Should the Dolphins switch to a 4-3 for the remainder of the season?

[ethurst22]

From what I saw the last three games, Miami is really confusing teams on defense.

I go back and look at the game tape. I watch all Dolphin games over the Internet so I can record not the game but certain formations and from what I see, I am impressed by what has taken place over the last two games. The Dolphins have varied their alignments and have taken Taylor and Porter off the field in some situations. Porter is playing the run much better than he has in a long time and maybe its the rest from him not practicing during the week. He's playing faster.

These are the alignments that I went back and saw...

4-2-5  Soliai, Starks, Langford and Merling with Porter and Crowder as the linebackers or Crowder and Adelye shifting along the line of scrimmage with Y. Bell 5 to 7 yards back picking a gap for run support like a third linebacker.

3-4-4  Soliai at the Nose, Starks at DE and Langford at the other end. Porter, Adelye, Crowder and Torbor at the linebacker position. I notice that if the opposite team has a third and 15, Miami puts Charlie Anderson in this position because he is faster than Akin and can blitz or drop back into coverage.

4-3-4  Taylor at Left defensive End, Tony McDaniel, Soliai, and Starks or Taylor
Porter, Crowder, Akin or sometimes Torbor for Akin in this alignment.

alternate 4-3-4   Wake, McDaniel, Merling and Starks. To me this is the best alignment that the Dolphins have generated a pass rush from. Crowder, Torbor and Anderson at the linebacker positions.  McDaniel has been the unsung hero because he really gets pressure from his DT spot and can play the run. Its safe to say that he's actually playing more than Langford in some instances. No need to knock Langford because if your a lineman in the 3-4, your going to have two or maybe even three people coming at you.

The Hybrid Defense - A cause of great debate on the TDMMC. This is where Porter or Taylor put their hands in the dirt before the snap. I would have to call this alignment a 4-3. It's hard for a person with their hands in the ground to constantly raise up from that position and drop back into coverage. It's done in zone blitzes with DT's but not constantly

5-2-4   This is where Wilson comes up on the line of scrimmage just like a linebacker inside of Smith or Davis. It seems to me that Wilson is a good hitter within five yards of the line of scrimmage when a back is trying to get a vision of a hole. Wilson to me is really a linebacker in a safeties body. He's not a great open field tackler as we've seen but he's money from seven yards in. In this alignment he has the option to run to a gap or blitz.

Overall analysis...

I like what Miami is doing on defense. My whole complaint during the Jimmy and Wanny years was that they had the talent to play multiple defensive formations like the Patriots did. Wanny committed his biggest crime with an all-pro defense by telling Jim Bates to keep them in one formation all year.

Wanny's most famous words were "we're going to stay vanilla on defense".

Great.

Tom Brady always stated back then that you knew what the Dolphins defense was going to do every play. The saving grace many times was LB Zach Thomas but this is why the Dolphins lost crucial games in the 4th quarter back then, Everyone knew what was coming.

Saban made things too complicated. I blame him for ruining Jason Allen by switching him back and forth between corner and safety in training camp. You know you're in trouble when a rookie (Travis Daniels) knows your defense better than the veterans.

Dom Capers? Over the hill. Another guy who was well past his prime with outdated zone blitzes which led to a miserable Joey Porter playing out of position.

If this defense can keep the offense guessing, the we can win the remaining three games. Notice that everything is being switched up front to protect our young corners which I am still impressed with. Even when the WR receiver makes a big play, they are usually in their hip pocket. I think that Smith needs to run his coverages out and he would get a lot of batted down passes and INT's. I think hes hesitant that he'll get called for Pass Interference by being a rookie.

[Tenshot13]

^  Great analysis of the defense.  I picked up on a few of the formations you were talking about, but some of the ones you were talking about I didn't even realize until you mentioned them.

[ethurst22]

^  Great analysis of the defense.  I picked up on a few of the formations you were talking about, but some of the ones you were talking about I didn't even realize until you mentioned them.

Thanks,

Honest to God. I haven't seen a Dolphin defense use a variety of formations since The Arnsparger Era with the No-Name Defense. The Dolphins back then played a 3-3-5 on passing downs. On third down, you knew that the Dolphins were going to be in the 53 defense. The 53 defense rarely blitzed defensive backs because Jake Scott and Dick Anderson were so good at the safety positions that you didn't need to blitz. If Miami blitzed, they sent an outside linebacker in those days.

The Killer B defense was a hybrid 3-4, 4-3 with only one guy, ILB A.J. Duhe, moving all over the place. Shula converted him from DE to inside linebacker to a rover. You couldn't tell where Duhe was going to line up. Its the first time that I ever saw a defensive end that could play with his hands in the dirt and play all inside linebacker positions. After Duhe, every one emulated that type of defense. Karl Mecklenberg for the Broncos was the best at it and he was a converted DT/DE. Had the Broncos won a couple of SB in the 80's, he would have made it to the Hall of Fame before Elway.

That was the genius of Don Shula. He always picked the players over the system. He looked at his players and his talents and found a system that they could excel in. Most coaches (Nick Satan) demand that players fit into their system. Shula could adjust his offense and defense on the run according to his personnel. Where Shula made the mistake was trying to be GM and Coach. Can't do both effectively.

In the 90's, it was hit or miss with the Dolphin defense and lets not even talk about Olivadotti, Chuck Studley or even Jim Bates. The Dolphins had the talent but for some reason, the coaches weren't imaginative on defense. I guess they were afraid that the players would forget the multiple formations after a night out on South Beach.

Because at times, it sure look like Louis Oliver was getting toasted in the passing game, especially when Miami played Buffalo. Kelly always went after Oliver. Oliver won one matchup with the 103 yard interception return. Gibril Wilson is Louis Oliver reincarnated in pass coverage!

I want to tape some formations, just a clip and put them on a video server and link them from the forum to the server but I don't want to get in trouble with the No Fun league. I think that the fans deserve the right to look at clips of formations like they do in Madden. Just my opinion.

[Doc-phin]

Great work ethurst.  There isn't much for me to comment on, but I wanted to show some appreciation for your efforts.