Dolphins' resilient defense keyed midseason turnaround
While much of the NFL might have written off Miami after a 1-4 start, the Dolphins defense refused to mope.
Instead, they looked inward. Veterans called for weekly players-only film sessions, a chance for brutally honest critiques and ideas to make the defense better. Each meeting ends with a list of notes that is discussed with defensive coordinator Vance Joseph.
“The accountability has been ramped up, because the way this defense is, it's an attack-style defense. We all kind of know whose name is called,” defensive end Cameron Wake told Paste BN Sports. “It's no secret, it's no sugar-coating it. We're all men, and if you get the job done, you get patted on the back, and if you don't, you might get cursed out. That's just the way it is. For that moment, you have the entire team on your shoulders.”
The extra work has paid off for a defense that has been instrumental in Miami’s impressive resurgence. The Dolphins have won five straight, including back-to-back games on an 11-day California road trip.
Though quarterback Ryan Tannehill and the offense deserve plenty of credit for clutch late-game scores in wins against the San Diego Chargers and Los Angeles Rams, neither victory would have been possible without a defense that played its best late in games. Against San Diego, the Dolphins intercepted four passes in the fourth quarter, and last week against Los Angeles, they held the Rams to just one first down and zero points in the final 15 minutes.
The Dolphins have held opponents to 19.4 points per game during the win streak, an improvement of nearly five points per game from the first five weeks. Now, the Dolphins have a chance to play themselves back into the AFC postseason as they chase the Patriots in the AFC East, and the Broncos and Chiefs in the wild-card race.
“It feels good, we haven't really had that feeling around here in a long time,” safety Michael Thomas said. “Guys understand though that it's all about trying to get one win at a time. If you start trying to look at where we're at in the standings and all that, you'll get distracted. All we know is if we keep winning, we'll be where we want to be at the end of the day.”
But even during that 1-4 start, when they lost road games to Seattle, New England and Cincinnati and flopped at home against Tennessee, defensive players believed a turnaround was possible.
They knew it would take time as a unit with at least seven newcomers -- like free agent defensive ends Mario Williams (from Buffalo) and Andre Branch (from Jacksonville) and former Eagles linebacker Kiko Alonso and cornerback Byron Maxwell, who were acquired in a trade -- tried to mesh with veterans like Wake and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, all while learning Joseph’s “Wide Nine” defensive technique. Suh played in a similar scheme while in Detroit, and new Dolphins quickly learned to appreciate Joseph’s aggressive approach.
“I don't think people understand how many new pieces we really do have on defense. It takes time, everybody wants to see the progress, but they don't see the process you have to go through to really understand and click with one another,” Branch told Paste BN Sports.
The Dolphins had already won three straight games when they left for California earlier this month, but the extended stay on the West Coast only accelerated the bonding process. It was a chance for players to spend even more time together, focused only on football without familial distractions. That Miami managed to win both games only made players that much more eager to return home and prepare for Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers.
Wake, who in his ninth season is the Dolphins’ second longest-tenured player behind only long snapper John Denney, had never been on a Dolphins’ team that had a four-game winning streak, let alone the chance now to win six straight. It’s made for a fun atmosphere in the locker room and at practice, Wake said, though he knows that only will last along as the winning does.
“Each week guys realize more and more this is what it takes. This is the NFL, you're not going to have 50-point blowouts. Some of the young guys are learning that, it's not college where the big teams takes on the little teams, score 60 points and the band plays,” Wake said. “These games are three points, one score. That's just the way it is.”
Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones.
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