3 sneaky keys to victory for the Miami Dolphins vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers
By Matt Serniak
When the Miami Dolphins aren’t releasing the hounds, running stunts might yield a few more pressures and sacks.
We see other teams do it all the time to the Miami Dolphins. They get pressure not by blitzing, but because the defensive tackles and ends are stunting putting the offensive lineman in confusing positions where they don’t know who they’re supposed to have. I see no reason why the Dolphins can’t be doing the same.
The Miami Dolphins run a 3-4 style of defense but that doesn’t mean they’re incapable of running stunts or “games” as they are often called. Sidenote- as a man who coached the defensive line and outside linebackers in my time as a high school coach, yes I know it’s only high school but never forget that I won back-to-back freshmen titles once upon a time no big deal, I never called stunts “games.” It just seemed like a silly thing to say. Just call them stunts.
Anyway, Christan Wilkins is legit having an all-pro caliber year. He’s talented enough to loop inside or outside. If he loops outside to the C-gap, Jaelan Phillips, Emmanuel Ogbah, Melvin Ingram, or whoever can loop inside and attach either the A or B-gap. The same goes for Zach Sieler and Raekwon Davis. Do you want a defensive end or outside linebacker looping to the other side of the line? Go for it.
Just try something to generate pressure without always having to rely on the safeties. The Dolphin’s secondary is majorly banged up right now. Xavien Howard is playing but we can all see he’s not 100%. A slight change in the Miami Dolphins’ defensive approach may be in order. Running stunts with the defensive line and outside backers can potentially help.