Miami Dolphins News: Hey Vic Fangio – Just Blitz, Baby!

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Perhaps Brian Flores and Josh Boyer were onto something.

Because the Miami Dolphins defense, at least with their current personnel, were far more successful when using their blitz-first-and-ask-questions-later approach from 2019 through 2022 than they have been so far in 2023.

The Dolphins have one of the four or five-worst defenses of this young season, despite having nearly exactly the same personnel that ranked 12th in yards per pass and 14th in yards per play a year ago.

From the current NFL standings to team depth charts to coverage of every game in the 18-week NFL schedule, we have all the news from around the league to keep you up to speed!

Miami Dolphins Need To Blitz To Generate Pass Rush

Through four games this year, they are:

• 26th in EPA per play (.06)
• 27th yards per play (5.7)
• 28th in scoring defense (29.8)
• 28th in yards per pass (7.3)

Certainly, a big part of that regression is a result of highly-paid players falling short of expectations.

I hope this was not one of the new coverages Vic Fangio invented during the off season that he teased when he got hired by the Dolphins, because this was a MESS. Blame Kohou if you like but covering an entire half of the field against Stefon Diggs is…not an ideal ask. pic.twitter.com/Dke7et2Cb0

— Chris Kouffman (@ckparrot) October 2, 2023

Bradley Chubb, Christian Wilkins, Emmanuel Ogbah, and Jaelan Phillips have combined for just 3.5 sacks in four games despite collectively costing $41.3 million against the salary cap.

But it would be lazy to simply blame the players for what is a collective failure. And there’s an argument to be made that the players’ failures have been in part a reflection of their usage.

Dolphins’ Bleak Pass Rush Stats

Through four weeks, only 11 teams have fewer sacks (10) than the Dolphins have through four games.

They’ve generated the 11th-fewest hurries (9) and the 11th-worst hurry rate (6%).

And while it’s not as though the Dolphins aren’t blitzing at all — they have the league’s 11th-highest blitz rate (29.1%) — the frequency is down from 2022, when they brought an extra pass rusher (33.3%) more often than every team but the Giants and Cardinals.

And the numbers suggest that Miami is leaving some meat on the bone.

Per SIS, here are the Dolphins’ defensive stats and rankings in 2023 when they blitz:

• -.33 EPA (third)
• 37.5% positive EPA rate (eighth)
• 7 yards per attempt (16th)
• 105.2 passer rating (20th)
• 74.1% completion (26th)

And here are those same stats and rankings when they do not:

• -.12 EPA (14th)
• 45.9% positive EPA rate (19th)
• 6.8 yards per attempt (20th)
• 88.5 passer rating (19th)
• 66.3% completion (20th)

Not surprisingly, the more players the Dolphins have in coverage, the lower the completion percentage and yards per attempt.

But the tradeoff that comes with it — fewer splash plays — isn’t worth playing it safe, at least not all the time.

MORE: How Worried Is Mike McDaniel About the Miami Dolphins’ Defense?

Now, like everything, blitzing is only good in moderation. There’s a fine line between aggressive and reckless, and Boyer crossed it last year with his Zero blitz.

But with a secondary that can’t consistently cover for more than a few seconds, Fangio, through four games, has not been aggressive enough.

Fangio’s message to the team this week?

“Just focus on what you can control, the small details, the fundamentals and techniques,” per Jevon Holland. “That’s what everybody’s going to say because that’s the truth, really. You have to really focus on the things that you can control, and those are the things you can control.

“So I feel like in a situation like this, everybody’s going to say the same thing because it’s the truth. That was the thought process for the defense today.”