The Miami Dolphins Are The NFL's Best Team And Historic 70 Points Against The Broncos Shows Why
The best team in the NFL? Yes, the Miami Dolphins.
Right now.
No argument.
Just look at what's happened this season, including Sunday's 70-20 woodshed whipping of the Denver Broncos. That was a historic beat down of a Sean Payton-coached team.
The Dolphins put more points on the board than any team had since the Washington Redskins scored a league record 72 in 1966. They became only the fourth team in league history to reach the 70-point mark.
This game, singlehandedly, put Denver defensive coordinator Vance Joseph's job at risk. It would not shock if he's fired after this one.
"We got to look closely at what we were doing," Payton said afterward. "When someone runs the ball up and down the field like those guys did and throws it up and down the field, it's not acceptable."
Dolphins Undefeated And Impressive
And that is atop the fact the Dolphins are undefeated.
Forget that the Dolphins are 3-0 because that is admittedly a small sample size and I've seen and covered a ton of teams that began the season 3-0 and eventually went a different direction.
But this isn't about what's looming. Or up next. This is no prediction of where the Dolphins will find themselves in December or January. Or February.
This is also not to suggest the 2023 Miami Dolphins don't have flaws. They do.
But right now, today, those flaws aren't apparent. They're not, shall we say, glaring.
Coach Mike McDaniel's team has shown a grand ability to overcome its flaws. It's injuries. It's rough moments.
And all this while the Dolphins highlight their strengths. Of which there are quite a few.
Tagovailoa Another Great Outing
This season the Dolphins have shown a great ability to rally a smallish but fast defense to the football. They so far have chased quarterbacks with only occasional and wise blitzing, while the offense has protected their own quarterback.
McDaniel's scheme has so far gotten receiver Tyreek Hill, no secret as an All Pro player over multiple seasons, to be treated like no one knew he was good. I mean, the guy runs wide open with no one else in the picture multiple times every game as if the other sideline is surprised he's fast. McDaniel's scheme also helps Hill draw man coverage multiple times every game.
It's like opposing coaches decide there's advantage in doing dumb stuff against the Dolphins.
The Dolphins have also so far gotten great play from Tua Tagovailoa.
And Miami has brought all these strengths and abilities together in a loud and impressive statement. That deafening statement has silenced the concern over injuries to Jalen Ramsey and Jaylen Waddle and Salvon Ahmed.
Take Sunday's Dolphins demolition of the Denver Broncos. The Dolphins scored eight touchdowns the nine possessions Tagovailoa was in the game to remove any drama from the outcome.
MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 24: Raheem Mostert #31 of the Miami Dolphins breaks away from an attempted tackle by Essang Bassey #21 of the Denver Broncos during the first quarter at Hard Rock Stadium on September 24, 2023 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
Dolphins Show Great Run Attack
The Dolphins struck an impressive and rare balance in putting those eight touchdowns on the scoreboard by notching four running and four passing scores to account for the production.
The 70 total points was the most in team history and it blew away the previous record of 55 which had stood since 1976. And this is a team, you'll recall, that enjoyed more than a few days when Dan Marino or Larry Csonka went off on defenses.
Tagovailoa, the triggerman of this offense, completed 88.5 percent of his passes (23 of 26). He threw the four scoring passes without an interception. It was a nearly perfect performance in which Tagovailoa didn't miss a pass until the second half.
And that was only Tagovailoa's second-best game of the season because he threw for 466 yards in the regular-season opener against the Chargers.
Hill also had a day. He caught nine passes for 157 yards with a touchdown. And, again, that was only his second-best outing of the season because he had 215 receiving yards against the Chargers.
So it's gotten to the point the Dolphins are underwhelming with merely outstanding individual performances.
Head coach Mike McDaniel speaks with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa #1 of the Miami Dolphins in the fourth quarter of the game against the Buffalo Bills at Hard Rock Stadium on September 25, 2022 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
Mike McDaniel Has Dolphins Cooking
The scary thing is the Dolphins are now showing a reliable running game with increasing frequency. They had that last week in gaining 145 rushing yards against the Patriots in a game Bill Belichick wanted to limit the passing damage.
They did it this game in which Miami gained 350 rushing yards as both Raheem Mostert and De'Von Achane gashed the Broncos first-team defenders. Achane, by the way, got his chance to play last week when Ahmed went out with an injury.
The rookie led the team with 203 rushing yards and good luck getting him out of that rotation.
The Dolphins lead the AFC East and among the few undefeated teams left in the NFL
So a lot of things would have to change for the arc of this Dolphins season that is so far been impressive and fun in South Florida to change course.
It obviously didn't look like that's likely after Sunday.