The Miami Dolphins are back in action at Hard Rock Stadium Sunday to face an unfamiliar foe, the Los Angeles Rams. As the Rams look to surge ahead of the rest of the playoff hopefuls in the NFC, the Dolphins will look to make a strong collective statement with the arrival of Tua Tagovailoa: that this team isn’t the same pushover that everyone has seemed to think they were from the early portions of 2019.
But while that quarterback change is indeed a big piece of the puzzle, it isn’t the only piece that we’ll be monitoring closely on Sunday. How do the Dolphins manage to stave off the Rams’ offensive attack in this contest? Led by Sean McVay, Jared Goff and a persistent rushing attack, there aren’t a lot of easy outs for the Dolphins in this game.
How can they hope to stuff up the Rams? Here are a few points of emphasis to watch.
Stay disciplined in gaps
The Dolphins must prevent the Rams from stringing out their defensive front and creating soft spaces along the front, which means everyone is going to have to stay disciplined to not push too far up the field or get too eager to jump into the face of the running back. Against zone heavy teams, uneven levels between the tackles is a first class ticket to getting gouged and giving up big runs — Miami can’t afford that as they look to continue to rehab their image as a run defense. Things have been better since the team’s frustrating performance against the Patriots in Week 1, but more continued discipline up front is essential to putting the Rams behind the sticks.