Miami Dolphins: Now’s the time to copy Patriots
By Sean Denison
This offseason—somewhere lost in all the news that surrounded Ryan Tannehill’s new contract and the acquisition of Ndamukong Suh—the Miami Dolphins expressed the importance of running the football. Coach Joe Philbin and offensive coordinator Bill Lazor explained how crucial the running game was in order for this system to be successful. In fact, many people who cover the Dolphins—including myself—agreed with the coaches and were excited to see what the 2015 season had in store for this talented offense, especially for Lamar Miller and the running game.
And now, two games into the 2015 NFL season, the Miami Dolphins have combined for only 116 yards on the ground, which puts them 30th in the league in that category. 116 yards is barely good enough after one game of football, let alone two games against teams (the Washing Redskins and Jacksonville Jaguars) who aren’t necessarily known for having elite rush defenses. And now, the struggles look to continue for Miami as they play host to the Buffalo Bills this Sunday.
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The Bills defense, fresh off an embarrassing loss to the New England Patriots—where they gave up 40 points and almost 500 yards passing—will look to regain their identity as one of the most feared defensive teams in all football this Sunday. And unfortunately, Miami, who is also looking to bounce back after a poor showing in Jacksonville last week, will face off against a team in Buffalo that has had their number the past three seasons—going 4-2 against the Dolphins during that time.
If the Dolphins don’t want to fall to 1-2 and have a division rival ruin their home opener, they must play copycat; Miami must duplicate what the Patriots did to one of the league’s best defenses last week: throw the ball and almost completely abandon the run. It sounds crazy, but if you saw what Tom Brady and the Patriots did to Buffalo’s defense last weekend, you’d be convinced.
No, Ryan Tannehill is no Tom Brady. And the Dolphins aren’t the New England Patriots. But the Dolphins do have the personnel to accomplish the same feat as New England against this ferocious, man-eating defense. This is a copycat league and sometimes you have to put your ego aside in order to accomplish what every team strives for: a win.
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In my opinion, the best way to attack a good pass-rush is to implement a fast-paced offense out of the shotgun, relying on intermediate routes—as Belichick and the Patriots did last week. In fact, the Patriots’ entire offense was pass-oriented. To put it in perspective, out of the 74 plays ran on offense, Tom Brady dropped back to pass on 62 of them. You see, I wasn’t lying; that’s a lot of passes!
As of right now, it’s clear that Miami can’t run the football. Thus far, Miami has relied on Tannehill’s arm to get the Dolphins offense moving. All season, we’ve watched the Dolphins stumble out of the gate, trying to establish a running game, only to find out that it’s not working, and then turning to the passing game when it’s almost too late.
And now with an offensive line that will more-than-likely be without their best asset, left tackle Brandon Albert, a Patriots-style game plan of an up-tempo and short passing attack will benefit the offense, especially Ryan Tannehill.
Although I believe it’s important to get Lamar Miller and this running game going in this offense, this Sunday is not the time to try to do it. Miami can’t afford to come out sluggish against this talented defense. If Miami can take running the ball out of the equation and follow the Patriots’ blueprint, they’ll have a better chance at moving the ball offensively and coming away with a victory.