CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Breaking down the film of Miami’s stunning 21-19 victory over the Buffalo Bills, one thing was very clear: The Dolphins apply tremendous pressure with their speed on both offense and defense. The Bengals will have to make some critical adjustments and quick decisions to be successful.
Offensively, Miami loves to use RPO’s (run-pass-options) and play action to make the linebackers come toward the line of scrimmage, which opens easy lanes for quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Through three games, the Dolphins’ quarterback has completed 71.3% of his passes for almost 1,000 yards.
Although Tagovailoa’s completion percentage is high, the Bengals defense should be more concerned with receivers Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill – who together have 40 catches, 659 yards, and five touchdowns. They must disrupt their routes and be sure tacklers. If the Bengals are going to have success against the Dolphins’ offense, limiting yards after catch is the crucial starting point of emphasis.
Defensively, the Dolphins bring the heat! They will blitz with five, six, seven and occasionally eight, from every angle and defensive position. They become extremely exotic in their blitz packages when they get the opposing offenses to third-and-long situations. It will be important for the Bengals to have success on first and second down to stay away from long yardage third down situations.
The Bengals can deal with the pressure from Miami by:
1. Playing Cover 2 man on first down.
2. Using Joe Mixon out of the backfield.
Defending the Dolphins
On film, Miami throws RPO’s, true play action, and quick screens with great success. These types of schemes get the football out of Tagovailoa’s hands quickly, allowing their explosive playmakers space to use their speed.
Playing Cover 2 man with inside leverage could potentially be a great answer to help the Bengals control the Dolphins’ skill players. With inside leverage, Cover 2 man helps prevent the inside slant common in the RPO game. By pressing the receivers, the corners can take away the Dolphins’ quick game and reroute or jam the Miami wideouts, preventing them from getting to full speed. The safeties over the top provide support on any potential routes from Hill or Waddle.
Below is a great look at Buffalo playing Cover 2 man against the Dolphins.
The safeties are extremely deep and not in the picture so they can keep the speed of the Miami receivers in front of them. The corners and nickel back are on tight man coverage, protecting their inside.
This is a very simple RPO for Tagovailoa. As Tyreek Hill goes in motion, Tagovailoa will read linebacker Tremaine Edmunds. If Edmunds stays in the box, the football will be thrown to Hill.
On this particular play, Edmunds runs with Hill and the football is handed to Raheem Mostert. He is tackled for no gain and the Dolphins are forced to punt. Cover 2 man is a great answer for the schemes of the Dolphins.
Attacking the Dolphins
In the game against the Dolphins, Bills running back Devin Singletary had nine receptions for 78 yards and a touchdown out of the backfield. When Miami blitzes, it forces man coverage in the back end. Linebackers and safeties are matched up with tight ends and running backs. Like Singletary, look for Mixon to exploit these matchups and become a huge target for Joe Burrow.
Below is a great look at the Bills beating the Miami blitz with a throw from Josh Allen to Singletary.
Allen is aware that safety Brandon Jones will be blitzing from the top of the formation. This blitz forces linebacker Elandon Roberts to cover Singletary on a flat route to the outside.
This is a mismatch in Buffalo’s favor and an easy completion for a 2-yard touchdown. Burrow and Mixon will put the same pressure on the Dolphins if they consistently blitz.
What we learned
The Dolphins come into Week 3 with an undefeated record and a ton of confidence. Though the run game has struggled, Joe Burrow got the Bengals offense rolling in their 27-12 win over the Jets.
To keep that momentum going, the Bengals must disrupt Tagovailoa and get the Miami receivers out of rhythm. Burrow will have to use Mixon out of the backfield and make the Dolphins pay for bringing so much pressure.
Lance Reisland is the former coach at Garfield Heights High School, where he spent 18 seasons as an assistant for his father, Chuck, and four as head coach, from 2014 to 2018. In 2018, his team finished 11-1 and appeared in the OHSAA Division II regional semifinals. That team went 10-0 and made history as the first Garfield Heights team in 41 years to have an undefeated regular season along with beating Warren G. Harding for the first playoff win in school history.
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