3 Miami Dolphins that need to raise their game in the 2nd half of the season

Christian Wilkins has another level in his game that he needs to reach for the Miami Dolphins.

Christian Wilkins is playing solid. He's playing solid football. But let's be honest, if you're going to be holding out in an effort to be paid as one of the highest-paid interior linemen in the NFL you kind of need to be playing better than solid. That's just a stone-cold fact of life.

Currently, Christian Wilkins is 3rd on the team with 3.5 sacks which is nice I guess. But I think at this point we all know where Christian Wilkins is most valuable in that is stopping the run dead in its tracks and TFLs are a big part of Wilkins' game.

Last year, Christian Wilkins finished tied for 9th in TFLs in the year with 16. It seemed like he was in the backfield all the time either getting the ball carrier or forcing them out wide and completely blowing up the offense's play. At this moment, Wilkins isn't even in the top 100 for TFLs and there are times I hardly know he's out there.

This past week, I thought Christian Wilkins may have turned a bit of a corner as I thought the whole defense did. To me, he was much more aggressive and was splitting linemen and just playing a much more physical brand of football.

The penalties, not the roughing the passer which was garbage, but the offsides need to be reigned in a bit because they're costly as we know.

I am optimistic due to how Christian Wilkins played this past week against the best team he has faced all year and I think Jaelan Phillips will be ascending every week. Phillips getting healthier and showing out as he did in Philly should make Christian Wilkins' life easier which is good for everybody.