By the end of the 2020 regular season, it seemed as though most Miami Dolphins fans were ready for a change offensively. Chan Gailey, the team’s offensive coordinator, was seeming to have trouble getting his rookie quarterback firing on all cylinders with consistency. And, with the season now behind us, we know that the change so many Dolphins fans desired will indeed be coming. Gailey resigned earlier this week.
And there were certainly fair gripes about Miami’s offense in 2020 that will need to be addressed. Miami would take the wind out of their own sails at times with the play calling. The Dolphins started slow in too many games down the stretch and nearly put themselves in holes they couldn’t dig out of. And the flashes of strong play design were bogged down by other unimaginative stretches.
But when you look at the complete body of work, Gailey’s offense in 2020 was actually one of the best offensive campaigns we’ve seen from the Miami Dolphins on this side of Dan Marino. In just about every major statistical category, the Dolphins’ offense measured very well versus other recent versions of the unit.
- Points scored: 404
- The highest figure Miami has logged since 1986
- Yards per game: 339 ypg
- Highest since 2014
- Total first downs: 345
- T-2nd best since (at least) 1991
- Average time of possession: 31 minutes, 16 seconds
- Best since 2009
The third down and red zone conversion rates need to get better. And the Dolphins’ marks this season being the best cumulative effort in a decade (at least) is a testament to how inept this team has been in the past offensively as much as anything. But never the less, consider this progress. Especially when you account for three rookie starters at times along the Dolphins’ offensive line and just how frequently RB Myles Gaskin, WR DeVante Parker, WR Preston Williams and other key skill players were out of the lineup for Miami in 2020.
If this Dolphins team could post these numbers with those hurdles in place, you’d like to think an encore awaits that will affirm that the Dolphins’ offensive awakening is no mirage.