Reviewing the Miami Dolphins 2009 Season

MIAMI - JANUARY 03: Quarterback Chad Henne #7 of the Miami Dolphins throws a pass against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Land Shark Stadium on January 3, 2010 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images)

Prior to the 2009 season, one of the biggest issues facing the Miami Dolphins was the tremendous increase in their strength of schedule from 2008 to 2009. In this article, John Clayton predicted that they were likely to end up around .500 for the season, just based on the increase in schedule difficulty. Turns out he was right, as they finished 7-9 a year after winning the AFC East at 11-5. The Dolphins stumbled out of the gate at 0-3, and when Chad Pennington was knocked out of the third game of the season, things looked bad. But they went 7-6 the rest of the way, and Chad Henne had a respectable first season at the helm after replacing Pennington. So, although the season may have been somewhat disappointing, Miami fans must be pleased with Henne’s development and his prospects for the future. With that said, we are continuing my 2009 NFL Season Reviews with the Dolphins. Let’s get started with the numbers.

Before going further, you should take a look at the Season Reviews Informational Post, if you haven’t already. It describes the methodology and data presented in the following tables. Now that you have reviewed the methodology behind this data, let’s take a look at the data, and I will discuss it below.

Team Offense	Value	Rank		Team Defense	Value	Rank
Points	360	15		Points	390	25
Yards	5401	17		Yards	5589	22
Cmp	331	–		Cmp	281	–
Att	545	–		Att	489	–
Pass Yards	3170	20		Pass Yards	3754	24
NY/A	5.5	23		NY/A	7	29
Pass TD	15	27		Pass TD	23	18
Pass INTs	19	23		Pass INTs	15	16
Rush Yards	2231	4		Rush Yards	1835	18
Rush TD	22	1		Rush TD	16	21
Y/A	4.4	10		Y/A	4.2	15
Sacks	34	T-15		Sacks	44	T-3

Table 1

	Mia Pts	Opp D		Opp Pts	Opp O
Opp	Score	Avg Pt	Diff1	Score	Avg Pt	Diff2
Atlanta Falcons	7	20.31	-13.31	19	22.69	-3.69
Indianapolis Colts	23	19.19	3.81	27	26	1
San Diego Chargers	13	20	-7	23	28.38	-5.38
Buffalo Bills	38	20.38	17.63	10	16.13	-6.13
New York Jets	31	14.75	16.25	27	21.75	5.25
New Orleans Saints	34	21.31	12.69	46	31.88	14.13
New York Jets	30	14.75	15.25	25	21.75	3.25
New England Patriots	17	17.81	-0.81	27	26.69	0.31
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	25	25	0	23	15.25	7.75
Carolina Panthers	24	19.25	4.75	17	19.69	-2.69
Buffalo Bills	14	20.38	-6.38	31	16.13	14.88
New England Patriots	22	17.81	4.19	21	26.69	-5.69
Jacksonville Jaguars	14	23.75	-9.75	10	18.13	-8.13
Tennessee Titans	24	25.13	-1.13	27	22.13	4.88
Houston Texans	20	20.81	-0.81	27	24.25	2.75
Pittsburgh Steelers	24	20.25	3.75	30	23	7
Sum Difference			39.13			29.5

Table 2

	Mia Yds	Opp D		Opp Yds	Opp O
Opp	Gained	Avg Yd	Diff1	Gained	Avg Yd	Diff2
Atlanta Falcons	259	348.88	-89.88	281	340.44	-59.44
Indianapolis Colts	403	339.19	63.81	356	363.06	-7.06
San Diego Chargers	289	326.88	-37.88	355	360.06	-5.06
Buffalo Bills	336	340.56	-4.56	206	273.88	-67.88
New York Jets	413	252.31	160.69	309	321	-12
New Orleans Saints	334	357.75	-23.75	414	403.81	10.19
New York Jets	104	252.31	-148.31	378	321	57
New England Patriots	334	320.19	13.81	432	397.31	34.69
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	374	365.56	8.44	301	287.5	13.5
Carolina Panthers	326	315.81	10.19	383	331.06	51.94
Buffalo Bills	325	340.56	-15.56	336	273.88	62.13
New England Patriots	416	320.19	95.81	448	397.31	50.69
Jacksonville Jaguars	354	352.31	1.69	217	336.56	-119.56
Tennessee Titans	468	365.63	102.38	364	351.44	12.56
Houston Texans	363	324.88	38.13	406	383.06	22.94
Pittsburgh Steelers	303	305.31	-2.31	403	371.31	31.69
Sum Difference			172.69			76.31

Table 3

	Mia P-Yd	Opp D		Opp P-Yd	Opp O
Opp	Gained	Avg Pa	Diff1	Gained	Avg Pa	Diff2
Atlanta Falcons	163	242.06	-79.06	213	223.19	-10.19
Indianapolis Colts	164	212.69	-48.69	295	282.19	12.81
San Diego Chargers	140	209.25	-69.25	286	271.13	14.88
Buffalo Bills	86	184.25	-98.25	160	157.19	2.81
New York Jets	262	153.69	108.31	171	148.75	22.25
New Orleans Saints	197	235.56	-38.56	276	272.19	3.81
New York Jets	52	153.69	-101.69	251	148.75	102.25
New England Patriots	201	209.69	-8.69	323	277.25	45.75
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	175	207.38	-32.38	180	185.94	-5.94
Carolina Panthers	172	191	-19	201	174.94	26.06
Buffalo Bills	168	184.25	-16.25	207	157.19	49.81
New England Patriots	328	209.69	118.31	352	277.25	74.75
Jacksonville Jaguars	208	235.88	-27.88	122	209.75	-87.75
Tennessee Titans	347	258.69	88.31	236	189.44	46.56
Houston Texans	303	217.94	85.06	280	290.88	-10.88
Pittsburgh Steelers	204	215.44	-11.44	201	259.25	-58.25
Sum Difference			-151.13			228.75

Table 4

	Mia R-Yd	Opp D		Opp R-Yd	Opp O
Opp	Gained	Avg Ru	Diff1	Gained	Avg Ru	Diff2
Atlanta Falcons	96	106.81	-10.81	68	117.25	-49.25
Indianapolis Colts	239	126.5	112.5	61	80.88	-19.88
San Diego Chargers	149	117.63	31.38	69	88.94	-19.94
Buffalo Bills	250	156.31	93.69	46	116.69	-70.69
New York Jets	151	98.63	52.38	138	172.25	-34.25
New Orleans Saints	137	122.19	14.81	138	131.63	6.38
New York Jets	52	98.63	-46.63	127	172.25	-45.25
New England Patriots	133	110.5	22.5	109	120.06	-11.06
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	199	158.19	40.81	121	101.56	19.44
Carolina Panthers	154	124.81	29.19	182	156.13	25.88
Buffalo Bills	157	156.31	0.69	129	116.69	12.31
New England Patriots	88	110.5	-22.5	96	120.06	-24.06
Jacksonville Jaguars	146	116.44	29.56	95	126.81	-31.81
Tennessee Titans	121	106.94	14.06	128	162	-34
Houston Texans	60	106.94	-46.94	126	92.19	33.81
Pittsburgh Steelers	99	89.88	9.13	202	112.06	89.94
Sum Difference			323.81			-152.44

Table 5

Of the teams that I’ve reviewed so far, Miami appears to be the closest to a serious contender. As with any team that Bill Parcells is associated with, they have developed an identity as a physical team that is able to run the ball well. They were 4th in the league in rushing and first in rushing TDs. Just based on Table 1, both the passing game and the defense need some work. They had a strong pass rush, finishing tied for 3rd in the league in sacks, but beyond that, the defensive rankings were average to mediocre in every other category.

When looking at Tables 2-5, we see pretty much the same story. Tables 2 and 3 show that, overall, the offense outperformed the defense in terms of points differential and yards differential. In both cases, the offense scored more points and gained more yards than the cumulative averages of their opponents. I think this is a reflection that at least one aspect of the offense, the rushing game, was arguably elite this past season. At the same time, the defense allowed more points and yards cumulatively than their opponents’ averages.

Tables 4-5 break the production down into passing and rushing, to get a better idea of where the strengths and weaknesses were. Here, we really see the identity of the team as a physical, smash-mouth team. The strengths of the team were in rushing offense and defense. In both categories, they outperformed their opponents’ averages for the season. In passing, however, both offense and defense performed cumulatively below the averages of their opponents.

With the release of Joey Porter, the Dolphins appear to be thinking of replacing his pass rush ability with Karlos Dansby. After that, the question is where do they need the most help? Based on these numbers, I would say that pass defense is their largest weakness, with pass offense being second. One would expect to see Chad Henne improve with nearly a full year of experience under his belt, but it would be nice to get him some help at WR in the draft. According to scout.com, Dez Bryant out of Oklahoma State is their 10th rated player coming out this year (at least as of this writing, that may change). So they could look that way. Or, they could target CB Joe Haden, if he’s available, or possibly a top safety. If Eric Berry slides to number 7-8, they may try to trade up, or possibly Taylor Mays will catch their fancy (although he may be a reach here, so they may want to trade back for him). Regardless, it does look like they have some options to fill their needs.

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