The Dolphins’ running game doesn’t look as explosive as 2023. What happened?

Opponents know how much coach Mike McDaniel loves running to the outside.

It’s one of his favorite concepts, his bread and butter if you will. But here’s the rub: the rest of the NFL might have caught up.

Through three games, the Miami Dolphins run game has been rather middling, averaging 3.7 yards per carry, down from the league-leading 5.1 in 2023. Look even deeper and it’s clear that runs off the ends – i.e. the end man of the line of scrimmage – haven’t been as successful.

Regardless of where you look, the numbers bear this out.

According to Pro Football Focus, the Dolphins average roughly 2.8 yards when running off the ends, though it should be noted that the site’s total rushing yards and attempts are a few ticks off of what’s presented on NFL.com. Subtract the runs to the outside and the Dolphins’ yards per carry jumps up to 4.1. Locked On Dolphins’ Kyle Crabbs reported something similar, specifically that the Dolphins’ average 2.63 yards per carry on outside runs and 4.29 on everything else, though it’s unclear where Crabbs’ data originated.

There’s a myriad of reasons how this happened. The offensive line isn’t the same. Teams are more prepared to stop what’s clearly the focal point of the Dolphins’ offense. Maybe even the injury to Raheem Mostert, who especially excels at outside zone runs, significantly impacted the rushing attack. The list goes on and on but the result is essentially the same: the Dolphins have lacked explosiveness from backfield, now one of seven teams who haven’t logged a rush of more than 20 yards.

“At the end of the day, it’s playing violent and physical on the edge and you can talk about, ‘Man, we need to run power to really be explosive and run off the ball,’” Dolphins fullback Alec Ingold said Monday, adding that technique issues have prevented them from “taking advantage of the space.” “It’s that same concept for outside zone; it’s really creating the point of attack wherever we’re at. If you can dent an edge and then there’s a backside pressure or there’s a front-side pressure, being able to manipulate those edges in a number of different ways; those are all pieces of the pie to an outside zone scheme team.”

McDaniel, however, placed the blame on opponents’ tendency to overcommit to outside runs.

“ I think there’s been some presnap and postsnap overplay to kind of our more perimeter runs, and as a result we’ve tried to get some stuff going with some alternative schemes that we’ve always ran,” McDaniel said Monday. “But I think we’ve gotten those called a little bit more, and we’re still working and developing those types of results, so the four-yard plays and the eight-yard plays, 16-yard plays, etc., etc.. That’s — you’re always kind of adjusting for the defenses, as well as the players that you have. We’ve had some good combination blocks on the inside zone and gap stuff, so we’ll see how that plays out moving forward.”

In less than five days, the winless Tennessee Titans will roll into Hard Rock Stadium for a Monday night showdown. Although the Titans come into Hard Rock Stadium with a top-15 rushing defense in terms of yardage, they have also given up more explosive runs than any other team. Put differently, Monday should (heavy emphasis on should) present a unique opportunity for the Dolphins to reestablish their identity — especially with Mostert potentially back in the mix.

And if the run game happens to match the production from the first three games, it’s clear who is to blame.

“It’s important as a head coach and a leader to take accountability for all decisions made,” McDaniel said, later adding that he takes his play-calling responsibilities “super serious.” “Every time that I’m calling a game, it’s based upon doing the best for the team and the second – I mean I wouldn’t hesitate to change that procedure because it is my call; I would change it in a heartbeat if I thought somebody else gave the team a better chance to win.”