What data says on Dolphins’ NFL-worst pass rush, pass coverage. News by position

It’s tough enough to win in the NFL without a consistent pass rush.

But when you combine that shortcoming with repeated breakdowns in pass coverage, then stopping opponents becomes overwhelmingly difficult.

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A week after being dissected by the Raiders’ Kirk Cousins, the Dolphins’ defense was helpless to stop the 49ers’ Brock Purdy, who completed 20 of 22 passes for 287 yards, with two touchdowns through the air and one on the ground while spearheading the 49ers to a 35-13 win.

Purdy’s 149.1 passer rating was the best in the league on Sunday, and left Miami with the second-worst passer rating allowed (from a defensive perspective) through two games at 118.5, better than only Washington. As perspective, the NFL record for highest passer rating permitted in a season is 116.2, set by the 2015 New Orleans Saints.

Two issues stand at the forefront:

▪ The Dolphins’ pass rush looks like the franchise’s worst in years. The Dolphins entered Monday as the only team without a sack among teams that have played two games. (The Rams and Giants entered their Monday night game without a sack.)

If you’re wondering, the NFL record for fewest sacks in a 16- or 17-game season is 10 by the Chiefs, in 2008.

“It hasn’t worked in the first two games,” Jeff Hafley said of the pass rush. “I’ve coached a lot of defense and done a lot of different things. I’m going to have to continue to try to generate more pressure.”

▪ Dolphins defenders are struggling to stick with the player they’re covering.

Per Next Gen Stats and as noted by ESPN, 49ers receivers created 4.84 yards of separation per target (highest in the league Sunday). Of Purdy’s 22 passes, 31.8% were to “wide open” targets, meaning players who had 5-plus yards of separation.

So who was at fault? PFF placed a lot of the blame on starting cornerbacks Chris Johnson and Jason Marshall Jr., linebacker Jacob Rodriguez and safeties Michael Taaffe and Dante Trader Jr.

Johnson permitted all four passes in his coverage area to be caught, for 54 yards, while Marshall allowed three completions on three targets for 40 yards and a touchdown. (PFF blamed safety Zayne Anderson for Purdy’s other passing touchdown.)

Per PFF, Rodriguez allowed all five passes in his coverage area to be caught, for 77 yards. Taaffe yielded three completions in four targets for 50 yards, and Trader Jr. permitted his only target to be caught, for 19 yards.

Hafley tried various pass rush packages and coverage schemes, but nothing seemed to work.

“The Dolphins had a lot of different looks actually,” said Purdy, who led the 49ers to touchdowns on each of their first five possessions. “A lot of five-down, even six-down looks with bigs. Still threw in some nickel looks with four-down. They did everything. A lot of different kinds of blitz looks and stuff too. So, their scheme is tough.”

More notes, by position:

Cornerback

It has been a difficult first two weeks for Johnson; the first-rounder is ranked 84th among 93 cornerbacks (per PFF) and has a 129.7 passer rating in his coverage area, while defending a mix of receivers, running backs and tight ends.

Through two games, Marshall has allowed all six passes thrown against him to be caught, for 64 yards and two touchdowns (a poor 150.7 rating).

On Sunday, Marshall played 49 defensive snaps, Johnson 42 and Juju Brents 32. Brents wasn’t targeted on Sunday after allowing only 11 yards in receptions in Week 1. Cornerbacks Reese Taylor and Jaylin Simpson were active but played only on special teams.

Safety

Trader replaced Anderson with the starters, opposite Taaffe, but the Dolphins’ safety troika was less effective than it had been in the opener, when Taaffe and Trader each intercepted Cousins.

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Among 21 Dolphins defenders, PFF rated Trader 19th and Taaffe 20th.

Anderson was ranked 10th, but played only 13 snaps, compared with 44 for Taaffe and 40 for Trader. Julius Wood played eight snaps.

Taaffe led the Dolphins with three missed tackles; Johnson had two.

Defensive line

Among tackles (or in Zeek Biggers’ case, combo tackles/defensive ends), Biggers played 35 snaps, Zach Sieler 34, Jordan Phillips 31 and Keith Cooper 10.

PFF ranked all four among Miami’s six worst defenders on Sunday, with Cooper rated 21st and last. Those four players rushed the passer a combined 57 times Sunday and produced just one pressure (by Biggers), per PFF. And Biggers otherwise was poor as a pass rusher, PFF claimed.

Among defensive ends/edge players excluding Biggers, Josh Uche played 32 snaps, Malik Herring 23, Clelin Ferrell 21, Robert Beal 20 and Max Llewellyn two in his NFL debut.

Uche had three quarterback pressures, and PFF rated him Miami’s best defender on Sunday. None of the other edge players pressured Purdy on a combined 25 pass rushing snaps, but Herring got very good marks as a run defender. Phillips, Sieler and Cooper received poor PFF grades as run defenders.

Linebacker

Rodriguez played 48 snaps, Jordyn Brooks 44, Willie Gay Jr. 32, Jackson Woodard 8 and Liam Anderson 4.

Rodriguez’s eight tackles gave him 22 for the season, tied for sixth most among rookies in their first two games since the NFL began officially tracking tackles in 1994.

Among 21 Dolphins defenders, PFF rated him only 13th (in a tie with Gay) mostly because of the aforementioned pass coverage issues. PFF rated Rodriguez fourth as a run defender, behind Marshall, Trader and Herring.

Rodriguez recorded five stops (which PFF calls a successful play for the defense); he leads the NFL with 15 in two games.

Special teams

Taylor and Beal received PFF’s highest grades; Wood and running back Ollie Gordon II received the lowest grades.

To bolster special teams, the Dolphins plucked veteran linebacker Andre Jones Jr. off the Bills’ practice squad, reuniting him with Dolphins and former Bills special teams coach Chris Tabor. He has appeared in a combined 19 games for Washington and Buffalo over the previous three seasons.

Running back Jaylen Wright returned three kickoffs for 79 yards before leaving for good with a stinger in the second quarter. His 37.0 average on kickoff returns leads the league.

Hafley was displeased with kicker Riley Patterson’s missed 51-yard field-goal attempt (his second miss in two weeks) and Bradley Pinion’s fumbled punt. “We have to hit the field goals,” Hafley said. And Pinion “has to catch the ball.”

Here’s my Monday position-by-position look at the Dolphins offense, with grades, snap counts and more.

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