The Dolphins entered the 2023 NFL season with both optimism and apprehension surrounding the team. Many were high on the team's potential, but they also wondered whether Tua Tagovailoa would be able to stay healthy enough to guide Miami to another playoff appearance.
Through six weeks, things are going swimmingly. Tagovailoa has not only stayed on the field, but he has been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.
And his performance, along with that of his teammates, has turned the Dolphins into an offensive juggernaut.
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Miami is one of the fastest teams in football and possesses plenty of big-name playmakers. Tyreek Hill, Raheem Mostert, De'Von Achane and Jaylen Waddle have all been explosive to start the season, and coach Mike McDaniel has schemed them open often to gift them huge plays.
Through six games, the Dolphins are averaging nearly 500 yards of offense per game, and they are scoring more points than any team in the NFL. That is largely thanks to their 70-point outburst against the Broncos, which is skewing their totals, but it's worth remembering that only a handful of NFL teams have ever scored 70 in a single game.
All that's to say the Dolphins offense has been a thing of beauty, and it is in on pace to be one of the greatest units in NFL history.
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It actually stacks up well with the Rams' "Greatest Show on Turf" offense, which is considered to be one of the greatest offenses in NFL history.
Dolphins offense vs. 'Greatest Show on Turf' Rams offense
The "Greatest Show on Turf" Rams reigned over the NFL for three electric seasons from 1999 to 2001. The offense was seemingly unstoppable and brought a Super Bowl to St. Louis while marking the breakout of Kurt Warner's Hall of Fame career.
Thus far in 2023, the Dolphins have looked every bit as good as those historic teams.
Through six games, the Dolphins have narrowly outgained the 1999 Rams by a margin of 29 yards. They have also outscored the Rams by six points to begin the season.
Below is a look at exactly how the two teams stack up against one another through six games.
| Stat | 1999 Rams | 2023 Dolphins |
| Record | 6-0 | 5-1 |
| Points per game | 36.2 | 37.2 |
| Yards per game | 493.8 | 498.7 |
The differences between the Rams and Dolphins in totality are minimal. That said, Miami's achievements to begin the 2023 season are impressive considering the 1999 Rams are considered one of the best offensive teams in NFL history.
It's also notable that the Rams went on to win the Super Bowl in 1999, the year the Greatest Show on Turf was born. They posted a regular-season record of 13-3 and beat the Vikings, Buccaneers and Titans in the postseason while averaging 27.7 points per game during their playoff run.
Thus, the Dolphins should feel good about their accomplishments to date, especially as they compare their individual offensive units to those of the Rams.
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Tua Tagovailoa stats 2023 vs. Kurt Warner stats 1999
Tagovailoa has been one of the NFL's top performers at quarterback during the 2023 season. He is leading the league in most of the important passing categories, including passing yards, passing touchdowns and passer rating.
He has racked up those high-bar stats despite the Dolphins being involved in several blowouts during which Tagovailoa was allowed to rest early.
In many ways, what Tagovailoa is doing is similar to what Warner accomplished in 1999. Then in his second season, Warner put together a great start to the year during the Rams' six-game winning streak. Over that span, he threw 15 touchdowns and posted a ridiculously high passer rating of 131.4.
Here's a look at just how good Warner was compared to Tagovailoa in his first six games of that season.
| Stat | Kurt Warner (1999) | Tua Tagovailoa (2023) |
| Comp. % | 71.4 | 71.1 |
| Passing yards | 1,328 | 1,876 |
| Pass TDs | 15 | 14 |
| INTs | 3 | 5 |
| Yards per attempt | 10 | 9.5 |
| Passer rating | 131.4 | 114.1 |
Tagovailoa might not be as efficient as Warner was in 1999, but he has been a bit more prolific. He also leads the league in touchdown percentage, having thrown a score on a whopping 7.1 percent of his passes. He led the league in that category with a mark of 6.3 percent last season, so he seems well on his way toward doing it again.
Stats aside, Tagovailoa has helped lead the Dolphins to consistent victories, as well. That will go a long way toward helping him enter the MVP conversation.
Warner won the award in 1999 as one of the architects of that offense, and Tagovailoa could find himself in a similar boat this year — provided he can stay healthy and remain on the field.
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Raheem Mostert & De'Von Achane stats 2023 vs. Marshall Faulk stats 1999
While Warner and Tagovailoa's seasons look quite similar on paper, the Dolphins appear to have the running game edge over the top-tier Rams offense. That's not because the Rams lacked talent at running back. In fact, Faulk earned his first All-Pro nod after his elite 1999 season.
The main difference between the two squads is that Faulk didn't have a top-tier complement to step up next to him.
Faulk did most of the heavy lifting for the Rams, racking up more than 2,500 scrimmage yards and going over 1,000 yards on the ground and through the air. Miami takes a bit more of a committee approach, as Raheem Mostert has split the work with De'Von Achane for a solid chunk of the season.
Both Mostert and Achane have gone over 500 total yards for the season. This despite the fact that Achane has merely 47 touches while Mostert has logged 93.
As such, the two combined project to outpace Faulk; and through six games, they are on track to exceed his 2,500-yard total together.
| Stat | Marshall Faulk (1999) | Raheem Mostert (2023) | De'Von Achane (2023) |
| Carries | 88 | 75 | 38 |
| Rushing yards | 502 | 429 | 460 |
| Rushing TDs | 2 | 9 | 5 |
| Yards per carry | 5.7 | 5.7 | 12.1 |
| Receptions | 31 | 18 | 9 |
| Receiving yards | 293 | 145 | 67 |
| Receiving TDs | 1 | 2 | 2 |
In fact, if Mostert and Achane continue at this pace, they might combine for more than 3,000 yards this season. Of course, with Achane on IR because of a knee injury, that isn't guaranteed, but Mostert is still averaging the same yards per carry that Faulk did.
Even so, the Dolphins have the talent needed to cover up for the absence of the speedy threat. And while Faulk's accomplishments as a single player are more impressive than either Mostert or Achane in a vacuum, the Miami running game is clearly better and more explosive than that of the Rams.
In truth, any player the Dolphins give carries to is capable of breaking a long play at any time. Faulk was always a threat to do that with the Rams, but he didn't have a top-tier counterpart. So, the advantage here belongs with the Dolphins.
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Tyreek Hill & Jaylen Waddle stats 2023 vs. Isaac Bruce & Torry Holt stats 1999
Given how similar the performance of Tagovailoa and Warner has been, it's hardly a surprise to see that their top receiving weapons followed similar arcs during their seasons. Both teams have had one of their elite receivers go off while seeing the other serve as a strong No. 2 receiver option to open the season.
For the Dolphins, Hill has been the true No. 1 receiver and is on pace to become the first NFL player to eclipse 2,000 receiving yards. Waddle has been in more of a complementary role. He's also been a bit banged up, so that has forced him to take a natural backseat to Hill.
The dynamic between Bruce and Holt was similar. Bruce enjoyed a Pro Bowl-caliber season, leading the Rams in targets, catches, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. He wasn't quite as explosive as Hill, but he was consistent, reliable and was named to the All-Pro second team for his strong performance.
Holt was an excellent No. 2 receiver for the team despite being a rookie. The only thing limiting Holt's passing-game production was Faulk, who was an elite pass-catcher out of the backfield. His numbers could have been better had Warner been comfortable throwing to him earlier in the season.
Thus, while Holt and Waddle are in similar boats, they ended up there for different reasons — health for Waddle and opportunity for Holt. And, ironically, each was also the No. 6 overall pick in his respective draft class.
Here's a look at how the top pass-catchers from the two teams compare through six games of each season:
| Stat | Isaac Bruce (1999) | Torry Holt (1999) | Tyreek Hill (2023) | Jaylen Waddle (2023)* |
| Targets | 46 | 23 | 59 | 35 |
| Catches | 32 | 14 | 42 | 24 |
| Receiving yards | 538 | 232 | 814 | 296 |
| Receiving TDs | 8 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| Yards per catch | 16.8 | 16.6 | 19.4 | 12.3 |
* Missed one game due to a concussion.
As one might expect, Hill is the NFL's leader in receiving yards. And he could quickly surpass Bruce's yardage total despite the Dolphins still being well short of the midpoint of the season.
As such, it seems like the Dolphins have slightly better talent overall at receiver. It's close, especially considering how reliable Bruce and Holt were for the Rams, but Hill's speed makes him the best receiver of this bunch. If he continues to produce at this clip, he could eventually work himself into the NFL MVP conversation.
And all of this is to say that there's a reason the Dolphins' offense has been just as good as -- if not better than -- the Greatest Show on Turf. Miami's skill-position playmakers are legit, and so too is McDaniel.
The Dolphins have emulated the Rams' offensive success 24 years after the Greatest Show on Turf first broke out. Now it's on them to continue thriving on that side of the ball as they look to make a Super Bowl run like Dick Vermeil's squad did all those years ago.
