Is Josh Boyer to Blame for Miami Dolphins Defensive Struggles?

It doesn’t make sense to me. The Dolphins strength on the defensive side of the ball is simply too good to be playing at this type of level. The type of level that I’m referring to is being ran over by two teams that have less wins combined than the Miami Dolphins. The Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears were allowed to run their full playbook and although Miami was able to come away with a victory, this isn’t the blueprint for success.

Josh Boyer was retained by Miami Dolphins new Head Coach Mike McDaniel mainly due to the fact that McDaniel wants consistency and familiarity with this side of the ball. Josh Boyer worked with Miami Dolphins General Manager Chris Grier to retain all players from the 2021 season, which was supposed to lead to Miami becoming a top 10 defense. This was Boyer’s chance to prove to himself and everyone else that he can run a defense without the Brian Flores cloud hovering above his head. Fast forward to the past two games, and Miami defense looks like swiss cheese. Holes all over the secondary and run defense that can’t contain or control the line of scrimmage.

2022 Defensive Stats
- Rushing – 4.6 yards per play
- Passing – 7 yards per play
- Scoring – Fumbles Returned for TD 1, Safeties 0, Interception returned for TD 0
2021 Defensive Stats
- Rushing – 4.4 yards per play
- Passing – 6.4 yards per play
- Scoring – Fumbles Returned for TD 2, Safeties 0, Interception returned for TD 3

Stats from NFL.com

There were rumors that Miami was going to look at Vic Fangio to become their new defensive coordinator, but that was quickly shot down. Josh Boyer has full control and maybe he’s missing former head coach Brian Flores, but the lack of game development or change will become a problem once the Dolphins play away games against the Bills, Chargers and 49ers all in consecutive weeks. Something has to be done. I don’t believe the Dolphins can afford to let Josh Boyer go halfway into the season. Additionally, there isn’t a natural replacement for Boyer on the staff that could fill the role. I would love to see Patrick Surtain or Sam Madison take the reins but that is a pipe dream as both these former Miami Dolphins players haven’t built up with NFL coaching experience yet. The only coach that would have made sense is Gerald Alexander, but unfortunately, he was fired and Josh Boyer was retained. Was that a mistake? Looking at the situation right now, you could run that debate.

So what can Josh Boyer and the Miami Dolphins do? The need to reflect and take a look at their personnel. The Dolphins are getting beaten at the line of scrimmage, so if I was looking at their players and new additions, I would deploy the following look:

Defensive End – Emmanuel Ogbah and Christian Wilkins
Defensive Tackle – Zach Sieler and Raewkon Dawis
Outside Linebacker – Jalen Philphs and Bradley Chubb
Middle Linebacker – Elandon Roberts base, nickel Jermone Baker

You can all this lineup the beef, or whatever fun adjective that can be created. But the fact is the Dolphins deploy a lot of strength up front that can potentially control the line of scrimmage. You remove all elements of speed at the edge, but with the addition of Bradley Chubb you can offset that loss with the players assigned to the outside linebacker position. If the Dolphins were faced with the nickel formation, then switch Roberts with Baker.

There are holes in the defense, especially if you ask Roberts to cover hybrid tight ends or running back wheel routes, he will get burned, but the odds of a running back running a wheel route in a base formation is less than 5%.

MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA – DECEMBER 06: Cornerbacks Byron Jones #24 and Xavien Howard #25 of the Miami Dolphins celebrate after a defensive play in the second quarter of the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Hard Rock Stadium on December 06, 2020 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

In the secondary, it hurts me to say this, but Xavien Howard isn’t the same player Miami Dolphins fans have seen in the past two years. He’s getting beat and the speed or recovery or closing time isn’t there this year. Maybe he’s getting tired based on the coverages and not having Bryon Jones opposite him, but there is something wrong with his play or hamstring or a hidden injury that is causing his production to lack.

The solution isn’t just waiting for Bryon Jones to come back, because no one knows how good he will be. An Achilles injury sucks and that isn’t something that you can just assume that Jones will be the same player, but everyone needs to see him on the practice field first. When will that be – no idea, but hopefully Miami can control the Cleveland Browns and Houston Texans in the next two weeks, and then get Jones back for a December showdown against playoff caliber teams.

MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA – OCTOBER 23: Defensive coach Brian Flores of the Pittsburgh Steelers walks onto the field prior to the game against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on October 23, 2022 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images) /

The Miami Dolphins went all in on the cover zero schema last year. This year, teams had a full year to game plan against it. This concept isn’t working and Josh Boyer can’t seem to find a way to deploy his assets to create turmoil. Boyer has to start thinking about refining his playbook and developing a game plan that will allow his players to succeed. If not, the writing on the wall will become more and more evident that Josh Boyer can’t succeed without Brian Flores.

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