The Dolphins in 2013 hit a new low. The franchise-record 58 sacks taken were too many. Young quarterback Ryan Tannehill couldn’t take such a beating. So Miami signed a free-agent left tackle by the name of Branden Albert.
Fast-forward to Week 9 of the 2016 season, and the Dolphins are touting what suddenly has become one of the NFL’s most dominant offensive lines.
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Albert is still there, but now he’s just one of four first-round picks protecting Tannehill and punishing defenders in the running game. The line, fully intact for the first time in 2016 after a series of injuries, is the only reason Miami is 3-4 and alive in the AFC after two improbable wins before their Week 8 bye.
"We were all tired of everybody calling us out and calling us soft," Albert told The Miami Herald after the Dolphins dominated the heavily favored Steelers in Week 6. "We played physical today. We wanted to make a statement."
Make a statement, they did.
The line — from left to right: Albert, 2016 first-round pick Laremy Tunsil, 2011 first-round pick Mike Pouncey, former Pro Bowler Jermon Bushrod and 2014 first-round pick Ja’Wuan James — proved against both Pittsburgh and Buffalo (in Week 7) how dominant it can be … and how it affects the entire team.
Tunsil, who missed the Tennessee game, is a beast — simply put. Pouncey, who missed the first four games, is a three-time Pro Bowler for a reason. Albert, who missed the Cincinnati and Tennessee games, is a two-time Pro Bowler. The talent is there. Now the health is, too.
Running back Jay Ajayi’s back-to-back 200-yard games were no flukes. The Steelers and Bills, both of whom field respectable rush defenses, found out the hard way the Dolphins’ rushing attack is real.
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Miami set the tone early against Pittsburgh with physicality and near-perfect execution on combo blocks, pulls and reaches. In this play early in the first quarter against the Steelers, Tunsil shows off his ability to seal the edge on a combo with Pouncey.
In this play later in the game, the rookie displays his athleticism in taking care of his backside linebacker assignment.
In a third play, this time against Buffalo, Albert, Tunsil and Pouncey perfectly seal off their assignments and allow Ajayi to reach the second level.
This execution was commonplace for Miami against Pittsburgh and Buffalo. Now contrast it to how Miami looked against Tennessee, for example, with Billy Turner and Dallas Thomas playing left tackle and left guard, respectively.
Not so great.
Turner and Thomas were cut after the Titans game. Coach Adam Gase reportedly used the roster moves as a wake-up call for any and all veterans who weren’t playing to their potential. It must have worked.
Residual effects of the Dolphins’ newfound dominance at the line of scrimmage can be found everywhere — most notably time of possession.
Miami held the ball significantly longer than both Pittsburgh and Buffalo. They had lost the time of possession battle in each of the first five games of the season … by a lot.
A primary beneficiary has been the defense, which has allowed 297 and 267 total yards in the last two games, respectively — easily the lowest totals of their season. Ball control wins.
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You know the advantage for Ajayi, whose yards per rushing attempt in the last two games are absurd totals of 8.16 and 7.38. Even backup Damien Williams has scored twice in the last two weeks after zero touchdowns in Weeks 1-5.
But Tannehill looks good all of the sudden, too. His QB ratings in the last two games, 97.4 and 99.4, are his highest totals of the season. (His career average is 85.4.)
And thanks to the return of legitimate protection on his blind side, Tannehill has been sacked just once in the last two games. He was sacked 17 times through the first five, largely because of efforts like this up front.
Bushrod claims the line’s intensity is the reason for its sudden success: “When we come out here and practice some days, it feels like a high school or college game,” he told the Palm Beach Post.
That’s part of the equation. So is health. So is a running back who has worked his way out of Gase’s dog house, so to speak.
Ajayi is not totally reliant on his line. He’s a legit back who can break tackles, and he needs only a little bit of running room to be effective, as the two plays below display.
The Dolphins are in good hands at running back without Arian Foster, who retired last week.
This isn’t to say Miami will pound its way to the playoffs in 2016. New England still has a stranglehold on the division, and the wild-card picture is cluttered with AFC West teams. The Dolphins have to reach .500 before they can think bigger.
But this is to say Miami is a completely different team than the one that took the field in Weeks 1-5. Healthy talent at the line of scrimmage makes that big a difference, no matter the perceived shortcomings of Tannehill; no matter the absence of concussed tight end Jordan Cameron.
Miami will return from its bye to face another good defensive front, the division-rival Jets. The schedule is packed with more tough defenses — Rams, Ravens, Cardinals, to name a few — including those in the Dolphins’ own division.
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They won’t be favored in many of their games moving forward, but the Dolphins weren’t favored against the Steelers or Bills, either. Now they know what they can do.
"When all five of us are out there together, we work well together," Pouncey said. "The communication is good between us. That gave us confidence for the rest of the season."
Defensive linemen and linebackers of the AFC, beware.
(GIFs via NFL Game Pass)