What the Miami Dolphins are doing differently from every other NFL team (besides scoring)

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The Miami Dolphins set an NFL record with 10 touchdowns on offense against the Denver Broncos in Week 3. The 70 points Miami scored was the most for any team since 1966. It was more than the Dolphins scored in 32 of their previous 57 entire Septembers.

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The Dolphins are 3-0 for a second consecutive season under coach Mike McDaniel. Their quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, has overtaken the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes as the betting favorite to win MVP. By one statistical measure, Tagovailoa owns the best quarterback stat line through three games since Tom Brady’s undefeated 2007 MVP season.

Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott, whose team faces Miami in Week 4, used the phrase “almost revolutionary” to describe the Dolphins’ offense. Having the fastest combination of running backs and receivers is a huge factor as well.

Here we sort through what is making the Dolphins special on offense and two factors working in favor of sustainability, which remains the No. 1 concern for Tagovailoa and Miami’s offense this season.

2023 NFL MVP Odds: BetMGM

Sizzling start

Tagovailoa has completed 71 percent of his passes for 1,024 yards (341.3 per game) with eight touchdowns and two interceptions. Peyton Manning (2013) and Drew Brees (2011) are the only quarterbacks to average more than 341.3 yards per game for a full season. Both peaked at 342.3.

Since 2000, Brady is the only quarterback to exceed Tagovailoa’s offensive EPA (expected points added) per pass play through the first three games of a season, per TruMedia.

Game #1-3 EPA Per Pass Play Since 2000

The table above shows Tagovailoa keeping elite company in that regard. Six of the other 10 quarterbacks who were similarly productive through three games reached the Super Bowl that season, including Matthew Stafford in 2021.

More than just motion

The Dolphins are using presnap motion about 60 percent of the time, according to ESPN. That leads the league and is triple the average. The manner in which they pair motion with run and pass concepts enhances the effectiveness. So does their speed, effort and attention to detail.

A third-quarter play springing rookie running back De’Von Achane for a 40-yard gain provides one example.

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Miami aligned in a 2×2 formation with tight splits using 21 personnel (two running backs, one tight end). Left guard Isaiah Wynn pulled across the formation as a lead blocker for halfback Raheem Mostert. As Tagovailoa faked the handoff to Mostert, receiver Braxton Berrios sprinted into ghost motion (behind the quarterback) in the opposite direction. Achane trailed Berrios, who became a lead blocker once Achane took the handoff running near full speed. Imagine being a linebacker trying to read your keys with so much conflicting activity.

The Dolphins fooled Denver on Mostert’s 3-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter (see video below).

Mostert's second TD gives the Dolphins 25 first half points!

📺: #DENvsMIA on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/UQdQ05gT8f pic.twitter.com/x0ZAMOgqJi

— NFL (@NFL) September 24, 2023

Miami sold a run to the right using ghost motion, then ran left into the clear behind pulling blockers.

Last season, the Dolphins incurred 20 presnap penalties on plays with motion (delay of game, too many men on the field, illegal substitution, illegal shift, illegal motion, illegal formation, false start, offensive offsides). They’ve had one such penalty this season. McDaniel called this a necessary hurdle to overcome for teams determined to engage in presnap motion so frequently.

“At first, it is hard for a coach (to run motion so frequently) because it’s not clean when you first start doing stuff like that and are moving all the time,” McDaniel explained during his Monday briefing. “It takes a total commitment of everyone, including the offensive line, because you have to get used to the different types of snap counts that Tua uses to not only execute some of those motions but make sure the defensive line can’t tell off on snap points.”

They are faster than you

Three NFL ballcarriers have exceeded 21.5 miles per hour this season, according to the NFL’s electronic tracking data. All three play for the Dolphins. Achane (21.93), Tyreek Hill (21.66) and Mostert (21.62) are 1-2-3. Together, they account for the five fastest runs with the football this season.

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“It’s a good scheme, the motion creates hesitation and indecision,” an opposing defensive coach said, “but all their skill players are faster than most of the defenders. Sean McDermott says it’s revolutionary, but let’s face it, he is not going to get up there and say, ‘Geez, they are faster than us, everybody back up, we gotta be scared of these guys.'”

2023 Weeks 1-3: NFL's Fastest Ballcarriers

Partly because of this elite speed, the 21 personnel groups referenced in the plays highlighted earlier are not your father’s or even your older sibling’s 21 personnel groups. Fifteen years ago, 21 personnel was the NFL’s base offense. Picture a halfback aligned in the I-formation behind a fullback, with an inline tight end.

More recently, the 2017 New England dominated with a 21 grouping that featured running backs James Develin and Mike Gillislee, tight end Rob Gronkowski and receivers Brandin Cooks and Chris Hogan. That Patriots team ranks first over the past decade in offensive EPA produced using 21 personnel (57.8), followed by the 2016 Atlanta Falcons (36.7) and the 2014 Detroit Lions (31.4). The 2023 Dolphins rank fourth (30.6) after only three games, followed by the 2019 San Francisco 49ers (30.1).

Check out the Dolphins’ version in the touchdown video below. Hill is basically uncovered. Once Hill caught the ball, there was a single Broncos defender between him and the goal line 33 yards away. Safety Kareem Jackson sprinted from the 20-yard line (far hash) to cut off Hill along the sideline at the 10 and was barely able to graze Hill’s helmet with his fingers.

This is poetry in motion 🤩

📺: #DENvsMIA on @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/LMIv3wVo7R

— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) September 24, 2023

The Dolphins lead the NFL in plays from 21 personnel this season with 89, according to TruMedia. On 58 of those plays, they aligned in 3×1, 2×2 or empty formations. They used presnap motion about 80 percent of the time. With Mostert, Hill and Jaylen Waddle on the field in their most-used 21 personnel configuration, this super speedy group has averaged 6.8 yards per carry (12 rushes) and 17.2 yards per reception (six).

Respecting Hill’s speed (and Waddle’s to some extent) can coax defensive backs into giving additional cushion. This gives Tagovailoa easier access on quicker passes while compromising those defensive backs in run support.

Keys for sustainability

An underrated statistic associated with the Dolphins, and Tagovailoa specifically, is a very small number: three. That is the number of times opposing defenses have hit Tagovailoa hard enough to knock him down this season. These three hits, one in each game, were not hard enough to endanger Tagovailoa, who suffered two serious concussions in 2022 and has never played more than 13 games in a season.

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“They are doing play-actions where guys are wide open, just like San Francisco, and the other part is, it’s not like they are running some complicated Peyton Manning check-with-mes, trying to get everyone lined up and have the play clock under five seconds,” another defensive coach said. “They are quick counting to get your pass rush on its heels and not let you penetrate. They can get it snapped before the (road) crowd really gets roaring, and Tua gets it out of his hand quickly.”

On the team sustainability front, the Dolphins play a league-high four of their final five games at home. That means their fastbreak offense will finish the season playing in warmer weather. The Dolphins already played their road game against New England. They’ll make their annual trip to Buffalo this week, with temperatures in Orchard Park expected to hit 76 degrees Sunday. That removes two potential cold-weather games.

The schedule also softened when the New York Jets lost Aaron Rodgers to injury in Week 1. With Rodgers healthy, the Dolphins entered the season facing the NFL’s toughest schedule of opposing quarterbacks, using 2023 Quarterback Tiers results as the measure. That is no longer the case.

It’s difficult to find a time more promising for the Dolphins since Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino retired more than two decades ago.

(Photo: Peter Joneleit / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Football 100, the definitive ranking of the NFL’s best 100 players of all time, goes on sale this fall. Pre-order it here.

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