The defense was an offensive sight

The Miami Dolphins are having an identity crisis.

Brian Flores’ team is working to figure out who they are offensively, and defensively in the first month of the season, which is a challenge because of the shortened offseason and nogame preseason caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Regardless, the first two games of 2020 have not produced the desired outcomes.

Sunday’s 31-28 loss to the Buffalo Bills shows us that Miami (0-2) has a long way to go to create an offensive identity, and that the defensive front’s issues applying pressure to opposing quarterbacks and stopping the run might compromise the integrity of the secondary.

Here is the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s report card, evaluating how the Dolphins performed in Sunday’s loss to the Bills.

Passing game: B

Ryan Fitzpatrick completed 31-of-47 passes, throwing for 328 yards and two touchdowns (100.3 passer rating) against the Bills, who have one of the NFL’s best secondaries. But the quarterback was sacked three times and under constant pressure. The Dolphins also failed to convert a fourth-and-1 at the goal line when Preston Williams dropped a pass that could have turned the tide of the game. Williams, one of Miami’s top offensive weapons, only caught one of the five passes thrown his way.

Running game: C

The Dolphins haven’t been effective running out of the team’s base offense and have been forced to rely on running out of the team’s spread concepts, which uses Myles Gaskin as the lead back. Gaskin gained 46 yards on seven carries against the Bills, and Matt Breida added another 37 yards on seven carries. But the Dolphins need to find a way to get Jordan Howard (4 yards and a touchdown on five carries) going to generate more than 99 rushing yards on 22 attempts.

Defending the pass: F

At this point we need to expect Josh Allen to produce a career day whenever he faces the Dolphins, because that’s been the norm four of the five times he’s played the Dolphins. Sunday’s output from Allen, who completed 24-of-35 passes for 417 yards and four touchdowns, was his best NFL performance. Miami allowed that because the defense gave Allen all day to find open receivers, and Buffalo’s receivers feasted on crossing routes that challenged Miami’s press coverage most of the game.

Defending the run: D

It is a challenge to not grade Miami’s run defense on a curve, considering the Patriots gained 217 rushing yards and scored three rushing touchdowns on the Dolphins in the season opener. That’s what makes the 111 rushing yards the Bills gained on 23 carries a bit easier to stomach. Miami contained Allen’s running, limiting the athletic quarterback to 18 yards on four carries. But Buffalo averaged 4.8 yards per carry, which isn’t in the realm of acceptable averages. Miami needs to get better production from the front seven in order for this defense to tighten up.

Special teams: C

One of Matt Haack’s five punts was a 63-yarder, and he put three of his five punts inside the 20-yard line. Jason Sanders made both of his field-goal attempts, remaining perfect on the season. However, the Dolphins are getting very little from the return game. Miami hasn’t returned a kickoff yet, and Jakeem Grant returned two punts against the Bills, producing 11 yards (10 of which came on one return). Buffalo’s return specialist Andre Roberts returned two punts for 18 yards.

Coaching: D

Even though Miami is installing a new offense after a truncated offseason, it’s a bit surprising that the root of this team’s problems are on defense, which featured a massive overhaul via free agency and the draft. The Dolphins aren’t containing the run, considering Miami’s opponents are averaging 5.0 yards per carry, and the defensive front isn’t pressuring quarterbacks (three sacks in two games). Allen had all day to throw the football, which made Miami’s secondary look horrible because the Bills receivers had time to get open. Defense is coach Brian Flores’ specialty, and its time he proves that he can patch the leaks.

Stock up

Mike Gesicki caught a career-high eight passes on 11 targets and turned them into 130 yards and one touchdown, which is his best performance in his three seasons in the NFL. Plenty of his success can be credited to Buffalo’s barrage of injuries at linebacker coming into the game. But if Gesicki can continue to have this type of impact on Miami’s passing attack, we can start to overlook his shortcomings as a blocker. At this point, Gesicki’s more of a slot receiver, one that creates match-up challenges for opposing defenses. Do teams defend him with a linebacker, a nickel cornerback or a safety?

Stock down

Preston Williams has all the skills you would want in a young receiver: He’s big, athletic, fast, has a good catching radius and produces runafter-the-catch yards. But all that ability hasn’t translated into production in the first two games of 2020, where the second-year receiver has caught three passes for 67 yards. It doesn’t help that two of the NFL’s best cornerbacks — New England’s Stephon Gilmore and Buffalo’s Tre’Davious White — were shadowing him in the first two games. Still, the Dolphins need more from Williams.