The Dolphins 2014 season is in the record books and is dust in the wind now.
The Dolphins hired a new offensive coordinator last off-season, and any bookie software site like www.AcePerHead.com you ask would agree that Lazor helped to improve the Dolphins offense in many ways, which coming into the season was definitely more of a question mark then the other side of the ball. On the other side of the ball, Coyle completed his third year as the defensive coordinator, and his side of the ball was supposed to be the bedrock of the team, however late in the season, when it counted the most, the defense regressed to embarrassing proportions.
Regardless of whether or not Coyle returns, one thing that is painfully clear, is that Miami needs a lot more work on the defensive side. It is true that the defense was definitely hit harder with injuries than the offense, however, that is not an excuse. The Defense not only fell apart in the last six games of the season, but they also failed to close out the Packers and Lions, two games where the offense put the team in a position to win.
The Defense finished 20th in points allowed per game, averaging 23.3 points per game, 12th in total yards allowed, 24th in rushing yards allowed, 6th in passing yards allowed, 13th in sacks per pass play and 29th in third-down defense. The biggest thing that jumps out, is that the defense was ranked almost last in third-down defense. Basically this means the defense could not get off the field, even though they had the offense in a third-down situation. When your defense can not stop the opposing offense on the crucial third down, then this does not bode well in preventing the opposing team from scoring points. In addition, if the defense can not get off the field on third down, this means drives are extended for longer periods of time, which ultimately wears on the defense’s stamina as the game progresses into the fourth quarter. This statistic also helps to explain why the defense fell apart in the final 6 games of the season, because after 10 games of being worn down time and again, the defense finally cracked like a dam, and the result was other teams averaging 32.16 points per game. When you allow this many points per game, it is surprising that they were able to even win 2 out of the 6 final games.
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How can Miami improve on third down? For starters on third and long, Miami needs to have a more terrorizing pass rush. The pass rush was decent at the beginning of the year, however towards the end they were not so dominant, and 13th in sacks per pass play is only slightly above average in the league. Wake was a beast for most of the season, and Vernon was decent most of the time, however, besides those two players, there were no other players that were constantly putting pressure on the QB. As the New York Giants proved twice in two Super Bowls against Brady, you can never have enough pass rushers in this league, and it is evident that Miami does not have enough. Another way to improve on third down is by being better against the run. When a team is running through you on first and second down as if you were not even there, then this leads to a lot of third and shorts, where the other team has the full playbook to work with.
Miami has its work cut out for them if they want to make the playoffs next year, and if the Dolphins were smart they would put in some extra focus on making the defense better. Even in this day and age, where the NFL is known as a high scoring passing league, defenses still win championships. Just take a look at who the reigning Super Bowl champions are, and see how they play defense.
