The Sports Xchange

DAVIE, Fla. — Miami Dolphins coach Joe Philbin elected to bring defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle back this season despite the run defense allowing an average of 165 yards per game in the final six games of last season.

Now the run defense has allowed at least 120 yards in all three games this season.

This is a defense with four-time All-Pro defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and four-time Pro Bowl defensive end Cam Wake. Neither has a sack, and neither has been a force against the run.

Miami’s defense was effective in training camp and preseason, and at times it was dominant. All of a sudden they have regressed tremendously.

That has put Philbin in the position of having to defend Coyle.

“Team defense is more than one position, it’s more than one player, it’s more than one coach,” Philbin said. “We’ve got to do a better job, we’ve got to put our players in a position to be successful, number one and then our players have to execute. There’s joint accountability, it’s not all on one individual, it’s not all on one side of the ball and we’re not playing well as a team right now.”

–Miko Grimes, the wife of Pro Bowl cornerback Brent Grimes, was arrested outside Sun Life Stadium after Sunday’s 41-14 loss to Buffalo. Grimes, who is known to be outspoken on Twitter and on a weekly sports radio show she co-hosts in Miami, was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting with violence, and battery on a law enforcement officer after she allegedly head-butted an officer.

Grimes was arrested by Miami-Dade police after she allegedly tried to walk through a restricted area near the southeast gate at Sun Life Stadium.

The video of her arrest has been making the rounds on social media. Brent Grimes wasn’t in the locker room Monday and wasn’t in the locker room after Sunday’s game.

Philbin said he’s aware of the incident but declined further comment. He said it won’t affect Brent Grimes’ standing with the team in any way.

–Miami is now 7-12 against AFC East opponents under Philbin. That’s a major problem for a team struggling to get to the playoffs. With Sunday’s loss to Buffalo, the Dolphins are now 2-5 against the Bills, 2-4 against New England, and 3-3 against the New York Jets, this week’s opponent.

–The Dolphins’ pedestrian ground game ranks 27th in the NFL at 72.7 yards per game. Buffalo allowed the Dolphins 102 yards rushing on Sunday, but the Bills held them to 19 rushing yards in the first half, when Buffalo jumped out to a 27-0 lead.

Nothing seems to work for the Dolphins’ rushing attack this season, and it has many wondering about the gameplan.

“The plan was to just keep the ball moving, get positive yards, not get negative plays,” running back Lamar Miller said. “We just started off slow on the offensive side of the ball.”