The 2024 Miami Dolphins season will be remembered in a big-picture way by the failure to make the playoffs or perhaps more specifically for quarterback Tua Tagovailoa missing six games because of injuries, but either way what the defense was able to accomplish in Anthony Weaver's first year as coordinator will get lost in the mix.
The defense finished in the top 10 in the NFL in both total yards allowed (fourth) and scoring (10th), accomplishing a rare feat for the franchise.
It marked the first time in 18 years — since 2006, to be precise — that the Dolphins defense finished in the top 10 in both categories.
It was the 15th time in the 55 seasons (1970-2024) the Dolphins have been in the NFL that they pulled off this top 10 double play, the first time coming all the way back in 1971.
But here's an interesting twist accompanying this stat, a twist that illustrates how the NFL has become an offensive league: It's the fourth consecutive time the Dolphins have failed to make the playoffs despite being in the top 10 in points and yards allowed.
It happened in 2006 in Nick Saban's second and final year as Dolphins head coach, and before that in 2002 and 2003.
There's a common denominator among those four unique seasons of 2002, 2003, 2006 and 2024, the starting quarterback missing five or more starts. Jay Fiedler missed six starts in 2002 and five more the following season, Daunte Culpepper was done after four games in 2006, and there was Tua missing six games this season.
DOLPHINS IN GOOD COMPANY
The Dolphins were one of six teams this season to finish in the top 10 defensively in both points and yards allowed, but the only one to miss the playoffs. And, yes, the Miami defense faltered at the end of the game against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 8 and the Buffalo Bills in Week 9, but the stats remain what they are.
The other five were the Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens.
Baltimore, Philadelphia and Green Bay also were among the eight teams in the top 10 offensive in both scoring and yards, and in that group only the Cincinnati Bengals failed to make the playoffs.
The Dolphins were first in offensive yards in 2023 and second in points, the 13th time the Dolphins had pulled off the double play.
Before last year, though, the Dolphins hadn't finished in the top 10 offensively in both scoring and yards since 1995, Don Shula's final year as head coach.
The Dolphins have finished in the top 10 in the NFL in yards and points on both offense and defense three times: 1971, 1972 and 1973. The Dolphins went to the Super Bowl all three seasons.
