The 2019 Miami Dolphins were written off before the season started. just before the season, they traded away starting LT Laremy Tunsil. Then, they traded away former 1st round pick and versatile defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick during the season. The slogan “Tank for Tua” was thrown around by media and fans. Something that fans and media don’t understand is that there is no such thing as tanking in the NFL. Coaches and players work too hard and too long to ever go into a game wanting to lose. Besides, even on a losing team, players and coaches are working extra harder to prove to the other 31 teams that they belong in the NFL.
Miami wound up with a record of 5-11, including victories over the Eagles and Patriots, two division winning teams. What is even more impressive about that record is that the Dolphins started the season 0-7. They went 5-4 over the last 9 games, showing improvement. One thing the Dolphins never did, even when they were winless, was quit. That is a testament to the culture coach Brian Flores is creating down in south beach. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was any football team. It takes a lot of effort and trust to get to where they want to be, and the fact that the players are sticking together during the hard times speaks volumes.
On defense, the Dolphins ranked 30th in total defense. while that number is towards the bottom, they had a very young team, especially on defense. They also suffered key injuries, including to their best player, cornerback Xavien Howard.
The Dolphins defense is similar to the Patriots style defense. They will play a variety of fronts, based on their opponent. They play a lot of man coverage, especially on third downs. While the dolphins were starting young inexperienced corners basically all season, they did not shy away from being aggressive.
Starting in 2018, the Patriots shifted their style on defense, particularly on third down. They started blitzing a lot more, even sending true cover 0 pressures. Brian Flores was the defensive play caller and linebacker coach during 2018 for the Patriots, and he brought that package with him to Miami. They like to use the amoeba front, where defenders move around in order to create chaos. This puts stress on the offenses because they don’t know who to point mike or where to slide to.
Here is an example, in week 7 against the Bills. The Dolphins are walking around before the snap. The Bills motion a receiver to confirm that it is man coverage.
The Bills slide the center to the left. Allowing LB Jerome Baker (#55) to come screaming up the middle unblocked. The Dolphins also loop #49 to the outside, just in case Allen is able to escape Baker and roll out to his right, where he has 2 receivers running routes. Surprisingly, the Bills send both tight ends and the running back out on routes. The Bills did this because they knew that if they sent them out on routes rather than have them protect, the dolphins would have to cover them. But since the Dolphins are in cover 0, they can rush 6 and buffalo only have 5 to block.
Later in the year in week 15 against the Giants, the Dolphins once again were able to get a free rusher with the amoeba front. This time, the dolphins have no down lineman, as opposed to one in the previous example.
The Dolphins rush all 3 linebackers to the left of the center. Baker comes free on the rush because the left tackle makes a mistake. He originally sets to block 55, but panics and lets him go to help the running back block #49.
In the image above, look how the left tackle has his eyes inside. He takes is eyes off #55 for a split second, allowing him to come free and get a hit on the quarterback. As you can see, the Right tackle has nobody to block, but the dolphins are able to get #55 a free rush to the quarterback. Granted, if the LT had stayed on his man, Baker would be picked up. Again, the amoeba front is used to cause confusion, which it accomplishes in both examples.
Talkin Ball 