Dolphins' Interior Offensive Line Fails Major Test vs. Lions

As the Miami Dolphins’ competition ratcheted up in Week 10, one of the most important units on the team failed to make the impact needed to close the bid for victory. The interior offensive line crumbled as the Detroit Lions unleashed their terrific group of pass-rushers on the ailing Dolphins line.

Miami hadn’t been held to less than 20 points since its Week 3 loss against the Kansas City Chiefs, and this game was a sobering example of what happens when individual execution isn’t where it needs to be. The entire offense was stifled for all but five minutes in the first half due to the poor trench play.

Right guard Mike Pouncey had the toughest assignment of the day in Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, and the results were decidedly one-sided. Despite being back from his hip surgery for over a month now, Pouncey is struggling to make the impact at right guard as he did at center in seasons past. At some point, health isn’t the concern, and Pouncey’s ability to play right guard should be questioned.

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

Suh is a tremendous player and certainly one of the most dominant interior pass-rushers in the NFL. Entering Week 10, he’s created 26 combined pressures or sacks on opposing quarterbacks, which is second in the NFL for defensive tackles, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

Pouncey’s matchup was less than ideal, but this was the type of game Miami moved him to right guard for. He’s supposed to be a cornerstone lineman for the Dolphins, but he was unable to contain Suh when he was needed most.

Pouncey wasn’t the only one to struggle, as center Samson Satele and left guard Dallas Thomas were unable to make second-level blocks to open up the running game. Satele is primarily a help-blocker, and although he tried to give support to Pouncey, he was often too slow to prevent interior pressure.

	Duress	No duress
Comp-Att	4-13	23-25
Yds per att	2.9	6.5
TD-Int	0-1	1-0

Thomas was notably better than either until he had to move to right tackle when star tackle Branden Albert when down with a potential major injury. Thomas played well at right tackle in the second half, and his replacement at left guard played admirably.

Shelley Smith finally found the field again after suffering an injury earlier in the year, and with him at left guard and Thomas at right tackle, the Dolphins offense improved in the second half.

But another slow start ultimately put too much pressure on the Dolphins offense and defense to be perfect in critical moments. Miami was unable to overcome the costly mistakes of the flat showing early on because it had no cushion to fall back on.

Oftentimes, statistics are misused to carry a narrative or bias, but the Dolphins’ box score was hard to misinterpret. With just 228 offensive yards on 60 plays, there was no offensive continuity. Averaging 3.8 yards a play is pitiful, and the offensive line should receive major blame.

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

Quarterback Ryan Tannehill was under pressure 13 times, taking big hits throughout the game. He was tremendous in the second half, showing toughness, heart and continuing his growth toward a very good quarterback. But he was also pressured on 39 percent of his dropbacks, which is the most this season, per ESPN. That’s not a winning formula for any quarterback.

Miami’s extremely effective running game was held to just 50 yards on 19 carries, which in part is due to Lamar Miller’s limited availability, but even backups Damien Williams and Daniel Thomas had little room to operate. Tannehill’s recent surge as a runner also ended abruptly, totaling zero yards on two carries.

With a line struggling to protect the quarterback or give any rushing room for backs, even a great offensive scheme will fail. Tannehill and his line played well enough in the second half to put the team in line for a victory, but a costly drop by Charles Clay allowed Detroit an opportunity to win in the waning moments.

Many of Miami’s first-half struggles trace back to the slow starts by the offensive line this season. Despite being rebuilt from 2013, the injuries have piled up, and the team isn't getting enough quality play from guard Mike Pouncey. That has to change for the Dolphins to beat their divisional foe, the Buffalo Bills, on Thursday night.

Ian Wharton is a Miami Dolphins Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report, contributor for Optimum Scouting and analyst for FinDepth. 
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