Kelly: Can Dolphins defense solve the Josh Allen riddle?
Can Dolphins ‘D’ find way to control Bills’ Allen?
The Internal Revenue Service should consider auditing Josh Allen’s finances for unreported income because it has become abundantly clear the Buffalo Bills starting quarterback owns the Dolphins.
Not even Tom Brady, who is in the conversation for greatest quarterback of all time, has had this sustained level of dominance over South Florida’s NFL franchise.
In most seasons the Dolphins would split the series against Brady’s Patriots. Allen has only lost to Miami once in six games, and that 2018 loss was a result of a pass Bills tight end Charles Clay dropped in the end zone in the final minute of a 21-17 Dolphins win.
Since then it has been a steady diet of domination from Allen and bewilderment from Miami’s defenders, no matter who has been Miami’s head coach or who has been the Dolphins’ defensive coordinator.
“I think we’ve got to play good assignment football,” defensive coordinator Josh Boyer said when asked about defending Allen, a 2020 Pro Bowl selection.
“Guys that are assigned to play the pass need to play the pass. The guys that are assigned to play the run or the quarterback scramble, they need to be able to play that.” Sounds simple enough, right? Then why does Allen have a cumulative passer rating of 114.3 against Miami, throwing for 1,552 yards with 17 touchdowns and four interceptions.
He’s won the AFC’s Player of the Week honor six times
during his career, and four of those were off of performances against the Dolphins.
“Josh [Allen] is a good quarterback, a good, mobile quarterback, so you’ve got to watch out for his speed too,” said defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah. “We’ve just got to do a good job containing him and rushing him with [a] good, level rush.”
That means pressure Allen but don’t flush him out of the pocket because he effectively uses his legs to expend plays, creating nightmarish situations for Miami’s secondary.
“Man, he can beat you with his feet and his arm — that’s the toughest part,” said cornerback Nik Needham, who struggled in Miami’s 56-26 season-ending loss to the Bills last year.
“You can lock everybody up and he still extends the play, and you end up guarding two routes on one play. Or he’ll scramble for 30 yards. He’s a very talented dude, which is why he got the big contract.”
Needham is referring to the six-year, $258 million contract extension Allen received this offseason, which guaranteed him $150 million and makes him the second-highest paid player in the NFL behind only Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes.
So what’s the right approach to create problems for Allen?
The Steelers had success last week with rushing just four and dropping seven back into coverage during their win. But Pittsburgh has a forceful front four, which is led by T.J. Watt, the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL.
The Dolphins don’t have that kind of pass rushing, unless Ogbah takes his game to another level or Jaelan Phillips, the 18th pick in the 2021 NFL draft, quickly becomes a force.
In fact, Miami doesn’t have much success pressuring quarterbacks without blitzing linebackers and safeties.
Problem is, that’s often how Allen feasts on his opponent because he’s gotten to the point where he’s able to read the field quickly, picking up the hot route. And the Bills possess the firepower — Stefon Diggs, Cole Beasley, Emmanuel Sanders, Gabriel Davis, Isaiah McKenzie and tight end Dawson Knox — to make teams pay in one-on-one situations.
On occasion, the Dolphins have used a linebacker or safety to spy on Allen, who averages 35.6 rushing yards per game, 5.2 yards per carry, and has scored 25 rushing touchdowns in 45 games. That player shadows Allen before and after the snap in an attempt to prevent him from scrambling.
The unfortunate part of a scrambling Allen is he’s 6-foot-5, 237 pounds, which means he’s built bigger than most NFL linebackers.
“I didn’t realize how big he was. Wrapping him up is a problem,” linebacker Sam Eguavoen said, referring to trying to tackle Allen in 2019, Eguavoen’s rookie season.
“It’s already hard getting to him. But wrapping him up and actually taking him to the ground is tough because he’s a fighter.
“It’s going to be a good game. I can’t wait to sack him.”
The best approach is to vary it up with Allen, giving him different fronts, different looks, changing up the blitzes and coverages, and hope he eventually makes a mistake Miami’s defense can capitalize on.
“This is definitely one of our toughest challenges, but we are built to have tough challenges,” said linebacker Jerome Baker, who has been called on to spy Allen from time to time in past seasons.
“We are going to do our thing.”