MIAMI GARDENS — Wink Martindale, the New York Giants’ defensive coordinator, is known for his tendency to blitz frequently. But Dolphins players tell me that uncharacteristically, Martindale didn’t blitz a lot against Miami earlier this season.
Throughout the season, opposing defensive coordinators have created exotic, one-time, out-of-character schemes against Miami’s speedy, fear-inducing offense. Unscouted looks, as they’re called.
New England coach Bill Belichick is known for his defensive acumen. The first time the Patriots played Miami this season he employed a three-safety shell scheme against Miami.
“That’s something that we’d never seen before,” wide receiver Tyreek Hill said, “and they had both safeties down trying to get hands on me and (wide receiver) Jaylen (Waddle), trying to protect the outside, not allowing the ball to get outside so we have been seeing a bunch of unusual things.”
The Dolphins’ speed and big-play ability at wide receiver and running back scares opposing defenses so much they do things they normally wouldn’t. This applies to almost every opponent.
Now, with big-play running back De’Von Achane expected to return this week against the Las Vegas Raiders, the defensive choices become even tougher.
The Raiders’ approach will be interesting.
Dolphins players tell me they expect the Raiders to unveil something previously unseen in Sunday’s 1 p.m. game at Hard Rock Stadium.
It’s happened all season.
The second time Miami played New England, Belichick used an entirely different scheme. Players tell me this time the safeties and linebackers largely lined up in spots they hadn’t lined up in previous games.
There are two ways to look at the unscouted looks the Dolphins have received.
The advantage is it’s something the Miami offense has never seen. The disadvantage is it’s something the defense has never played.
“That’s the fine line you have to weigh,” defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said.
Fangio said he rarely goes outside of his usual scheme to defend a player or a team.
That seems to be a wise choice.
Many of the unscouted looks used against the Dolphins have failed.
But a couple have succeeded.
The main idea, the scheme that gets repeated game after game, players tell me, is the two-safety shell to guard against explosive plays.
Hill told me Buffalo and Kansas City were the most aggressive at the line of scrimmage, with the idea being they can throw off the timing of the passing game.
A Dolphins cornerback told me that’s what he’d do against Hill and Waddle.
Philadelphia didn’t have to be aggressive at the line of scrimmage, Hill said, because their pass rush is so good.
But players tell me they have a way of combating unscouted looks.
They say Hill and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa do a good job of talking on the sideline about what the defense is doing, how they can adjust on the fly, and then executing that somewhat improvised plan.
It’s something they had to do in training camp while going against the Fangio-led defense.
“Ultimately, that was the best part about here in camp with Vic (Fangio) and the multiplicity with what they do,” Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith said. “It forced us to really have some of that communication early on.”
Most of these exotic defenses are designed with the idea of stopping explosive plays from Hill firstly, and stopping explosive plays from Hill or Waddle secondly. But there are also the running backs, Achane and Raheem Mostert, primarily.
Their speed and the big-play potential of the run game mean Miami rarely sees eight-man fronts.
Offensive line coach Butch Barry said he can’t quantify how frequently or infrequently the Dolphins see eight-man fronts. But he said he understands how defenses view Miami’s offense.
“One of the things I think defenses feel is they have to defend the whole field,” he said.
Defenses must make tough choices against the Miami offense. Play an eight-man front to choke the life out of the NFL’s third-best rushing game and you’re at risk of leaving the back end of your defense open to explosive plays from the league’s No. 1 passing game. And if you try to limit the explosive plays by leaving your safeties deep, you’re at risk of getting hammered by a running game that averages a league-best 5.9 yards per carry.
The key is the Dolphins have been able to adjust to many of the unscouted looks.
A lot of the in-game adjustments are triggered by Tagovailoa and Hill chatting.
“Overall, the offense does a good job together communicating what they’re seeing, how they’re trying to really get on the same page and connected, because that’s the challenge of the season,” Smith said.
“Each week, every defense is going to pose a different test or they’re going to either show what we’ve kind of seen before, or they could give us something that we haven’t seen before. So I think ultimately, our communication together is the most important thing we need to be on.”
That’s because the Dolphins’ offense knows each week it’s likely going to see something it has never seen before.
