Hey Dolfans, still in the discussion mode this offseason. Looking at some stats from "The 2-Minute Warning" and "Pro-Football-Reference" sites, concerning our All-Pro cornerbacks, since our Passing Defense took a Big drop last year.
Most Fin fans, think we have 2 of the Top 10 CBs in our team. Well, this past year (2003), we were ranked, the 5th team with the "Best CB tandem in the NFL." We actually improved from the year before (ranked 12th). Our All-Pro CBs were not the reason for our Pass Defense weakness this past year, IMO it were the LB/DBs playing in the nickle and dime packages...
In 02 our Pass ranking was # 11-
The Dolphins CBs tandem were ranked as # 12, and Pat and Sam gave up 13 TDs, caught 10 INTs, and gave up 1,738 yards (including penalties). Opponents completed 56.7% of the passes against them (51% of total passing yards).
The rest of the defensive secondary gave up 1,641 yards (only 49% of total passing yards).
In 03 our Pass ranking was # 21-
The Dolphins CBs tandem improved to # 5, and Pat and Sam gave up only 5 TDs, caught 12 INTs, and gave up 1,644 yards (including penalties). Opponents completed 56.3% of the passes against them (46% of total passing yards).
The rest of the defensive secondary gave up 1,944 yards (54% of total passing yards). This was an 18% increase in yards over 02, which would reflect in the lot of missed tackles and coverage mistakes that we saw throughout the year, specially when we needed to get off the field.
So, we added Howard, and Poole, re-signed Freeman and with others in the secondary coming back from injury this year, we should be able to help out Pat and Sam...
Did we do enough to get us back on track in the secondary?
Most Fin fans, think we have 2 of the Top 10 CBs in our team. Well, this past year (2003), we were ranked, the 5th team with the "Best CB tandem in the NFL." We actually improved from the year before (ranked 12th). Our All-Pro CBs were not the reason for our Pass Defense weakness this past year, IMO it were the LB/DBs playing in the nickle and dime packages...
In 02 our Pass ranking was # 11-
The Dolphins CBs tandem were ranked as # 12, and Pat and Sam gave up 13 TDs, caught 10 INTs, and gave up 1,738 yards (including penalties). Opponents completed 56.7% of the passes against them (51% of total passing yards).
The rest of the defensive secondary gave up 1,641 yards (only 49% of total passing yards).
In 03 our Pass ranking was # 21-
The Dolphins CBs tandem improved to # 5, and Pat and Sam gave up only 5 TDs, caught 12 INTs, and gave up 1,644 yards (including penalties). Opponents completed 56.3% of the passes against them (46% of total passing yards).
The rest of the defensive secondary gave up 1,944 yards (54% of total passing yards). This was an 18% increase in yards over 02, which would reflect in the lot of missed tackles and coverage mistakes that we saw throughout the year, specially when we needed to get off the field.
So, we added Howard, and Poole, re-signed Freeman and with others in the secondary coming back from injury this year, we should be able to help out Pat and Sam...
Did we do enough to get us back on track in the secondary?