What are Dolphins’ coverage tendencies at midway point of 2020?
When the Miami Dolphins signed cornerback Byron Jones this offseason, the. expectation would be that the Dolphins would play as primarily a man-defense who locked up opposing receivers with a talented duo of outside cornerbacks. But, as is the case in every season with every team, as the Dolphins’ coaching staff has evolved and their understanding of their players has grown deeper, the Dolphins have broken the script of being a straight ‘Cover-1’ man defense, which puts a free safety in the middle of the field and charges the rest of the defense with locking up receivers one on one in man coverage.
Matt Bowen of ESPN’s NFL Matchup took a deep dive into the coverage tendencies of all 32 NFL franchises with most teams sitting at the halfway point; and what Bowen revealed for the Dolphins is a fascinating look at the evolution of Miami’s coverage this season.
The Dolphins rank just 21st in the NFL in Cover-1 calls — and they’re not top-5 in the NFL in Cover 3:
While the distinction between the two is clear: Cover 3 is more of a zone coverage that requires three deep defenders shading over top of any routes that develop into their area and Cover 1 is man coverage with a single high free safety, the Dolphins’ defense still clearly runs on keeping the middle of the field “closed” with a deep post player, free safety Bobby McCain.
Why would the Dolphins play more zone coverage than anticipated this season? It could come down to a number of variables; including trying to counter some of the athletic passers (Cam Newton, Josh Allen, Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray) that the team faced in the first half of the season. Turning your back in man coverage to these kinds of athletes can be dangerous in coverage.
Another variable that is at play is the depth of Miami’s coverage options. Safety Eric Rowe has been terrific, but the rest of Miami’s middle of the field coverage options in the intermediate areas of the defense (mainly the linebackers) has been hit or miss — and with Noah Igbinoghene currently rolling as a backup outside cornerback and not being charged with playing inside in the nickel, the Dolphins’ ability to play man against deep crossing routes between 15-20 yards of depth has been a problem.
Zone counters that by charging the second level of the defense with building a picket fence across the field and allowing Miami’s defenders to pass off routes while keeping an eye on the quarterback.
So while Miami would perhaps like to see their coverage trend closer to the Cover-1 rate that we see from Brian Flores’ previous team (New England is 2nd in the NFL with Cover 1 on 49.4% of their defensive snaps), we may have to see more reinforcements on the defensive side of the ball before Miami is up to the task. In the meantime? Miami’s “middle of the field closed” approach is working just fine — The Dolphins have a single high free safety playing the post on 63.2% of their coverage snaps through eight games. Add in another nearly 9% of all-out blitzing (the second most aggressive Cover-0 team in the league behind Kansas City) and you’ll have a pretty good chance to knowing what to expect when you play the Dolphins:
Good boundary play, a deep single high free safety and the kitchen sink thrown at you seemingly at least once a possession. Plus not a lot of points; Miami ranks 4th in the NFL in points allowed per game this season.
