Mike McDaniel’s Miami Dolphins offense is borderline unstoppable at home. But it’s barely recognizable on the road.
At this point, there’s no point in debating it. These stats don’t lie.
So the question at this point isn’t if there’s a problem, but why?
“We’ve just got to continue to keep working,” Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said after the Dolphins’ 21-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Frankfurt, Germany.
“There’s nothing outside of working the crowd noise, working the silent cadence, working the communication while we have crowd noise, continuing to do all that, it’s only going to benefit us. These are continued reps for us to get early in the season as we’re entering sort of the back half of the season.”
Miami Dolphins’ Road and Home Splits
Since McDaniel took over in 2022, the Dolphins have played 12 games at Hard Rock Stadium and 15 somewhere else (these figures include the postseason).
In those 12 home games, they are 10-2, compared to 5-10 on the road.
The biggest reason for the disparity in results?
The offense falls off a cliff outside of South Florida.
In the McDaniel era, the Dolphins at home have scored 28.9 points per game, average 5.0 yards per carry, complete 67.5% of their passes with 8.7 yards per attempt, and have a passer rating of 104.3.
Those same stats on the road? 24.4, 4.6, 61.5%, 7.8, and 90.6.
Certainly, opponent quality has been a factor. Of those 15 road games, 10 have come against 2022 playoff teams.
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They’ve faced just three such teams at home since the start of the 2022 season. But that doesn’t explain the entire phenomenon.
The weather — which causes opposing defenses to wilt late in games at Hard Rock Stadium — plays a role. But that’s not a complete answer either.
The Dolphins’ offense is predicated on timing, spacing, communication, and chemistry. It’s a lot easier to do those things when there aren’t 70,000 opposing fans screaming at you.
Whatever the reason for the disparity between home and away, it needs to change fast as we explain in the Week 10 PFN Miami Dolphins Podcast — particularly since the 1 seed is all but a pipe dream at this point.
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