Perkins: Dolphins need feckless pass rush to show improvement immediately
· Yahoo Sports
MIAMI GARDENS — If history repeats, every time New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith drops back to pass on Sunday at MetLife Stadium against the Dolphins, he’ll have enough time to have a slice of pizza, a bagel and a schmear, a ribeye from Peter Luger, and just about anything else he desires. The Dolphins pass rush will never get to him.
The winless Dolphins (0-5) are last in the NFL in sacks (four) by a fairly large margin. The teams tied for second-to-last have eight sacks, twice as many. And all four of the Dolphins’ sacks came in one game, Minnesota.
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It’s a dire situation.
“We need to create more pressure, and we talked about it in the bye week,” coach Jeff Hafley said. “We looked hard at it at the bye week, and we’ll work on that in practice. There’s different ways to do that.”
This isn’t just about the edge rushers, primarily Chop Robinson (one sack), Josh Uche (one sack), Robert Beal Jr. (no sacks) and Malik Herring (no sacks). The defensive tackles also contribute to the pass rush, and Zach Sieler leads the team in sacks (two).
This is about finding a way to win. A successful pass rush could be the missing link between the solid run defense and struggling pass defense. It could do wonders for the entire team.
“It’d just be a lot more electricity, I feel like,” Beal said. “More vibes on the sideline. You know, guys just flying around more. It’d be like a jumpstart.”
Hafley, the ex-Green Bay defensive coordinator who calls the defensive plays for the Dolphins, could manufacture a pass rush by blitzing more, a tool that would get linebackers Jacob Rodriguez and Jordyn Brooks more involved in the pass rush, as well as safeties Dante Trader Jr. and Michael Taaffe.
The Dolphins blitz 21.5% of the time, according to Pro Football Reference, which is tied for seventh-least in the NFL. They rank 29th in quarterback-pressure percentage (18.4) and 23rd in quarterback-hurry percentage (6.3), so perhaps more blitzes would help.
But that would leave a suspect secondary in man-to-man coverage more frequently.
The Dolphins play man-to-man defense 18.3% of the time, which ranks a middle-of-the-pack 18th in the 32-team NFL, according to Sharp Football analysis. So perhaps experimenting with more blitzes isn’t a bad idea.
After all, the Dolphins say it doesn’t make a big difference whether they harass Smith and move him off his spot, or whether they actually get him to the ground and record a sack. They just need to find a way to be disruptive.
“Pass rush isn’t just about sacks, it’s about affecting the quarterback,” Uche said. “So whatever we’ve got to do to put some pressure on them, speed up that clock, and ultimately get off the field.”
He’s right about that last part. The Dolphins rank second-to-last, in third-down defense. Opponents convert 51.7% of the time.
A successful pass rush could bring everything together for the defense.
The Dolphins are No. 9 in run defense (103.7 yards per game), which is pretty darn good. Their 3.7 yards per carry is eighth-best in the NFL, which is also pretty darn good. The Dolphins can defend the ground game at a satisfactory level.
Defending the pass is a different story. They’re No. 16 in pass defense (219.2 yards per game), which is OK.
But their 11 touchdown passes allowed are tied for seventh-most in the league, and their 10.2 yards allowed per reception is seventh-most in the league.
A pass rush would help in both areas by reducing the amount of time a quarterback has to pass.
Interestingly, edge rusher is among the few positions that’s threatening to remain inadequate for the Dolphins for the entire season.
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Yes, some would put quarterback on that list. I wouldn’t. I see potential in Malik Willis.
Among the biggest positions of concern entering the season — cornerback, edge rusher and wide receiver — the one that hasn’t shown much promise is edge rusher.
Signs of an effective pass rush, whether that’s simply making Smith, a former star at Miramar High, uncomfortable or actually recording sacks, could change that narrative.
“Whether you try to move a guy off the spot to force some errant throws or whether you try to scheme some things up to get some one-on-ones or overload some protections to try to get hits on the quarterback,” Hafley said, “we need to do that.”