Biggest Takeaways from Miami Dolphins' Week 6 Win

The Joe Philbin era ended with a thud, and the Dan Campbell era began with a bang.

The Miami Dolphins got a week off after a 27-14 drubbing by the New York Jets overseas, but the bye week was more than enough time for the Dolphins to make the necessary changes that could help steer them back on course for the playoffs.

After all, despite a 1-3 start, they still have plenty of time left to win enough games and sneak into the postseason. 

The Dolphins proved they're capable of playing like a completely different team in their 38-10 smackdown of the Tennessee Titans. The beating was so bad that the Dolphins reportedly took their aggressive style of play a little too far, according to Bleacher Report's Jason Cole. 

But hey, it's better to have people who are angry about how aggressive your team is than to have people who are happy about how soft it is. Here are some of the other takeaways from this week's big win.

Coaching Shakeups May Have Been Exactly What the Dolphins Needed

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At this point in the season, the Dolphins aren't going to completely revamp their schemes on offense or defense. Their in-season coaching changes, however, were not made in an effort to change the X's and O's. They made the changes in an effort to reshape the nature of the team.

The Dolphins looked complacent and lackadaisical at times in the first four games of the season. There was no sign of complacency or lack of effort on Sunday against the Titans. The Dolphins played hard for 60 minutes. 

If you watch Sunday's game in contrast to the Dolphins' Week 4 loss to the Jets, it's easy to see the huge discrepancy in the level of intensity. Perhaps the firing of Joe Philbin put the roster on notice that no one would be spared in owner Stephen Ross' endeavor to finally make the playoffs after seven seasons out of the postseason.

Physical Nature Coming to the Forefront

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From the minute Dan Campbell took over as the Dolphins head coach, we've heard a lot of preaching about the Dolphins adapting a new level of physicality through tougher practice habits and a more competitive environment overall.

Boy, did they deliver on Sunday.

As mentioned earlier, they might have even taken their new level of physicality a little too far, according to B/R's Jason Cole. That being said, in a sport as physical and violent as football, is there really such a thing as "too physical"?

The Dolphins ran the ball for 180 yards on 32 carries, allowing their offensive linemen to fire off the ball and move the defenders in front of them. They also stifled the Titans running game, holding them to just 63 yards on 18 carries. It was the first time all season the Dolphins have allowed fewer than 120 rushing yards in a game and also the first time they've rushed for more than 120 yards in a game.

If the Dolphins can maintain this new physical identity throughout the season, we have only just begun to see what they are capable of.

Lamar Miller Can Be a Bell Cow

James Kenney/Associated Press

The Dolphins have a fever, and the only cure for that fever is more bell cow.

Running back Lamar Miller still has not crossed the 20-carry threshold since December 1, 2013, but something tells me that 25-game streak is doomed. In fact, for much of the game, it felt like Miller would finally cross the 20-carry plateau. He had six carries in the first quarter and 13 in the first half. 

The Dolphins put the ball in Miller's hands on each of the first four offensive plays from scrimmage (three carries, one catch), and for the first time all season, the Dolphins had more first-down runs than first-down passes. That could have been a product of the Titans' porous run defense—they rank 28th in the NFL at stopping the run—but it also shows a willingness on the part of the coaching staff to commit to the run.

Up next, the Dolphins face the Houston Texans and New England Patriots—two more defenses that have struggled at times against the run (the two teams have allowed more than 100 rushing yards in a combined seven of 11 games). If Miller can't break 20 carries against one or both of those teams, he may never do it. 

Cameron Wake Is Finally Healthy

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The Dolphins pass rush finally came to life, and just like defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo suggested, it wasn't some magical scheme change that helped the Dolphins finally create pressure on the quarterback. The quickest fix was a week off to lick some wounds. 

Defensive end Cameron Wake finished Sunday's game with four sacks, the second-most he's ever logged in a single game in his career. Two of his sacks were sack-fumbles, and the Dolphins recovered both of them.

That is the kind of game-changing impact the Dolphins had hoped their defensive line would have every week. It's unfortunate that it took two guys losing their jobs to finally wake up the pass rush, but there's also evidence that this would have happened anyway. Wake had been nursing a hamstring injury in the first four games of the season, and after a week off, he was feeling better than he had all year, according to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. 

If Wake continues to play at the level he showed on Sunday, the other Dolphins defensive linemen could follow suit. He will command double-teams, which should only help open things up for his teammates.

Dolphins Can Start Fast, After All

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The Dolphins had a lot of problems on their way to a 1-3 start, but one of the most prominent was their inability to get out to a fast start. They almost always found themselves playing from behind and held a lead for just 10:22 of game clock in their first four games (the last 10:22 of their Week 1 win over the Washington Redskins).

On Sunday against the Titans, the Dolphins scored a touchdown on their opening drive and never looked back. They marched 80 yards down the field in seven plays over a span of 4:12 and never relinquished control of the lead at that point. In fact, this was the first time all season in which the Dolphins have scored a touchdown on their opening offensive possession and also the first time they have held their opponent without a touchdown in the first half. 

Thanks to the early execution by the Dolphins offense, the defense was finally able to play its true aggressive style, getting after the quarterback and breaking on passes. 

This is the way the Dolphins are supposed to play; it's just too bad it took until Week 6 for us to see what it looks like for Miami to play its style of football.

Unless otherwise noted, all statistics obtained from ProFootballFocus.com and Pro-Football-Reference.com.