And in that discussion, Umenyiora put the line's struggles squarely on defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle."Ndamukong 'the beast from the east' Suh, from what I've seen he's still playing very well," Umenyiora said. "Cameron Wake is one of the best pass rushers we have in this league. I am going to put this squarely on the defensive coordinator's shoulders.
"What I've seen is Olivier Vernon dropping into coverage, I've seen Cameron Wake two-gapping, I've seen Ndamukong Suh two-gapping which is what you can't have with these perennial All-Pro pass rushers. You have to let them rush up the field. You have to let these rushers rush and the defensive coordinator hasn't done that.
"That's why they're underperforming. But I think they're going to get back to that this weekend."
The Dolphins run a base 4-3 defense that should typically use one-gap concepts for the four defensive linemen. That means a lineman is responsible for one gap. He must try to stop running plays there. He often rushes the passer from that gap.
The Dolphins do switch things up. And they do run two gap concepts. And in that regard, the defensive lineman is responsible for gaps on either shoulder. That means he must first read the play (pass or run, and to what side it is going if a run) and then react to the play through the appropriate gap.
Two gap defensive linemen typically read and react by definition.
