Big plays against the Ravens, a sign that the Dolphins’ offense is headed in the right direction?
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By: Jakemen
More downfield strikes could be coming for the Miami Dolphins offense.
The Miami Dolphins rank 31st in yards per play at 4.8 and escaped Thursday Night Football with an average of 5.6 yards per play in a 22-10 win over the Baltimore Ravens.
Miami’s offense has struggled to get much of anything going through 10 games. The unit, led by co-offensive coordinators Eric Studesville and George Godsey, is scoring 17.7 points per game. Additionally, Trent Dilfer believes that Charlie Frye is also strongly involved in the offensive game plan.
Dilfer, in an interview with Rich Eisen, credited Frye with the motion Miami uses before the play. That presnap action played a large role in what the team accomplished against Baltimore. Both Jacoby Brissett and Tua Tagovailoa dealt with injures on Thursday, but it didn’t stop Miami’s offense from creating some of the season’s biggest plays.
Brissett found Isaiah Ford open down the sideline on second-and-8 from the team’s 33-yard line. Ford wasn’t tackled until he was brought down at Baltimore’s 15-yard line for a gain of 52 yards.
OFFENSE!
Brissett finds Isaiah Ford for 52 yards
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/44bSpJVIKV
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) November 12, 2021
The pitch and catch, which set up a field goal for Jason Sanders, was Miami’s largest of the year on offense. That remained true until Tagovailoa connected with a wide-open Albert Wilson for 64 yards, icing the win late in the bout.
Keep in mind that the play, which featured Wilson sprinting in motion before the snap, was also used on a 23-yard completion to Durham Smythe.
This is the Chan Gailey special, and it works as nobody takes Smythe in the flat. pic.twitter.com/oabL9ka9bE
— Dante Collinelli (@DanteCollinelli) November 16, 2021
“It was a look that we were getting all night and I just put the speed on to see if he was going to see me,” Wilson said of the defensive back covering him on the reception. “He didn’t happen to see me and it worked out pretty good.
Tua to Albert Wilson for 64 yards!! pic.twitter.com/dygASkanbi
— FinCuts (@FinCuts) November 12, 2021
“We ran the play a ton of times the whole game. It’s just different looks, changing your speed before the play, continue with it up the sideline kind of made it look like a different play. It was cool.”
Plenty of things need to be fixed before the unit becomes a strength, but Thursday Night Football was the first time it featured successful downfield strikes — a glimpse of how the unit can take advantage of opposing defenses?
The Dolphins have a promising month of matchups on the horizon, a chance to get back into the playoff hunt. After a 1-7 start to the season, the coaching staff has an opportunity to convince the front office that the light at the end of the tunnel was in fact not a train.
Ford and Wilson each caught the ball in open space with room to make a play. Sunday’s test against the New York Jets will go far in telling us if the offense is on to something and can take advantage of struggling defenses.
If Miami’s offense fails to move the ball against New York, a team that has allowed at least 34 points in four-straight games since its bye week, the home-run hits against Baltimore might’ve been a Thursday night mirage.
Originally posted on The Phinsider
