The Miami Dolphins have a new head coach once again. What areas must this team look to improve if the team is to rebound from another losing season?
Back in 2002, the NFL added a 32nd team (Houston Texans) and realigned from six to eight divisions. Since then, the Miami Dolphins have reached the playoffs just twice (2008 and ’16) and last won the AFC East in ’08. This past season, a surprising 3-0 start was followed by nine losses in the club’s final 13 games.
Head coach Adam Gase, who led the team to the playoffs in his first season in ’16, was fired and replaced by former New England Patriots’ defensive whiz Brian Flores. Yes, there’s plenty of work to be done for a team that is a combined 13-19 the last past two seasons after finishing with 10 wins in 2016.
5. Fortify the interior of the defense
Back in 2015, the Miami Dolphins gave big money to defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. The steady defender brought quite the resume to South Florida and played and started in every game with the franchise for three seasons. With standout pass rushers such as Cameron Wake, Olivier Vernon and Mario Williams on the outside during his stay, the ‘Fins had enormous potential when it came to harassing opposing quarterbacks.
But the intense defender wasn’t surrounded with a lot of help elsewhere, especially up the middle. The Miami defense was ranked 28th, 30th and 14th, respectively, in the league against the run. Suh was released by the team last offseason. In turn, only the Arizona Cardinals allowed more rushing yards per game than the ‘Fins. With new defensive-minded head coach Brian Flores at the controls, fixing the front-seven is certainly on the team’s list of priorities.