What went wrong with the defense in 2016? | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

What went wrong with the defense in 2016?

Perfect72

Perfect72

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This question is somewhat akin to the old (somewhat tasteless) joke… “Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the show?” And to fully answer the question would take more space than a single blog can address, but I believe there is a fundamental problem in the defensive scheme as it was used by our coaching staff last season.

There were MANY problems with the defense this past season, not the least of which was the tremendous strain put on the defensive unit by the multitude of injuries suffered by defensive starters.

Koa Misi. Jelani Jenkins. Reshad Jones. Byron Maxwell. Xavien Howard. Kiko Alonso. Earl Mitchell. Isa Abdul-Quddus.

All of these were presumptive starters or at least significant rotational players who missed at least a game if not more due to injury.
Most of the season, we were fielding a patchwork linebacking corps and defensive backfield, featuring players in both units who weren’t even on the roster (or any other team roster) at the start of the season.

Compounding this problem was our team’s pitiful lack of depth at certain positions, notably defensive end and linebacker.

I will say that we saw encouraging growth from players like Mike Hull and Neville Hewitt, but overall it says a lot that were starting players picked up off of the scrap heap by the end of the season.
Usually, if a player is unemployed, there is a very good reason.

This brings me to my point. The failure of the wide 9 to function this season was a result of one cause primarily, in my opinion. It comes down to the front office. Mike Tannenbaum and Chris Grier need to go get the players that are needed to make this defensive system work.

The way I see it, this defensive system requires team speed at the edges. A strong rotation of fast, athletic, versatile players at defensive end and outside linebacker; players that can get to the edge on running plays and play instinctively.

In the middle, it requires stout run-stuffing defensive tackles (THAT’S PLURAL!) and a smart, instinctive and stout middle linebacker that can call the signals and shed blocks efficiently.

More at LINK: http://phinfever.com/index.php/9-blog/304-what-went-wrong-with-the-defense-in-2016

Your thoughts? :ponder:
 
maybe we saw growth from hull and Hewitt but I wouldn't call it encouraging
 
Big mistake was hoping Mario Williams would return to form.
 
Too many injuries and points allowed.

Of the 17 games we played we only held the opposition under 18 points 4 times. We were 3-1 in those games. Need a lot more than 4 games like this from the defense next year.
 
I think Injuries were the biggest factor. I don't think we ever had a great or even good defense even with the starting 11 but folks need to remember we went into Pittsburgh to play a playoff game without:

1. Starting SS (pro bowler) - replaced by a guy from off his couch earlier in the year.
2. Starting FS - Replaced by a special teamer.
3. #1 CB (at least this year) - Drop probably not huge if there was one at all but Lippett is a converted WR still learning.
4. Starting SLB - replaced by a guy from off his couch earlier in the year.
5. Starting WLB - Jenkins played gimpy and was replaced by career special teamers.
6. Starting MLB - playing with a club on his hand.

That's pretty banged up. I don't think there is a team in the playoff field who could overcome that. It would be like NE going without McCourty, Chung, Butler, Roberts, Van Noy and Hightower playing with a club. We need to get better but I don't think we'd have shown as badly down the stretch with Jones, Quddos, Maxwell, Jenkins and Misi all healthy. Rambo was a train wreck late in the year and Butler was non existent. Say what you want about Misi but when he's on the field you at least know he's there from time to time.
 
Fins1971 said:
Too many injuries and points allowed. Of the 17 games we played we only held the opposition under 18 points 4 times. We were 3-1 in those games. Need a lot more than 4 games like this from the defense next year.
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Rose colored glasses firmly in place - Gase and VJ complained, say, 1st 5 games, the D was playing effectively but missing assignments. Last 3-4 games playing with a lot of backups. Between those games, the D was better. Not good, but better. It was in those games I evaluate the D. Slot, 2 LBs, DE. Those changes and the "better" D looks pretty good.
 
We lost our top pro bowl playmaker in our secondary and had two, and sometimes three, special teamers playing LB. Add to that other injuries at CB and our MLB playing with one hand. Pretty simple.
 
fansinceGWilson said:
Rose colored glasses firmly in place - Gase and VJ complained, say, 1st 5 games, the D was playing effectively but missing assignments. Last 3-4 games playing with a lot of backups. Between those games, the D was better. Not good, but better. It was in those games I evaluate the D. Slot, 2 LBs, DE. Those changes and the "better" D looks pretty good.
Click to expand...

Dolphins have a lot of holes to fill and prioritizing those positions of need won't be easy but I still think we need to address the DT position because Phillips wasn't good enough and I'm not waiting around to see if the light comes on like most around here. People keep making excuses that it takes time for a DT to develop like it did with Paul Soliai...well Soliai was a 4th round pick...Phillips was a 2nd round pick who had some character issues and a 'laziness' tag on him.
 
super disappointed in our D-Line's ability to stuff the run.

i can't even explain it.

with a healthy branch, wake, and suh, plus jordan phillips/earl mitchell/a potted plant we should have been much better at it than we were.

LBs were a weakness, but run stuffing starts with the D-Line.
 
circumstances said:
super disappointed in our D-Line's ability to stuff the run. i can't even explain it. with a healthy branch, wake, and suh, plus jordan phillips/earl mitchell/a potted plant we should have been much better at it than we were. LBs were a weakness, but run stuffing starts with the D-Line.
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Read somewhere several weeks ago run success at Suh was poor, run success at Phillips was slightly above average, run success at Wake or Branch was near top of the league. DEs who can set the edge should be a target.
 
fansinceGWilson said:
Read somewhere several weeks ago run success at Suh was poor, run success at Phillips was slightly above average, run success at Wake or Branch was near top of the league. DEs who can set the edge should be a target.
Click to expand...

if i had to guess, i wouldn't have thought suh was the main culprit :)
 
fansinceGWilson said:
Read somewhere several weeks ago run success at Suh was poor, run success at Phillips was slightly above average, run success at Wake or Branch was near top of the league. DEs who can set the edge should be a target.
Click to expand...

I wonder what those positional ranking looked like for Philly two years ago when they were running the wide 9. I would be curious to know. You basically create natural running lanes with the alignment.
 
Gase had the right idea of using Wake as a situational rusher last year. The problem was that the front office failed to give them a base DE who was worth a crap.....AND they failed on the opposite side as well with the Mario Williams signing....got a little lucky with the Branch signing but he is a JAG.

Ideally, Wake would move around and rush from both sides to free him up a bit...not to mention Suh.
 
wake has always rushed vs right tackles...I can't recall him on the left side if ever :idk:
 
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