At one point during the Houston Texans' 28-point second half on Thursday night, Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Matt Burke took a look at a play on his tablet and angrily chucked it to the turf.
It was that type of night for Burke's 'Fins, who surrendered over 400 total yards for the fifth time in six games and 160 rushing yards for the fourth time in five games in a 42-23 loss to Houston, also their fourth in five games.
"Four weeks ago, everybody was flowers and cotton candy and puppies and all that," Dolphins defensive end Cameron Wake lamented. "So, it's not a situation where the sky is falling. But again, you got to look at yourself in the mirror, each man from top to bottom -- I don't care if it's the head coach to the last guy on the roster. What is your role and are you fulfilling that role?"
"We got to get better fast. I mean, I just got done with the game and I'm fairly irritated right now. So, I'm going to re-evaluate everything this weekend," Dolphins coach Adam Gase told reporters Thursday night. "We got to figure out how to get better on defense. We got to figure out how to sustain drives and put it into the end zone on offense."
When asked if Burke's job was in jeopardy, Gase said, "I haven't even thought about that. In my head, I'm saying that I don't see that happening. We need to go back and figure out what is going on to where we're giving up these massive amounts of yardage in the run game."
Burke has been with the Dolphins since Gase was hired as head coach in 2016. He was promoted from linebackers coach to defensive coordinator in 2017 after Vance Joseph took the head coaching job in Denver.
Miami's next opponent is the New York Jets, who the Dolphins already beat this season in Week 2. In that game, Miami forced three turnovers and held New York to just 42 rushing yards. How times have changed.
