Will the Miami Dolphins defense be more aggressive in 2022?

Sorry for the very First Take/Mike Greenberg-like tease for the headline but it’s a question that I have been thinking about for a bit. Will the Miami Dolphins very aggressive defense that we saw in the last nine games last year be even more bloodthirsty and blitz-happy given that the offense should be scoring more points?

The Miami Dolphins have loaded up on offense ever since Mike McDaniel was brought in to take the 22nd rated offense in terms of points per game, 20.1, to new heights. The trading for Tyreek Hill, signing Terron Armstead, Chase Edmonds, Raheem Mostert, and Cedrick Wilson, and pairing all of that with Jaylen Waddle and Mike Gesicki can’t possibly deliver a worse offense than we saw last year. I mean I hope we’re not living in that universe.

The Miami Dolphins have ample ability to score near 28-30 points a game based on their offensive personnel and the mind of Mike McD. Yeah, we don’t know how Tua Tagovailoa will lead this team but based on him slugging down silver bullets at the Florida Panthers game, I think he’ll rise to the challenge.

Just look at that guy making sure the mountains are blue and tying one on with his teammates.

The amount of leadership pouring out of him is incalculable. I know some of you out there are upset by this because Tua should be watching film and going over his audibles. I’m sure he did that when he got home.

Anyway, sorry to get slightly off track there. The Miami Dolphin’s defense; will it amp up their aggressive style even more due to the offense finally having the ability to actually score a bunch of points?

You would think the answer has to be yes right? Last year, the Miami Dolphins brought pressure 39.6% of the time which made them the #2 team in terms of who brought pressure the most. This was done for a few reasons. First, the Dolphin’s offense wasn’t very good so the defense took it upon themselves to be the ones that won games. Secondly, the Dolphin’s defense is made up of players where sending the kitchen sink is the smart way to play defense.

You would think that with an offense that is much more capable of scoring points and potentially getting into and winning shootouts from time to time that the defense can afford to go out there, and be more aggressive with their pressure and man coverage because if they do get beat the offense can go put up seven. At least that’s where my mind goes when pondering this question.

At the very least you would believe that Josh Boyer would keep up the same level of blitzing. I mean why would you not play your best hand, again. That is what the Dolphins did last year for the first eight games of the season and look where that got them. I will tell myself that Boyer wouldn’t be that obtuse to do that again.

The Miami Dolphins didn’t lose anybody on defense and have added Channing Tindall and Cameron Goode. No idea how much they’ll play but the defense didn’t get worse since last season. Guys like Holland, Phillips, Jones, Van Ginkel(contract year) and Wilkins should be even better than they were a year ago. Even more of a reason to play with that swagger that saw the Dolphins basically tell the opposing team’s offense that they were coming after them and then do it. It was so awesome to see.

Something to think about as we head into the weekend. You enjoy your weekend. You deserve it.

Follow me @2ndSatSports