MIAMI GARDENS — Through three weeks this NFL season, there is one team that is yet to record a sack.
It’s the Miami Dolphins.
Dolphins pass rushers, obviously, don’t want to be associated with that fact, but they have found recent progress that has them hopeful the sacks will soon come. They also understand the sack stat doesn’t tell the whole story of pass rush effectiveness.
“I wouldn’t say I directly pay attention to it, but of course, I see it,” third-year defensive end Chop Robinson said this week, as the Dolphins travel to Minnesota to face the Vikings on Sunday. “I hate that we’re the only team to not have a sack, but I know it’s going to come this week. Just got to keep working.”
Opposite him on the defensive line, Josh Uche believes the sacks will come as long as Dolphins edge defenders go about their process the right way, which was starting to show last week against the Kansas City Chiefs.
“You can’t chase them. Sometimes, the best things in life come to you,” Uche said. “You got to do your job, do your one-eleventh. Obviously, we’re getting there, we’re getting hits on the quarterback. We’re getting the stuff done, from beating the man, to making contact on the quarterback. The next step is getting the sack. It’s a progression and can’t keep chasing, just got to keep doing your job.”
While the sack total remains at zero, there was at least a spark from the Dolphins pass rush with increased pressure applied to quarterback Patrick Mahomes last Sunday from the first two losses against the Las Vegas Raiders and San Francisco 49ers. Mahomes was hit five times, not counting the questionable roughing-the-passer penalty assessed to Robinson.
“I thought that last week we took a step forward as far as getting pressure,” said linebacker Jordyn Brooks. “Whether that was knocking quarterback off his timing, getting him out of the pocket, getting hits on him, just being disruptive.”
Brooks ran a stunt last week with defensive tackle Zach Sieler that was effective in moving Mahomes off his spot in the pocket, leading to an errant throw on the tipped ball intercepted by rookie linebacker Jacob Rodriguez.
The momentum from the Chiefs game has translated over to the practice field before facing the Vikings and quarterback Kyler Murray.
“Overall, I thought this has been our best week. I mean, the energy, the efficiency, I think it’s hands-down been our best week,” Hafley said. “The pass rush is another one of those units that, the more they’re out there together, the better they’ll be. They had a really nice week, and they’re excited for the game.”
On the other side this Sunday, the Vikings lead the NFL in sacks, as defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ blitz-happy unit has 14 on the year, six last week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, injuring quarterback Baker Mayfield in the process.
Defensive coordinator Sean Duggan knows many obsess over sacks, but he’s pleased with the improvements in affecting the opposing quarterback.
“I think everybody would love sacks, right?” Duggan began. “I mean, sacks are great. They’re momentum plays. Obviously, whether it’s pushing somebody back on third down or getting off the field on third down, they’re great plays. You can feel the energy in the crowd when we get to the quarterback.
“But to be honest, we just look at what do we need to do to win that down and to win the game. Sacks are great, but that’s the result of a good process. If you’re affecting the quarterback, that’s really the main goal. I think we’ve talked about before, affecting the quarterback isn’t necessarily sacking him. It’s getting him off the spot, forcing a bad throw, getting those cumulative kind of hits on him. I think it’s more than just the sack number, but we just see that as what do we need to do to win that down.”
Against Murray, the Dolphins will not only try to get after him, but be sound with their lane discipline so they don’t allow the elusive 5-foot-10 passer to escape as a scrambler.
“You have to have a good plan,” Duggan said. “Guys have to be in sync with the plan. You have to have coordinated rushes, whether that’s the front four, whether it’s guys blitzing from the back end. You just have to have awareness. He’s been a really elite scrambling quarterback, and it’s not just scrambling to run, it’s scrambling to throw for a long time, so I think guys need to be on the same page.”
Miami also knows sack opportunities on third down can be created with holding down an opponent on first and second down.
The Dolphins have been stout against the run the past two weeks against elite running backs in Christian McCaffrey and Kenneth Walker. Versus Aaron Jones and the Vikings, they look to keep that momentum going on early run downs, possibly leading to difficult third-down passing situations.
“Of course, stop the run, and then get to have fun,” Robinson said. “We just took a step, compared to Week 1 and Week 2, especially getting to get them in passing situations, second-and-long, third-and-long. They’re going to have to pass the ball eventually.”