Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Cool under fire
Burke’s goal: Give Gase ‘D’ that can win
DAVIE — Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Matt Burke may be as scrutinized as any member of the organization this season.
Instead of being concerned with outside criticism, Burke remains steadfast on delivering for his Dolphins superiors — like team owner Stephen Ross, executive vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum, general manager Chris Grier and coach Adam Gase.
“I feel like I’ve done a good job,” Burke said Thursday in giving himself a personal assessment.
“I try every week to put our players in the best position to make plays. We’ve done that sometimes. We haven’t the other times. There are calls I regret. There are calls I’m excited about. Again, we’re weekto-week. It’s really hard for me to big-picture evaluate myself in the course of a season. I’m trying to win a ball game this week.
“The feedback I worry about is Adam’s and what he cares about and what he wants. I try to give him what he’s looking for as a coach. That’s really all I concern myself with.”
The Dolphins (6-6) have lost six of their last nine games, but remain in the thick of the AFC playoff hunt heading into Sunday’s game against the AFC Eastleading New England Patriots (9-3) at Hard Rock Stadium.
Like many members of the organization, Burke was in a world of emotions last week as Bills quarterback Josh Allen scrambled his way in and around the pocket to find open space to throw his final pass of the game.
On the previous drive, Burke called for a blitz by Dolphins defensive back Bobby McCain, which resulted in a sack. The next play, defensive end Robert Quinn was able to strip sack Allen for an eight-yard loss. The Bills were forced to settle for a 55-yard field goal, which Stephen Hauschka missed with 3:34 left.
But the Dolphins offense could not stay on the field to end the game, failing to convert a 3rd and 1, punting the ball back to Allen and the Bills offense for a dramatic ending.
Allen’s final pass, launched from the 40-yard line, ended up being short of the goal line, and just out of the grasp of former Dolphins tight end Charles Clay, allowing Miami to escape with a 21-17 win.
“When the ball was in the air – I promised you guys I wasn’t going to curse so I can’t give you my thoughts – it felt like it was in the air for about three minutes, one of those slow motion, heart-sinks-intoyour-stomach type of thing,” Burke said.
“We’re fortunate the ball fell a little short and bounced out of there and got away with a win. We’ll try to not have that happen again.”
Like the Dolphins offense, the defense ranks 29th, surrendering nearly 400 yards per game.
The Dolphins give up an average of 25 points per game, which ranks 20th. This statistic is aided by the fact Miami is second in the NFL with 19 interceptions and third with 25 total turnovers forced.
The Dolphins have lost two games after surrendering double-digit leads, — at Cincinnati in Week 5 and at Indianapolis in Week 12.
Miami’s defensive line has lacked significant pressure at times without the likes of defensive end William Hayes and defensive tackle Vincent Taylor, who both suffered seasonending injuries.
The Dolphins have lacked experience at linebacker behind first-year starters Jerome Baker and Raekwon McMillian.
And now, they will attempt to make a push for a playoff spot in the final four games without their best player, cornerback Xavien Howard, out indefinitely with a left knee injury. Howard leads the NFL with seven interceptions.
“Whoever is out on the field has to get some stops,” Burke said when asked about defending Tom Brady and the Patriots without Howard. “I try not to spend too much time examining my feelings. I could probably do a lot of ‘woe is me’ from the whole season. It doesn’t really matter. We’ll play with the guys that are ready to play.”