It’s bad enough the Miami Dolphins lost to the win-less (up to that point) Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but they had to set a new low in franchise history for rushing yards, gaining only 2 on 14 carries, making it 5.1 inches per rush, meaning they would have to run the ball 71 times before getting a first down.
The Dolphins gave up on running the ball pretty quickly in their 22-19 loss, but that doesn’t mean there’s any way to justify their terrible numbers. Their two leading running backs, Lamar Miller and Daniel Thomas, combined to rush 11 times for 0 yards. The team got one first down thanks to a running play all game long.
The last time a team has run the ball as bad as this was in 2007, when the Dallas Cowboys gained only 1 yard on the ground against the Washington Redskins.
To show just how bad their offensive line operated, the numbers of yards and tackles before contact make an excellent case. The Bucs created contact with the ball carriers on 12 of their 14 attempts to run the ball, as the Dolphins finished with a -11 yards before contact, the worst in an NFL game since 2009. They didn’t have more than 1 yards before contact on any of their rushes, and managed 13 rushing yards after contact, their third game this season with fewer than 20 yards after the contact, more than any other team in the league.
Another promising season is going down, although the playoff isn’t an unreachable goal considering how others in the AFC are fairing this year. However, there seems to be some sort of pissing contest between fans around the NFL and even the teams themselves in winning the excuse of having the worst offensive line in the league. A pitiful performance like this one probably gives the Dolphins the edge over everyone else when run blocking is concerned, and things are only getting worse as this season progresses.