Miami Dolphins run defense will force Wilson to need a big day

The Miami Dolphins are going to have a tough road game this week against the Jets but the defensive front could make life hard on Zach Wilson.

The New York Jets will try and run the ball against Miami’s defense and that isn’t going to be easy against the Dolphins’ front. Miami’s run defense has been, for the most part, excellent this year and if they control the line this week, Wilson could be in trouble.

The Jets will platoon Breece Hall and Michael Carter in their running game. On paper, both are promising young runners but teams haven’t found much success against Miami’s front.

• Patriots – 78
• Ravens – 155
• Bills – 115
• Bengals – 67

When we look at the first four weeks of the season, we can’t escape the 155 and 115 yards that the defense gave up against the Ravens and Bills but the numbers are a bit deceiving.

Take the Ravens game. They ran for 155 yards on the day but 119 of those yards came from a very versatile and elusive Lamar Jackson. Of those 119 yards, 79 came on his touchdown run when the pass rush couldn’t contain him and coverage broke downfield.

Take away that run and Jackson and his offense run for 76 yards total. Against the Bills, Miami gave up 115 yards. Josh Allen accounted for 47 yards with a long of 19 yards and Zach Moss ran 4 times for 46 yards, he broke a 43-yard run. Take out that one run and the Bills rush for 73 yards.

Every team can play the what-if game but overall, the Dolphins front aside from two big run plays, has stopped opposing offenses from rushing the ball with a lot of success.

Jumping over to the Jets offense, we find that over four games, the Jets have rushed for 350 yards on 86 attempts. That is an average of 87 yards per game. They have one touchdown on the ground this season.

The Jets have not had more than 98 yards rushing this year, that came last week against the Steelers which included a 35-yard run by Zach Wilson. Breece Hall ran 17 times for 66 yards.

There is a big opportunity to take the running game away from the Jets early and if the Dolphins’ offense can score points to build an early lead, the Jets will have to lean heavily on the passing game, something I expect them to do with Miami’s current secondary situation.

Pressure up the middle and off the edge will kill the Jets’ play action and that will help the secondary by giving taking time away from the Jets getting receivers open. Miami’s focus will most assuredly be on stopping the Jets passing game but it’s the run defense that could force the Jets into an offense they don’t want to run.