Defense is the key to a 2016 Dolphins Turnaround.
Defense is the key to any franchise long term success.
Quarterback is arguably the most important position in all of sports, and many football gambling fans are betting that the success of the Dolphins will be determined by how well Ryan Tannehill plays. Don’t get me wrong, I know we need Tannehill to play well for the Dolphins to have a winning record. However, it will be more important how the Defense plays. As the cliche goes, offense wins games, but defense wins championships. All you need to do is look at the Super Bowl Champs in the Denver Broncos to know cliches are cliches for a reason.
The NFL generally ranks a defense by how many yards they allow. However, it’s more important to judge a defense by how many points they allow because points defeat a team, not yards. Last season the Dolphins were ranked 19th in the league, allowing 24.3 points per game. Just for comparison, the top 8 teams in lowest points allowed per game last year all made the playoffs last year, and only 1 team of the top 12 did not make the playoffs last year. In addition, each of these teams allowed less than 20 points per game.
It is not going to be easy job for the Vance Joseph and the Dolphins to shave off over 4 points a game in order to get under the 20 point per game amount. However, Joseph has a good philosophy which is the backbone of all success in the NFL. He has vowed that his defensive scheme is going to be aggressive. In past Dolphin’s regimes the Defense has been dictated by what the offense playing against them does. Instead, Joseph is saying that in 2016, Miami is going to be the ones attacking and dictating to the offense.
Joseph believes in an aggressive defense, but we have heard this before.
The reason why Joseph believes in an aggressive scheme is because an attack style causes more chaos, and in that chaos is a greater chance for turnovers. Last year, when Joseph was the defensive backs coach in Cincinnati, his Defense caused 28 turnovers, which was ranked 6th best in the entire league, whereas Miami’s defense only caused 16 turnovers last year which was 29th worst in the entire league. Turnovers can greatly change the momentum of a game, and generally the teams that win the turnover battle consistently throughout the year, win more games. Of the top 10 teams last year in the turnover differential, 7 of them made the playoffs.
So, if the Dolphins can actually execute a more aggressive scheme, and create more turnovers, and allow less points per game, then statistically speaking they are going to greatly increase their odds in having a winning record. It is as simple as the fact of if a team can not score on you then they can’t beat you. A superior Defense can win a lot of games with a pedestrian Offense, but a superior Offense with a pedestrian Defense does not guarantee that that team will win a lot of games. But, let’s be clear, saying you will have a successful defensive unit is a lot easier said than done.
So, the question at hand is, can Miami be successful on the defensive side of the ball with the talent currently on the roster? Do the Miami Dolphins News fans think that our defense will be able to play at a high level this upcoming season, and will they be able to play aggressive, but still be able to play smart?