Im actually more disappointed in how the defense played then the offense played this year.Phil Simms even said this should be a top 5 defense.

 

and this needed a new thread why ?

 

like the .... " here's another chart, thought it deserved a new thread because I'm posting it "

 

Why not?

 

Really? With the trio of Misi, Ellerbe, and Wheeler, we should have a top 5 defense? Those three alone bring down this defense tremendously. Even worse, they're going to bring this defense down for the next few years too. Not to mention outside of Grimes, our secondary is serviceable. I don't think we belong anywhere near the top 5 with the talent we have.

Phil Sims says... OK.

 

There's a time for level heads, and there's a time for leveling heads. We're at least three years past the "level head" thing.

Seriously; only the top half of the first page is moving at all. It's not like there's a dearth of space for threads.

 

I like you used the word "dearth". It's like death, the slow 17 week death the Phins put us thru this year.

 

Well before the season started I had high expectations for the defense.Getting Grimes,Reshard Jones coming off a good year,and I thought the DLINE would be dominant I just didnt expect the LBs to be so bad.The defense definitely underachieved.

 

Coyle wasn't the problem last season. Defense could have been handled better, I guess. But for the most part it was very good to great, especially when you take into account how bad Ellerbe and Wheeler were.

 

I disagree a very good to great defense doesnt give up 2000 yards rushing.

 

Our run defense ranked 18th overall. Our pass defense ranked 5th. Overall, we ranked 8th in PPG. What would you call that?

 

I'm glad someone finally posted this thread. I couldn't agree more with kicking Coyle to the curb. The defense absolutely has talent to be an elite defense. This defense has progressively worsened since Coyle took over. I have a hard time believing we couldn't be more stout against the run.

I just don't see how Philbin fires BOTH Sherman & Coyle. Has there ever been a HC that has replaced both his coordinators in 1 offseason? Ross really should clean house although it admits failure.

 

Not good enough! Poor Run Defense will kill a team's season!

 

It didn't kill the Chiefs season. Or the Saints, Patriots, Packers, Colts and Chargers.

 

Call me crazy then I dont think the defense was all that good this year. Dont care what the stats say.Gave up way to many big plays. How did they look against Buffalo those 2 games . They blew the Carolina game too.Im not a fan of bend but dont break defense.

 

It ranked 8th in overall PPG. How the hell do you think that was not good?

 

Having a good pass defense means squat when garbage teams like the Bills can walk their way downfield.

 

The defense was just a better version of the offense this year. Capable of playing very well in streaches, but also crashing a burning at just the wrong moment. Giving up big yards on third or fourth and long. How many games did the D just flat out stop the other team all game long? I count two, Cleveland and @ the Jets. More often, they played to the competition. I see that as a Joe Philbin trait, just like it was a Sparano trait before him.

Why do we see lousy teams just line up and crush other ones almost every week, but every single Fins game is down to the wire? This team, over so many years, just doesn't win games easily, and they keep getting beaten by teams that are worse on paper. Year after year.

 

Maimi gave up 20.9 PPG NE gave up 21.1 PPG Would you call NE defense good I wouldnt.

 

I would call New England's defense a good defense.

 

If someone with an account at one of these NFL stat analysis sites could hook us up with the percentage of 3rd and 5+ (or 3rd and "long") plays Miami gave up compared to the rest of the league, it would be greatly appreciated.

I think I read somewhere that typically, in order to have a nice percentage towards a first down, an offense needs 4-5 yards on 1st and 60% of the remaining yards on 2nd.

From the games I watched this year, Miami gave up more 3rd and longs than I can recall in recent memory. I would like the stats to back up my hunch that Miami was poor in this department compared to the league. It was absolutely uncanny, especially with an offense that does not score many points. Some of the drives sustained by opposing offenses, with regard to allowing those 3rd and longs changed games.

While I never threw the remote, I agree with the OP: it was tough to swallow.

 

To add a little to that, Miami gave up 20.9 in closely played games...NE gave up 21.1 with teams airing it out trying to catch up/garbage time. Sure, there was probably a lot more ToP by NE's offense than Miami's, which also discolors this a little (i.e. NE's defense was on the field a lot less than Miami's...can take it different ways).

 

I have no idea what the stats would show, but my eyeball test shows that the responsibility for a vast majority of those breakdowns on 3rd down, was the LBs.

 

I'm sure Ross is talking to his people.

 

I get this image of him talking to a bunch of stuffed animals lined up on his bed.

 

Misi plays the run as well as anyone on the defense and better than most.

 

Where are you getting your rankings from? The 8th in PPG is correct (though it's a misnomer as Miami was actually closer to the team that was 13th in PPG than the team that was 6th).

Run defense was 24th and pass defense was 16th.

The defense as a whole, was not very good this year. The only real improvement came in terms of turnovers forced and Brent Grimes essentially improving the pass defense by himself.

If the personnel were used differently this defense could be a LOT better. It's a shame that Ellerbe & Wheeler were both signed to contemptibly stupid contracts. Both need to go.

 

I don't see how it is a misnomer? It ranked 8th. There is no other way to suggest how it was ranked.

We ranked 18th in Yards Per Carry. Like I've said before, that's much more accurate than just taking yardage. It shows that our run defense has regressed. Our defensive passer rating was 5th. A hell of a lot more accurate that using yards. I'm not sure what you keep using total yards for.

The defense as a whole, was not bad. Suggested by the fact that we finished 8th in the league in Points Per Game. A defense that is not very good does not finish 8th in the league in Points Per Game. A defense that is very good finishes 8th in the league in Points Per Game.

 

I'll agree to disagree. Completely. The 2013 Miami Dolphins defense was not good. It had a few good games that make it look better than it is (1st Bills Game, 1st Jets Game, Browns, 1st half of the Carolina game). I think the more accurate portrayals are the Indianapolis, Atlanta, Baltimore, Tampa Bay, and final Jets games.

18th in ypc (4.1 avg, IIRC) with the personnel we have on the defensive line is inexcusable, especially considering they were #1 in ypc allowed last year through the first 7 games of the season; it's regressed dramatically to the point where the defense had trouble just getting teams to 3rd down in some games, most notably the final 2 weeks of the season.

And, again, with the points, being 8th this year is only incrementally better than being 13th (middle of the road) than it is to being closer to the top 6 defenses when you look at points allowed/per game.

 

I mean, even if you just base it off those 5 games it would rank around 12th in the NFL. So I still don't see how you can think it wasn't good. And I'm not sure why you feel like you can just base it off those 5 games and not the full 16 they played.

I'm not going to disagree that the run defense regressed and was below average. It was. That is evident.

It is closer to the 13th than it is to the 6th. That does not make it a defense that is characterized as "not very good". And at the end of the day, it finished 8th. It did not give up the points to move down the list.

 

He was given two terrible new linebackers which were a complete downgrade from Dansby and Burnett, I said it in the offseason that I'm not sure if it's an upgrade or downgrade, that it seems like we got faster but it looks like a "wash". Everyone said I'm stupid we obviously upgraded yada yada. Yeah well, no it was not.

And then Patterson could not stay healthy. I really think if Patterson had stayed healthy we would have won some games. Carroll is good for depth but just for depth. We have to move on from Patterson already because it's clear he's incapable of staying healthy.

I don't really know how to grade Coyle, I think the defense could have been much better, but at the same time he was dealt a bad card and had to work with it.

 

I agree. If you could just maintain the status quo for PPG on the defense and get the offense into the top 16 for PPG, this is a playoff team IMO.

 

We should also consider the level of competition that we played. Six of our games came against Thad Lewis and Geno Smith, Brandon Weeden, and Mike Glennon.

For what it's worth, Football Outsiders has Miami's defense ranked 17th. http://www.footballoutsiders.com/dvoa-ratings/2013/final-2013-dvoa-ratings

 

I'll leave this thread with this. In 2013, the Miami Dolphins allowed 20 points or more in 12 of 16 games played. They allowed 19 points in one of the 4 games that they did not allow 20 points or more. That is not good no matter how you slice it.

 

The difference in averages is 1.1 ppg. Because it says "8th" I think it makes it seem shiny, when it really isn't.