DAVIE, Fla. — The Miami Dolphins seem headed in the right direction both on offense, led by quarterback Ryan Tannehill, and defense, which is in the middle of a nice roll. The defense seems to have healed from a beating by Kansas City quarterback Alex Smith.

Tannehill is on a nice roll. Two weeks after posting a career-best 123.6 passer rating against Chicago, Tannehill outdid himself with a career-best 125.6 passer rating against San Diego on Sunday.

Coach Joe Philbin attributes much of Tannehill’s success against San Diego to good protection. He usually had a clean pocket and he wasn’t sacked. That allowed Tannehill to go through his progressions and make accurate throws.

“I thought Ryan maneuvered in the pocket well,” Philbin said. “I do think he threw the ball more accurately and I think sometimes protection gives the quarterback a comfort factor that he can go through those. That will help him make better decisions.”

Offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, however, thinks Tannehill is making progress on his own, beyond what the good protection has done for him.

“From the beginning of the season, I thought when you watch Ryan’s good plays on video, his good plays are good enough,” Lazor said.

“I don’t know if that makes sense, but when he makes good, you look at him and say, ‘Hey, that’s what it is supposed to look like.’ Then he has a certain number of plays where you say, ‘That’s not good enough,’ and we have to get those to look like the other plays. We just have to make more good plays and less bad plays. It’s really easy.”

Running back Lamar Miller was adding balance with 518 yards rushing and five touchdowns, but might be slowed with a shoulder injury he sustained in the San Diego game. If that’s the case Daniel Thomas and undrafted rookie Damien Williams could see increased time.

Lazor doesn’t discount the contribution they could make in the running game. But it’s not his priority.

“The most important thing in my mind what a running back has to do is pass-protect,” Lazor said. “I don’t mean to gloss over holding onto the football. We want big plays, but guys have to be able to pass-protect because the whole team is counting on them to do that. I think we’ll be able to trust all of them.”

Meanwhile, defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle thinks his unit has played much better since the 34-15 loss to Kansas City in Week 3, a game in which the Chiefs’ Smith passed for three touchdowns and had a 136 passer rating.

“I think maybe it was a wake-up call for everybody,” Coyle said. “I think we’ve gone out and, in every game since then, we’re not giving up big plays, that’s been huge and we’re getting turnovers.

“When you’re stopping the run, you’re not giving up shot plays down the field and you’re taking the ball away, that’s a good mixture. That’s a recipe for winning defense and we’ve got to continue doing that.”