For weeks, we’ve wondered what happened to the Miami Dolphins run game. At one point this year, we were on the verge of breaking a record with four straight games of 150+ rushing yards. Now, we’re struggling to rush for even 50 yards. Is this drop-off really because we lost our right tackle, Austin Jackson, to a season-ending knee injury, or is there something deeper at play?
While we can’t discount Austin Jackson’s effectiveness as a swing tackle, I believe the issue lies with the head coach. When we had no other option—because we were relying on practice squad quarterbacks—we were forced to run the ball. To our surprise, we had some success. Not only that, but we thought that Mike McDaniel had learned his lesson about the importance of a well-balanced offense and staying committed to the run. However, when Tua was back under center, McDaniel couldn’t help but return to his pass-first philosophy.
To his credit, we cannot deny that our offensive line is atrocious, but we quickly abandoned the run game early. To make it worse, we continue to shoot ourselves in the foot and start off slow. But still there is usually enough time to steadily climb out of the hole we’ve created. Instead, McDaniel wants Tua to thread the needle in a very crowded field, play in, and play out for minimal gains. This dunk and dunk offense has proven time and time again to not be sustainable and constantly has us coming up short of a W.
I’d rather see us run on every short-yardage and goal-line situation. While we’re better at picking up short yards with a pass, we often commit undisciplined penalties because the play call gets in too late or because not everyone is on the same page and that short yardage becomes even longer and thus an even more finesse play gets called.
We may need to get creative and even throw in an homage to the Wildcat. But I don’t want to keep seeing throws behind the line of scrimmage when everyone knows it’s coming. Last week, Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans literally called out our play before we even snapped the ball. That’s how predictable our offense has become under Mike McDaniel’s playcalling.
Again, I know we need an offensive line that can create lanes and push defenders around (both of which the Miami Dolphins simply cannot do). But passing against a defense that knows you’re going to pass and knows your tendencies is worse than just running the ball for a minimal gain. At least with the run, the chance of turnover is lower, and we have fewer chances for unnecessary penalties.
That’s why I believe our lack of success in the run game is more than just because Austin Jackson went down. We’ve seen it throughout Mike McDaniel’s career: even when we have a solid run game, he abandons it under the guise of trying to anticipate the opponent’s counter.
It’s a red flag in his game-day coaching that we thought had finally been exorcised earlier this year. Sadly, that’s not the case, and Mike McDaniel is proving to be more of a liability as a playcaller than a guru.
