Chubb Bringing Back Shades of Wake and JT

Chubb is making the kind of impact the Dolphins were seeking when they made the big trade for him

The NFL statistical leader board is plastered with Miami Dolphins players leading the way in one category or another, whether it be Tua Tagovailoa, Raheem Mostert or Tyreek Hill.

But there's also one spot on defense where the Dolphins have the NFL's current leader, and that spot belongs to Bradley Chubb.

He not only leads the NFL in forced fumbles with six, he's already entered sacred Dolphins ground in that department.

CHUBB AMONG ELITE COMPANY

With three games left in the regular season, Chubb's six forced fumbles already are the most by a Dolphins player since 2006 when Jason Taylor had a whopping nine on his way to earning NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors.

This is how impressive Chubb's production has been: Since the stat was first kept in 1992, only two Dolphins players have forced more fumbles in a season. There was Taylor with his nine in 2006 and seven in 2002, and Trace Armstrong with his seven in 2000.

The last Dolphins player to have as many as five in a season was Cameron Wake, who did it in 2016 when he helped Miami earn a playoff berth.

Chubb took the NFL lead in forced fumbles with his two in the 30-0 victory against the New York Jets and now is one ahead of defensive backs Trent McDuffie of the Chiefs and Antoine Winfield Jr. of the Bucs as well as Chargers linebacker Khalil Mack.

Before Sunday, Chubb had forced fumbles against the New England Patriots in Week 2, against the Carolina Panthers in Week 6, against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 7, and against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 9.

Remarkably, all but one of Chubb's forced fumbles were recovered by the Dolphins, with DeShon Elliott (vs. NE), Christian Wilkins (PHI) and Zach Sieler (KC) the beneficiaries before Sieler got a second fumble recovery against the Jets and Chubb recovered his second forced fumble with the pass-rushing triple play (sack/FF/FR).

Chubb's three forced fumbles against the Jets came on a day when he recorded three sacks for the second time in his career (first was in 2018 when he was with the Denver Broncos).

Chubb became the first Dolphins with three sacks in a game since 2021 when Jaelan Phillips did it against the Carolina Panthers.

“Unbelievable," fellow linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel said of Chubb's performance. "That’s just a testament to who he is. He’s been playing like that all year, but the quarterbacks have been getting the ball out a split second before he gets there. He’s been playing lights out all year. It’s so great to see it’s finally paying off and all the fruits of his labor is working.”

CHUBB DELIVERING ON THE HIGH EXPECTATIONS

What we've seen from Chubb this season is exactly what they were seeking when they traded a first-round pick to the Denver Broncos in November 2022 to acquire him and then signed him to a big-money contract extension.

Chubb now has 9.5 sacks on the season, on the verge of becoming the first Dolphins digits in that category since Cameron Wake in 2017.

It did take a while for Chubb to get cranking in the sack department, though, and we're not talking about just this year.

Even though he was selected to the Pro Bowl last season, Chubb wasn't overly thrilled with his performance with the Dolphins after arriving at the trade deadline and this season he had only one sack in the first five sacks.

But he never stopped going after the quarterback and he began getting home, and now has 8.5 sacks in the past nine games.

And like JT, Armstrong and Wake before him, he's becoming that dangerous defensive weapon because he's not only getting to the quarterback, he's got that knack from swiping the ball away from the quarterback.

His forced fumbles have all been like that, except for one against New England, where he turned around after his pass rush and knocked the ball away from the receiver after chasing him downfield.

Chubb's play has been one of the many reasons the Dolphins defense has been good recently, climbing all the way to No. 5 in the NFL rankings when it comes to total defense.

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