From the Philbin/Campbell Denouement to the dawn of The Gase Era, have the Miami Dolphins really changed?
Owner Stephen Ross gets the first credit. For someone universally panned as "...not football-savvy...", he demonstrated great football instincts by signing Adam Gase to be his head coach. Gase did the rest!
Not surprisingly, the Dolphins offense became much better at finishing drives and putting points on the board. The passing game went from 6 yds./att. to almost 7, that's the difference between 24th to 6th in the league! Similarly, quarterback play improved equally well. The Gase Effect!
The Dolphins running game ranked near the top ten with both the departed Lamar Miller and the current Jay Ajayi despite sub-par offensive line play for both runners.
In the give-and-take of turnovers, the Dolphins regressed from 8th to 17th, because of one more fumble and three more interceptions.
Defense stagnated. Forcing opponents to work harder for scores, bending without breaking, actually improved from middle-of-the-pack to near the top ten. Against winning teams and/or good quarterback play, the defense under-performed equally poorly. The Dolphins run defense improved from awful to middling.
Overall, the Dolphins have become more competitive under Gase than they have been in the past. Part of that is due to the draft and free agency, but the greatest benefit to the Dolphins has been their head coach, Adam Gase, who rallied his team to a 10-6 record and playoffs after a 1-4 start.
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
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4 comments
We are trending upward.
On to the draft!
The draft! Can't wait!
"The dolphins run defense improved from awful to middling". Really? The team gave up more yards than any Dolphins team in franchise history and were ranked almost dead last in the NFL against the run. I would say that is awful.
In 2015, the run defense surrendered 2019 yards on 504 attempts, giving up 13 touchdowns and recovering 3 fumbles, ranking them 25th.
In 2016, the run defense surrendered 2247 yards on 464 attempts, giving up 12 touchdowns and recovering 9 fumbles, ranking them 16th.
Yards alone is only part of the story in analyzing defense. Touchdowns allowed and fumbles recovered gives a truer picture.