The formula for NFL playoff contenders has always been the same
By Juan Vasquez
Miami finds themselves in an interesting position on the defensive side of the ball, Josh Boyer will remain as the DC, and there has been speculation that the poor defensive performances at the beginning of the season was when Boyer had full control.
The Dolphins fired Gerald Alexander who was mentioned by some reporters to have been involved with Flores in the play calling of the defense later on in the season, but that has not been confirmed.
Well as I’m writing this Barry Jackson dropped this nugget confirming Boyer was the one calling plays all season.
Some players have spoken very highly of Boyer, others have not. Quite frankly I don’t know how to feel, will the defense regress? if so how much? Was Flores and Alexander the main reason the defense turned around to be so dominant? Or did Boyer have full control all along?
These are questions that only the product on the field can answer, and there is a long time until we can be the judge of that.
For now here is what we do know, the Dolphins have some great talents on the defensive side of the ball. And McDaniel’s staff is going to be responsible in making sure there is little to no drop-off in how the defense performs.
The improvement of the offense should compliment the defense nicely so even if there is a drop off, the offense is picking up the slack. These are year 1 expectations, over time maintaining the level of play won’t be enough though.
Mike McDaniel is brought here to elevate the level of play that has already been achieved, in order for the McDaniel hire to be a success he must overcome the obstacles Flores couldn’t.
He’s going to have to be able to compete with the Buffalo Bills and win games against them, he must be able to start the season strong, he must be able to put together an excellent staff, which McDaniel’s staff does look great on paper but the product they produce must be as good as the name brand they hold.
And most importantly McDaniel will have to build a complete team with a dominant run game, a QB that can be clutch in big moments, and a defense that can hold off the Josh Allen’s and Patrick Mahomes’ of the world.
The holy trinity might not be achieved this upcoming season, it might happen with the set of players we have or it might happen with a completely different group. In the end the goal is the same, and there are many ways to build a winner.
But this is the Shanahan blueprint and I expect McDaniel to not only follow it, but find success with it.
