3 reasons the Miami Dolphins defense will be even better in the 2nd half of the season
By Matt Serniak
![AMFOOT-GER-NFL-DOLPHINS-CHIEFS AMFOOT-GER-NFL-DOLPHINS-CHIEFS](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_4200,h_2362,x_0,y_65/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/GettyImages/mmsport/62/01hewqbky5mejj4p27ss.jpg)
The rotation of the Miami Dolphins defensive line is keeping guys as fresh as they can be.
I love watching the defensive line play out there. What some thought was weakness heading into the season, is starting to look like a strength to this team. Can they use another defensive tackle to step up? Sure they could, but who doesn't?
People get up in arms about having really good depth pieces everywhere but like it's really hard to find those really good depth players when everyone in the league is doing the same thing. I feel like, and I can be way off here, but there is a bit more luck in having depth than folks want to talk about.
Anyway, the edge rushers that the Dolphins have to send at quarterbacks have been getting nastier and nastier. Bradley Chubb is playing possibly the best football of his career right now. In his last four games, Chubb has 19 tackles, five sacks, three TFLs, 3 forced fumbles, and five QB hits. That's outstanding work. I guess he really does do better with Vic Fangio.
Jaelan Phillips is a player who we can plainly see getting better and better each week. It seems like every week he is disrupting a bunch of plays. The sack numbers we wish were higher but you can't see Phillips isn't having an impact. Here are some nice highlights from this past week.
Jaelan Phillips Highlights vs the Kansas City Chiefs
— AntiClowNFL (@ClowNFL) November 8, 2023
I feel like Jaelan Phillips hasn’t been getting the appreciation he deserves.
This probably results from his 3.5 sack total.
But this is why sack totals can be deceiving at times because this guy in my eyes is the best… https://t.co/Cg6tzb0MpV pic.twitter.com/BRqMl37rCl
I'm not a big QB pressures guy because it's basically saying almost sack and who really wants that? But pressures that result in the offense play breaking down into nothing is something I do care about. Phillips is doing a lot of that.
Then you have Andrew Van Ginkel and Emmanuel Ogbah. AVG may have cooled off a little bit over the last few weeks compared to the first month of the season but he's still flying around making plays here and there. And Ogbah, who isn't who he once was and will almost certainly not be in Miami next year is a very serviceable 4th rusher.
The overarching theme here is the Dolphins, along with Christian Wilkins, Zach Sieler, Christian Wilkins, and Raekwon Davis have a unit forming that is starting to play like a well-oiled machine that doesn't lose too much regardless of who is in there. That's where we want to be.
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