Defense Is the Biggest of Miami Dolphins' Problems

By now, you've read all about the painful decisions made by Miami Dolphins interim head coach Dan Campbell that might have played a role in the team's 33-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

Even with better time management at the end of the first half, and even if Campbell had declined a third-down penalty that would have forced the Bills to take a field goal instead of giving them an opportunity to score a 44-yard touchdown (which they happily accepted), the Dolphins might still have lost the game.

Why? Because of their defense.

Their run defense, once trending upward, allowed two 100-yard rushers on Sunday against the Bills. Both Karlos Williams and LeSean McCoy went over the century mark against the Dolphins defense, and the Bills ran for 266 yards as a team—more than any team in any game this season. 

"When you're looking at [Sunday's] game, we had a few misfits here and there," Campbell said. "Buffalo did a good job over the bye week of game planning against us. They had some false keys, you could say. When you start pulling guys and you run the read option out the back side, your linebackers are kind of asked to do two different jobs. It puts them in a bind."

Their pass defense doesn't rank quite as low as their run defense (13th against the pass, 31st against the run) but they're just as guilty of the Dolphins' defensive shortcomings.

2015	Dolphins (per game)	NFL rank
Points	25.8	23
Yards	384.5	25
Pass yards	242.4	13
Yards/pass	7.4	25
Passer rating	97.1	22
Rush yards	142.1	31
Yards/rush	4.5	26
Third down %	40.19	21
Red zone %	60.87	20

Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor completed 11 of the 12 passes he threw on Sunday and 32 of his 41 passes for 458 yards, four touchdowns and no picks in his two games against the Dolphins this season. Add Taylor to a growing list of mediocre quarterbacks who have had success against the Dolphins defense, including Ryan Fitzpatrick (New York Jets) and Blake Bortles (Jacksonville Jaguars).

The Dolphins made it close a couple of times, drawing within two points in the second quarter and within five points in the third, but their defense couldn't get the continued stops it needed in order to give their offense a chance to get the lead. The Bills converted eight of their 13 third-down situations and didn't turn the ball over a single time.

But you could almost deal with all of those shortcomings if the Dolphins were still winning. Unfortunately, the only stat that really matters is points on the board, and the Dolphins have been abysmal in that category.

The Dolphins have yielded 95 points in the past three games (31.7 points per game). To put that in context, the league's worst defense right now is the New Orleans Saints, who have allowed 268 points in nine games (29.8 points per game). 

Indeed, outside of the team's back-to-back wins (against the lowly Tennessee Titans and Houston Texans), the Dolphins defense has been dreadful this season. Given the amount of talent it has on that side of the ball, you would think that the defense would be the strength of the team. Even with a fully healthy Cameron Wake, though, the Dolphins have struggled to stop opponents from doing anything.

And now, one of their best defensive backs is also struggling. Veteran cornerback Brent Grimes was victimized by Bills wide receiver Sammy Watkins on Sunday. Watkins caught all eight passes thrown his way for 168 yards and a touchdown; according to Pro Football Focus, five of those receptions, 143 of those yards and the touchdown were all on Grimes' watch.

It wouldn't have taken a rocket scientist to stop it, either. Watkins was the only wide receiver to catch a pass for the Bills on Sunday.

The Bills knew what they were going to do, and they knew it would work. 

"We kept playing to our strengths, kept running the ball. Kept hitting them with the same two plays repeatedly," left guard Richie Incognito said about the Bills offensive game plan. "They couldn't stop it."

The Dolphins defense has a lot of work to do to get back on track to being the top-notch unit it's capable of being. Unfortunately, even if it turns it around 180 degrees off last week's loss, it might be too little too late. 

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes obtained via team news release.