Dolphins Defense Ready for Series of Challenges
The Miami Dolphins defense got off to a great start in the 2022 season, but now comes perhaps its most challenging three-week stretch of the season.
The fun begins Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, with the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals lurking behind.
The Ravens might have the most unique player of the bunch in quarterback Lamar Jackson, who has the attention of Dolphins linebacker Jerome Baker and his teammates.
“A guy like that, you really can’t stop him at all,” Baker said. "You really can just contain him and make other guys beat you. That’s really our approach, just to contain him and do our job, run to the ball and play as a defense. We’ve just got to work on Sunday.”
Jackson and the Ravens represent the first real test of the season for the Dolphins defense. Baltimore’s offensive personnel is a clear upgrade over the Patriots, who the Dolphins held to seven points in its Week 1 victory.
Additionally, Miami will have to stop them on the road.
“I think their record in their last home openers is like 6-0 or something,” Baker said. “It’s going to be a good test for us and ultimately we’ve just got to stick together as a team, and we’ll be fine. We’ll definitely be fine.”
Miami Has the Blueprint
One thing the Dolphins' defense does have going for it is the success they had against the Ravens in last season’s matchup.
The Dolphins defeated the Ravens 22-10 and held them to just 94 rushing yards—Baltimore finished last season with the third most rushing yards in the NFL—while sacking Jackson four times. The game also broke the Ravens' streak of 51 regular season games with at least 14 points scored.
Beyond that, the defense contributed a score when Xavien Howard returned a fumble for a touchdown in the second half.
It’s also important to note, Miami is returning almost all of its defensive starters from last season (the one exception being cornerback Byron Jones, who is on Reserve/PUP), and using the same defensive scheme under Josh Boyer.
Although Miami has a solid blueprint for stopping Jackson, the Ravens have gotten a lot of time to study what Miami’s defense did last season and counter it. Still, Boyer isn’t too worried about the Ravens having an answer for everything on Sunday.
“I think each game is different,” Boyer said. “Sometimes the games have a different ebb and flow to them. I think there’s always an element of adjusting going into the game. So I think every team in the league would do their due diligence and always study past games against the same opponent, same coordinator. I think those things happen on a week-in and week-out basis.”
Week 1 Momentum Will Help
Miami’s defensive performance last week, which included holding the Patriots to seven points and 271 total yards of offense, while forcing three turnovers, has produced positive momentum in the locker room.
“Guys are focused and hungry,” Baker said. “I think that’s the main thing. The guys are locked in. Even today, we changed a few things in our schedule and the guys didn’t blink. We just got our job done and continued about our day. That’s the main approach: we are ready to work, we are ready to perform and we are ready to do something special.”
On the other hand, Baltimore’s offense is coming off a solid but slightly underwhelming performance in their win against the New York Jets in Week 1. They scored 24 points and finished with just 274 yards of total offense.
Jackson finished the game with 239 passing yards and just 17 rushing yards on six carries. Even in a down game, Jackson still managed to throw three touchdown passes against the Jets' secondary.
Regardless of whether Miami’s game plan to keep Jackson and the Ravens in check changes from last season, the defense is excited about its first major challenge.
It's going to be fun — as in challenging — the next two games also with Josh Allen coming to Hard Rock Stadium before a quick turnaround for a Thursday night game against the Bengals in Cincinnati.
But first things first, and that's Baltimore.
"We’re excited,” Baker said. “I’ll say that. We’re definitely excited. Any time you go up against a guy that gives you a big challenge on defense – any defensive guy is going to get happy and hungry and ready to prove themselves. That’s the main thing. We’re ready to prove ourselves against essentially a superstar in this league. It’s going to be a fun one Sunday.”
