What To Think About Miami’s Defense After The Ravens Game?!
The Ravens Game saw plenty of ugly mixed in with plenty of good for the Phins Defense
In the Ravens Game, Miami flashed talent as well as warts
The Dolphins are now 0-3 in the preseason. But, in reality, Miami’s Preseason record doesn’t mean jack… and neither do the scores. What fans need to focus on is the quality of each player’s performance in the context of the situation of that performance. This is the best evidence of what’s to come… for the individual players.
As for units and sides of the ball, you can only put a marginal amount of stock in their evaluation because of all the mixing and matching that’s going on. We likely haven’t witnessed the starting offense or defense yet. So it’s impossible to give an unfinished product a definitive evaluation.
While the Offense is more put together than the defense, only the Offensive Line has had its starters from Day 1 of camp until now. The Phins O-Line has given the best gauge of all the units on what to expect from them in Week 1.
However, in a broad sense, the third game is the closest to a real game because the starters play for more time than in any other preseason game. So the long and short of it is: Even though the Ravens game is the best measure of what we’ll get from Miami in 2018, there isn’t a direct correlation.
Miami showed a load of good in the 1st Half of the Ravens Game
As an example: The Pats / Panthers game had its 1st Half end with the Panthers leading 9-3. Brady was 12-18 for 102 yards and no Touchdowns. In comparison, Miami led the Baltimore 10-3 at the half, and Tannehill was 11-16 for 115 yards and a TD.
Anything is possible, but it wouldn’t be wise to bet the house with the pay per head services that Miami is the better team based on this performance.
Some added context for the Ravens / Dolphins game: Joe Flacco, Michael Crabtree, Willie Snead, Ronnie Stanley, Terrell Suggs, C.J. Mosely, Eric Weddle, Brandon Carr and Bennett Jackson didn’t play for the Ravens. Still, the Ravens had top talents Yanda, Collins, Willaims, Pierce, Judon, and Smith active. So this wasn’t a JV team as some have said.
Phinsnews prefers to say it was a Ravens light team… okay, okay, maybe ultralight.
But even with this weakened line-up, they are stiffer competition than many teams. This is one of the elite franchises. Remember the second half of last year’s Ravens game? They were nearly as depleted then as they were in this one… and they took Miami to the woodshed.
So use a grain of salt in total team evaluation based on the Ravens Game, just use it as is appropriate, and don’t use the whole shaker.
Yeah, the Dolphins lost again yesterday to a thin Ravens squad, but at least the first team offense finally scored a touchdown, and our defense was effective in the first half. That’s good news. No?
Yeah, it’s tough to shake those pom-poms too hard?
Minkah Fitpatrick is playing about as good as you can
Well, there isn’t any ‘Rah, Rah, Sis Boom Bah’ in my praise for Rookie Minkah Fitzpatrick. He was all over the field, racking up 4 tackles and being exactly where he needed to be every time. This guy is already playing like a stud. Last night reinforces Phinsnews belief he has a strong chance to be Defensive Rookie of the Year. FYI: his odds are +700 to win, which means $100 bet will win $700 if he wins the award.”
But it was not just Minkah playing well on defense; it started with the D-Line.
The D-line got to the opposing QB early and often, racking up 3 sacks and 5 QB hits.
Robert Quinn is looking like an absolute steal for a 4th Round Pick. Both him and Wake will be vicious this season. And how about Jordan Phillips? He looks like he wants to get paid. While I don’t trust him beyond this year, for this season alone, he and Spence paired with Wake and Quinn will be a legit front. And the depth behind them of Hayes, Harris, Taylor, Branch, and Godchaux is excellent.
And then there was McDonald. He was a monster. Miami 100% is set at Safety.
Thorns came with the roses, though
But there was a downside to last night…
…we gave up 223 yards on the ground!
Most of that damage was done in the second half when the backups were playing. However, in the 1st Half, our defense played fast and aggressive (besides the Linebackers that is) and held the Ravens to just 3 points.
One thing that continues to plague this team is the success that running QB’s have on the Dolphins. This has been a problem for the Dolphins for years, and it appears it will continue again this year. Between Robert Griffin III and Lamar Jackson, they ran 8 times for 80 yards and 1 touchdown. That’s a 10 YPC. This doesn’t bode well with Marcus Mariota of the Titans in Week 1. The Dolphins need to figure it out (finally) and do much better when going up against a QB that can run.
If this issue is ever to get fixed, it will start with the Linebackers making plays. The #1 wart of the night was that the LB’s again played poorly. Gase and Burke need to figure this position out… and pronto. Kiko and Allen are the only LB’s that are playing competently. Maybe that’s why we saw so much Nickel ‘D’? If there is one thing that should worry Phins fans ( a lot ) it’s the Linebacking group. This group will end up making or breaking the defense… and possibly the season.
Miami has 15 days to iron out these issues. I bet they try and trade or sign a free agent. But you never know… maybe they just roll the dice with what they have.
What is the rest of the Phinsnews fans thoughts about the Dolphins recent performance in their 3rd preseason game?
