Miami

Dolphins’ defense hasn’t arrived yet, but Giants game shows it’s en route


MIAMI GARDENS — All day Sunday, the Miami Dolphins defense put in its work in the team’s 31-16 victory against the hapless New York Giants. The results were encouraging. They defense recorded a season-best in sacks (seven), a season-best in quarterback hits (14), didn’t allow an offensive touchdown, and held the Giants to 85 yards rushing, the second-best total of the season.

The Dolphins defense, which was blamed for a lot of the problems of last year’s 9-8 season and therefore made some major changes in the offseason, turned in a solid game Sunday.

“It felt like how it’s supposed to feel,” linebacker David Long Jr. said.

It was quite a bounce-back performance after getting smoked at Buffalo, 48-20, last week and allowing 34 points in the season-opening 36-34 win at the Los Angeles Chargers.

There was only one thing the Dolphins defense didn’t do against the Giants.

“We didn’t get the ball,” veteran safety DeShon Elliott said. “That’s not championship football. And we had a lot of (coverage) busts. There’s a lot of (stuff) we can work on.

“Overall, we got the win as a team but I think we definitely could play better as a defense.”

Elliott is right.

The Dolphins defense could be better, and it should be better. They’re not yet where they want to be, or where they should be.



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