The Dolphins are who they are. They are a finesse team that can beat the bad teams but can’t beat the good teams. As a Dolphins fan, I have to accept this. Everyone else has. What can they do to change their image?
Well for one, they could run the ball more. They have not been running the ball as much in their past 5 or 6 games. Regardless if you are only getting 1 or 2 yards per run, they still have to try. Those 1 or 2 yard runs in the 1st and 2nd quarter turn into 7 and 8 yard runs in the late 3rd quarter. And they turn into 10+ yard runs in the 4th quarter, after you have kept pounding the ball and wearing their defense down. I’ll let you go here and let you go here to check out the latest running stats for Miami.
The 2nd thing the Dolphins offense could do better is, they could run the ball with their big backs. Mike McDaniel loves Devon Achane. I get it, he’s a big play waiting to happen. I also get it, Mostert had a couple of big fumbles this season. But does the offensive coaches not remember what Mostert did last year for the offense? Obviously not. The Dolphins were pass happy in year one of Mike McDaniels experience and that helped to unlock Tua. But it also cost them late in the season and in the playoffs. The offense changed their thinking in year two and committed to the run game more with Mostert carrying the heavy load and Achane coming in as the speed back. It didn’t solve their “playing in cold weather problem”, but it did make them a more formidable opponent. It also opponed up the play action passing for the WRs. A bigger running back (Mostert, Jeff Wilson Jr, Jaylen Wright) running the ball between the tackles weighs on defenses. That opens it up for the smaller back (Achane) to come in and do damage later on in the game. Here’s some numbers.
From : Five Things I Think I Think About the Miami Dolphins – Week 15 2024 – The Phinsider
Go back to the 2023 formula Mikey McD!
The 3rd thing the Dolphins could do better is commit to running between the tackles. Yeah three of Mike McDaniel”s offense has reverted to a stylish, gimicky run and short passing game offense. That works in the beginning of the year when defenses are still figuring out how to stop other teams opposing offenses. It also works against bad teams who are prone to make mistakes. It doesn’t work against good teams and it doesn’t work in bad weather games. The Dolphins needs to add a physical component to their offense. Run the ball more between the tackles and run it more with your bigger backs, please. But the McDaniels and the offense favory trickery and deception to fool defenses. However, defenses have adjusted.
Again, maybe the offense should feature Mostert more. Take a look at all these highlights and the multiple runs between the tackles in 2023!
Notice that in this writing, I didn’t talk about Tua much here. That’s because he is who he is. The best of Tua comes when the offense is more balanced and not depending on him to be a top 5 QB to win games. Tua has already proved who he is and who he isn’t. He is not going to be the driving force to help the Dolphins win games against good teams. He and this offense NEEDS THE POWER RUN GAME for continued success!
Moving on.
There’s a lot of chatter out there about the Dolphins being soft and that Mike McDaniels is on the hot seat. Maybe his seat is warm. But just because the team is faltering now, it does not mean the Dolphins need a new coach. McDaniels deserves a chance to prove that he can continue to evolve as a Coach. Hasn’t he proved that he’s a good offensive mind? He’s brought the best out of Tua. He’s designed an offense that has a variety of ways to get the ball to it’s playmakers. Isn’t that what you want your coach to do, to get the best out of your QB and best offensive players? Yes. Unfortunately, he’s not getting the best out of the offense against good teams. But, Mike McD has shown he can do it.
I say patience is what is needed here. Let’s rememeber, the Dolphins have been this way going back to the Marino years. They’ve always started fast and faltered down the stretch when the weather changes. This isn’t anything new. This is not just a McDaniels problem. It’s a Miami problem. Let’s give the Head Coach a little more time and see if he can add some physicality to the offense in the form of a power run game that can be successful in November, December and January. After all, bad organizations have a bad habit of always starting over. They don’t give their leaders time to improve by failing and learning the lessons from that failure. Through failure, growth happens. solutions are found. And after that, twinning in tough environments start to happen. But it will never happen if the organization keep jumping ship the first time there’s trouble in the waters. Let’s be a little bit more patient Dolphins fans. Mike Mcdaniels deserves it. We deserve it.
Signing off. A Dolphins fan.