3 reasons the Miami Dolphins defense will be even better in the 2nd half of the season
By Matt Serniak
I firmly believe that the defense of the Miami Dolphins, which has been getting better, will be even better as the second half of the reason progresses.
The Miami Dolphins may be coming off a deflating loss to the Chiefs and the whole world is anti-Miami right now, with decent reason. But I firmly believe that the defense of the Miami Dolphins, which has been getting better, will be even better as the second half of the reason progresses.
Taking a look at the sacred timeline, (can't wait to watch the season finale of Loki today), of events when Vic Fangio started getting his hands in the dough that is the Dolphins' defense, back in training camp, we can see players were learning a brand new way of playing defense.
Cut to the first six games of the season and we're seeing a defense that has a bunch of names and talent that are giving up too many impact plays. I'm not talking about bombs over corners and safety heads. I'm talking a few 20-30-yarders across the field, a few too many series where an offense pushed back the defensive front, and too many miscommunications.
Some of this is a little expected when a new coach like Fangio gets added. And it's not like the other teams don't practice either. Everyone is a professional and really good at what they do.
But the bar is or should be raised high with this Miami Dolphins team. There's simply too much talent on defense not to have the metrics necessary to grade out as at least a top-10 defense.
I think when the Philly game happened, we started to see everything Fangio has been working on since the offseason start to get in motion. In that game, the Dolphins were matching the physicality of the Eagles and although the Eagles did lean on Miami and eventually overtook the Dolphins, it was a step in the right direction.
Then in the Chiefs game, with Jalen Ramsey back in the fold, we saw the vice grip the Dolphin's defense can be holding the Chiefs offense to their worst output in two years. Miami still lost, we know, but the defense did its job well.
I wrote earlier in the week that the defense has surpassed the offense. I believe that is true. They are more reliable in big spots. So if this team is going to go on a run, the defense needs to continue to improve. I think it will improve and here's why I think that.