3 things we learned from the Miami Dolphins eye opening loss to the 49ers

The Miami Dolphin’s defense was mid at best but how they played on 2nd down really irked me.

2nd down doesn’t often get talked about too much when you’re discussing defenses. 3rd down is the down anybody cares about.

But man alive, this team on defense just doesn’t understand what it means to put teams in 3rd and long. And this was just the latest in what has been an issue all year.

So many times yesterday, the Dolphins would do well on 1st down and it would be 2nd and 10 or 9. Then on that 2nd down, the 49ers would throw a short pass, where Miami was playing weirdly off, and would give up eight or nine making it 3rd and one or two. It was maddening to me because it just kept happening.

Do everything you can to make it 3rd and long on Brock Purdy. They didn’t do that. They made life comfortable for him and Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers kept possessing the ball.

What was that one graphic in the 3rd quarter where Miami only had the ball for like a minute? Yeah, that had to do with the 49ers dominating on 2nd down.

Overall, the defense was average at best. But, this defense has too much, alleged, talent on it to be average, especially against Brock Purdy.

What do I know but I would have sent more pressure at Purdy making him have to make quick decisions while I had my corners up a bit more. That was the recipe so many times before against quarterbacks of Purdy’s skill level and it did well.

The guys up front did alright and they got to Purdy three times but it just didn’t seem like they made life difficult for Mr. Irrelevant.

The defense played off of Deebo Samuel and he flexed all over them, punishing them every time he touched the ball. That guy is a beast and the Dolphin’s defense wanted no part of him.

I don’t want to say that the defense is a  complete paper defense but until they can contain teams that are good teams, what else am I supposed to think?