Miami Dolphins defense is a problem and it isn't Vic Fangio
By Brian Miller
Miami Dolphins fans are wondering why the defensive system played against the Bills on Sunday featured Kader Kohou against Stefon Diggs instead of Xavien Howard. Miami's approach likely had something to do with the fact Kohou needed safety help and Howard could handle Gabe Davis on his own.
Regardless, the Dolphins defense gave up far too many points and it isn't a singular event. In week one, they gave up 34 to the Chargers. In week two, the Dolphins had a pretty good lead but let the Patriots back into the game. The Broncos game was a runaway.
48 points to the Bills is not acceptable and while the Dolphins offense gave up the ball far too many times and took too many sacks, the defense couldn't bail them out because they couldn't stop the Bills offense.
The problem? For starters, the Dolphins are getting very little pressure on opposing QBs. They also are not consistent in stopping the run and the youth in the secondary has a tendency to show itself. It all adds up and when the Dolphins offense can't put points on the board, the defense isn't able to keep it close.
We learned this yesterday and after three weeks of the offensive production masking the problems on defense, it finally showed against the Bills.
Fangio is one of the best DCs in all of football and he knew that talent was going to be an issue this year. Miami isn't getting the production from Christian Wilkins this year and Bradley Chubb continues to be inconsistent from play to play.
Losing Jalen Ramsey hurt but injuries are not an excuse. The Dolphins have to do better and this is on the players to step up. For now, Miami has a couple of games to get it figured out before they run into the Eagles and Chiefs.
With the Giants and Panthers up next, both at home, the Dolphins should head into Philadelphia with a 5-1 record but the defense needs to play better and they have to start showing they can dominate entire games, not just a couple of series. The Dolphins can't rely solely on timely takeaways. They need to start forcing teams to punt the ball. They didn't do that Sunday.