Thought I would share this for those that are statistically motivated. Make of it what you will: Offense The Dolphins rank 26th in the league in total offense, averaging 256.5 yards per game (28th in the league in scoring offense with 12 points per game) The Dolphins rank 29th in the league in rushing offense, averaging 60.5 yards per game (tied for 20th in the league in scoring run offense with 1 touchdown) The Dolphins rank 14th in the league in passing offense, averaging 196 yards per game (tied for 13th in the league in scoring pass offense with 2 touchdowns) Defense The Dolphins rank 26th in the league in total defense, allowing an average of 269 yards per game (25th in the league in scoring defense, allowing 25.5 points per game) The Dolphins rank 12th in the league against the run, allowing 96.5 yards per game (tied for 14th in the league in scoring run defense with 2 touchdowns allowed) The Dolphins rank 30th in the league against the pass, allowing 272.5 yards per game (tied for second-to-last in the league in scoring pass defense with 5 touchdowns allowed)
Lets compare it to last year: Offense: 2007 Rushing: 23rd 2008 Rushing: 29th 2007 Passing: 24th 2008 Passing: 14th 4 new starters, 3 new players on the offensive line for rushing. I think its alright for now but I hope it fixes up by mid-season. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Defense: 2007 Rush Defense: 32nd 2008 Rush Defense: 12th 2007 Pass Defense: 4th 2008 Pass Defense: 30th I think on defense, its the same thing as last year, just different category to be honest.
The collapse of the pass defense is surprising, it's early but that is dramatic, we have healthy starters and proven ones at that.
Is it really a surprise? I know we were ranked fourth in the NFL only a year ago but how much time did teams spending running the ball down our throats? I think that our secondary was pretty good last year but the time spent running the ball by offenses may be the reason that rank in the passing category is so low. This year, we have a improved run defense and look at our secondary rank.
Last season our CB's were among the league's best at not giving up ypc. And it could be that the Jets and Cards are passing oriented more then the Redskins were last year. But for a veteran group Alen1, those are some bad stats.
One thing we should remember is that until RB and TG went down our Run offense was either 9th or 10th if I remember correctly. And the same is probably true of our passing offense at the start of 07. As I posted elsewhere we were averaging 20+ points a game by our third game last year. I say this not to throw water on this thread but to only make the figures reflect the true difference for the same time frame last year.
Funny, the defensive line is supposed to mask how bad our secondary is. Remember, that's what happened in 2006 supposedly. padre31 is it that surprising? We did NOT address the backfield significantly at all. Also, I think the stats begs two questions. What is our average rush ypc allowed? Because sometimes these things are skewed for one reason or another. In this case, they're allowing 3.1 ypc, good for 5th in the league. So why are we ranked lower when taking into account total rush yards? Because the team is always ahead early, leading to more rushes. As teams have attempted 62 rushes against us, 7th most in the league, this I believe is true. For our relatively high ranking in passing offense, one thing immediately jumped out at me. No way our passing offense is that good, obviously. Yeah I said it, I don't think our passing offense is middle of the pack. When you look at ypa we're 23, at 5.7 ypa, and not much separates everyone down there. That's pitiful. We're fifth in total attempts. Obviously because we're always playing from behind.
The defensive stat from last regarding pass defense is misleading when you consider no one HAD to pass on us. They did it beacuse they felt like it, we couldn't stop anyone from running last year.
Not that misleading though Conuficus. While nobody had to pass on us, when they did, the ypa we allowed was pretty damn good.
Yes JDang, it is, normally secondaries, veteran ones, go through a steady decline, not a trap door fall type one, unless there are injuries or new veterans who are not very good inserted into the line up. One can say "Scheme" but secondary play is more of a match up game then a strictly scheme one. And BTW, the flip side to that is, if our Wr were not getting open in Training Camp against this unit, what does that say about them? Now that is a unpleasant thought, it is still early, IMO there will be a shake up soon, maybe this week.
Yeah, true. Although that has been pretty much dissected on here - especially if you mean Charlie Joyner's work. I just meant in terms of stats as of right now. Hard to compare a whole season with just two games and get the saem results as well.
I just wanted to point that if there's one area where I expect the Dolphins to drastically improve, it's rushing offense. Last year, we got out of the gate extremely slow in Week's 1 & 2. Slowly, but surely the offensive line gelled and Ronnie started putting together monstrous games. I expect more of the same this year, only this time around, I expect both Ronnie and Ricky to excel.