Miami Dolphins defense can get team back on track against Bills
By Shawn Digity
The Miami Dolphins are sitting at 5-6. The playoffs aren’t impossible but they’ll need to show up this Sunday against the Bills. The Dolphins defense can control this game and will need to lead the way if Miami foresees a victory.
The Buffalo Bills are 4-7 after beating the Jaguars last week. The Bills aren’t a great team, but they’ve had weeks where they looked incredible. The Dolphins defense will need to prepare for every scenario.
The Dolphins D has been a tale of two teams, not only during this season as a whole but in each individual game as well. There are plenty of shortcomings: porous run defense, difficulties finding consistent pressure on the quarterback, the second starting cornerback. They have a lot of good to look at too: promising rookies, an elite starting cornerback, a solid safety corps.
With that in mind, its a grab bag for what we’ll see on Sunday, but it’s vital that the defense set the pace for this matchup. The injury report is always something to keep tabs on for every week’s game, so looking at who’s banged up could provide some insight into how the defense could square up.
Bumps and Bruises
The injury report has stayed relatively the same the last several weeks. The only new addition to the list is rookie corner Cornell Armstrong with a knee injury. He was listed as FP all week, so his only limitation will be how much time he sees.
The rest of the injury report featured the usual suspects.
Reshad Jones: shoulder-FP all three days
T.J. McDonald: knee-FP all three days
Bobby McCain: knee-FP all three days
Xavien Howard: ankle-FP all three days
Andre Branch: shoulder and hamstring-FP all three days
Nothing really to see here, folks. The defense will be relatively healthy on Sunday.
Dolphins defense v. Bills offense
As mentioned above, both these units have had mixed performances all season. Josh Allen is starting again and although he’s a rookie, he has some wheels. That’s something the defense will need to be vigilant about.
There’s no doubting Allen’s athleticism, but I think the Fins’ defense will be able to keep him in check and cause a couple of interceptions and forced fumbles. That is their strongest suit after all.
I would like to see Xavien Howard snag another INT and that’s very realistic. Josh Allen is still very raw and the game might eventually get to a point where he tried to force the ball. Allen’s inexperience will outweigh his athleticism in this matchup.
Watch for Kiko Alonso to get a forced fumble and for Raekwon McMillan and Jerome Baker to also get in on the action with a couple tackles for loss. The next biggest name on the Bills is LeSean McCoy.
I expect that to be a troublesome matchup. The defensive line and linebackers have issues with any running back, but a true superstar halfback will be a problem.
One of the best headlines for the Dolphins is that Charles Clay is Questionable. He’s shown the ability to specifically tear up the Dolphins secondary. If he’s not 100 percent then that could be a boon.
The defensive ends showed some life against a superb Colts line last Sunday, so I’m looking for Cam Wake and Robert Quinn to get a couple sacks and cause some chaos. The defensive tackles aren’t an encouraging group. They’re part of the reason why the run defense isn’t very good and why the linebackers get left with the cleanup.
Kiko Alonso has been productive in his Pro-Bowl campaign this year since he’s tied for fifth in tackles, but this is a misleading stat. He’s the beneficiary of a poor defensive line that’s often times outmatched at the point of attack. This creates lanes for running backs, but even worse, it sustains them allowing pedestrian backs to get yardage.
The defensive line is the weakest link and that deficiency has been covered up by better players in better units. The trend will, unfortunately, continue against the Bills.
Xavien Howard, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Bobby McCain and Reshad Jones should be able to hold down things on their end; the Bills wide receivers aren’t anything to write home about. But the problem and player to watch is LeSean McCoy.