Is Dan Marino overrated?
By Dan Heaning
Mandatory Credit: MiamiDolphins.com
“Marino didn’t have the offensive line.”
This one’s iffy.
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Marino had some great offensive linemen protecting him during his career. He may have had the best center to ever play the game snapping the ball to him. He had the best left tackle in franchise history protecting his blindside. I’m skeptical on this one.
The numbers don’t back this one up in terms of pass protection. During his 17-season career, Marino played in 242 games and was sacked 270 times (1.11 sacks per game). Conversely, Brady has played in 209 games and has been sacked 364 times (1.74 sacks per game), Montana played in 192 games and was sacked 313 times (1.63 sacks per game), and Manning – who gets rid of the ball in the time it takes you and I to blink – has been sacked 287 times in 256 games (1.12 sacks per game).
Those numbers indicate Marino was protected a whole lot better than Brady or Montana and that his pupil, Manning, is only marginally less protected. It’s also important to note, that Marino and Manning are known for getting the ball out incredibly fast. That’s likely a big part of these numbers, but when you’re doing that as a quarterback it makes everyone’s job easier.
So Marino’s pass protection was not an excuse. However, one can turn around and place the 1,000-yard rusher argument alongside this one. Perhaps during Marino’s tenure, the Miami offensive line simply was making the holes.
There’s weight to that argument as the Dolphins were only a top 10 yards per rush team in three seasons (the latest of which was 1994). In fact, during the Jimmy Johnson era when the running game became the priority, the Dolphins finished dead last in yards per rush twice and no higher than 21st.
So when it comes to running the football, the offensive line was not up to snuff during Marino’s career. Therefore this argument is validated only if you add a qualifier at the end, “but they were really good at pass protection.”