Miami vise: Dolphins' D fueling win streak
The Miami Dolphins (8-7) have reeled off seven straight wins behind a stifling defense that has to remind longtime Fin fans of the dominance demonstrated by the "Killer Bees" and the "No-Name Defense," two celebrated units from the franchise's storied past. While the current D lacks a catchy nickname, Brian Flores' group has mastered a unique scheme that has the league buzzing about this team's disruptive potential if it reaches the playoffs.
Since Week 9, the Dolphins' defense leads the NFL in points per game (11.7), total yards per game (256.6), third-down percentage (28.6), red zone touchdown percentage (29.4) and sacks per game (4.7). Miami's complete suffocation of opposing offenses has raised eyebrows across the NFL.
Flores' ferocious unit first demanded national attention back in Week 10, when Miami completely dismantled Baltimore, 22-10, on the prime-time Thursday Night Football stage. Former league MVP Lamar Jackson and the Ravens appeared to have no answer for the Dolphins' ultra-aggressive blitzing. Others have been equally frustrated by Miami's "bluff and bail" tactics, which force offensive coordinators to shrink their menus and put pressure on the quarterback to diagnose chameleon-like coverages under duress.
Seeing signal-callers attempt to decipher the puzzle created by Miami's bold defensive approach is like watching a kid try to solve a Rubik's Cube for the first time. Passers instinctively look to hot routes and sight adjustments to defeat the onslaught of pressure, but they're frequently met with underneath defenders dropping into passing lanes. After a few miscues or near-picks destroy the confidence of the quarterback, the combination of pressure and coverage leads to a handful of bubble screens and quick passes that are quickly gobbled up by a collection of Dolphins defenders running to the ball like a pack of hungry wolves.
Reviewing the game tape from Miami's winning streak, I was fascinated by the complex design but simplistic execution of a scheme that is built around a Cover 0 (all-out blitz) premise. The Dolphins align five defensive backs at 8 yards deep, with their eyes on the quarterback. Although Cover 0 normally puts the DBs in "blitz man" coverage, with each defender assigned to a man, Miami has incorporated some switch tactics to handle the picks, rub routes and crossers that are designed to exploit man-to-man. With the defenders also keeping their eyes on the quarterback to see when and where the ball is thrown, they react quicker to the throws and break on the ball like a base stealer swiping second off a pitcher with a slow wind-up.
Up front, the Dolphins create chaos by putting six or seven defenders at the line of scrimmage in various all-out-pressure looks to challenge the offensive line's protection calls. The "plus-one" advantage of the front forces the offensive line to slide or squeeze the protection to shield a vulnerable gap, but it exposes the quarterback in another area. With the offense lacking enough blockers to pick up every potential rusher, the QB is basically guaranteed to take a hit from a free runner. As a result, most passers attempt to get rid of the ball in a hurry to avoid a crushing blow or a sack that puts the offense behind the chains.
Now, it would be easy for quarterbacks and offensive coordinators to counter those tactics if Miami only brought all-out pressures, but Flores complicates the equation by utilizing some simulated pressures that look like Cover 0 blitzes at the snap before transforming into four-man pressures with seven defenders in coverage. The Dolphins execute these tactics by instructing a couple of their potential rushers to read the offensive line before making a decision to rush or drop back into coverage. By attracting the eyes and attention of the O-line before dropping into coverage, the bluffing defender frees up another rusher to attack the quarterback through an unobstructed rush lane.
Flores utilized these tactics during his time running New England's defense, but he has mastered the scheme in Miami with a bunch of ballhawks and athletic rushers at his disposal. The combination of personnel, scheme and courage has transformed the Dolphins' defense into a stifling unit that no one wants to face. And it could make South Florida's team an unlikely playoff participant after a horrible start to the season that had some questioning if the ultra-aggressive coach was the right man for the job.
