Miami Dolphins What If Game

Miami Dolphins ‘What If’ Game

Let’s play the “what if” game. We are going to fast forward to December 2015.  Our Miami Dolphins have officially clinched a wild card spot with a solid and respectable record of 10-6.  They are second in their division and have clinched the 6^th seed in the AFC conference.

The reason for the Dolphins finishing with a 10-6 record is due to their new high flying offense.  Bill Lazor high temp offense has changed the offensive philosophy in Miami.  Gone is the lame, boring and vanilla offense that was imposed by Mike Sherman and now Miami possess one of the most exciting offenses that we haven’t seen in South Beach since the days of Don Shula. Comparing the statistics from 2014 vs. 2015 we can see the following variations:

Table 1.1 – Miami Dolphins Offensive statistics overview

*2014 stats extracted from NFL.Com
**2015 stats calculated using a baseline percentage of 20% increase
***Percentage difference calculated [((V₂ – V₁) / |V₁|) * 100] 

Based on what we can see from Table 1.1., we see a clear and blended improvement across all major categories by a factor of 20%.  Lazor offensive mentality has provided a much needed focus on the running game where we can see the highest percentage increase. This statistics might have been altered due to the fact that we only had one offensive lineman being carried over from the 2014 season.  Nonetheless, Lazor presented a game plan that worked efficiently and effectively across the National Football League.

Lazor game planning and tutelage has also benefited Ryan Tannenhill game to the next level.  Working with Lazor; Ryan was able to take his game to the next level (similar growth to what we saw from Nick Foles in the 2014) season.

Table 1.2 – Ryan Tannenhill Passing Statistic review

*2014 stats extracted from NFL.Com

The key factor to pay attention in Table 1.2 is the numbers of attempts have drastically decreased. This is due to the aforementioned transformation in the run game which is noted in Table 1.1.  As Lazor has focused on decreasing the number of attempts by Tannenhill, due to the efficiency of the running game, his mental mistakes have decreased thereby leading to his confidence growing. This is evident by his highest QB rating of 85.9.  Reviewing the last year NFL QB rating for all QBs that made the playoffs, the rating puts Tannenhill on par to take our team to the next level.   As the 2015 season ends and the Dolphins are eliminated in the playoffs in the 2^nd or 3^rd round, we can see teams that have struggled in the 2015 campaign looking for their next head coach.

Due to the drastic improvements that have been implemented by Bill Lazor, struggling teams are now pondering about the possibility of adding Lazor as their next head coach. All of this is coming full circle. The What if question can now be presented to us the fans….if the 2015 season provides the above results that are reflected in this analysis, which candidate would be better suited to be the Miami Dolphins Head Coach in 2016; Joe Philibin or Bill Lazor?

Let the debate begin…