The Miami Dolphins were a top defense in 2019. One of the reasons was their 3rd down package. The Dolphins were 1st in the NFL in 2020 in that category.
Kudos to 1st year dc Josh Boyer on a great job.
They held teams to 31% efficiency which is very good. Boyer was also the passing game coordinator for the Patriots in 2019 and they were also #1 in the NFL in that department with a 25% success rate by opposing teams. That is an impressive statistic.
The Dolphins do a great job showing different looks and especially love their mug looks with LB's walked up to the line of scrimmage. They try to create some confusion in pass protection when doing this.They also do a great job bringing pressure but also simulating pressure, forcing 6 and 7 man protections and then dropping 7. They do a great job with this in their 3rd down package.
Here are a few examples of what the fronts look like, but as we get into the article you will see some of the confusion they cause with their pressures and various looks.
One of the teams they had great success against were the Jets. The Jets were 5/30 against the Dolphins on 3rd down over two games. They confused the Jets with various pressures, mug looks and stunts. That' a 16% offensive efficiency which was impressive.
You can see plenty of the looks and pressures on my youtube channel!
Here are a few Mug looks and pressures vs Jets
vs the Jets During week 6
3rd and 4
Double mug look with the safety on the rb. Show pressure but only bring 5. The Jets run a swing but the dolphins run it down for a 2 yard gain forcing the Jets to punt. The coverage is 0 which is straight man to man with 2 rat players on the lb.
One thing you notice about the Dolphins is that they love to engage and drop, occupying an off lineman and then dropping. This allows another rusher to come unblocked, or get a matchup they like by forcing the issue. They try to dump it to the back here but he is tackled after a 3 yard gain. They punt on 4th down.
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| great pursuit to the football |
3rd and 7 situations
They go with a 3 man defensive line and 3 lb's who are showing pressure. As an offense either you keep the back in or throw hot. The Jets keep the back in and the dolphins run a cross stunt with the 2 inside lb. Both The Rb and C take the same lb freeing up the other lb.
You will notice, they love to play their odd look on 3rd +1-4 with 2 olb on the line of scrimmage in those situations.
Here's another of the same look:
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Lets Looking at a few games.
Against, the Patriots, they played a ton of man free coverage in passing downs because their is no fear of any wr in the Patriots passing game. They also dropped 8 on a number of occasions but mostly played man free with 2 rat defenders..
Here's some clips vs the Patriots
3rd and 11
The Dolphins play man free with 2 rat defenders and a free safety. The Patriots go tunnel screen and it's well played by the Dolphins
3rd and 9
The Dolphins show man vs empty but when the Patriots motion the rb it becomes man free. That helps them because the rb now is covered by the lb and better against the screen the Pats try to run. LB is looking for the rb and has him his way so the Pats don't get the rush they were expecting. Easier for the lb to sift thru blockers and make a play and he was eyeing the back.
On 3rd and 5
they play their 3x3 nickel look. They play man free with 2 rat defenders and a free safety.
They go coverage against the Patriots and match up well. No wr gets separation, so Cam tries to force it in.
Vs Arizona
The Cardinals have one of the most athletic qb's in the game. The Dolphins game plan in that game was to show many double mug and odd mug looks where they had 6 men on the line of scrimmage. The Cardinals were 5-12 on 3rd down and some were pure scrambles.
On 3rd and 4 vs the Cardinals come out in empty. Dophins are in nickel showing 6 man pressure.
Here the Dolphins bring 6 in a read it type stunt with cover o out of their 3 hands down 3 lb front. Meaning if someone steps to the linebacker you drop into coverage. Watch the lbs on this.
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