The Dolphins’ defense has a unique perspective as it prepares for the San Francisco 49ers offense this week. For months, the unit has seen its own offense operate the Shanahan scheme that first-year coach Mike McDaniel has brought to Miami.
Ahead of Sunday’s road game against the 49ers, the defense is leaning on all those resources as the unit seeks to replicate much of last week’s performance against the Texans when it held Houston scoreless in the first half.
“We’ve looked at a lot of stuff that through [organized team activities] and training camp that we may have seen or done against our offense that may be similar concepts that they do,” defensive coordinator Josh Boyer said Thursday. “Obviously, we’re putting in a lot of work each week, but you try to do your best to put the guys in the best position to succeed and make it simple for them, so they can go out there and play fast. I think that’s the goal each week. Sometimes things don’t go the way you want them to go, but I think that’s kind of just an every week thing for us.”
Sunday’s outing continued an upward trend for a defense that struggled in parts of the 2022 season. The Dolphins’ five sacks were a season high, and their three turnovers were tied for the most in any game this season.
After the game, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said the performance reminded him of his first two seasons when the defense often carried much of the load on game days.
“That’s the type of defense we’ve had, a defense that would get interceptions and then would score,” he said. “We’d come off with like five turnovers a game my first two years. I’m used to seeing that, and it’s always great to watch when we’re able to also do some things really well offensively.”
Part of the preparation for the 49ers includes reviewing the film of the teams’ last meeting, a 43-17 Dolphins win in Santa Clara. In the victory, the Dolphins forced three turnovers and sacked quarterback C.J. Beathard five times.
Boyer referenced “subtle differences” in the 49ers’ scheme since the teams last played.
“[The Dolphins and 49ers offenses] have similarities,” inside linebacker Elandon Roberts said. “I wouldn’t say the total, complete scheme is the same. But they’ve got very, very, very similar things.”
The changes in personnel are apparent, though.
Quarterback Jimmy Garropolo, whom Boyer called a “gamer,” is starting at quarterback Sunday. A week before the trade deadline, San Francisco traded for All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey, although his availability is in question as he has been limited in practice with knee irritation. In 2020, the 49ers signed left tackle Trent Williams to be the focal point of a rushing offense that averages 124.4 yards per game, 11th best in the NFL.
And the San Francisco offense has evolved to include a multi-hyphenate role for wide receiver Deebo Samuel, who has since emerged as a Pro Bowl playmaker who is not only dynamic catching passes but taking handoffs from the backfield.
“Deebo is a good player,” Roberts said. “They put him in a lot of different spots. To be able to learn and be able to play a multitude of positions, that just shows his knowledge of the game. He’s a great player. He’s definitely going to be a huge challenge, one of the huge challenges in their offense for us this week. We’ve just got to be prepared.”
Though the Dolphins held the Texans scoreless in the first half of the game, the defense is looking to clean up mistakes from the second half. Houston scored 15 points on three consecutive drives before back-to-back stops in the fourth quarter, including an interception by rookie safety Verone McKinley III, stopped a potential comeback bid.
Boyer said the defense didn’t make drastic changes in the second half but as the team held such a large lead, the unit weighed when and when not be aggressive. Regardless, the first half will be more of the template against the 49ers, who like the Dolphins utilize zone runs, presnap motion and West Coast passing concepts.
San Francisco has arguably the best offense the Dolphins have faced since the first month of the season, averaging 5.9 yards per play, tied for fifth-most in the league. The 49ers also have the 10th-most efficient offense, according to Football Outsiders’ opponent-adjusted metrics.
“I don’t think it was vastly different,” Boyer said of the second-half approach. I think there were some execution things like I said that we could coach better and execute better.”
