Hyde5: Five good, revealing Dolphins stats - and 5 bad ones

[DKphin]

The Dolphins have the top rated defense - but only 15th in scoring. Five good and bad stats that matter.
Jarvis Landry is second in the league in kickoff returns. But the Dolphins are last in net punting.
The good and bad as the statistics tell it through six Dolphins games:

The Good:

1. They’re first 1[SUP]st[/SUP] in total defense with 313.7 yards allowed a season. It’s not like they’re playing patsies, either. Three of the six quarterbacks they’ve gone against have ratings in the top 12 of the league – Aaron Rodgers (2), Tom Brady (10) and Jay Cutler (12). The Dolphins are fourth in pass yardage allowed and seventh in rushing defense, meaning they do both things well. They rank 11[SUP]th[/SUP] with 11 turnovers – though their eight forced fumbles is tied for second. One stat that doesn’t match-up? A couple of stats that don’t jibe with this? Points allowed and opponent third-down conversions (see below).


2. They’re averaging 24.5 points per game. Joe Philbin set the goal of 25 points per game. It ranks 11th in the league, but it looked like a big leap from the 26[SUP]th[/SUP]-ranked 19.8 points a game last season. Offensive coordinator Bill Lazor and his offense has scored effectively even while he understandably expresses disappointment for leaving points on the field. They easily left nine on Sunday when a field goal was blocked, a sack was taken and then a 50-yarder missed and another sack prevented an attempt.

3. They’re fourth in rushing yards per game with 136.3 and 11[SUP]th[/SUP] in sacks allowed with 14. Since the offensive line was completely redone and a point of concern, it says the line is getting the job done. They’re not pounding the ball to get that rushing total, either. They rank 11[SUP]th[/SUP] in rushing attempts and got one full game out of their best running back in Knowshon Moreno. Sacks? After last year’s 58, the 14 through six games is a big step forward – and, as in Sunday’s game, two of the four could have been sidestepped if Ryan Tannehill threw the ball away.

read more: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/...aveHyde-blog+(Dave+Hyde+|+Sun+Sentinel+blogs)

 

[FinHopeful]

The article is an interesting read. I am waiting to see the effect of Misi and Jones on the bad defensive stats. The next two games should help us understand if the defense is improving.

 

[MD]

The biggest difference is the OL. Considering they started with 5 new faces they have done a nice job coming together so quickly. Still room for improvement at the guard spot but still playing far better than I think any of us expected.

 

[NJPHINFAN79]

1. They’re 29th in yards per attempt on passes at 6.5 yards per attempt. This is Lazor’s personal stat of preference, because it shows how productive the passing game in a catch-all number. As noted, the Dolphins have become a short-to-medium range passing team. Their longest pass of the season is a 35-yarder to Brian Hartline against Oakland. That ranks 31st in the league for a team's longest pass. Only Kansas City’s longest is shorter at 33 yards. This isn't just about Tannehill. That’s because …

2. They have one receiver in the Top 50 for yards-after-catch. That’s Landry at 44th with 133 YAC on 22 catches. He should rise as his role seems to be increasing. But for as much as this receiving corps is seen as a strength, this is a notable issue. YAC can be a derivative of a lot of things – number of catches, physicality of receivers, ball placement from the quarterback, etc … But all you know is the Dolphins aren't getting much from this. The only teams with one receiver who has fewer YAC yards are the Jets, Jacksonville, Oakland, Tampa Bay and St. Louis – probably the five worst teams in the league. The other Dolphins receivers and their YAC ranks: Mike Wallace (55th), Lamar Miller (91st), Charles Clay (102nd) and Brian Hartline (158th). This isn’t a one-time deal, either. Last year, only Charles Clay (42nd) ranked in the top 50.

3. Their defense is 15th in points allowed (23 per game) and 19th in opponent third-down conversions (41.8 percent). These are two important stats that don’t fall into line with having the top defense. Points allowed obviously is the most important stat of all for a defense. Third-down conversions tell of getting off the field and giving the ball to your offense. It’s because of these the defense isn’t yet recognized as being as you’d think the No. 1 defense would be.

4. They’re last in the league in net punting. From the time he entered the league, Brandon Fields has been a standout. But something’s wrong this year with both him and the punt coverage team. The Dophins average a league-worst 32.7 net yards a punt. Tampa Bay is second-worst at 35.3 yards a punt – a whopping 2.6 yard differential. The punt coverage unit is allowing an average of 15.8 yards a return – again, that’s the worst in the league.

5. Caleb Sturgis is 28th in the league with a 78.6 success percentage on field goals. Now the sample size is such that one more made field goal would twist the percentage a lot. But facts are facts. He’s 11 of 14 (and the 11 field goals ranks a more moderate 13th in the league). He’s 3-of-4 from 30 to 39 yards; two of three from 40 to 49 yards; and one of two from 50 yards or longer.


The Bad... Personally 1 and 2 don't concern me as much as 3,4,5. The yards per attempt is low I believe because of a short quick pass offense. See the eagles as low in this area too. And the yac can be attested to the same for that matter and overall can be less concerning since we are scoring more points and like 12th in passing yards a game.

But the defense giving up points is huge, that's what's wins or loses games points, we statistically have a great defense in ypg, but it doesn't feel like a dominant defense because A. We are 3-3 and B. the scoreboard doesn't reflect it. This I believe has a lot to do with 4,5 as ****ty special teams has put the opponents in great field position.. (Hard to give up a lot of yards if the offense has only gotta go 50 yards for example). Fields was a positive last year but has struggled big time, and sturgis has been good with knockoffs vs last year but I still have little faith Him, he just scares me, and I hate being scared of my own kicker..

 

[MRojas4]

Sturgis.....

Feel like we keep him around just to justify wasting a 5th on him.



To think that Andre Ellington was taken a few slots after him.

 

[Asicswrg85]

Sturgis is a problem. We need to consider a replacement

 

[Fins1971]

Hyde is wrong, We are actually 4th in yards allowed per game. He missed that we have had a bye and one less game than other teams and the lowest yards allowed.

We are tops in the league with 4.66 yards per play allowed. This is a great stat to be the best at.

 

[hoops]

no reason that kicker shouldnt have some competition right now...since when does a 90 qbr only put you at 20th in the league...that surprises me...also surprises me how many bad qbs have good qbrs according to their ratings also

teams will pick up on the fact we are only threatening the field short and intermediate...that's got to change...way i see it is get tannehill comfortable with play action variety of coverages in practice with reps in it and go after chunk yards that way...right now he's primary or check down out of it...more reps against different coverages in game prep will help...it's on lazor to make it an emphasis during week game prep

trust your pass pro and attack vertical off pa...doesnt matter if its working horizontal either as long as it's down the field and going for chunk yardage...then teams can't sit on your tendencies as much

 

[roy_miami]

Ridiculous that you need a 90+ rating to get into the top 20, typically that gets you into the top 10. But I guess its probably a stat that naturally comes down as the year goes on so we'll see. I will say the read option/zone read offenses seem to elevate passer rating for some reason. I think we ran more play action against Chicago (no numbers to back that up) which is an area Tannehill is one of the best in the league at as far as passer rating. And Tannehill is also one of the best in the league at throwing outside the pocket.

Seems like a no brainer to me that if you want to get a great passer rating stat you run a lot of zone read, play action and roll Tannehill out or get him on the move. All of which we did vs Chicago and its probably no coincidence he had his best game ever.

 

[utahphinsfan]

The stat that pleases me is 24.5 pts per game. Gone are the days when the meatball and Vanilla Dave would stand pat on 17.

 

[roy_miami]

The stat that pleases me is 24.5 pts per game. Gone are the days when the meatball and Vanilla Dave would stand pat on 17.

And that would be even higher if Tannehill was in his second year of Lazor's offense rather than his first 6 games.

 

[KTOWNFINFAN]

And that would be even higher if Tannehill was in his second year of Lazor's offense rather than his first 6 games.

I agree, I think Ryan's numbers will go up the longer he is in Lazor's system.

 

[KTOWNFINFAN]

Ryan's qbr is 58.4 and his QB rating is 87.8 not 90. And our defense is not rated #1 in yards it is #4, we have already had our bye week. He has to look at yards per game not total yards. Very bad reporting in this article. He is better than this.

 

[Ruckus45]

And that would be even higher if Tannehill was in his second year of Lazor's offense rather than his first 6 games.

Second year- I'm curious how the second half of a season goes.

 

[J. David Wannyheimer]

I agree, I think Ryan's numbers will go up the longer he is in Lazor's system.

I think Lazor getting more comfortable as an NFL play caller helps as well. Tannehill's adjusted net yards per attempt (YPA!!!!!!!) has skyrocketed since Lazor stopped calling all the stupid screen passes behind the line of scrimmage.