More here:The Dolphins presumed Ndamukong Suh would be the panacea for a run defense that relinquished 121 yards per game last season (24th in the league) and a gruesome 165 yards per game over the final six.
Suh’s presence assuredly will help, but the Dolphins’ run defense Sunday in Washington wasn’t remotely better than a year ago.
The Dolphins were steamrolled for 161 yards, more than twice as many as the 69 yards rushing per game that the Suh-led Lions allowed on the ground last season, a figure that led the league. Of the 28 NFL teams that began their seasons before Monday night, only Green Bay permitted more yards on the ground than Miami in Week 1.
There were myriad issues Sunday which led the Redskins averaging 4.4 yards per carry (seventh-worst among teams that had played a game before Monday): Defensive linemen sealed off on blocks, uninspired middle linebacker play, missed tackles, among others. On multiple occasions, the Dolphins were victimized by legal cut blocks, in which offensive linemen hit a players’ knees.
The Redskins had 15 rushing attempts that gained five yards or more, which is unacceptably high from Miami’s perspective.
A review of the tape showed that nine of those 15 went to the opposite side of Suh. Another happened with Suh out of the game and another was a sweep to Suh’s side, but far enough away from Suh that he wouldn’t have been expected to make the tackle.
That means four of 15 runs that gained five or more yards were run in the general area of Suh. On one of them, a six-yard gain by Alfred Morris, Suh was tossed to the ground and Reshad Jones missed a tackle. On two other six-yard runs by Morris, Suh was simply sealed off, rendered a non-factor on the play because of good blocking. Middle linebacker Kelvin Sheppard was in position to make the tackle but couldn’t on one of those two plays. And on the fourth, a third-and long, Jones ripped off eight yards, with Suh blocked effectively and Cameron Wake missing a tackle.
But what about the other 11 runs of five yards or more? Examining those:
### On the run with Suh out of the game, CJ Mosley couldn’t dislodge quickly enough from a block, and Morris gained six yards.
### On the sweep to Suh’s side (a five-yard run by Jones), Wake was sealed off and Jenkins missed a tackle.
### On the nine runs of five yards or more that were run to the side opposite of Suh, several factors contributed. Earl Mitchell couldn’t dislodge from blocks on five of those plays, was tossed to the ground on another and simply ran by the play on another.
Olivier Vernon also was sealed off on four of those five plays, and Terrence Fede couldn’t get free from a block on two others. Zach Vigil took a poor angle on one of those plays, an 11-yard run. Jordan Phillips couldn’t dislodge quickly enough on one of those plays, a 10-yard run by Morris.
OTHER NEWS AND NOTES
### The Dolphins made an NFL-high 68 trips inside the red zone last season but scored touchdowns only 51 percent of the time, ranking 21st in the league.
The Dolphins’ red zone work was even worse on Sunday, with Miami scoring 10 points on three trips inside the Redskins’ 20.
On Miami’s first sojourn inside the 20, Damien Williams was stopped short on a fourth and 1 when Ryan Kerrigan ran unabated to tackle him and Dallas Thomas couldn’t hold a block on Jason Hatcher.
The Dolphins scored a touchdown on their second trip inside the red zone, on Tannehill’s four-yard touchdown pass to Matthews.
But on their third trip inside the Redskins’ 20, Miami had to settle for a field goal even after having a first and goal from the 3. Ryan Tannehill was largely to blame for that. Flushed from the pocket, he unwisely threw a short pass to Jarvis Landry – which lost seven yards – instead of throwing it away. After Tannehill ran for five yards on the next play, Miami had a delay of game penalty, pushing the pass back to the 10. On third and goal, Tannehill threw a short pass to Landry, which took the ball to the three.
### Notable offensive snap counts: Every starting offensive lineman played all 57 snaps except Branden Albert, who missed two plays after sustaining a blow to the head. Doctors determined he did not have a concussion and he returned to the game…
With Dion Sims limited to three snaps because of a concussion, Jordan Cameron played 56 of 57 snaps and offensive lineman Jeff Linkenbach played seven snaps, five of them at tight end.
Among receivers, Jarvis Landry played 54 of the 57 snaps, Rishard Matthews 45, Greg Jennings 39, Kenny Stills 23 and DeVante Parker just one.
Among running backs, Lamar Miller had 46 snaps, Damien Williams 13.
### From Pro Football Focus’ grading of the game: Though he appeared to play decently, right guard Jamil Douglas was given Miami’s worst grade, a minus 4.7. Right guard Ju’Wuan James was given Miami’s best grade (a plus 2.2)….
PFF said Dallas Thomas allowed two of the Redskins’ four sacks. Mike Pouncey yielded one and Tannehill also allowed one by taking too much time to throw…
On throws of 20 yards or more, Tannehill was 2 for 6 for 54 yards. Cameron’s diving catch accounted for part of that yardage…
Tannehill was 5 for 6 for 34 yards when blitzed (129.9 rating) and 17 for 28 for 192 yards (81.2 rating) when he wasn’t.
### Landry was targeted the most of any Dolphins receiver and caught 8 of 12 balls thrown to him for 53 yards. Matthews was thrown five passes and caught four for 34 yards, dropping the other.
Jennings and Stills were each targeted three times, with Jennings catching one and Stills catching one (Tannehill misfired on a potential TD thrown to Stills).
### Notable defensive snap counts: Brent Grimes, Brice McCain and Jelani Jenkins played all 79 defensive snaps. Among Miami’s safeties, Reshad Jones missed four snaps because of a hamstring injury late in the game. Walt Aikens played 60 and Michael Thomas 23….
The Dolphins used only three cornerbacks on defense, with Jamar Taylor logging 46 snaps as the third corner….
The Dolphins split middle linebacker snaps evenly between Sheppard and Vigil, with each logging 19 snaps. Koa Misi played 73 of Miami’s 79 snaps and Spencer Paysinger played one snap…
Suh, who played 82 percent of the Lions’ defensive snaps last season, played 85 percent Sunday (67 of 79). Mitchell also played 67, CJ Mosley 12 and Jordan Phillips 11….
Among defensive ends, Wake played 58, Vernon 30 (he missed a lot of time with an ankle injury), Fede 38 and Derrick Shelby 33.
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