Another season goes by with the Miami Dolphins watching the conference championship games from the comfort of their own homes… or if you’re still angry over the way the regular season ended, perhaps you can imagine them in Cancun. Regardless of where they watched the Eagles annihilate the Commanders and the Chiefs rip the hearts out of the Bills, let’s hope they learned a few things about winning football games in the process.
The Dolphins hired Mike McDaniel to revamp the offense with Tua Tagovailoa as the centerpiece, and he was immediately successful. The Dolphins went from averaging 307 yards per game in 2021 to 364 per game in his first year as head coach. This included going from 214.8 passing yards per game to 265.4, an increase of over 23%. Then, in 2023, the Dolphins lead the league in yards per game with 401.3 and in passing yards per game with 265.5. This included a 726-yard and 70-point performance vs the Denver Broncos to improve their record to 3-0. At that moment, you could have convinced me to purchase Super Bowl tickets because, obviously, the good times would never end. Unfortunately, they did.
The 2024 season saw Tua Tagovailoa injured for six games in which the Dolphins went 2-4 with wins over the hapless Patriots and Browns. Two teams will pick in the top 5 of the NFL draft in April. Now, any team is going to struggle when they lose their starting Quarterback, but the way the Dolphins struggled was eye-opening. Skylar Thompson looked as if he had never heard of football before, let alone practiced with the team, Tyler Huntley looked like the career backup that he is, and Tim Boyle looked like… well, Tim Boyle.
People can debate about Tua’s talents as much as they’d like, and if you’ve spent any time on Dolphins’ Twitter or X, if you prefer, you have seen how much people enjoy doing just that. However, the fact remains they are locked into him as a starter, and at any moment, he could go down; if that happens, the Dolphins are screwed.
Watching the conference championship games gives me hope. Jalen Hurts is a limited passing quarterback, but that fact isn’t so important when you have Saquon Barkley averaging 7.9 yards per carry and scoring three times. Josh Allen, at times, looked shaken by the atmosphere at Arrowhead Stadium, throwing balls that begged Chiefs defenders to intercept them, but James Cook was able to run for 85 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. Stabilizing the Bills offense and leading the way when the team needed him most.
The Chief’s offensive line set the tone for the game and opened up running lanes, allowing Kareem Hunt and Patrick Mahomes to combine for 107 yards and 3 touchdowns.
That is what the Miami Dolphins were missing in 2024: a running attack that could be as feared as the passing game. Eric Studesville, the Dolphins running back coach, along with the rest of the offensive staff need to focus on Miami’s running game in 2025.
In 2023, the Dolphins averaged 135.8 yards per game rushing, and that dropped to 105.6 in 2024. Teams sold out, preventing the pass by consistently showing two high safety looks, daring the Dolphins to beat them on the ground, and they were unable to.
The offensive line was highly regarded by Pro Football Focus when it came to pass-blocking grades, but if you watched the games, you know that was a mirage, propped up by Tua’s quick release.
Dolphins General Manager Chris Grier once infamously said “you guys probably are more worried than we are” regarding the offensive line situation.
Well, after this weekend, I sincerely hope that Grier is as worried about the offensive line as we are. The NFL has changed once again, it no longer is a league full of highlight reel deep passes. The Dolphins caught the last wave of that in 2023; I’m hopeful that they’ll be one of the first to catch the wave of the running game being king in 2025.
We watched firsthand as the season crumbled away when Tua was out; it should be a wake-up call that they need to invest in the trenches in order to win. It can not all rest on his shoulders. In any case, it seems to be working out for the teams playing in New Orleans in a couple of weeks.
For more sports opinions, you can follow me on Youtube @WickedGoodSports and X @TheFakeBMarr
