Miami Dolphins Problems Run Deeper Than Coaching

At 1-3, the Miami Dolphins were quick to blame Joe Philbin. So, he was fired.

Now, at 4-7, it's now clear that he wasn't the Dolphins' biggest problem. 

It's really that simple. The Dolphins have taken two glimmers of hope and turned them into two separate dark abysses from which there seems to be no return. Their latest loss, a 38-20 drubbing at the hands of the New York Jets, is another step down that bottomless pit.

A small fit of sound defense was met with sheer futility on offense, and by the time the offense caught up, the defense had given up its ground in dramatic fashion. Not including a one-play drive at the end of the first half, the Dolphins failed to score on their first nine drives.

In fact, it took the Dolphins 20 tries this season just to convert a third down, which NJ Advance Media's Darryl Slater pointed out:

Are we really going to hold head coach Dan Campbell or offensive coordinator Bill Lazor accountable for all 20 of those failed third-down conversions? That would be asinine. That much failure comes down to a lack of execution. At some point, the players have to start making plays. The offense didn't do that for long stretches on Sunday, as has been the case all season long.

The defense did its part for most of the first half on Sunday, giving up just seven points on the Jets' first six drives, but New York reached the end zone again before halftime to build a 14-point lead, and they never looked back off that double-digit margin.

Once again, that came down to the defense's lack of execution. Yes, their backs were against the wall at times due to the multiple misfires on offense, but the defense also gave up touchdown drives of 87 and 92 yards in the first half and a 79-yard touchdown drive in the second half.

Some of it's on the coaching, for sure, but blown coverage in the passing game, missed lanes and poor tackling in the running game and bad discipline with penalties? Those are problems that come right down to the players.

It wasn't coaching that led to cornerback Brent Grimes giving up a 47-yard pass into his coverage against wide receiver Brandon Marshall. It was bad execution. The NFL noted Marshall's impressive on-field performance:

It wasn't coaching that led to Jets running back Chris Ivory's 31-yard touchdown. It was bad execution. The NFL provided highlights:

These are issues that won't be corrected overnight. 

This doesn't mean much for the Dolphins this year. At 4-7, they're pretty much out of the playoffs at this point. Where these problems will have implications, though, is in the offseason. It's already pretty clear that Campbell will not be brought back as the Dolphins' first choice as head coach. What's less clear is which players will be kept by whoever is chosen as the next head coach.

Those decisions will not be made until that person takes over as coach, but the basis for those decisions will be formed in the next few weeks.

There are a lot of questions that will need to be answered: Is Ryan Tannehill the quarterback to lead this team into the next era?; are there any young building blocks in the secondary, or are the Dolphins on track to start from scratch back there?; what can DeVante Parker contribute as a wide receiver in this offense?; and then, of course, the age-old question of where the Dolphins need to improve on the offensive line.

The Dolphins might be out of the playoff race, but there's still a lot left to play for in 2015.