Good evening Phin fans and fans alike... The other day reading one of the post here on Phins.com, someone asked if we would care to share how this years run prevent D staked up against those of JT and Zack equiped Defenses under Dave Wandsted... Well we have the honor to show the stats from pro-footbal-reference... http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/mia/ So here we go... 2000= #18 (4.2 YPC)... 2001= #14 (3.9)... 2002= #6 (3.8)... 2003= #2 (3.2)... 2004= #18 (4.3)... 2005= #7 (3.7)... 2006= #5 (3.5)... 2007= #30 (4.5)... 2008= #18 (4.2)... 2009= #15 (4.2)... 2010= #4 (3.6)... 2011= #3 (3.7)... and currently (2012) after 5 games... = #1 (2.7 YPC allowed)... as a side note... just going back to 2000... The Ravens best D ever in my opinion, allowed 2.7 YPC... Still 11 games left and we shall know if this years Run D could be the best Dolphins Run D of the last 13 years...
I like the stat against the run this year(don't get me wrong) It is comparable to some great run stopping D's of the past. Comparing it to the JT and Zack era is kinda unfair,though. Teams used to run on us because we had players like Patrick,Sam and Buckley in the secondary. What I hope happens this year is we can hold up in the secondary and get more & more of a passrush to hide our flaws in the secondary. Sooner or later teams are going to pass on us every other down and the rushing lanes will start to open up a bit.
I understand your point 54, but the numbers are the folloing if you are and we are comparing them to Zack and JTs Defense era from 2000-2004 while this was Surtain and Madisons last year together (2004)... The Phins opponents averaged 28 carries per game from 2000-2004... The Phins opponents averaged 31 passing attempts per game from 2000-2004... The Phins opponents averaged 23 carries per game in the last 5 games... The phins opponets averaged 24 passing attempts per game in the last 5 games... and let us not forget the 1999 Defense which played against the Jags in the Post Season...62-7 game... 257 yards (3 TDs) rushing allowed on 46 carries... 5.6 YPC... and allowed 227 yds in the air (4 TDs)... and that was with JT, Zack, Surtain, Madison and Buckley... and that did not take away anything from what Zack and JT have done ofor this franchise... I will be there this weekend when their names go on the Ring of Honor... So how does Pat and Madison rank into the equation now??? This is showing to be a better D against the run than any of those team that JT and Zack played in....
Good post, and good thoughts. One thing to think about is how the game has changed since then though. In the early days of the last decade, there were still a lot of teams built around a power running game. The whole idea was to find one workhorse back, as we did with Ricky, and pound the other team into the ground. Almost no one does that anymore. Teams are much, much, quicker to almost completely give up on the running game if it isnt working, as Arizona, and to a less extent, Cincinnati did against us. Out run defense is awesome and I love it. But its a little like looking at the best pass defense of 1972. We're great at preventing what the other teams arent focusing on. It helps, no question. But comparing it to other areas is imperfect.
Nice opinion, good post... but one similarity is that we are running the 4-3 Defense, same style as those from the JT-Zack era... comparison still plays out when you are using Yards Per Carry, since it is still relevant... and even though this now is a passing league, there was more passing attempts those teams and more running attempts in the 2000-2004 era than against this Defense this year... the only thing different are the coaches and the players on the field... The numbers are real, as is the comparison, we might not all like the outcome, but we really cannot dismiss it...
I agree the game has changed but the fact is that through these 5 games are opponents average 23 carries and 24 passes per game. Its hard for our opponents to be any more balanced than that and our run defense is dominating so far. Hopefully this is still true by the end of the season!
