How Dolphins fare in short yardage this season, who’s to blame and who’s not. And notes
A six-pack of Dolphins notes on a Monday:
▪ Short-yardage shortcomings continue to foil the Dolphins. Their inadequacy in that area was again on display in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s loss to the Packers, when Miami couldn’t muster a single yard on three plays from the Green Bay 1-yard line.
In order, De’Von Achane was stuffed on second down, Tua Tagovailoa threw incomplete to Jonnu Smith on third down and Tagovailoa was sacked on fourth down.
So how do the Dolphins measure up overall on third and fourth and short this season?
Not well.
This season, Miami has converted 13 of 21 chances on third-and-1, per PFF’s Ryan Smith. That 61.9 percent conversion rate is 23rd.
The Dolphins passed on third-and-1 on three of those 21 attempts and converted two of the three.
On fourth-and 1 this season, Miami has converted only two of five chances. That 40 percent conversion rate is 31st in the league.
The Dolphins passed on three of those five fourth-and-1 chances and converted two of them.
So on third-and-1 running plays, Miami is 11 for 18.
On fourth-and-1 running plays, Miami is 0 for 2.
Bottom line: 11 for 20 on third/fourth down (very) short-yardage rushing attempts isn’t good enough.
▪ So who hasn’t measured up as a run blocker? For the season, here’s the order of how Pro Football Focus rates Dolphins players as run blockers:
Offensive line, from best to worst among their primary starters: left tackle Terron Armstead, center Aaron Brewer, injured right tackle Austin Jackson, and guards Robert Jones and Liam Eichenberg. As a run blocker, fill-in right tackle Kendall Lamm is rated behind the aforementioned five.
Tight ends: Julian Hill has played 345 offensive snaps this season primarily because of his line-blocking skills.
But among 12 Dolphins who have run blocked on at least 100 plays, Hill (200 run blocking snaps) is ranked 11th by PFF, ahead of only receiver Tyreek Hill.
Tight end Smith, an excellent receiver who has run blocked on 90 plays, is graded worse than Tyreek Hill as a run blocker, ahead of only receiver Malik Washington among Dolphins who have run blocked at least 70 times.
Wide receivers: Of the 35 players who have run blocked for the Dolphins this season, five of the seven worst are wide receivers, per PFF. Hill (233 run blocking plays) is ranked 30th.
Jaylen Waddle has been Miami’s best run-blocking receiver, earning high grades in 240 run-blocking plays. Among Dolphins who have played at least 25 snaps, only Armstead and Brewer rate higher as run blockers, per PFF.
▪ ESPN’s Cam Newton, who is making regular appearances on Stephen A. Smith’s “First Take,” claimed Tagovailoa doesn’t have the arm strength to thrive in cold weather.
“Anything you need to know about Mike McDaniel, Tua and cold weather, why are all of their routes dinks and dunks or in-breaking routes?” the former Carolina Panthers quarterback said. “Show me a deep nine ball or deep post or outbreaking route? Tua’s arm strength is exposed in cold weather.
“How do I know this? I went up to the internship in New England and we had to go outside to practice on a day-to-day basis and that ball was [wobbling] out there rather than getting there on a straight line. The verdict is out when scouting the Dolphins; Tua doesn’t have the arm strength in cold weather.”
But Newton failed to mention that the dinks and dunks are a byproduct of the Dolphins simply taking what the defense is giving them.
▪ Still up for debate is how much the cold weather contributes to Miami’s poor play in frigid conditions, and how much of that is the byproduct of a roster that can’t dominate the line of scrimmage against good teams.
“The narrative will truly be tested when they play at Cleveland and the Jets, because both of those teams aren’t very good,” ESPN’s Ryan Clark said. “And we can possibly say the Dolphins are possibly better or are better than both of those teams and should win.
“The Green Bay Packers are better than the Dolphins. The Packers are one of the best teams in football. They just played better. But what Cam is speaking of is true. McDaniel has a ton of in-breaking routes. There’s a lot of condensed splits where you can get meshes and rubs and you can run away from coverage that will be in outside leverage.
“This team does need to be better in cold weather and need to find a way to win in those games, against the Baltimores, Buffalos, Kansas City. But those are all the good teams in the AFC. All have quarterbacks who can play in that type of weather.”
The Dolphins have lost 12 straight games when the temperature is below 40. Tagovailoa is 0-6 in games when the temperature is below 45.
▪ Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich told reporters on Monday that Aaron Rodgers will start Sunday at the Dolphins (1 p.m., CBS) because he still gives the team the best chance to win.
Rodgers threw a pick-six and had a 73 passer rating in Sunday’s 26-21 loss to Seattle, which dropped New York to 3-9.
For the season, Rodgers is 23rd among NFL quarterbacks in passer rating at 87.5, 28th in completion percentage at 62.5 and 12th (worst) with eight interception (compared with 19 touchdown passes).
Tyrod Taylor is the Jets’ backup quarterback.
▪ Tagovailoa is now third in the NFL in passer rating at 108, trailing only Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson (116.3) and Detroit’s Jared Goff (109). He leads the NFL in completion percentage at 74.5.
And Tagovailoa has completed at least 70 percent of his passes in six consecutive starts, the longest streak of his career and the longest active streak in the NFL.
This story was originally published December 2, 2024 at 12:18 PM.
