During the Miami Dolphins’ prolific year of offense in 2023, they had three drives with at least 14 plays. On Sunday, they matched that total in a single afternoon.
During a 34-19 win against the Las Vegas Raiders, the Dolphins put together a pair of 14-play drives along with a 16-play drive that was the longest for the team since Mike McDaniel was hired in 2022. It wasn’t an aberration either. In the six games Tua Tagovailoa has started this season, Miami has put together 16 drives with at least 10 plays.
In the absence of big plays from Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and De’Von Achane, the Dolphins have found a new identity as a team willing to methodically grind away at its opponents.
“When you have some offensive production, or sustained offensive production, specifically with last year … you’re going to get offseason attention and people are going to have a different plan for you,” McDaniel said Monday. “You have to adjust to what is being presented to you and people have different plans of actions.
“Once people put two-high conservative and/or two-man coverages against your offense — until you’re able to take advantage of that through the quarterback extending plays or throwing shorter to space and staying efficient and maximizing those gains with YAC — until you prove that you’re able to execute and have games like that where you don’t punt the ball, you’re going to get that type of defense.”
Will the Dolphins’ recent success with lengthy, mistake-free drives force defenses to rethink their approach to stopping Tua Tagovailoa and co.? It remains to be seen. But McDaniel is hopeful that Miami is learning lessons that will pay dividends down the stretch.
In 2023, the Dolphins offense faded in the final weeks of the season. After averaging 31.5 points and 414.1 yards in the first 15 weeks, Miami managed just 18.3 points and 341.7 yards per game in the last three. A 26-7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs followed.
“Something that we’ve been talking about since the start of the offseason in conjunction with forecasting how do we win elimination games? How do you win down the stretch of the season?” McDaniel said.
“Something that has been on the forefront of our guys’ minds in terms of we’re finding different ways to execute and move the ball down the field and score points, and I think that’s an important part of the process when you’re talking about a winning formula for big games and elimination games in particular, which is what we’re trying to grow to.”
