Anatomy of a Turnaround: Ranking the Reasons

Stellar defense, mistake-free (almost) offense and a favorable schedule all have contributed to the Miami Dolphins five-game winning streak following their 1-7 start

We’re continuing our breakdown of the remarkable Miami Dolphins turnaround from 1-7 to 5-7 with a ranking of the top 10 reasons.

It’s probably a safe assumption that not everybody is going to agree with this ranking, but here we go nonetheless.

1. THE DEFENSE

As we explained in Part 1, the Dolphins are allowing opponents an average of exactly 11 points during their winning streak, an average that would currently rank first in the NFL over the full season. Four of the five victories came with the Dolphins holding their opponents to 9 or 10 points, with the other a 24-17 decision against the New York Jets. It’s very simple, it’s been defense first for the Dolphins.

2. COMPLEMENTARY FOOTBALL

This is a term that’s way too often thrown around, but it completely applies here and it’s also a compliment (pun intended) to the offense for helping the defense do its thing. The offense hasn’t put up big numbers during the winning streak — the Dolphins’ two best outings in terms of yardage came in losses against Atlanta and Jacksonville and there were two games under 300 total yards during the streak — but it has done a great job (in the past four games) of playing mistake-free football and coming up with clutch drives when needed, the latest example being the game-sealing field goal drive against the Giants.

3. TUA TIME

If we’re talking about the offense doing a great of complementing the defense and avoiding turnovers, we have to start with Tua Tagovailoa. The second-year quarterback has been the picture of efficiency over the past three games while executing the game plan to near-perfection. And one point that often seems to get lost, Tua also was productive before the streak in the games against the Jaguars and Falcons, but he’s now eliminated that one big mistake.

4. THE SCHEDULE

Yes, the significance of the Dolphins’ streak should not be diminished because of the schedule, but it’s only fair to mention that the five opponents have a combined record of 22-38 (.366 winning percentage). Beyond that, the Dolphins faced Tyrod Taylor coming back after missing almost two months with an injury and now have faced three consecutive quarterbacks who weren’t their team’s opening-day starter — Joe Flacco, Cam Newton and Mike Glennon. To be perfectly frank, the winning streak probably wouldn’t have started against Houston on Nov. 7 had the Dolphins faced a better team that day. By comparison (because it’s been brought up on Twitter), New England’s seven-game winning streak has come against teams with a combined 41-43 record (.488) and has featured wins against three winning teams, compared to one during the Dolphins’ five-game run.

5. ROOKIES ON THE RISE

Let’s face it, three of the most significant players during the winning streak have been the team’s top three draft picks — Jaylen Waddle, Jaelan Phillips and Jevon Holland. Waddle simply has been the team’s biggest playmaker, Phillips is on a sack tear, and Holland continues to make an impact with his coverage and his blitzing ability.

6. GETTING AFTER THE QB

It’s probably not a coincidence that the defensive surge seemed to coincidence with the Dolphins becoming more blitz-happy — at times even blitz-crazy. This is what served him so well in 2020 when they so often confused opposing quarterbacks and we’re seeing the same effect this season (just ask Lamar Jackson).

7. STAYING THE COURSE

While there have been adjustments on offense (fewer chances taken in the passing game) and defense (more blitzing), the Dolphins have not made drastic changes from the first half of the season when Brian Flores kept talking about a small margin between winning and losing and that things eventually would come around. And that’s just what happened.

8. THE FLORES FACTOR

Which brings us back to the head coach, whose three seasons as Dolphins head coach have seen the team get exponentially better as the season moves along. The 2019 team started 0-7 and then went 5-4; the 2020 version started 1-3 and then went 9-3; and we’ve seen what’s happened this year. So we really shouldn’t be shocked that the Dolphins have gotten better (though nobody expected the two extremes we’ve seen).