Dolphins Defense...

[Pappy13]

This is where I say I told you so...damn, you almost had me believing you too.

This defense is no where NEAR as good as you all think they are. They just aren't. Yes it was New England so I'll cut them some slack, but not 517 passing yards and 5 TD's slack. That's pathetic and I don't care who you are playing. Vontae is real good at flapping his gums before the game, but he's real quiet DURING games when it actually matters. Burnett looked ordinary. Dansby was underwhelming. Wake was VERY underwhelming. Just about everyone else flat out stunk.

Now don't get me wrong, they don't stink and it's POSSIBLE they could become quite good, but I'll tell you once more THEY ARE NOT THERE YET!!! Not really even close. They have flashes of being very good, but they also have long bouts of total wretchedness.

The numbers are skewed because frankly the offense has been HORRIBLE. So horrible that teams don't have to worry about putting up numbers on the defense. They sit back and wait for the offense to implode and then they score or they wait till the games on the line and then they drive the length of the field to score the go ahead touchdown like they are playing a high school team.

If this offense can start scoring 20 points a game on a regular basis (and that's not a given), then we'll see how good the defense is. When your offense has trouble putting up 14 points a game, it's gonna make your defense look better than it really is. I've been telling all of you this for a year and no one is listening. Unlike MikeO, I get no joy out of being right and I honestly wish I was wrong in this case, but I wasn't. It's exactly as I feared, we go out and score 24 and give up 38.

[Spider-Dan]

The defense's overwhelming problem was conditioning.  We don't even know if Davis/Smith are improved, because Davis couldn't stay on the field and Smith was limping around.

A lot of good defenses (GB, PIT, NYJ) looked horrible this weekend.  We'll see if it's really a problem.

[Pappy13]

The defense's overwhelming problem was conditioning.  We don't even know if Davis/Smith are improved, because Davis couldn't stay on the field and Smith was limping around.

A lot of good defenses (GB, PIT, NYJ) looked horrible this weekend.  We'll see if it's really a problem.

I disagree. The problem with the conditioning was that they were chasing New England's WR's and TE's the ENTIRE night. If they would have forced a couple of 3 and out's, they wouldn't have been sucking wind in the 2nd half. If they would have put a little pressure on Brady and brought him down a few times, New England wouldn't have been able to go no huddle the whole freaking game. If they would have played any kind of defense whatsoever they would have been standing on the sidelines resting rather than taking IV bags.

Poor conditioning wasn't the cause of the problem, being gassed was the end result of playing poor defense. Until Miami faces that fact they will continue to fail.

[Doc-phin]

Its not where you start, its where you finish.

I figured the first two games would be losses and still predict 10 wins this year.  I thought we might sneak a win in this game but wasn't counting on it in the long run.  I saw enough from our offense to think we have a better shot than I expected at beating Houston but we are still a outmatched.  After that we can start to see opponents we match up better against.

The Pats beat us with a great QB, tons of hurry up and no weak receivers.  They are going to put major numbers up on lots of opponents this year and good ones at that.

The defense needs to communicate and substitute faster.  Our scheme needs to give more support to our slot coverage.  Our corners need to hydrate better and change a bit on their nutritional intake.  These issues can be fixed quickly and I expect a better showing in short order.  Keep your heads straight and don't let the disappointment of losing blur your vision.

[fyo]

Vontae is real good at flapping his gums before the game, but he's real quiet DURING games when it actually matters.

Vontae looked fine when he was actually on the field. The defense completely fell apart when he came off, which seemed like it was every other play.

[Pappy13]

Vontae looked fine when he was actually on the field. The defense completely fell apart when he came off, which seemed like it was every other play.

By fine you mean that they were only catching passes for 15 or 20 yards a pop rather than 100 yard TD's?

[fyo]

By fine you mean that they were only catching passes for 15 or 20 yards a pop rather than 100 yard TD's?

Considering there were about 3 passes completed against Vontae all night, I think I'm justified in thinking he did okay.

[tepop84]

Considering there were about 3 passes completed against Vontae all night, I think I'm justified in thinking he did okay.

How many did he defend?  I know I saw Slater like 5 steps past him on a bomb that Slater just didn't catch. 

[fyo]

How many did he defend?  I know I saw Slater like 5 steps past him on a bomb that Slater just didn't catch. 

Was that the one where he was supposed to have safety help over the top, but Reshad Jones bit like crazy on a Brady fake?

This isn't a game I'm going to go back and watch a whole lot of, so my initial impressions will have to do. And my initial impression was that Vontae looked fine out there. Not great, but fine. Kid did okay.

When he was on the field, that is. The problem with him is that he's apparently not in game shape. He was winded, cramping up... and that directly resulted in Nolan Carroll taking over, which was an unmitigated disaster.

[Pappy13]

Considering there were about 3 passes completed against Vontae all night, I think I'm justified in thinking he did okay.

Considering he only played a half and I can't think of any big plays he had, I'd say getting 3 passes completed against you isn't all that great either.

[Pappy13]

This isn't a game I'm going to go back and watch a whole lot of, so my initial impressions will have to do. And my initial impression was that Vontae looked fine out there. Not great, but fine. Kid did okay.

And if he hadn't been mouthing off that him and Smith were the 2 best corners in the league that WOULD have been just fine.

[tubba marxxx]

No I ask you what I said all offseason....why wasn't Miami in the Nnamdi sweepstakes?

Because they had 2 "solid" corners already?  Hmm so did the Eagles..so that can't be it


Correct answer:  Because Miami has had a clueless front office since the mid-80's

[Diehard_Dolfan]

Defense really let us down against the Pats!   Yeah, it was the Pats but that's no excuses for one of the supposedly top defenses in the NFL...    It's just sicking that the same issues plague us every yr!   We haven't been able to defend TE's now for yrs, it's the reason that Crowder is gone and Dansby and Burnett are here and they got toasted by TE's also!  Burnett looked like a beast (Mr Hyde) in the pre-season but looks like since changing his number he became Dr. Jeckyll...

One thing that I haven't seen any one address was the poor tackling that went on in that game...

Is it me.. or do the Dolphins always seem to either blitz up the middle at the wrong time or not get their most of the time?   The only blitzes I can remember working for the Dolphins in recent yrs is blitzes off the edge!

[Doc-phin]

One thing that I haven't seen any one address was the poor tackling that went on in that game...

Good point.  There were a lot of little plays out there that were overshadowed by all the big plays.  Dansby just hasn't looked the same as last year so far (including preseason).  And Burnett was a non-factor as far as I could tell.

Dare I say Crowder was a better tackler than either of these guys have shown so far?  I will give the unit a couple of games before I really judge.  No doubt Burnett is faster in coverage, so we need to wait and see if these guys can get themselves straight. 

Other points - Solia couldn't get it done against the backup center, not good.  Starks has been a non factor for quite a while now.  Maybe our inside line isn't as good as we thought.  And it was shameful to see Wake pancaked as much as he was by an undersized tackle.  Odrick was the only lineman that I saw shedding blocks and stunting effectively, everyone else needs to start taking some personal responsibility.

On a positive note - Bell looked better than I expected.  He has struggled against tight ends the last couple of years, but he played well against the Pats.  If we get Clemons back, we should be able to reduce the big plays in short order.

[Dolphster]

I think I'll wait til we have a little more evidence than one game against what is probably the best QB in the league before I make up my mind about whether the defense is any good or not.