Does Defense Have Perfect Scheme Against Allen?

The Dolphins forced three turnovers in the playoff game at Buffalo last January

The Miami Dolphins offense is the talk of the NFL after the 70-point performance in Week 3, but the defense might be asked to do more than play a supporting role in the showdown against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium.

And it certainly won't be an easy task, particularly considering all the problems that QB Josh Allen has presented for the Dolphins since he entered the NFL as the seventh overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft.

But there's reason for the Dolphins and their fans to be optimistic the defense can get the job done — to the extent where it will be needed — on Sunday because of what happened last season and then this offseason.

JOSH ALLEN VS. THE DOLPHINS

Let's start by pointing out Allen's success against the Dolphins, which includes an 8-2 record, combined with a 106.1 passer rating in those 10 games with 27 touchdown passes against only five interceptions, to go along with 55.4 rushing yards per game.

Allen's totals against Miami are his best against any AFC East opponent, and the passer rating is significantly higher than his overall career mark of 92.2.

Allen has two 400-yard passing games against the Dolphins, two games with four touchdown passes, and three more with three touchdown passes.

Thanks in large part to Allen's work, Buffalo has scored at least 30 points in seven of the 10 games, topped by a 56-point outing in the Bills' 56-26 victory in the 2020 season finale when a victory would have put Miami in the playoffs.

The Bills had a seven-game winning streak against the Dolphins until it ended last Sept. 25 at Hard Rock Stadium with a 21-19 victory for the home team.

That game provided one formula for beating Allen; the playoff loss at Buffalo in January provided another.

And both of the key ingredients are staples of the Vic Fangio defense he brought with him when he was hired as defensive coordinator in the offseason.

KEYS TO SUCCESS AGAINST ALLEN

Fangio's defenses have been known through the years, besides being successful, for its varying looks and disguises but also for being willing to give up plays underneath — call it the bend but don't break approach — and for forcing turnovers.

In that 21-19 victory in Miami last September, there might not have been a better example of bending but not breaking by a defense.

Remember that the Dolphins defense gave up 497 yards that day, with Allen passing for exactly 400. Buffalo got 281 of those yards in the second half but got only five points to show for it (including the infamous "butt punt"— after Emmanuel Ogbah blocked a field goal attempt, Allen threw an errant pass on fourth-and-goal with 1:49 left, and time ran out after Melvin Ingram tackled Bills wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie in bounds on the final play.

Along with bending but not breaking, the Dolphins defense also produced a huge play when Jevon Holland forced an Allen fumble on a sack and Ingram recovered to give Miami the ball at the 6-yard line to set up a short touchdown drive that tied the score 7-7.

There was a lot more breaking by the Dolphins defense in the playoff game at Buffalo, but three takeaways — including a fumble return for a touchdown by Zach Sieler — were the biggest, if not the only reason, Miami had a chance to win the game with the ball on offense down 34-31 in the final minutes on a day when it was outgained 423-231.

The other takeaways that day were interceptions by Xavien Howard and Jevon Holland, the latter of which set up a touchdown that tied the score 17-17 after Buffalo had jumped to a 17-0 lead and before Sieler gave Miami a 24-20 lead in the third quarter.

Allen did pass for 352 yards and three touchdowns that day, so it's not like the Dolphins defense shut him down. They also didn't shut him down in the Saturday night December game when Allen passed for 304 yards and four touchdowns and easily was the difference for Buffalo in its 32-29 victory.

So while it would be great for the Dolphins defense to just shut down Allen in the game Sunday, it's probably not all that realistic.

What's a lot more feasible is for the defense to come up with some takeaways and also not break after some bending.

The Dolphins have done it before and their new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio's units have thrived on that, so maybe the stage is set for that scenario to unfold.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for reading. Make sure to bookmark this site and check back daily for the latest Dolphins news and analysis year-round. Check out our daily podcast (All Dolphins Podcast) on YouTube and also available wherever you get your audio podcasts under Miami Dolphins Insider on the Fans First Sports Network. Also, you can follow me on Twitter at @PoupartNFL, and that's where you can ask questions for the regular All Dolphins mailbags. You also can ask questions via email at fnalldolphins@yahoo.com.