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Dolphins' defense staying intact can make life harder — and easier — for offenses | Habib

MIAMI GARDENS — Of all the reasons to feel optimistic about the Dolphins in 2022, the defense ranks high on the list.

New coach Mike McDaniel made the wise move of retaining defensive coordinator Josh Boyer. General manager Chris Grier made the wise move of keeping the defense intact, including re-signing free-agent end Emmanuel Ogbah.

Same coach + same players + same philosophy = same results, right?

Maybe.

Probably.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

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Dolphins linebacker Jerome Baker tackles Titans quarterback and former teammate Ryan Tannehill.
Dolphins linebacker Jerome Baker tackles Titans quarterback and former teammate Ryan Tannehill.

Start with Tyrod Taylor, Mike Glennon, Ian Book, Cam Newton and P.J. Walker. They were the quarterbacks the Dolphins shut down during their torrid streak in which teams couldn’t manage more than 10 points against them.

They’re also the quarterbacks Miami won’t face in 2022. Instead, plug in Joe Burrow, Kirk Cousins, Deshaun Watson (maybe), Justin Herbert and Aaron Rodgers.

It’s a daunting task. It’s also half the reason that the 2022 Dolphins defense could be better even if the results are not.

Coaches find a way to solve every puzzle

To appreciate the other half, go back to, say, 2008. The Dolphins, coming off a 1-15 season and having started 0-2, shocked the Patriots in Foxborough 38-13. They of course did it thanks to Ronnie Brown running the Wildcat. Bill Belichick had no answer for it as the Dolphins rushed for 216 yards and four touchdowns.

But what about the rematch?

New England came to Miami Gardens and won 48-28, holding the Dolphins to 66 rushing yards. Even though the Dolphins won the AFC East, the point is, NFL coaches are so good, they find an answer for everything — even something as confounding as the Wildcat.

Which brings us back to Boyer. We all know he loves to blitz, and why not? Not only did teams have no answer for it last season, it made sense given the personnel. When you have cornerbacks Xavien Howard and Byron Jones, whom you trust on an island, why not go cover-zero mad on QBs? Or are you supposed to fear that Mike Glennon is going to burn you?

Boyer is sharp enough to know the challenges he’ll face in 2022, chief among them being that offenses will have had an entire offseason to counter his blitzing. So he needs to counter their counter. That’s what makes the NFL fun — the ongoing chess match coaches play in a quest to come up with something no one else has thought of in a century of professional football.

So where is the Dolphins’ defense, version 2022?

“I’m definitely happy,” linebacker Jerome Baker said. The reason? Continuity.

“I always had different coaches, different linebacker coaches, different coordinators, going back all of the way to college,” Baker said. “For me, it’s a good thing. It’s a chance to — you know what you expect.”

Jerome Baker: ‘We know what we're doing'

With all the attention in these parts to the advantages of continuity, it’s easy to forget familiarity works both ways — for the opposition, too.

Baker thought for a moment on who this helps more.

“I’m always leaning there’s a bigger advantage with us just because we know what we’re doing, we know how each other plays and how each other works,” he said. “When you have that chemistry, things like that in this league are hard to build, and we already have a little foundation of it. Now it’s just time to build on that.”

It’s so early that all that’s happening now is teaching technique and installing McDaniel’s system. Nobody’s playing chess. When cornerback Nik Needham was asked whether Boyer has thrown any “wrinkles” at players, the question may as well have been delivered in a foreign language.

“I think as of now, he’s just running his defense,” Needham said. “And whatever you just said, I haven’t seen that yet.”

Baker: “Game-plan specific (coaching) is going to come when it comes.”

Not everything is identical to 2021, naturally. The Dolphins just signed former Pro Bowl edge rusher Melvin Ingram. Safety Jevon Holland, a starter as a rookie, is a rookie no more. He’ll land in the Pro Bowl, no doubt. The question is when. And don’t forget linebacker Jaelan Phillips, who all but gnashes his teeth at his rookie performance even though no one else does.

Plus, the Dolphins’ top draft pick was Channing Tindall, a linebacker whose speed impresses Baker.

“He’s going to be a great player,” Baker said. “He’s just got to — just with any rookie — just try to soak in as much information as you can, and just remember you got to this point by playing football. It’s not that hard when you think about it. It’s still football like it was when we were younger.”

That, too, hasn’t changed.

Hal Habib covers the Dolphins for The Post. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins defense facing Joe Burrow, Deshaun Watson, Aaron Rodgers