The weather in South Florida was sticky hot again, but Miami Dolphins running back De'Von Achane was hotter. The Dolphins' running back proved to the NFL that those teams chasing him at the trade deadline were smart, and Champ Kelly was smarter for keeping him.
Sunday's big win against the Bills was highlighted by 174 yards rushing from Achane, who added 51 yards as a receiver. The 200-yard scrimmage day gave way to a postgame chat with the media, where Achane laid out a fundamental certainty on how to win games.
Achane made it clear that the best way to win is to have a balanced attack on offense and continue running the ball.
De'Von Achane said what every fan has been pounding the table for.
"When you're running the ball good, don't go away from it... when we have balanced offense, I feel like we do whatever we want," Achane said.
The Dolphins' offensive system has been focused on its quick passing and big-play ability through the air. Jaylen Waddle has been explosive since Tyreek Hill was lost for the year, but he can't carry the offense on his own. Miami needs to be able to run the ball.
Achane made it clear that if the Dolphins are going to win, anything can happen.
This is something that Dolphins fans have been saying since McDaniel arrived in Miami. He has always tended to veer off a working run game for the sake of making the passing game look better. Some of that could have been pressure to feed the ball to Hill.
On Sunday, the Dolphins had a balanced attack that included five catches for 84 yards on seven targets from Waddle. Unlike in the past, McDaniel didn't run from using his running backs. Instead, Miami ran the ball 32 times for 197 yards combined and two scores.
Conversely, the Dolphins only passed the ball 21 times. Tagovailoa completed 15 of those attempts for 173 yards and two touchdowns. For once, McDaniel stayed with what was working. It should be a clear lesson in how they need to approach the rest of the season.