Keep It On The Ground

Sunday’s 34-10 win over the Atlanta Falcons felt different.

For a rare time in the Mike McDaniel era, it felt like the Dolphins’ offense leaned heavily on the ground game.

And it worked.

The three-headed monster of De’von Achane, Jaylen Wright and Ollie Gordon pounded the rock to the tune of 141 yards on 37 carries.

Even though Miami did not have a high yardage per carry mark, they did the smart thing of sticking with the run game.

At a time in the season where the Dolphins are without two of their top pass catchers, it is smart for Miami to have this shift in offensive focus.

By doing this, they make the game easier for Tua Tagovailoa as he is put into easier down & distance situations and it should also make for more advantageous throwing windows as teams will have to bring an extra defender into the box to defend the running game.

Along with the play-action passing game fitting Tua’s style of play, a strong running game also shrinks the game clock and limits the amount of possessions in the game, which is important because in most game the Dolphins will be the less talented team.

Additionally, it serves Miami’s young and inexperienced offensive linemen who are able to fire off the ball and use their quickness to their advantage in the run scheme instead of having to pass block 30 times per contest.

The heavy usage of the running game also helps the Dolphins’ defense stay off the field and stay rested, which will help Miami’s most talented unit, the edge rushers.

Going forward, expect to see more “22” and “12” personnel which is either two running backs and two tight ends or one running back and two tight ends, especially when Julian Hill is back from injury.

This win over the Falcons should give McDaniel and staff a blueprint going forward.

Run, run, and run some more and mix in a little play action pass of it.

Then, once they have the lead, they can unleash a much improved pass rush and fresh defense overall, on their opponents.