The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

0-2.

Worst defense in the league.

And people are complaining about the offense?

It seems to me that there's a whole lot of focus on offensive deficiencies -- and I'm not saying they're not real -- and I just find that rather absurd considering the complete suckitude on the other side of the ball.

The defense was supposed to be really, really good. What the F*CK happened?

To me, there aren't really too many bright spots... if I had to pick one, I'd say our starting corners. Yes, Vontae Davis and Sean Smith. Except for the fact that they can't stay on the field, of course, which is a huge f'n problem.

And we have ZERO depth behind them. Carroll may only be in his second year, but he's NOT getting the job done.

It also seems like we're suffering a lot from the absence of Chris Clemons. Reshad Jones, while not downright terrible, has been pretty bad and directly cost us a touchdown against the Texans by blowing his assignment (it was obvious on TV and Sparano confirmed it afterwards): When Carroll is playing press against Andre Johnson, how can you even THINK that your assignment is anything other than providing help over the top? There was no fake, no misdirection, nothing. Jones was also caught looking into the backfield a few times against the Patriots and at least one of those also cost a touchdown.

Run D hasn't been much better, sadly, and injuries aren't even an excuse there. I just don't know why they are playing like crap. Wake, Misi and Taylor aren't getting much pressure on the quarterbacks, which is exacerbating our problems with pass D, and basically the other team's offensive line just isn't worrying about them, leaving too many blockers for our D-line to handle. Without going back and looking at a bunch of replays (which would hurt too much), I'm not sure who's playing well on the line and who isn't.

I've been saying since game 1 that defense is our #1 problem.  Don't let the chicken little's around here fool you, the offense is not the team's biggest problem right now.  The tackling on this team is miserable.  Guys routinely run for 6-8 yards after bouncing off 2-3 tacklers.  Hell, Benjarvus Green-Ellis looked like Chris Johnson out there against our front 7.

And then there's the secondary.  Coverage has been a problem as well.  I didn't see Will Allen on the field once last game.  And Reshad Jones, while I like him, seems to be only good at tackling guys and not a good nose for guessing what's coming. 

I am truly wondering if Channing Crowder was the glue that held it all together, considering he's the only cog missing from last year's 6th ranked run defense.

These guys gotta tighten up quickly.  Problem is - I don't know what can be done to fix it.

Tackling is a lost art.  And I know the Dolphins aren't the only ones guilty of this.  Guys all want to go for the blow-up hit instead of wrapping a guy and tackling him.  They will miss six tackles because they are trying to blow a guy up instead of tackling him.  Then, after missing six tackles, they finally lay some guy out and then they do a dance on the field and throw their arms up in the air like they just solidified their spot in the Hall of Fame.  Never mind that they missed six tackles previously.

You mean tackling isn't just slamming into someone at 15mph with a 20 yard head start?  What is this "tackle" that you speak of?

Everyone just wants to be on ESPN's highlight specials.  "Big hits" in the NFL = the flashy slam dunk in the NBA.

I saw him once.

I'm glad someone went here (not Allen but defense in general). I think it is pretty telling that people arguing about our offense being a problem right now have an agenda. A last ranked defense is the worst possible scenario for the Miami Dolphins and we hear complaints about Henne in almost every post.

I could handle the way things went on opening day.  It at least made sense to me that the hurry up along with Brady's ability to get rid of the ball quick and his ability to attack our weaknesses (Sapp, Jones, Carrol) got the best of us.  But week two I didn't see anything particularly impressive about the Texans' offense.  We were 0-1 and the strength of our team was ultra inconsistent against a unit that didn't really do anything special against them.  No urgency, no focus, no personal responsibility out of the young players, reactive scheme, all of it adds up to mediocre at best.

We are in trouble as far as I can tell and I absolutely blame the defense the most.  The offense is improving and it is visible, but they need time before they are ready for a shootout.  The defense needs to keep us in games with the better opponents and dominate against the lesser opponents.  They haven't been able to keep us in the game against better opponents so I have no faith that they will dominate a lesser one. 

So here we are, hoping they can at least keep us in this next game (which is a lesser opponent) when we should be expecting them to dominate them.  Bummed to say the least!  If they do manage to dominate them, perhaps some hope will begin to brew that they are back on track.  If not, God help them because mutiny is afoot.  They better realize that all of their jobs are on the line.  New regime almost always means new players and if you can't beat the Browns, you aren't far from a personell reset.

I'm sick of seeing the offense at the line and ready to snap the ball while the defense is still in a huddle.  They are not ready still getting lined up, and the QB is calling his cadence.

That is unacceptable.  It happened at LEAST 3 times in the NE game and twice I could remember in the Houston game.  Hurry up or not, the defense has to be ready FIRST.

They don't even attempt to wrap up... is what I have a problem with most...then you have guys like Smith that just try to go for the strip too much instead of securing a tackle.

Tackling comes down to coaching.  Either a quality control coach, the DC (or any defensive coach for that matter), or the HC don't see it as a problem.  That's the real problem.

But it's not just a current coaching thing, it has been a major problem for this defense since Wanny's days.

^^^Come on, are you really going to blame the coaches??  These guys are starting in the NFL and they don't know how to tackle??  It's laziness and trying to make a highlight reel knockout.  If they don't know how to tackle then cut them!!

I understand your point, but SOMETIMES thay want to wait as long as possible to get into position because it gives the opposing QB less time to read the defense.

I have heard former players say that tackling has been an issue for many teams and they believe it is due to the lack of tackling in practice.  The new practice rules apparently severely limit the ability to get quality practice time with full contact.  We aren't the only ones with tackling problems, we have just been exploited more by good offenses.

It should get better but we need it to get better quick because our offense isn't ready to compensate for bad defense.

Agreed to a point.  It says a lot about the players' work ethics.   However, it's the coach's job to fix problems that occur.  If the coach doesn't care that players don't wrap and tackle properly, then why should the players?  Accountability starts at the top.

Vince Lombardi preached blocking and tackling.  If I were a coach I'd make sure that my players could at least perform these two duties.  If players are consistently allowed to not sweat the details then they should be disciplined or cut...but that's all up to the HC who apparently doesn't mind it so much.

I'm sure Miami is not the only team with this issue.  But I've been watching Miami defenders blow tackles for too long to think it's only because of the lockout.

Actually, now that I think about it, I don't really recall a lot of blown tackles so far (for us).  I mostly notice guys not getting off their blocks and out of position on coverage.  I notice more on special teams than anything.  But as far as blown tackles by the Dolphins, I don't really think I have noticed anything beyond a guy pushing forward for an extra yard or two here and there.  The only one that sticks out is the play where Benny Sapp popped into one of the Pats tight ends (think it was Gronkowski) in the red zone and he bounced off and managed to get an extra 5 yards or so.  As you know, Benny is no longer with us - problem solved.  Any examples that might jog my memory?

To be honest, I can't remember any exact plays where it happened.  It's happened so often over the last few years, I've almost tuned them out as expected occurrences.  However, I've googled a few links to stories about it.  I do not have the time to sift through youtube for them.

http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/thedailydolphin/2011/09/19/dolphins-vs-texans-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/
Under the "bad" section.  It also mentions the Dolphins lack of conditioning.

http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/thedailydolphin/
It's nice to see that some players do care.  I hope they have enough pull to fix the problems.

http://www.thephinsider.com/2011/9/20/2438027/miami-dolphins-news-you-may-have-missed-9-20-11

http://www.miamidolphins.com/news/article-1/Andy-Cohen-Henne-Showed-Plenty-Just-Couldn%E2%80%99t-Outplay-Brady/fa284b58-40a8-4caa-ac96-ac1160abc123
There was also an article by Andy Cohen that spoke of the tackling against the Texans that has been removed from the main Miami website as far as I can tell.

Most of the articles just mention recent tackling woes.  I'll let you read the relevant parts.  I chimed in because the previous posters mentioned the lack of tackling a few times.  Maybe they can provide links or list specific examples.  One thing I will say is that slamming into someone and hoping they fall down is not a successful method of tackling and I've seen it too much in Miami this season.  Other teams have similar problems, but I'm not concerned with them...those are their problems.

I remember a specific play last week when Ben Tate was running off left tackle and a LB hit him in the hole and Tate broke out.  Then it looked like a CB hit him right after that from the other side and bounced off, and not until Jones tripped him by grabbing his foot 8 yards later did he go down.

Its not like Ben Tate is Walter Payton.

Of course I can't find that clip online.

All he needs to do is watch the game(s) again... he'll see the missed tackles.

I watched the games and took a brief second look at both.  I still don't consider the issue to be missed tackles.  Once the players get to the ball carrier they are pretty much either making the tackle or someone right behind them is there to finish the take down.  No team tackles perfectly.

I am not going to really try and drive home this point.  I think our defense has been shameful so far this year and at times last year.  But the major issues are not getting turnovers, not beating one on one matchups at the line, not redirecting receiver routes, and linebacker/safeties getting beat on matchups with tightends/running backs coming out of the backfield.  Since we got rid of Jason Allen, our missed tackles have been pretty been reasonable IMO.

I hate to admit but while watching the Houston game I was wondering the same thing. I noticed when Crowder was missing last season we struggled some with the run as well and we improved with him on the field.


This pisses me off as well and it is league wide. I see so many players go for a strip and miss and the runner breaks away. It is aggravating as hell.



I keep waiting for the defense to gel and I honestly think that they will but I hope it is soon because I, like many others think our defensive issues are just as big if not bigger than our offensive issues.

I'm with you on this here!

Although I don't care for Crowder... I think his run support was better and his knowledge he accredits to Zach Thomas teaching him how to get the defense aligned properly seem to be missing.

After all the stuff he's said on the radio, I don't think he'd be welcome back to help this team out. XD

Kevin Burnett has certainly not been an upgrade thus far.  I don't know what this defense is missing right now, but they're certainly missing something.

sucks.

Make no mistake. The loss today was on the Defense. Like I've said previously they fold like a house of cards when the game is on the line. Henne had the lead and the defense gave it up like they they weren't on the field against one of the worst offenses in the league. They flat out suck.

Henne had the lead?  Hennes only td drive came on a defensive turnover in cle. territory. the defense only gave up 17 points today. 

What happened in the first 57 minutes of the game meant next to nothing.  The only thing that mattered was stopping the Browns on that last drive and Colt had his finest drive of the day.  Simply disgusting.

It didn't matter at all?  No, if Henne actually does something in the redzone, the browns last drive is to pull within 1 score instead of taking the lead.  It is silly to only look at the last 3 minutes of a game.  The first 57 minutes count just as must as the last 3.

Even after all of Henne/Daboll's sucking, the defense just had to make a stop...and couldn't.  In fact, Colt had his finest drive of the day by far.

Against one of the worst offenses in the NFL without their most dangerous player. When the game was on the line, when we needed a stop the defense folded like a cheap tent just like they have a half dozen games dating back to last year.

Was Wake even on the field? Zero sacks? C'mon man that's pathetic. The offense has taken it's share of abuse over the last 2 years, you can't expect the offense to bail you out in that situation. The defense absolutely HAD to step up and make a play and they failed.

It's not Henne's fault that Carpenter can't seem to make FG's anymore. It's not Henne's fault that Bush can't hold onto the ball.