I revisited the game and charted the Dolphins' first down plays. I thought the numbers were quite interesting.
First off, the average drive start for the Phins was their own 23 yard line. The worst was their own 16, twice, and the best was their own 36. In general, field position was very, very, crappy, which makes what this offense accomplished even more amazing.
The Dolphins had 28 plays on 1st down.
The average play on 1st down went for 7.2 yards. That is insane.
The breakdown:
RUNS (18): average 4.8 yds
PASSES (10) average 11.4 yds (6.8 yds if you discount the long TD pass to Ginn)
WILDCAT (8, all runs): average 7 yds
NON WILDCAT RUNS (10): average 3.1 yds
Basically, our success on first down is why the offense was able to move so effectively, despite utterly terrible field position and producing no turnovers. The Wildcat was also clearly more effective than running out of base formation on first down as well - despite this, so far the tendency still appears to be to go to base offense runs more often than wildcat runs on first down.
First off, the average drive start for the Phins was their own 23 yard line. The worst was their own 16, twice, and the best was their own 36. In general, field position was very, very, crappy, which makes what this offense accomplished even more amazing.
The Dolphins had 28 plays on 1st down.
The average play on 1st down went for 7.2 yards. That is insane.
The breakdown:
RUNS (18): average 4.8 yds
PASSES (10) average 11.4 yds (6.8 yds if you discount the long TD pass to Ginn)
WILDCAT (8, all runs): average 7 yds
NON WILDCAT RUNS (10): average 3.1 yds
Basically, our success on first down is why the offense was able to move so effectively, despite utterly terrible field position and producing no turnovers. The Wildcat was also clearly more effective than running out of base formation on first down as well - despite this, so far the tendency still appears to be to go to base offense runs more often than wildcat runs on first down.