The Miami Dolphins lack of a running game makes entire team worse
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins were not very good running the ball in 2017 overall and so far through 2018 they don’t appear to be moving forward.
When it comes to the Miami Dolphins, especially given so much youth on the team, running the ball can balance everything out. They are not running the ball well and as a result the entire team is suffering.
It doesn’t matter where the Dolphins are ranked running the ball in the NFL’s stat category. The fact of the matter is that they are not running as well as they need to be. They didn’t on Sunday in New England and they didn’t against Oakland either. If the Dolphins want to flip the script on their season, the rushing game must improve. Not later but now.
Miami has good running backs. Kenyan Drake has proven he can handle the loads thrown at him and Frank Gore will enter the HOF and is still playing with plenty of youthfulness. So what is the problem exactly? It starts with the line of scrimmage.
Opposing teams do not fear the Dolphins rushing attack. They are content to make the Dolphins beat them through the air. Last week against Oakland, the Raiders proved they could stop the Dolphins running game but they couldn’t stop the passing game. New England had a different plan.
The Patriots bet that Miami couldn’t pass on a secondary heavy defensive scheme and that their running game wasn’t all that it should be. It worked. The end result was a huge blowout loss in Foxborough. The Patriots exposed the Dolphins lack of a rushing attack and once the passing game was taken away the Dolphins didn’t have any answers.
The biggest problem was that the Dolphins couldn’t beat a four man front to advance the football downfield and Adam Gase couldn’t adjust during the game for the defense that New England was playing.
Without the rushing attack the Dolphins were a one-dimensional football team. The offense sputtered and given their penalty issues, they simply put themselves in too many third and long situations and as a result had far too many three and out series. This is on the running game.
Perhaps it’s Adam Gase who is to blame. Is he abandoning the run too soon when it appears that it is not working? Why not continue to push forward and wear defenses down? Regardless of the why, one thing is clearly evident. Without a rushing attack the defense and special teams can’t make the plays necessary to keep Miami holding the upper hand.
Miami’s defense spent too much time on the field Sunday and the Patriots made them pay as they wore down in the comfortable 65 degree weather in New England. Add to that the missing pass pressure off the edge and everything pointed to a blowout.
The offensive line is primarily to blame here. Injuries aside they simply are not generating any holes for runners to get through. Their pulling blocks are lackluster and the guards lack the speed needed to get into a gap and seal off defenders.
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In their first two games of the season, the Dolphins looked to be a running juggernaut putting 120 and 135 yards on the board against the Titans and Jets respectively. Then against Oakland they put up a whopping 41 with the majority coming on the legs of Ryan Tannehill. Had it not been for a late drive by the Dolphins against the Patriots, Miami would have finished far below the 56 yards they amassed on Sunday in New England.
This has to change.
The run game sets up the play action but for some reason the Dolphins still believe they can run the PA without a running game established. They can not. The passing game suffered because Miami could not take advantage of the Patriots seven defensive back scheme. They made it out of Hard Rock with a win the week before but that was the Raiders who really blew the game.
From the passing game to the defensive side of the ball, the Dolphins anemic rushing attack is generating nothing and something needs to change. Miami has to find the fight and drive within themselves along the offensive line to find a way to win without injuries as an excuse. They are not doing that or at least haven’t in the last two weeks.
Until they do, games like the last two Sunday’s are going to be far more common and defenses are learning how to counter the speed of Miami’s receivers. It’s week four and Miami has one loss so there is no sky falling but it certainly could start if they can’t fix this major offensive problem.