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Interresting stats, follow up on offense balance.

NBP81

Its what you know for sure... that just aint so...
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This is a follow up on shouright`s thread regarding the teams lack of rushing attempts. Got curious so I took a look at playoffs teams from the last 4 seasons(since 2009) and I wasn't really surprised of the results... The Fins are on pace to end the season with 336 rushing attempts. The team with the least rushing attempts to make the playoffs in the last four years are the 2011 Detroit Lions with 356. Out of all those playoff teams(48), only 9 made it with less than 400 attempts. Only 2 of those are from the AFC, the 2009 and 2010 Peyton Manning Colts.... NFC teams who made it with less than 400 carries: GB(395), DET(356), ATL(378), NO(380), PHI(384), SEA(385), ARI(365). Now for those who think what we're running is that famous GB offense, consider this, the lower amount of carries that team has put out since 2009 is 395 in 2011 and averages to 422 carries a season. So let me ask you this, WHY do these coaches, who have QBs such as Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Tom Brady feel like they have to run the ball to have success as a football team. And more importantly, why do some fans think that Ryan Tannehill, in his second pro football season, should be able to do so when absolutely nobody has done it in the last four years?(Im pretty sure it goes much further than that, just too lazy to go further) Its not an excuse guys...
 
This is a follow up on shouright`s thread regarding the teams lack of rushing attempts. Got curious so I took a look at playoffs teams from the last 4 seasons(since 2009) and I wasn't really surprised of the results... The Fins are on pace to end the season with 336 rushing attempts. The team with the least rushing attempts to make the playoffs in the last four years are the 2011 Detroit Lions with 356. Out of all those playoff teams(48), only 9 made it with less than 400 attempts. Only 2 of those are from the AFC, the 2009 and 2010 Peyton Manning Colts.... NFC teams who made it with less than 400 carries: GB(395), DET(356), ATL(378), NO(380), PHI(384), SEA(385), ARI(365). Now for those who think what we're running is that famous GB offense, consider this, the lower amount of carries that team has put out since 2009 is 395 in 2011 and averages to 422 carries a season. So let me ask you this, WHY do these coaches, who have QBs such as Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Tom Brady feel like they have to run the ball to have success as a football team. And more importantly, why do some fans think that Ryan Tannehill, in his second pro football season, should be able to do so when absolutely nobody has done it in the last four years?(Im pretty sure it goes much further than that, just too lazy to go further) Its not an excuse guys...


Because ____________________ says so..., silly...
 
The only thing that I really think stands out from both threads as a definate is that teams that are one dimensional don't succeed often
I actually think you'd have a shot if your unbalanced the other way around. Running too much is still better than not running enough...
 
The reason we're not running the football is because we can't do it. I'd rather have Tannehill complete a 4 yard pass than Lamar Miller running for negative yards. There's only one game where the running game looked decent and that was against the Bengals when we had six offensive linemen out there. Don't know why we're not doing this more, especially at the end of the season when weather is a factor and has a negative impact on the passing game.
 
The reason we're not running the football is because we can't do it. I'd rather have Tannehill complete a 4 yard pass than Lamar Miller running for negative yards. There's only one game where the running game looked decent and that was against the Bengals when we had six offensive linemen out there. Don't know why we're not doing this more, especially at the end of the season when weather is a factor and has a negative impact on the passing game.
The Dolphins average 4.1 yards per carry, which is the league average. If the Dolphins "can't do it," then neither can half the teams in the league.
 
The answer is simple: good QBs. If you have a good QB you can run more because defenses won't dare you to beat them in the air by loading up the box, they already know that is not a good gamble. If Aaron Rogers was our QB on Sunday him and Wallace would have hooked up for at least 4 or 5 TDs. Then with a 30-40 point lead you'll have a lot more flexibility to mix in more runs. Until Tannehill proves he can destroy 8 man fronts with his arm he won't get the same respect as those playoff contenders.
 
The answer is simple: good QBs. If you have a good QB you can run more because defenses won't dare you to beat them in the air by loading up the box, they already know that is not a good gamble. If Aaron Rogers was our QB on Sunday him and Wallace would have hooked up for at least 4 or 5 TDs. Then with a 30-40 point lead you'll have a lot more flexibility to mix in more runs. Until Tannehill proves he can destroy 8 man fronts with his arm he won't get the same respect as those playoff contenders.
There we are. The typical belief is that the quarterback needs a running game in order to perform better, but that works in reverse, as well.
 
Who the QB is plays a significant role in balance and each individual teams definition of balance. The Dolphins with RT need an offense that has an equal mix of run and pass. The Jets with Geno Smith need an offense that features more running than throwing. The Saints can throw the ball more because they have the luxury of having Drew Brees but, they still have to have an effective ground game. Keep in mind these are just examples.

Not a fan of the stats threads that have been getting posted lately but both this and Shou's thread on this topic are a good use of statistical data.
 
Usually losing teams have low rushing attempts when they abandon the run because of playing catch up in the second half. It seems like that's our motto, even though we have led almost every game in the 4th quarter. What drives me crazy is when we get inside the 5 or 10 , it seems like we rarely run the ball.

---------- Post added at 07:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:41 AM ----------

The Dolphins average 4.1 yards per carry, which is the league average. If the Dolphins "can't do it," then neither can half the teams in the league.

I am curious to know what that number is if you take tannehill's rushes out of that.
 
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Some, but in the end it still comes down to the o-line.....

Just this season some of the better rushing team have some of the poorer QB's

Jets, Bills, Oakland, Minnesota....all have good run games.

Last season the Packers struggled due to their poor run game...

For the Dolphins it is more of an issue with the line and the RB's....the threat of the pass will prevent teams from going with 8 in the box and most are not going 8 in the box on the Dolphins and are easily stopping them with a standard front or even in nickle formation.

Again, I'm not discrediting the idea that having an elite QB opens up things (it obviously does), but the offensive line plays a even larger role.
 
The Dolphins average 4.1 yards per carry, which is the league average. If the Dolphins "can't do it," then neither can half the teams in the league.

but we can't do it consistently. Our average is inflated because Miller gets 1 yd. 1 yd. -3 yd. 3 yd 1 yd. -5 yd. 40 yard 1 yd 2 yd. 0 yd 0 yd 4 yd -1 yd 17 yd... Etc.
 
This is a follow up on shouright`s thread regarding the teams lack of rushing attempts. Got curious so I took a look at playoffs teams from the last 4 seasons(since 2009) and I wasn't really surprised of the results... The Fins are on pace to end the season with 336 rushing attempts. The team with the least rushing attempts to make the playoffs in the last four years are the 2011 Detroit Lions with 356. Out of all those playoff teams(48), only 9 made it with less than 400 attempts. Only 2 of those are from the AFC, the 2009 and 2010 Peyton Manning Colts.... NFC teams who made it with less than 400 carries: GB(395), DET(356), ATL(378), NO(380), PHI(384), SEA(385), ARI(365). Now for those who think what we're running is that famous GB offense, consider this, the lower amount of carries that team has put out since 2009 is 395 in 2011 and averages to 422 carries a season. So let me ask you this, WHY do these coaches, who have QBs such as Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Tom Brady feel like they have to run the ball to have success as a football team. And more importantly, why do some fans think that Ryan Tannehill, in his second pro football season, should be able to do so when absolutely nobody has done it in the last four years?(Im pretty sure it goes much further than that, just too lazy to go further) Its not an excuse guys...
Agree. Anyone remember our dreadful rushing performance in the '84 SB? We lost because our 5 linemen couldn't run block against 3 down linemen - resulting in 8 total rushing yards for the game. Marino was reduced to 3-long all day and inspite of throwing for 322 our drives all stalled for FGs. We tried to run to get some balance going but our 5 couldn't block their 3 and they had 8 DBs in to try and contain our passing game. If Dan couldn't do it then, what makes us think RT can do it now?
 
Some, but in the end it still comes down to the o-line.....

Just this season some of the better rushing team have some of the poorer QB's

Jets, Bills, Oakland, Minnesota....all have good run games.
This is correct, because when you regress QB rating, net YPA, OL pass blocking (as measured by PFF), and OL run blocking (as measured by PFF) against yards per carry, the only significant predictor of yards per carry is OL run blocking.

However, the Dolphins' OL run blocking is no worse than that of the average team in the league, which suggests they should be running at least as much, if not more (with a developmental QB), than the average team.
 
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