How do you even begin to stop the Dolphins' offense, which might end up the best ever in the NFL?
Seventy points. Seventy points. Seventy points. The Miami Dolphins scored 70 points on Sunday against the Denver Broncos in a game that could have easily been worse than the final 70-20 score. The Dolphins scored a whopping 10 touchdowns, including eight on the ground, and finished with 726 total yards against the Broncos, an NFL record for the Super Bowl era.
This was the latest defense to be razed at the feet of the Dolphins' offense, which has ignited the conversation asking if this is the greatest offense ever in the NFL — a fair question after scoring 130 points over the first three weeks of the season. The Dolphins certainly are on their way to having a strong claim toward being the best offense in NFL history, but before that question can be answered, some poor defensive coordinators are tasked with a different question: Can this offense even be slowed down?
The answer? Probably not. Not without shady dealings with crime bosses to kidnap Dolphins players prior to the games starting or something. Unavailability seems to be the only thing that can stop the Dolphins’ offense right now. Miami has arguably the best wide receiver duo in football, speed everywhere on the field, one of the most brilliant play-callers in the league in head coach Mike McDaniel, and a quarterback who is allowing everything to flourish to its maximum potential. That’s a recipe for being able to score 70 points like it’s a game of Madden.
There really aren’t too many ways to shut this thing down, considering all the advantages the Dolphins have in their favor. The most traditional way would probably be trying to affect the quarterback by getting home with four rushers or blitzing to disrupt the timing of the QB's drop. Right now, that looks to be a dubious solution at the very best.
According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is averaging 2.34 seconds in the pocket before he throws the ball this season, first in the NFL among all QBs with at least 40 dropbacks. Ideally, defensive linemen would be able to rush the passer and get Tagovailoa in an uncomfortable situation, but it’s impossible to get to him. Tagovailoa has thrown the ball 101 times and been sacked only once — and that’s with star left tackle Terron Armstead missing time!
Not only is Tagovailoa getting the ball out faster than anyone in the sport, he’s also attacking down the field. Tagovailoa’s passes are traveling, on average, 9.2 yards down the field, according to Next Gen Stats. That ranks fifth in the league with only Jordan Love, Derek Carr, Jalen Hurts and Deshaun Watson averaging higher marks. However, those other four quarterbacks take much longer to throw than Tagovailoa. That cluster of four quarterbacks with higher air yards per attempt than Tagovailoa is averaging 2.88 seconds to throw their passes, which is consistent with what we know about quarterbacks who throw the ball down the field. They’re giving their receivers time to get open, but Tagovailoa doesn’t need a whole lot of time for his receivers to get moving into the intermediate and deeper portions of the field.
Quickly throwing the ball down the field can’t be done without a whole lot of speed, which the Dolphins have. Tyreek Hill is the fastest player in the sport, but Jaylen Waddle, De'Von Achane, Braxton Berrios, Raheem Mostert and other players in this offense are certified speedsters. McDaniel does an unbelievable job getting his players into wide open windows through the use of motion and just taking advantage of their speed to get them into spots where they can run after the catch. It’s really difficult to chase Hill across a formation before the snap, only to be responsible for his coverage after the snap. That’s how nightmares are made for a defensive coordinator.
The only team that has given itself a chance against the Dolphins this season was the Patriots, who went into the game saying “F it” and walked out with three high safeties on a good chunk of their defensive plays.
Look, the Dolphins are going to get open. They’re going to get receptions in places that make it impossible to defend at the catch point. The least a defense can do against this offense is be in a position to make a play after the catch — and most defenses can’t even do that against the Dolphins. Miami is too fast, the quarterback is too accurate and McDaniel is pulling the strings effortlessly.
The best way to take on this offense is to find some strong cornerbacks who can tackle in space and also run a 4.2 in the 40-yard dash. Chargers head coach Brandon Staley had some success against the Dolphins last year spamming Cover 2 coverages, but that hasn’t really mattered this year. Tagovailoa has completed 12 of his 13 passes for 123 yards against Cover 2 zone this season. It looks like the NFL needs to find a new kryptonite for this Dolphins offense because that ain’t it so far.
This is a whole lot of words to say this: There is no answer for a healthy Dolphins offense. No defense has the speed to match any of this, so the best a team can do is hang on for dear life and hope its offense can put points on the board. It's a terrible situation to prepare for, but incredible to watch from the safety of a couch every Sunday. There is no solution to the puzzle of the Dolphins' offense, and that fact very well may put Miami at the tippy-top of all time NFL offenses when it's all said and done.
