Miami Dolphins Week 9 Stock Report
The New England Patriots poured a bucket of cold water on the red-hot Miami Dolphins, but interim head coach Dan Campbell has already set the tone for how this team will respond to adversity.
He set that tone by leading the Dolphins to two huge wins when their backs were against the wall at 1-3 coming out of the bye week. He helped them forge an identity as a hard-nosed, smashmouth football team by playing an aggressive style of defense and committing to the running game on offense. He may not be the smartest X's and O's football coach in the NFL, but he is a great leader of men.
That being said, while some of his players were inspired and fired up on Thursday, others left a lot of room for improvement. Here are a handful of players who land on either end of that spectrum.
Stock Down: Lamar Miller
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I'm surprised I was able to find a picture of Lamar Miller from Thursday's game against the Patriots. I was under the impression he'd gone missing.
Miller had just nine carries for 15 yards and five receptions for 19 yards in Week 8, a huge comedown from a red-hot two-week stretch in which he posted a combined 33 carries for 288 yards (8.7 YPA) and two touchdowns, along with five receptions for 66 more yards and another touchdown.
The Patriots set the tone from the beginning that they were not going to let the Dolphins run the ball down their throats and dictate the tempo of the game.
Miller and the Dolphins have a tough task ahead of them in Week 9 as well, with a road trip to face the Buffalo Bills and a run defense that ranks in the top 10 in nearly every category that matters (eighth in rush attempts per game, sixth in yards per game, 12th in yards per carry).
Stock Up: Olivier Vernon
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Sebastian Vollmer is one of the best offensive tackles in the NFL, but he has spent much of his career on the right side of the line. In the past, he's had some trouble with Dolphins defensive end Cameron Wake on that side of the field. In Week 8, he was on the left side of the field as the Patriots continue to try to figure out their offensive line with Nate Solder out for the year. Instead of Wake, it was Olivier Vernon who gave Vollmer nightmares on the left side.
Vernon registered four hurries, two hits and a sack against Vollmer on Thursday night, one of a few Dolphins defenders who set up shop in the Patriots backfield. The Dolphins will need more like this from Vernon, especially with Wake now out for the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon.
For years, Vernon has been an underrated force on the Dolphins defensive line. The last nine games of the 2015 season could serve as a proving ground for him to show exactly what he's made of. If the Dolphins pass rush is going to continue to improve, as it has for the past few weeks, it will have to be because Vernon elevates his game tremendously.
Stock Down: Koa Misi
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It did not matter who linebacker Koa Misi was covering Thursday night—that's where Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was going with the football.
Of course, he found other matchups he liked, but Brady went after Misi eight times and completed eight passes for 124 yards. He got wide receiver Brandon LaFell on a 28-yard catch and run, hit tight end Rob Gronkowski on a long pass, hit backup tight end Scott Chandler on a short throw and found Dion Lewis in various spots four times.
Misi has mostly been very good for the Dolphins this season and has earned the top spot on the depth chart over fellow middle linebacker Kelvin Sheppard. That being said, passing downs were supposed to be his strength and Sheppard's weakness. As it turns out, Misi isn't perfect in that area either.
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Stock Up: Ndamukong Suh
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As mentioned previously, several Dolphins defensive linemen created havoc in the Patriots backfield on a consistent basis Thursday night. One of those players was defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.
The Patriots didn't make life easy for Suh, giving him a lot of double-teams Thursday, but the veteran still generated five hurries and two hits of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, according to Pro Football Focus.
The constant double-teams led to his tallying just two tackles (one solo, one assist), but in drawing those double-teams, Suh helped some of his teammates in the pass rush with one-on-one matchups. He would have helped his linebackers make plays too, but they seemed to have an aversion to making those plays Thursday night.
Suh has really started to make his presence felt over the past few weeks, and he'll need to continue to do so against the Buffalo Bills in Week 9.
Stock Down: Offensive Line
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It would have been unfair to single out just one offensive lineman from Thursday's game. They all left a lot to be desired.
The passing game never got off the ground, due in large part to the constant pressure in quarterback Ryan Tannehill's face (19 pressures on 49 dropbacks, according to Pro Football Focus). Tackle Jason Fox gave up five hurries and two hits; guard Billy Turner gave up one hurry, one hit and two sacks; center Mike Pouncey gave up three pressures. The list goes on.
The running game ran off the rails too, but while some of the blame goes to the coaching staff for getting away from it almost immediately (13 carries, 15 yards), much of the blame for those struggles falls on the line for its failures to open holes up front. If those runs had been better executed, maybe the Dolphins would have stuck with it.
This group has been a strength for the team in its dramatic turnaround after the bye week, but now, the Dolphins must do it without one of their best linemen in right tackle Ja'Wuan James, who could be out up to six weeks with a toe injury, according to Andrew Abramson of the Palm Beach Post.
Unless Fox steps up in a big way, the Dolphins offensive line could continue to struggle Sunday against a Buffalo Bills defense that will bring a lot of exotic pressure packages his way.
Unless otherwise noted, all quotes obtained firsthand or via team news release. All advanced stats obtained via ProFootballFocus.com.
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