The Dolphins’ defense is among the NFL’s worst in two major stats, with a simple explanation but no easy fix amid a brand new secondary
Sometimes explaining a team’s troubles can be a lot easier than finding a solution. Meet the 2025 Dolphins defense.
The Miami Dolphins’ offense was the unit that failed to come through late in Week 2 against the New England Patriots, imploding amid operational gaffes that simply cannot be excused for a coaching regime in its fourth year. Miami, trailing 30-27 and then again trailing 33-27, went belly up on offense amid miscues, penalties, and procedural issues. It’s a demoralizing way to go down “swinging.” But defensively, the Dolphins’ issues are a little bit more straightforward.
Two basic statistics on defense feature the Dolphins among the league’s worst through two weeks and perfectly embody the current struggles on defense — time of possession and third/fourth down conversion rates.
Dolphins’ among NFL’s worst in the NFL through two weeks in stats that define major struggles defensively
“We’ve got to win early downs. We’ve got to play better, we’ve got to be better as a unit. We’ve got to stop them on 1st & 2nd downs to (get better opportunities) on third down,” said defensive tackle Zach Sieler after the game.
They absolutely do. Miami ranks T-31st in the NFL in third-down defense through the second Sunday of the 2025 season — it’s allowing 51.9% of its third downs on defense to be converted for a fresh set of downs. That’s tied with Dallas, with only Houston sporting a worse mark. Houston, by the way, plays tonight and has a chance to move ahead of the Dolphins and Cowboys in that regard.
When Miami does force opponents into fourth downs, it hasn’t mattered. Miami has not generated a single stop on fourth down through two games — the Patriots and Colts went four for four, plus a fresh set of downs for running into the punter in Week 1.
As a result of all of those fresh sets of downs, Miami’s defense through two games is averaging more than 36 minutes of game clock on the field. That’s 36 minutes and 14 seconds on average, which is last in the NFL. Among franchises that have played two games thus far, no other team is within a minute and a half of Miami’s lopsided mark.
The key here, as Sieler outlined, is to win more on early downs. The Dolphins were excruciatingly soft in coverage while flying blind into Week 1. They appeared moderately better in Week 2, but the new pieces of a completely remodeled secondary will take time. There’s no rest for the weary, as Miami hits the road for Buffalo on Thursday night. That’s not the team you want to see amid these kinds of issues.
The Dolphins’ defense has faced 27 third-down opportunities through two games. The average yardage to gain across those 27 snaps is 6.04 yards. And 15 of those opportunities have come with five or fewer yards to go, and only six snaps have come with 10+ yards needed. Miami’s four fourth-down snaps have required an average of two yards. This is not conducive to generating stops. Consider the yardage to gain distribution through two games:
- Third/Fourth and short (1-3 yards needed): 15
- Third/Fourth and medium (4-6 yards needed): 6
- Third/Fourth and long (7-10 yards needed): 7
- Third/Fourth and extra (11+ yards needed): 3
The corresponding conversion rates tell the story you need to know. Of short-yardage attempts, 80% have been successful. And 67% of medium conversion attempts have been successful, while 20% of the long and extra conversion attempts have been successful.
If the Dolphins’ defense wants less time on the field and more time on the sideline, it needs to earn it on first and second downs instead. Without a change there, fans will wonder where names like Sieler, Bradley Chubb, Chop Robinson, Jaelan Phillips, and others are at with their impact on the game — they need better communication from their friends on the back end in addition to their own better execution up front on a fresh set of downs.
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