RUSHING OFFENSE
More than any player on the roster, Reggie Bush's fortunes mirrored that of his team. Bush was held to 119 rushing yards on 40 carries (3.0 yards per run) in the disastrous first four games. Then came the bye, and a renewed Reggie Bush. In his final 11 games, he ran for 967 yards on only 176 carries for an astounding 5.5 yards a carry. In December, he ran for 519 yards on 83 carries (6.3 yards an attempt). Bush's finish was made all the more impressive with the offensive line getting more and more banged up as the season went on. Most troublesome was the injury-plagued season
Pro Bowl left tackle
Jake Long had. He never seemed right. Rookie center
Mike Pouncey, however, justified his first-round status with an impressive year in the core of the trenches. Meanwhile, second-round pick
Daniel Thomas, after an impressive first two games where he averaged 101 yards rushing per game, became a victim to numerous nagging injuries, and the rookie from Kansas State only had only 379 rushing yards on 124 carries (3.1 yards a rush) from Game 3 onward and didn't score a touchdown in that span.
GRADE: B-minus
PASSING OFFENSE
Matt Moore's first start for the Dolphins--and only his 14th in the
NFL--came in Game 5 in New Jersey against the
New York Jets, and it was a disaster as he threw two interceptions and no touchdowns and the team scored a season-low six points and dropped to 0-5. From that point onward, however, the Dolphins led in the fourth quarter in 10 of their final 11 games. Moore, for his part, threw 16 touchdowns and only six interceptions in those final 11 games. While he continually made fine deep throws, such quarterbacking basics as receiving the snap and getting rid of the ball within three seconds bit him a few times. ... The offensive line's injury troubles definitely showed up more in the passing game. Moore, while he held the ball too long at times, had no chance his fair share of the 36 sacks he took. In six games, he was pulled down for at least four sacks. ... The tight end/H-back became a Dolphins threat again with
Anthony Fasano and
Charles Clay combining catch 48 passes for 684 yards (14.3 yards per reception) and eight touchdowns. ...
Brandon Marshall, while registering 12 drops (tied for second-most in the NFL), made many more big plays in the passing game than he had in his Dolphins debut last year. Marshall, who made the Pro Bowl, scored six touchdowns, and his 15.0 yards per reception was his best since he became a starting receiver in 2007. Thirty of
Brian Hartline's 35 catches netted first downs.
GRADE: B-minus
RUSHING DEFENSE
Inside linebacker
Karlos Dansby, by his own admission, came in at least 25 pounds overweight, and other inside backer
Kevin Burnett was taking over for stalwart
Channing Crowder. The most shocking aspect of the Dolphins' 0-7 start was how the run defense, so stout in 2010, had become a porous, unreliable group. In the first six games, opponents scampered for 118.5 rushing yards per contest, and in the final 10, that number shrunk to 81.9 and the season turned around. The 284 rushing yards allowed between Nov. 13 and Dec. 11 were the fewest ever yielded by the Dolphins over a five-game span. On the extreme down side, the unit recovered only one fumble all season long (by comparison, special teams recovered two). Pittsburgh and San Diego were tied for second-worst in fumbles recovered by their defense, with four each. In addition, the
Steelers and
Chargers each returned one of the fumbles for a touchdown.
GRADE: C-minus
PASS DEFENSE
The opener, with defensive backs cramping up and
Tom Brady passing for a career-best 517 yards, was a harbinger of things to come. After that, the yardage figures returned to a more normal rate, but the Dolphins were killed by plays in the passing game in the fourth quarter that resulted in the losses of five games in the closing 15 minutes. Two of those losses came on touchdown passes with less than 45 seconds left. The pass rush, so effective a year ago, was invisible. In the opener, some
Patriots rookie named
Nate Solder pummeled
Cameron Wake, and the Dolphins registered only eight sacks in the 0-5 start. The pass rush finally showed up on Oct. 23 when
Tim Tebow and the
Denver Broncos came to town. There were six sacks that day as the defense had a shutout going until the final three minutes, and the unit averaged three sacks a game in the last 11 games. ... One aspect of the pass defense did remain remarkably consistent from 2010, and that was a difficulty in covering the tight end. Tight ends scored four touchdowns in the first six games. ... The back end, like everyone else surged to the finish. Heading the secondary's surge was
Vontae Davis who had been suspended for the Kansas City game Nov. 6. Davis returned and played great, shutting down his man and picking off four passes in the second half. To end the season, Davis held
Super Bowl XLIII MVP
Santonio Holmes without a catch for the first time in his 95 career games. The defense had 14 of its 16 pickoffs in the final eight games.
GRADE: C
SPECIAL TEAMS
The one unit that made massive strides. Punter
Brandon Fields' net punting average was 41.1 yards, 1.3 yards better than his previous best for a season. Kicker
Dan Carpenter finished strong. His 58-yard field goal at the first-half gun in the season finale was mentioned by a crestfallen-but-impressed New York Jets coach
Rex Ryan after the game as a major turning point. Ryan, frustrated that his defense had allowed nine points after three three-and-outs could only mutter, "That Carpenter...." And the return game was stronger as the Dolphins' average starting field position of 29.29 yards from the end zone ranked seventh in the NFL, according to statistical breakdown site footballoutsiders.com. Last year's 28.32 had Miami 29th in the league. The coverage teams also enjoyed a large uptick, with this year's opponent average starting position of 27.84 ranking 15th in the NFL, compared with last year's 25th-ranked 30.94. Plus there were two punt blocks, and rookie
Clyde Gates was a sliver away from two touchdown kickoff returns.
GRADE: A-minus
COACHING
This is where the grade is going to have to take the biggest hit. Obviously, the disastrous start cost
Tony Sparano his job. If the Dolphins had held on to win three of the five games they gave away in the fourth quarter, they could have made the playoffs instead of the
Bengals. Even the decision to stay with
Chad Henne over Moore from the season start has to be questioned. Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll did show a creative flair and startegic aggression that worked more often than not, Darren Rizzi gets huge plaudits for the special teams' ascendancy and defensive coordinator Mike Nolan gets mention for getting his unit back on the beam after that uninspired start.
GRADE: D-plus
OVERALL
If the 2011 Dolphins were an automobile, it would have been worth more if it had been stripped down and had its parts sold off. To start 0-7 and have the season be over before
Halloween is just unfathomable, though it's the second time that has happened in the past five seasons with the Dolphins. The team always played hard and never fractured inside the locker room, and the 6-3 finish was heartening, but the best record of any of the teams the Dolphins beat was 8-8.
GRADE: D-plus
