Miami Dolphins vs New England Patriots defensive grade
The Miami Dolphins defense played their best game in a while against the New England Patriots on Sunday despite missing multiple players on defense.
They allowed only 16 points, which is their fewest points allowed since week seven when they held the Pittsburgh Steelers to just 10 points.
The end result of not allowing points was obviously good, but their play as a whole was outstanding. They forced four three and outs on 10 defensive possessions and only gave up five third down conversions.
Third down defense has been a major struggle for this Dolphins defense all year. It was nice to see them figure some things out against the Patriots.
What makes this more impressive is that Xavien Howard did not play either, yet the pass defense was good. They held the Patriots to 172 yards passing. The defensive line did a good job of pressuring Mac Jones as well. As a whole the Dolphins’ pass defense looked the best it has in a while.
Those 172 passing yards are the second fewest amount the Dolphins have given up this year. They kept Mac Jones’s completion percentage down as well. As he only completed 60% of his pass attempts.
Despite the impressive performance from the secondary, the run defense continues to be the strength of the Dolphins’ defense. They held the Patriots to under 80 rushing yards and under four yards a carry.
Christian Wilkins continues to be the anchor of that run defense. He had another big day with six tackles. That was good for the third most on the defense.
The defense showed up. They deserve a B+ grade for their performance on Sunday. The one thing holding them back from an A is they did not force any turnovers, and that was the difference in the game.
Turnovers.
I know that this New England Patriots offense is not one of the premiere offenses in the league, but this is something to build off of heading into a must win game against the New York Jets.
In addition, if the Dolphins can not stop this below average Patriots offense then how can we expect them to get stops against the Kansas City Chiefs in round one of the playoffs?
Like I said, I know the Patriots’ offense is not great, but it is a sign that this defense can get it done to some level. Hopefully the defense will get healthy heading into the playoffs, because they will be needed if the Dolphins hope to make a deep run into the playoffs.
I fully expect for this level of play to continue against the Jets. They are playing another underwhelming offense, they are at home, and their season is on the line. I would be shocked if they laid an egg against the Jets this upcoming Sunday.