The Miami Dolphins team that took the field at Hard Rock Stadium for a Week 13 contest against the Philadelphia Eagles was very, very different than the one that fans saw debut this season in an embarrassing loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1. Miami’s fortunes have swung drastically on getting more consistent production and performances from each of the players to step into each position on the field — a testament to Brian Flores and his coaching staff. Despite a slew of injuries that have claimed starters such as Reshad Jones, Xavien Howard, Bobby McCain, Preston Williams, Danny Isidora, Kalen Ballage and Jakeem Grant; plus the trades of Minkah Fitzpatrick and Kenyan Drake in-season for Miami, the Dolphins continue to play better football in each month of the season.
September? It was brutal. The Dolphins couldn’t score, they couldn’t move the ball, they couldn’t cover, they couldn’t pressure the quarterback and they couldn’t generate turnovers. Now, in full transparency, the only thing that is going to permanently fix these issues is getting new, more talented players in critical spots all across the starting lineup.
But the fact that, amid all that upheaval, the Dolphins have shown growth and development from the start of the season to now is the biggest win Dolphins fans could have ever hoped for. And the examples of improvement are littered all over the field.
Here are some splits of statistical measures for the Dolphins from the first month of the season versus after the bye week in Week 5.
Points per game
Weeks 1-4: 6.5 points per game
Weeks 6-13: 21.8 points per game
Net change: +15.3 points per game (Up 235%)
Total Yards per game
Weeks 1-4: 225 yards per game
Weeks 6-13: 302.9 yards per game
Net change: 79.9 yards per game (Up 35.5%)
First downs per game
Weeks 1-4: 13.3 first downs per game
Weeks 6-13: 20.4 first downs per game
Net change: 7.1 first downs per game (Up 53.3%)
Turnovers per game
Weeks 1-4: 2.25 turnovers per game
Weeks 6-13: 1.75 turnovers per game
Net change: -0.5 turnovers per game (Down 22.2%)
Red Zone Conversion Rate
Weeks 1-4: 16.7% touchdown rate
Weeks 6-13: 80% touchdown rate
Net change: 63.3% increase in touchdowns
Turnover differential
Weeks 1-4: -7 turnover differential (4 games)
Weeks 6-13: -7 turnover differential (8 games)
Rushing defense
Weeks 1-4: 175.8 rushing yards allowed per game
Weeks 6-13: 127.4 rushing yards allowed per game
Net change: -48.4 yards per game (Down 27.5%)
Defensive Third Down Conversion Rate
Weeks 1-4: 57.7% conversion rate on defense
Weeks 6-13: 38.1% conversion rate on defense
Net change: -19.6% conversion rate on third down
And of course, the list doesn’t end here. But the Dolphins team, despite losing talent to the attrition factors of football, have improved dramatically across the board. Does playing teams that aren’t the Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots helping on that front? Of course. But no one should be turning their nose up to what the Dolphins’ coaching staff has done with the same exact personnel (or arguably deteriorating personnel) throughout the middle 8 games of the 2019 season.
And all of these variable play into the biggest net change of them all. Wins. Miami is a missed two-point conversion against Washington from being 4-4 in their last 8 games. Even 3-5 is a pretty dramatic improvement from 0-4.
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