind us, it would be wise for some reflection on the year that was — a successful season by many accounts, but not every account.
How would we grade the Miami Dolphins defense in 2019? Here are some of the key phases of the game and how we’d score these 2019 Dolphins.
Passing Defense
It’s hard to knock Miami’s passing defense too hard when you realize the team’s starting secondary during training camp was Xavien Howard, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Bobby McCain and Eric Rowe. The first three were gone by the end of the year, as were many of the primary backups in the secondary. Pair street free agent cornerbacks with the worst pass rush situation in the NFL and you can probably image how well Miami’s pass defense went.
They conceded 7.7 yards per attempt, 30th in the NFL this season. The team logged sacks on 4.05% of their pass attempts faced this year — worst in the NFL by a long shot.
It’s hard to blame the scheme, either. Miami endured so much turnover and this roster was fatally flawed in this department in 2019.
Grade: D
Rushing Defense
Here’s the bad news — the Dolphins were really bad against the run this year. Miami conceded 2166 rushing yards on the ground in 2019 and an average of 4.5 yards per carry.
Here’s the good news — it was actually better than the 4.8 yards per carry and 2325 rushing yards Miami gave up in 2018 under Adam Gase. But being less stinky doesn’t provide too much consolation here. The Dolphins need a true nose tackle and they need edge setting run defenders. The Dolphins need sub-package hybrid safety/linebackers to step in on 3rd down and help plug the box. The Dolphins need a lot.
Here’s what you can’t do — point to Raekwon McMillan or Christian Wilkins or Davon Godchaux and say the run stats are an indictment of them or their individual efforts. Run defense, like all of football, is a team game and needs 11 players to work appropriately.
Grade: D+
Physicality
This team wasn’t talented but they played hard! It was easy to appreciate Brian Flores’ efforts to get this team up to play — and they did. The execution issues were primarily centered around talent restrictions once the Dolphins got past the first month of the season. There were plenty of flashes of physical play, especially in the front seven from Vince Biegel, Raekwon McMillan, Christian Wilkins and others. If there was an area this team should feel really good about what they did defensively, it is in how hard they played.
Grade: B
Discipline
The Dolphins were tagged with the 4th least penalty yardage in the NFL this season with 769 total yards over 16 games. That number is very good. The Dolphins were caught offsides just twice in 2019 and were called just once for roughing the passer.
Generally speaking, this defense didn’t kill themselves with the boneheaded plays that litter the NFL on a weekly basis.
Grade: A-
Red Zone
Miami’s red zone defense allowed touchdowns on 62.7% of possessions to enter the 20. That number is 6th worst in the NFL this season, ahead of only the Rams, Panthers, Titans, Raiders and Texans. And while the Dolphins were still worse in the first four games (75% touchdown conversion), the team held steady on this front even as of midseason — the Dolphins were at 64% after 8 games.
The Dolphins have a strong interior to their front seven, but they’re soft on the edges in the run game and the constant churning of back end players led to miscommunications in the restricted red area. Miami can get a lot better where with more continuity and better personnel on the outside.
Grade: D
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