Fangio Fallout: Evaluating His One Season in Miami
Vic Fangio might not have been popular with every Miami Dolphins defensive player during his brief tenure in South Florida, but it's also hard to argue the fact he did do a good job — maybe even a great job — while he was there.
In a big picture view, Fangio helped the Dolphins improve from 18th in the NFL in total defense to 10th in his one season and from 27th to 15th in pass defense.
And then we need to point out the Dolphins actually were fourth in total defense heading into their Week 17 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens when Fangio's group was without starting safety Jevon Holland for the whole game and lost cornerback Xavien Howard in the first series.
More significantly, Fangio's defense held the Buffalo Bills offense to 14 points in the season finale and then held the Kansas City Chiefs to 19 points through the first three quarters of the playoff game, giving the team a chance to win either game with more contributions from the offense.
And that happened with with starters Bradley Chubb, Jaelan Phillips and Jerome Baker (for the Chiefs game) also missing from the lineup.
Oh, and the Dolphins set a franchise record for sacks in a season, with Christian Wilkins and Zach Sieler each hitting a career high.
While personnel clearly factors in, the Dolphins' 10th-place finish in total yards allowed was the team's best since the 2010 season.
FANGIO'S STYLE NOT FOR EVERYONE
There were rumblings and complaints from different corners throughout the season about Fangio's style, how stubborn and rigid he was, particularly with his refusal early on to blitz more often and also his reluctance to have one of his star cornerbacks shadow an opponent's top receiver.
The last issue came to the forefront after Stefon Diggs abused the Dolphins secondary (mostly Kader Kohou) for six catches, 120 yards and three touchdowns in the Week 4 blowout loss at Buffalo or when DeAndre Hopkins had a big night in that brutal Monday night loss against the Tennessee Titans.
As for the blitzing, yes, Fangio could have used it more often, but can we also not forget he went to it a couple of times in the second half of the opener against the L.A. Chargers and it paid off big time, especially on the final defensive drive that sealed the 36-34 victory.
And when Jalen Ramsey came back from his training camp knee injury, which coincided with Jaelan Phillips playing a peak efficiency after being slowed by back and oblique injuries early on, the defense really took off.
Yes, the team played its share of sub-par quarterbacks in the middle of the season, but it doesn't change the fact the defense went from 21st in total yards allowed per game to fourth before injuries began taking their toll.
Bottom line is not everybody liked everything that Fangio during his one season in Miami and there were some rough patches to be sure, but it's difficult to complain about the overall quality of his work.
