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Scoring Offense - A Sign of Growth

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by Stitches, Sep 23, 2013.

  1. Stitches

    Stitches ThePhin's Biggest Killjoy Luxury Box

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    Last year, we were a poor scoring offense. It could have been a lack of weapons, a lack of a developed QB, a team trying to find its identity under its new coaching staff, or any other number of reasons. But what it ultimately was, was poor. We scored 18 pts per game, which was good enough for 27th in the league. This was ahead of only the NY Jets, Philadelphia, Jacksonville, Arizona , & Kansas City.

    All those teams finished with 6 wins or less, and most are either sporting a new QB, Head Coach, or both this year. Our scoring offense helped lead us to a 7-9 record, and while we didn't get a new coach or QB explicitly this year, it did certainly put the spotlight on our GM (again perhaps) and he went out and signed some offensive weapons (Keller, Gibson & Wallace) to help our QB and coach along.

    And here we are 3 weeks into the season, 3-0 under our 2nd year head coach. The QB we didn't replace (nor did we have to for once thankfully) is backing up his offensive coordinator's words from this past offseason where he said Tannehill would be the most improved QB. His numbers are up across the board: 66.4% vs 58.3% completion percentage, 7.73 YPA vs 6.81 YPA, 2.0 TD/INT vs .92 TD/INT, and 94.3 vs 76.1 passer rating.

    These improvement in numbers are no more clearly evident than in our scoring offense this year where we are currently 11th in the league with 24.7 PPG.
    1995 was the last time we finished a season with a scoring offense over 24.7ppg, with 24.9 ppg. 2001 was the last time we finished 11th or better in scoring.
    We made the playoffs both times.

    Let that sink in for just a second. It's been a long time since I felt the offense could hold its own and come through when we needed them to, and I'm sure many of you feel the same. But their ability is bearing out right in front of us.


    Yes, I know it's early, but we've pretty consistent in scoring so far this year with 23, 24, and 27. You know how many times we scored 23+ last year?

    5 times. 5. We're two games from that mark with 13 games to go. Show of hands, who thinks we don't beat last year's mark of 5 games with 23+ points?


    Yea, I didn't think so.

    Now this could indeed be a bit of a chicken and the egg argument. Were those new weapons Ireland spent all that money on the reason the offense has improved in scoring, or is it because of the growth of Tannehill. In truth it's probably a bit of both, along with the growth of Charles Clay who is making the most of his chances after Keller went down with injury.

    No matter what the reason, it's an exciting time, and I can't wait to see what else this season has to offer.











    And imagine if our running game ever picks up. :wink2:
     
    Phyl, Tone_E, Mainge and 1 other person like this.
  2. Sumlit

    Sumlit Well-Known Member

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    Here is a fun stat. Dolphins through 3 games have scored 15 more points than the Patriots. Wait what?!?!?
     
  3. Larryfinfan

    Larryfinfan 17-0...Priceless Club Member

    I'll be honest, this is not where I thought we'd be back in August. I would have bet a loss at both Indy and Atl. What is most exciting to me, is that we beat two teams that are better than we are (or at least further along than we are). Cleveland is still struggling because they simply don't have a QB yet. Indy has probably the best of the young QBs and they should only be better from here on out, not to mention they made the playoffs last year as well. Atlanta is an established team with an elite QB that is in the upper echelon of teams. True we had opportunities because of them having the injury bug issues, but Tanny and this O pulled their boot straps up and made it happen. That is something we, as Fins fans, haven't seen in a long time.

    While I certainly see issues still with this team, I think the longer term prognosis is bright. I don't think we'll go undefeated or anything like that, but we have a chance to make a move and actually get into the post season...for a change. I know it's early and a lot can happen. We have injuries that will affect us with Tanny's shoulder, Wake, Soliai, seems like all of our DBs (sans Grimes, thank you very much) and Ellerbe as well. Some of those are just dings, but they continue to toll up on us. The OL is STILL a question. Clabo isn't even showing to be 'average' to this point (which arguably was all we could expect). JJ has not made the step up in his play yet, although the injuries have held him back. Martin has been surprisingly consistent, although not spectacular. Unfortunately, Tanny is still developing and has a tendency to hold the ball a bit longer (which is a trait of WCO QBs), however, with our porous OL it's not making his life any easier.

    I think we have to keep in mind the deficiencies that we have. Going forward, at least thru the next few games, these guys have to continue to play above their development level before our bye and the softer part of the schedule goes. But think of the possibilities if we are 4-2 or 5-1 going to NE......oh that would be pretty special....

    Again, I honestly didn't see this coming from this team. They are gritty, not pretty...I can accept that...
     

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