A number of experts, pundits and fans – and even the Miami Dolphins owner – had the Miami Dolphins in their Super Bowl predictions in BetUS and were hoping to see them as one of the two contestants on February 6th.
By now, we’ve all realized that they didn’t come anywhere near the NFL’s championship game, which begs the question: what went wrong for Miami in 2010?
Mike Nolan came over from the Denver Broncos to coordinate the defense and even with a slew of injuries, his unit still finished second in the NFL. There might be some nitpicking to be done here but the truth of the matter is that the Dolphins defense was Super Bowl-worthy but the offense was not.
The putrid attack was led by quarterback Chad Henne, who by next season will not likely be the team’s starter. In his first full year as the starter, Henne to a big step backwards. His fourth-quarter quarterback rating of 55.6 was the lowest among any of his other quarterly stats and his 56.5 red zone completion percentage was his lowest in any segment of the field. If the Dolphins have any hope of competing, they must discover other options at the position by the start of training camp.
But to be fair, it’s not like Henne had much help.
Both running backs, Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, both declined in 2010 and neither produced more than 734 rushing yards. Combined, they had just four runs of 20 yards or longer, which indicates that their explosiveness has clearly worn off.
The offensive line also degraded, but much of that can be attested to injuries. Both tackles, Jake Long and Vernon Carey, battled injuries virtually all season long. The good news is that Richie Incognito fared well – and avoided bonehead outbursts – all season long and if the Dolphins can upgrade their interior linemen and stay healthy, they should improve significantly next season.
The wide receiver position has produced mixed feelings among Dolphins fans as star offseason acquisition, Brandon Marshall, graded out very differently depending on who you ask. Marshall had his fourth straight 1000-yard season and was clearly the team’s only explosive weapon at wide receiver, but he failed to catch 100 balls for a fourth straight season, produced just three touchdowns and was a sourpuss by the end of the year.
With a better quarterback and more weapons to distract attention from Marshall, he’ll be just fine.
Changes have already started for the offense as Dan Henning took the brunt of the criticism, while Brian Daboll was hired to become the new offensive coordinator. He coordinated the Browns offense last season, which doesn’t exactly sound encouraging, but he was a highly regarded assistant in New England years ago.
The Dolphins have plenty of work to do this offseason but the good news is that their defense is set and most of their attention can be paid to the offense.