Miami Dolphins pass rusher Bradley Chubb believes that the team can take its defense to a whole new level to close out the 2022 regular season.
“I want to be more dominant,” Chubb said Thursday, per the team’s transcript. “I want to be taking over games more, and that’s kind of the reason they brought me here is to do that — to help this defense take it to the next level. I feel like yeah, we took it up a notch, but there’s a whole ‘nother level we could take it to, and I want to be the catalyst for that.”
The Dolphins traded for Chubb prior to this year’s trade deadline and rewarded him with a massive contract extension. Chubb’s extension is worth $110 million over five seasons.
The Dolphins gave up a first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, a 2024 fourth-round pick and running back Chase Edmonds to acquire Chubb and improve their pass rush. Chubb and Jaelan Phillips should form an elite duo off the edge for Miami for years to come.
Despite acquiring Chubb, the Dolphins have gone into a bit of a tailspin over the last few weeks, losing three straight games to fall to 8-6 on the season.
It’s the second three-game losing streak for Miami this season.
The team has struggled a bit on defense against elite teams like the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers, allowing over 30 points in both of those games. That could be the reason that Chubb wants the team to step things up to close out the season.
The Dolphins are currently in the playoff picture, but the team needs to finish the season strong to secure a spot. Miami has games against the Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots and New York Jets to close out the regular season.
Chubb has been solid in six games since coming to Miami in a deal with the Denver Broncos. He’s picked up 2.5 sacks, 12 tackles, 10 quarterback hits and one tackle for loss since joining Miami.
For the season, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft has 8.0 sacks and 38 tackles.
Chubb certainly wants to take his game to the next level to close out this season, and if he does, the Dolphins should have a good chance at making the postseason. Miami has narrowly missed the playoffs each of the last two seasons, so the team would love to get over the hump in the 2022 campaign.
Chubb and the Dolphins play on Christmas Day in Week 16 against the Packers.
