The co-offensive coordinator plan was installed by head coach Brian Flores, and it’s not working.
The offense is still one of the worst in the NFL, and the blame goes to all three people involved in this hierarchy: Flores, George Godsey, and Eric Studesville.
Or will he hire the Dolphins’ 5th OC in 4 years?
Maybe 5th and 6th, if since Flores likes two people at the position.
I hate to point the finger at Flores, but he’s running the show. He’s calling the shots, and he’s the one who decided to have the offense proceed this way— remember how Tua was prematurely promoted to starter in 2020, and both OC Chan Gailey and QB Ryan Fitzpatrick thought it was a joke? Yeah, that was Flores making that decision.
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Each year, he picks the offensive coordinator he wants, and this year he decided to promote two coaches from within.
It’s clear Flores knows what he is doing on defense, although this year’s defense is worse in certain areas than the 2020 defense.
But he clearly doesn’t know how to install or stabilize an offense. Or know that continuity in a system is a huge asset in offensive growth and the growth of young players— and there are a lot of them.
As each year goes by, I see Flores making too many changes on the offensive side of the coaching staff— different offensive line coaches, different QB coaches, different OC’s…
And now look at the team on that side of the ball.
—The totality of the offense is one of the worst in the NFL, once again.
— And the offensive line? It’s the same story year after year, and it’s probably the worst I’ve seen under the Flores era.
I still think the major offensive problems lie within the offensive line, but playcalling in certain game situations is questionable and poor at times. Like that lateral pass to Jaylen Waddle in the endzone that led to a safety on Sunday or the continuous running plays in short-yard situations when the team is clearly not good at rushing the ball.
And many on the outside have criticized the lack of explosive plays for this offense while having players like Waddle and Will Fuller. But the problem is that the offense needs protection and time from its lineman in order to do that. It’s clear that this issue has affected the team’s playcalling.
The Dolphins don’t trust their lineman to allow enough time to push the ball downfield. They know this is a problem, and that’s why co-coordinator Eric Studesville said the team is running the offense based on what the defense gives them.
The Dolphins can’t dictate the game offensively because they can’t control the line of scrimmage. They can barely take advantage of what the opposing defenses are allowing.
So trying to push downfield plays when providing inconsistent protection and allowing a lot of pressure each game isn’t a recipe for success. That’s going to likely lead to more negative plays.
Another question that arises about this offense is if the tackles are playing so poorly throughout three games (and the Dolphins know this because they played musical chairs with their lineman heading into their Week 3 game), then why not have a tight end as an in-line blocker to assist either of the tackles on the edge? Durham Smythe could certainly provide support in that area.
It seems the Dolphins constantly want to protect with only five blockers. The Dolphins are making adjustments as far as personnel on the line, but they could be making adjustments as far as coaching goes. That falls on Godsey and Studesville.
The season is still young, but unfortunately, fans and media usually start figuring out who the true good and bad teams are within the first 6-8 games of the season.
So the Dolphins can either slowly build off the hard-fought game against the Raiders or continue with their struggles throughout this whole season.
Me? I’ve seen this movie for over ten years. I know how it ends.
