Dolphins run defense the one constant through four games

By Hugo Guzman  |   Tuesday, October 06, 2009  |  Comments( 3 )

Miami Dolphins
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Thus far, the Miami Dolphins have had a lot of ups and downs in various phases of the game. Sometimes the pass rush is solid. Other times it's non-existent. Sometimes, the special teams unit is steady, while other times its extremely suspect. Sometimes the passing attack is acceptable...ok, well maybe that's a stretch.

The point is that the team has struggled with consistency in most phases of the game.

However, when it comes to stopping the run, the Dolphins "D" has been exquisitely consistent. Miami's run defense started off the season by holding the 2008 rushing champ, Atlanta's Michael Turner, to just 65 yards on 22 carries. They followed that up by bottling up the Colts, holding them to just 61 rushing yards. In week 3, the Dolphins held Darren Sproles and company to just 59 yards on 26 carries, and on Sunday, they bottled up the dynamic duo of Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch to just 46 yards on 17 carries.

Needless to say, Miami is in the upper echelon in terms of rushing yards allowed, running neck and neck with perennial run-stopping units like the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, which is all the more impressive when you consider that Miami is often inserting an extra defensive back to shore up what has proven to be a very suspect pass defense through the first four games.

If this consistency continues, and the pass defense begins to settle into a groove of sorts, Miami's defense could quickly become one of the more dynamic units in the NFL.

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About Hugo Guzman

Trying to bring an objective approach to NFL analysis.
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