In the Miami Dolphins' productive offensive year in 2023, they had three drives with at least 14 plays. On Sunday, they reached that total in a single afternoon.
In a 34-19 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, the Dolphins put together two 14-play drives and one 16-play drive, the team's longest since hiring Mike McDaniel in 2022. It wasn't an aberration either. In the six games Tua Tagovailoa has started this season, Miami has put together 16 drives with at least 10 plays.
In the absence of big plays from Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and De'Von Achane, the Dolphins have found a new identity as a team willing to systematically wear down their opponents.
“If you have an offensive performance or a sustained offensive performance, especially last year … you're going to get attention in the offseason and people are going to have a different plan for you,” McDaniel said Monday. “You have to adapt to what is presented to you and people have different plans of action.
“As soon as people cover your offense with two-high conservative and/or two-man coverages – until you are able to take advantage of that by having the quarterback extend his plays or throw shorter shots in space and stay efficient and maximize those gains with YAC – until When you prove you're capable of performing, and when you play those games where you don't hit the ball, then you get that kind of defense.”
Will the Dolphins' recent success with long, error-free offenses force defenses to rethink their approach to stopping Tua Tagovailoa and Co.? It remains to be seen. But McDaniel is confident Miami is learning lessons that will pay off in the long run.
In 2023, the Dolphins' offense faded in the final weeks of the season. After averaging 31.5 points and 414.1 yards in the first 15 weeks, Miami only managed 18.3 points and 341.7 yards per game in the last three weeks. This was followed by a 26-7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs.
“Something we've been talking about since the start of the offseason in terms of predicting how we win elimination games? “How do you win over the course of the season?” McDaniel said.
“Something that has been at the forefront of our guys' mind is finding different ways to execute the ball, move it around the field and score points, and I think that's an important part of the process when you talk .” about a winning formula for big games and elimination games in particular that we want to develop towards.”
