Miami Dolphins offense looking to improve and build consistency

Written by Luis Sung at 8:15 PM EST | Twitter: @FLSportDebater

The Miami Dolphins expected to go into Jacksonville and obliterate the now 1-7 Jacksonville Jaguars as on paper they were the obviously superior team. They may have won, but it wasn't the dominant performance the team was expecting.

The Jaguars defensive tackles broke down Tannehill's pocket and got him rattled early on, left guard Daryn Colledge was routinely beat due to migraines and overall the offense struggled mightily to get anywhere until the second half.

Nevertheless, thanks to a couple of explosive plays by safety Louis Delmas and Pro Bowl cornerback Brent Grimes, the Dolphins managed to score fourteen points solely thanks to the defense, and that was  huge part of why the team emerged victorious on Sunday. The offense however, once again came out flat.

“We have to play better. After watching it again, that’s kind of what I thought when I was there, and I feel the same way today. I think we had some negative plays that impacted and got us in some long-yardage situations." said head coach Joe Philbin. "I didn’t think our third down passing attack was very good. That has to get better as the year goes on specifically starting on Sunday against San Diego. There’s certainly a lot of things to work on."

Even though the team is averaging 24.9 points per game, they've come rather sporadically and inconsistently, and the number itself isn't what offensive coordinator Bill Lazor is looking for.

“I didn’t come in with a certain goal of what it would be. It’s about winning. There are going to be some games where you will need more than that to win and then there will be some games where we needed more and haven’t gotten it yet." said Lazor. "I just think coaches look more at the details of how’s our protection coming along? How’s our run game coming along? How are we doing with run-after-catch? How are we doing with explosive plays? More of the details than the overall number because, I think if you search for an overall number that might not be enough this week, I think we are an improving team."

If the Dolphins are going to defeat San Diego, they are going to have to find a way to start scoring consistently. Is that going to come from the running back position? Maybe Ryan Tannehill steps up and beats Philip Rivers in a shootout? In any case, it is going to be a big challenge, and the team needs to find a way to meet it head on.

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