The preseason idea of keeping the entire defensive staff intact was, at face value, a prudent decision. The Dolphins defense in 2021 did show they were the team’s strength and it made no sense to fix what wasn’t broken. As the season progressed however… It became clear the defensive performance last season and the season before that was credit more towards Flores. Boyer had all 11 starters from last season, save the injuries in Jones and others and wasn’t able to re-produce the Dolphins prior defensive success. It’s definitely time for him to go. As for replacements? Wow, that’s a tough one! I would suspect McDaniel may look to someone on the 49ers staff to bring that defensive scheme to Miami. As for Crossen, some players flourish under some coaches and fold like a cheap suit under others. Like what was debated in the Tua thread, no such thing as bad student, only bad teacher. Teacher say, student do. Now that’s not saying Crossen is a GOOD player. He just may not be playing in the right defensive scheme. But then again, maybe he just doesn’t have what it takes. Let him compete during the off-season and see where the chips fall.
I wanted Boyer fired a year ago. Everything bad that's happened this season was happening then as well, but it was masked because we played some of the worst QBs and offenses in the league for a long stretch and forced them into mistakes frequently enough to make up for it. He is on pace to be the coordinator of three of the worst defenses in Dolphins history in the three years he's been on the job. I don't know how anyone defends that. There is nothing good that the Dolphins do under Boyer other than the occasional DB blitz that gets to the QB, but even then they take those DBs out of pass coverage at such a frequent rate that it hurts far more than it helps! I'm convinced that the team could call a completely generic vanilla man defense with a 4-man rush on every single play and end up with a better result.
I was worried before the season started. Was not impressed with his interviews. Suspected that Flores saved him second half of last year.
Ahh.. I was going to say. Keion Crossen is what he is at this point... he's JAG. He doesn't belong in starting role, but injuries have us in that spot. Seeing that you meant Crossman which was my assumption, then yes. He's in over his head. That unit has underperformed all year. Cedric Wilson on punt returns is a disaster waiting to happen also. Boyer, well I'm surprised McDaniel wanted to keep him. Either he had nobody else in mind or just didnt want to rock the boat as well as the defense had played the prior season. Makes sense, but hopefully he sees this year that Boyer is unlikely the right man for the job. Hard to say though what is Boyer, and what is just the lack of talent right now on the back end of the defense in the secondary due to injuries. Losing CB2 (Jones) and CB3 (needham) and having to play a UDFA in Kohou (who's been a big surprise) and then JAG's like Crossen and bethel isn't exactly a good scenario to be in, then top that off with losing Brandon Jones at S as well. Boyer though too routinely fails to adjust in game and makes alot of poorly timed calls that have burned us far too many times. I won't care if he's gone for next year thats for sure.
I don't believe the "miss kick" nonsense for one second. Sanders looks like he 100% did it on purpose. I think the dolphins need to investigate Sanders this year, he just comes off as super sus to me (gambling).
To answer the original question, absolutely not. Neither unit has performed anywhere near the level of a team with postseason aspirations.
He’s had a few big misses this season when we could have taken the lead in the 4th and it completely deflates the team. Problem is, we can’t really get rid of him next season unless we eat his cap, I think we only save 95K by cutting him. We are stuck with him next year unless we magically create more cap space and don’t mind double paying for a kicker.
Wishful thinking. Plus, McDaniel has been as bad or worse than Boyer. McD was Very Unprepared for his job. He makes Josh McDaniel look smart.
Football is a team sport and it’s hard to be successful at the highest level when you’re one dimensional like we are. An improvement in special teams and/or defense could be that difference. We’ve got too much invested in our defense to be as bad as it is. He already should have been fired. I’m curious to see if someone else can get them to perform. With Holland, Chubb, Phillips, Wilkins and Ogbah, we should have a pretty good defense.
At this point I am having trouble telling if people are trolling or if just being a Dolphin fan is just taking a toll on their sanity
Agree completely. I don’t see how Chubb goes from the third highest rated pass rusher in Denver to JAG in Miami, unless it’s a scheme issue. Likewise, I don’t think Phillips is being used properly. We do need at least one corner, two if Howard’s injury is not the reason for his decline, and of course, an upgrade to the LB group is a must. I wanted Roquan Smith when he was available, but that ship has sailed.
I believe it’s all scheme. This defense, even with the injuries sustained still has WAY too much talent to be playing this poorly. They’ve clearly demonstrated they can play lights out defense.
