The Miami Dolphins are set to hit the road this weekend, off to square off with the Arizona Cardinals late on Sunday afternoon. With the challenge of stopping quarterback Kyler Murray looming large on the horizon for the Dolphins, there will be plenty of headaches to come between now and the end of Week 9. But will there be enough answers to the challenges Murray poses to generate a win? That’s the million dollar question for Miami this weekend.
As the Dolphins look to bottle up the Cardinals, here are a few good places they can start with their defensive focus.
Contain rush the pocket to keep Murray boxed in
Don’t expect too much of the same zero blitz approach that Miami attacked Jared Goff with. Why? If Miami doesn’t get home, Murray will break the pocket against defenders who have their backs turned to him. That’s dangerous — really dangerous. Instead, Miami should aspire to box Murray in and challenge the young quarterback to beat them from inside the pocket. If that happens, you tip your cap and hope your offense can keep pace.
Mirror DeAndre Hopkins with Byron Jones
DeAndre Hopkins is the NFL’s most productive receiver at this point in time. And while the fact that the Cardinals landed him for less than a 1st-round pick should be enough to make your head spin, his numbers this season are even more mind boggling. The Dolphins would be wise to put their best cover option on Hopkins and designate him in assignment all throughout the game. Jones doesn’t have the turnovers that fellow CB Xavien Howard has, but never the less he’s Miami’s best athlete in the secondary and would be as well equipped as anyone to help try to slow down Hopkins.
Use Eric Rowe against Larry Fitzgerald
Rowe has been a stud at safety for the Dolphins thus far this season and has had a ton of success covering opposing safeties. But there’s not a lot of room for tight end play in the Cardinals offense — instead, the team uses WR Larry Fitzgerald as a “big slot” receiver option. With Rowe less useful covering tight ends in this Kliff Kingsbury offense, Miami ought to explore the possibility of covering up Fitzgerald in the slot with Rowe instead. While there, Rowe can still get into the action of fitting up the run but cover a bigger threat in the pass game.
