MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Miami Dolphins have lost their top two pass rushers in the last six games.
They’re a greatly diminished defense without Bradley Chubb (11 sacks, six forced fumbles) and Jaelan Phillips (6.5 sacks, 11 quarterback hits).
Going forward, their pass rush will come from a backup (Andrew Van Ginkel), a high-priced veteran who was a healthy scratch in Week 17 (Emmanuel Ogbah), and a 34-year-old who was out of the league a month ago (Melvin Ingram).
Combined, they had zero sacks, zero tackles for loss, and zero quarterback hits in Sunday’s shellacking at the hands of the Ravens. Lamar Jackson was barely touched in the pocket — the Dolphins managed just one sack and two quarterback hits — and he used that free time to light Miami up for five touchdowns.
Up next: Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, who have won three straight and 10 of 11 against the Dolphins.
The Miami Dolphins’ Pass Rush Is What It Is
And yet, the Dolphins’ roster has remained static this week. The collection of pass rushers they had available in Week 17 will largely be the pass rushers they’ll have available in Week 18.
Make no mistake: This is a choice.
There are proven, albeit imperfect, defensive linemen available to them.
Ndamukong Suh, who has 214 quarterback hits and 71.5 sacks in his 13-year NFL career, remains unsigned.
So does Frank Clark, who has 131 and 58.5 in nine seasons.
Both players could help the Dolphins. Both players were discussed by the Dolphins (Suh even visited a few weeks back). But both players will be watching as the Dolphins host the Bills on Sunday.
Why?
Here’s Mike McDaniel’s explanation on Wednesday:
“You consider all things, but we’re considering it under the veil of, ‘We know and are very happy and can depend on the guys we have.’ I know Ogbah and Mel[vin Ingram] are thirsty for the challenge. The whole room is. They’re very much connected. That’s what their teammate would want.
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“And that’s what they want to deliver for their teammate and the team. I think we might have acted differently if we didn’t have so much firsthand fact that we’ve witnessed day in day out that we know the team’s in good hands with that group. So, that’s kind of how it rested.”
Certainly, this means Ogbah will not only be active for every game the rest of the way but will likely get a starter’s snaps.
“He was eager, as eager as really anybody, to force his hand with a soft tissue injury,” McDaniel said when asked why Ogbah was a healthy scratch in Week 17. “So he was inactive one week and then the following week on the heels of, ‘Do we press it? Do we allow him to get fully healthy?’ Because he was letting everyone know what his mindset was.
“Then, we felt with the practice reps that went on in the individual week that was best served for the whole team and him, to have him down. We’ve depended on him, and he’s come through in a bunch of ways all season, and he’s tough-minded, and I think he’s got his energy focused in the right direction, which is, ‘OK, well, this opportunity is the only opportunity.’
“This game — just in general, we’ve been talking about what type of team we want to be, and you have an opportunity to win the division, and that’s important to us. So the only way you can and should win the division is beating division opponents. That’s where his focus is at, as the rest of the team’s.”
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