What happened to the Defense?

Even though the Miami Dolphins are only two games deep into the preseason, and 3 of their main starters have been sidelined with injuries. (Karlos Dansby (knee), Cameron Wake (back injury), and Kevin Burnett (back)) It is becoming obvious that the biggest lose for the Dolphins during the offseason, was not Brandon Marshall, but defensive coordinator Mike Nolan.

Mike Nolan came over from the Denver Broncos, and turned the Miami Dolphins defense into the 3rd rated run defense in the league last year. Now, Nolan is in Atlanta, who the Dolphins face in their 3rd preseason game on friday, and it has become apparent that the once strength of the team has now already become more of a liability then the possibility of a rookie QB starting.

In two preseason games the 1st string defense has surrendered 5 scores on 6 possessions, and 4 of those scores have been for touchdowns. Against Carolina they allowed 295 yards by halftime. The sports betting strategy is that if the Dolphins defense can not find a way to stop opposing offenses, then phins news fans are going to be in for a very long season. Combine this with the possibility of rookie QB Ryan Tannehill starting the season, who is bound to have a bumpy ride in the beginning, and the sports betting strategy would be to pick the Dolphins to go under on the total of 7 1/2 wins for the season for -120 on acesportsbook.com. I must admit, I had a lot more hope for this team before seeing their first two preseason games, and even laughably thought they might be able to win 10 games. However, I thought the defense was going to be able to carry this team. Instead, I am definitely more worried about the defense, and if the defense is going to let up more points then an arcade pin ball machine then, it really does not matter how well the offense plays.

Ireland has had 4 drafts and offseason’s to find the team a free safety, and it appears he still has not even come close. This position has been a weakness for us for at least the past 4 to 5 years, and it is very discouraging that it has rarely been addressed by management. Sorry but drafting Chris Clemons and Reshad Jones, in subsequent drafts in the 5th round does not count as management recognizes a teams weaknesses and addressing them. There should have been at least one first round pick, at least a 2nd round pick, or even doubling down on the position during one of the four drafts that Jeff Ireland was involved in. Once again the phins news fans see the positions that the Dolphins need the most help in, but the organization has shown no urgency to fix the problems. I really truly wanted to give the management the benefit of the doubt before this season began, and I know these are just preseason games, however, the large regression of the defense has really bothered me. The only thing that phins new fans can hope for is that with the combinations of injuries and a plain vanilla defense that has not shown exotic blitz packages, that the defense will only get better as time progresses. One can only hope.