Balance is key for any great football team.
A team that throws the ball 50 or 60 times a game every week probably won’t be all that successful, and the same could be said about a team giving their backs 40 carries. It’s about finding a middle ground, and that’s something the Miami Dolphins have been working on this year.
During Miami’s seven-game losing streak they were throwing 41.3 pass attempts per game and the running backs were receiving 16.7 carries per game. In their five-game winning streak, the pass attempts have dropped to 36.8 per game, and the rush attempts have jumped to 24.8.
With three of their running backs being placed on the reserve/COVID list in the last few days, it will be hard for the Dolphins to stick to a balanced offensive attack, but that’s exactly what co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach Eric Studesville wants to do.
“Well, that’s always our plan,” Studesville said in his media availability on Tuesday. “Our plan is to be a balanced attack, so we want to make sure we have a commitment to the run game in every game plan. Some game plans are different than others, and some games go different than others, but our intention is to always have the run game be an integral part of our game plan.”
The other co-offensive coordinator, George Godsey, echoed the same sentiment in his media availability.
“We’d like to be balanced and get a little more efficiency on normal downs in the run game,” Godsey said. “It’s kinda lending towards our team’s identity. Play good defense. Move the chains. Control field position. Win time of possession. Running the football helps with all that.”
As Godsey alluded to, the Dolphins haven’t been successful on the ground this season, averaging 79.2 rushing yards per game, the second-fewest in the league. However, it’s more about what the run sets up. If they can keep opposing defenses honest by running, they will have more success passing, and that’s how Miami can keep winning games.
