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NFL Miami Dolphins

Miami Dolphins’ Defense Ready for Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos

By @CouchGuyRants

Miami Dolphins, Cameron Wake, Olivier Vernon

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The Miami Dolphins’ defense has a tall order when it faces the Denver Broncos’ high-flying offense, but the gameplan is surprisingly simple – pressure “All-Universe” quarterback Peyton Manning, and force him to make mistakes.

Manning has thrown two interceptions in each of the last three games, but has only been sacked eleven times this season, with two of those sacks coming last week’s loss to the St. Louis Rams. Although he was only sacked twice a week ago, the effects of the pressure were apparent as Manning sailed or short hopped a number of passes in the second half that could have extended drives. Instead, the Broncos were forced to punt, and give the ball back to a Rams offense that was doing just enough to win.

The increased pressure on Manning stems from shake-ups on the offensive line, and injuries to some of his top targets. With a number of Denver’s linemen hobbled, Cameron Wake, Olivier Vernon and Jared Odrick all have very favorable matchups, and will look to exploit the suddenly struggling Broncos’ line. Couple the Dolphins’ pass rush, which is third in the NFL with 30 sacks, with the injuries to Montee Ball, Julius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders, and all the ingredients are there for a strong defensive performance by the Dolphins.

Defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle has been afforded the luxury of dropping seven in coverage for most of the year, but has also been blitz-happy when the situation arises. Coyle’s defense blitzed on a third of Kyle Orton’s dropbacks a week ago, largely as a result of the ineffectiveness of the Buffalo Bills’ running game. Miami’s defense was able to pin its ears back and attack, stifling the Bills’ offense in the second half, and locking up the game.

The ball hawks in the Miami secondary have reaped the benefits of the aggressive play of the front seven, with Brent Grimes having a Pro-Bowl year with five interceptions, and players like Cortland Finnegan and Louis Delmas helping out in a unit that is in the top 10 in interceptions. If the front seven can maintain a stout presence against the run, and allow Coyle to get creative and implement the schemes the 10-day “mini-bye” has allowed him to design to stop Manning, expect another multi-interception game for Peyton, and a game that goes down to the wire.

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