3 sneaky keys to victory for the Miami Dolphins vs. the Detroit Lions
By Matt Serniak
Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins do well throwing on 1st down. No reason to stop that trend now.
Do you want a cool stat? Of course, you do on this very chilly NEPA morning.
44% of all Tua's first down pass attempts have resulted in a first down or touchdown, the highest rate in the league
— Sharp Football Analysis (@SharpFBAnalysis) October 28, 2022
31% of the first and second down plays against the Lions have resulted in a first down or touchdown, the highest rate in the league
via @LordReebs pic.twitter.com/y0Igja40H9
Passing on 1st down is the theatricality and deception that this team needed and it’s what Mike McDaniel has brought. Amazingly, defenses are still lost in 1998, and think most teams want to establish the run early. That isn’t true anymore. Teams, mostly, want to establish the run when they have a lead.
The Miami Dolphins and Tua are taking advantage of this archaic way of thinking and it’s working out.
The Lions and Dan Campbell, who loves archaic stuff, really believe teams are going to look and pound the ball early and have burned time and time again. I say, keep throwing on 1st down because Campbell has those linebackers programmed to jump up to stop the run only for receivers to get easily behind them to catch a very easy pass.
Now, if on 1st down the pass goes incomplete please do not run on 2nd and long. I don’t think I despise a scenario more than the run on 2nd and 10. I feel like it never works out and it leads to 3rd and 8 every single time.
On that fast track in Detroit unleash Hill and Waddle and do it often on 1st down. Good things happen and will continue to happen.
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