BILL INGRAM/THE PALM BEACH POST / USA TODAY NETWORK
Against Cleveland, the Dolphins went deep into their bag of tricks in the run game
If you haven’t heard, the Miami Dolphins offense might be pretty good.
They’re second in total EPA per play and are seventh in points per game, but even as the passing game soared high, the run game was still an issue. Despite adding Terron Armstead in the offseason, the Dolphins’ play on the ground has been underwhelming. Through the first portion of the season, Miami was 25th in EPA per attempt on the ground, and as we see with teams such as Buffalo, being unable to run the ball can still hamper a team’s overall success on the ground.
Well, it seems like Miami has found their ground game. Against Cleveland on Sunday, the Dolphins ran for 195 yards and six yards per carry, coming out to an EPA/run of 0.26 and a 60% success rate. With Mike McDaniel previously serving as the offensive coordinator and run game specialist with the San Francisco 49ers, seeing the Dolphins have success in their run game has brought some similarities in scheme to what the Niners were doing.
This play is similar to one the Niners ran with Deebo Samuel a lot, but McDaniel has brought it to Miami. Look at how the offensive line and inside receiver are able to wall everything off and create a massive runway for the back. There were holes like this all over the tape for the Dolphins on Sunday.
One thing the Dolphins are doing now that the Niners have majored in is gap scheme runs. Kyle Shanahan may be an outside zone based coach, but the gap scheme runs he and McDaniel put in last year helped vary up the types of runs defenses were seeing. Now, the Dolphins are adding these to their game and seeing great results. Watch this power run. Terron Armstead gets great push on the defensive tackle before reaching the LB, and the hole created by the pulling Robert Hunt and Alec Ingold is MASSIVE.
Of course, the Dolphins still use a lot of split zone, and in different variations, under center or shotgun. The Dolphins abused the Browns with split zone, taking advantage of a poor defensive interior and linebacker group for Cleveland.
The Dolphins did bust out a pretty cool run play that went for big yardage in the Browns game. A play where both guards are pulling, and Miami has Ingold and Raheem Mostert in the backfield. The play takes advantage of over-aggressive linemen, and Mostert cuts it inside for a huge gain.
The Dolphins are already looking like one of the best offenses in the league, but adding a varied and dynamic run game is going to help when the games get closer.
