Inside Achane's Award-Winning Month

The NFL clearly is paying attention to what the Miami Dolphins have been doing in recent weeks, most notably the outstanding performances by running back De'Von Achane.

His efforts were recognized Wednesday when he was named AFC Offensive Player of the Month for November (the award technically covers Weeks 9-13, a period that began Thursday night, October 30 when the Dolphins faced the Baltimore Ravens in the Thursday night game.

Regardless, Achane's performance in November was brilliant as he recorded three consecutive outings with at least 120 rushing yards in leading the Dolphins to victories against the Buffalo Bills, Washington Commanders and New Orleans Saints.

In winning this award for the first time, Achane became the first Dolphins running back to be named AFC Offensive Player of the Month and the fifth Miami player overall, joining Hall of Famer Dan Maino (November 1986 and October 1988), Tyreek Hill (October 2023), Scott Mitchell (October 1993) and Tua Tagovailoa (September 2023).

Despite the Dolphins having their bye November 23, Achane still led the NFL in rushing from Weeks 9-13 with 495 yards, and he also had 17 receptions even while being shut out in that department in the 21-17 victory against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

WHERE ACHANE'S STRETCH RANKS AMONG DOLPHINS GREATS

Achane's three-game streak with at least 100 rushing yards is the Dolphins' first since 2016 when Jay Ajayi broke out with back-to-back 200-yard outings against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills before adding 111 yards the following week for a three-game total of 529 yards.

The best three-game stretch by a Dolphins running back, though, belongs to Ricky Williams, who followed a 143-yard outing with 228 yards against Buffalo and another 216 yards in a Monday night game against the Chicago Bears. That's 587 yards in three games, or an average of 195.7.

Achane is now the third Dolphins running back with three consecutive 100-yard games and he and Ricky Williams are the only two to have done it more than once. Achane first did it in 2023 when he broke out with his 203-yard outing in the historic 70-point outburst against Denver followed by 101 yards against Buffalo and 151 against the New York Giants.

The other Dolphins back with the triple, besides Ajayi in 2016, was Reggie Bush in 2011.

What stands out about Achane's current run is that only Ricky Williams in 2002 also had a run of three straight games with at least 120 yards.

Achane will look to extend his streak of 100-yard games to four against the New York Jets on Sunday; he rushed for 99 yards when the teams met at Hard Rock Stadium in the Week 4 Monday night game.

The franchise record for consecutive 100-yard games belong to Williams with his five from Weeks 11-15 in 2002. That season, he led the NFL in rushing with 1,853 yards.

Achane's work hasn't been quite up to that level, but we'd put his current three-game run behind those of Williams in 2002 and Ajayi in 2016 because it's tough to top back-to-back 200-yard outings.