Dolphins' defense, a disappointment last season, shows signs of life | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Dolphins' defense, a disappointment last season, shows signs of life

DKphin

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Miami Dolphins defensive end Chris McCain bolted off the line of scrimmage, quickly got into the backfield on quarterback Brandon Doughty's blind side, and would have recorded a strip-sack (caused a fumble while sacking the QB) if defenders were allowed to hit the quarterbacks.

And McCain wasn't the only Dolphins defender to make a nice play Saturday, the second day of training camp.
The Dolphins' defense, fairly quiet on Friday's opening day of training camp, and a disappointment throughout out the 2015 season, flexed its muscle Saturday against the run and pass.
But it's too early to tell exactly what this means. The players weren't wearing pads and there wasn't any full contact.
Defensive end Cameron Wake has a theory.
"On paper, it's amazing," Wake said of the defense's potential. "But obviously this isn't your first rodeo with me. Paper has never won a football game."

"We've got a great group, front seven, I think we've got one of the best in the league," Pro Bowl strong safety Reshad Jones said. "But we've got to put the work in now so it can show off during the season."
To that end, Gase knows what he wants to see from his defense in Sunday's practice and beyond.
"I think the biggest thing we're looking for is just to see if we're constantly attacking," Gase said. "That's what those guys on defense are looking for, and we keep seeing, especially from the interior guys, you're just seeing that penetration.
"I think more times than not, you see [defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh really causing havoc on most plays, and [defensive tackle] Jordan [Phillips] has done a good job, Earl (Mitchell) has done a good job. Then when you look at our ends, especially the guys that have been out there with that first group, they're making it challenging on our edge guys."
The defense, which entered training camp with more questions than answers, had its day Saturday. But Gase is being careful not to misread the results.
"Time will tell us everything," he said, "and we'll figure it out in preseason."
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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-dolphins/fl-dolphins-0731-20160730-story.html
 
Sounds eerily like last years preseason defensive excitement. Turned out that they were just practicing against a terrible o-line and disinterested preseason opponents. I'll be skeptical until I'm not.
 
daryl said:
Sounds eerily like last years preseason defensive excitement. Turned out that they were just practicing against a terrible o-line and disinterested preseason opponents. I'll be skeptical until I'm not.
Click to expand...
I have to agree. I had such high hopes for the defense last year...
 
Chris McCain? Give me a break. I'm sure he looks great against guys that won't be in the NFL in 2 months, but sure, he is on fire.
 
daryl said:
Sounds eerily like last years preseason defensive excitement. Turned out that they were just practicing against a terrible o-line and disinterested preseason opponents. I'll be skeptical until I'm not.
Click to expand...

This is why I won't let myself get excited about the defense until the season starts. They absolutely wrecked the offense last year in tc
 
If Kiko Alonso stays healthy, defense could be a lot better than we think right now.

But I am not counting on it, expecting it, or even really hoping for it.

I expect garbage, and perhaps I will be pleasantly surprised.
 
We are well on our way to being the underwear champions again!!!
 
IMO, another article with forced praise...no pads yet right?
 
I don't know just how good this defense will be yet, but two aspects I'm absolutely positive will be better than last year:
-Middle linebacker play
-Edge-setting defensive ends

This should vastly improve our putrid run defense.
 
J. David Wannyheimer said:
If Kiko Alonso stays healthy, defense could be a lot better than we think right now.
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I remember thinking Bills got a steal his rookie year. Yes. He is that good. I believe he was defensive rookie of the year. His problem has been injuries. If he can stay healthy, he is a BEAST.
 
We should bring in TWO veteran CBs, and one of them should be Leon Hall. Of course if Vance doesn't feel he'd be a fit, then he's not. To me, it feels like CB is last year's Guard position. Remember last year when we were all saying Philbin should sign a couple of Guards early on if only for depth. He didn't and we ended up being screwed with our depth in our offensive line (read: Jason Foxx). However I think Vance has a better feel for the situation and if he doesn't see the need to sign one of his former players, I'm ok with it. I get the sense that this coaching staff gets it. (Remember the feeling we all had last year about Philbin? I just have this image of Philbin during the game wearing an vest orange vest and picking up trash on the sidelines with a poker).
 
I'm optimistic on our D due to the addition on Joseph. He was a hot commodity a few years ago for D Coordinator for the Broncos and the Bengals wouldn't let him even interview. We will see.......
 
Last year I was so stoked about our D who when we scrimmaged Carolina, we were beating them so bad they asked us to tone it down so they could run their plays.....I refuse to get excited about this just like I don't get excited every year when they say the Offensive Linemen that has sucked for years is looking great! Tis the season!
 
Player, fans, and even writers want the Fins to be good this year, nut we have to play the games. I am hoping that our secret weapon against Gronk (Dion) comes in and lights it up..Uh, figuratively.
 
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