When you look back at the players who have played along the defensive line in a Miami Dolphins uniform, you think of greats like Jason Taylor, Cameron Wake, Ndamukong Suh, and the list goes on. For this group to come together and achieve this milestone with two games left in the season goes to show how close the unit is. Football is a team sport like no other, especially for the lineman grinding in the trenches.
The Dolphins broke the franchise record for most team sacks in a season with 52. The record was set back in 1983 and was tied in 2005 with 49, thanks to the help of Hall of Fame defensive end Jason Taylor, who had 12 sacks himself that year. Outside linebacker Bradley Chubb recorded his 11th sack of the season against the Cowboys which is the most by a Miami Dolphins since Cameron Wake back in 2017. Pairing him up with his former head coach, Vic Fangio, this offseason has paid off tremendously and has taken his game to the next level.
Everyone along the line is performing at a high level, including defensive tackles Zach Seiler and Christian Wilkins, who have a combined 16.5 sacks, and outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel has six. Fans were concerned about a dropoff once Jaelen Phillips went down, but the Dolphins seemed to have used that as motivation and playing even more for each other.
A lot of success up front comes from the impact cornerback Jalen Ramsey has had since his Dolphins debut back on week 9. With Ramsey completely shutting down one side of the field, that creates a ton of opportunity for them to get to the quarterback. Since his debut, our defense ranks 2nd in the league in points per game allowed with 15.7 and first in yards per game allowed with 258.9.
The depth of the team has stepped up and helped keep the defense flowing with players like safety Jevon Holland, linebacker Jerome Baker, and others missing games. Players like linebacker Duke Riley and safety Deshaun Elliot are playing well and contributing when they are needed most. The difference between this defense and ones from years past is the depth. When a player goes down, the next man up is more than serviceable. This unit has a chance to remind everyone they are a Super Bowl-caliber defense if they contain quarterback Lamar Jackson and the red-hot Baltimore Ravens this Sunday.
