Under Dan Campbell, Miami Dolphins Look Like a Brand-New Team

If the Miami Dolphins keep playing the way they've played over the past two weeks, Dan Campbell could easily shed his "interim" label as head coach. 

Make no mistake, the Dolphins will have to open the interview process and must interview at least one minority candidate, but those measures would be little more than formalities to what would be a foregone conclusion. The Dolphins have responded to Campbell's demeanor and coaching style, and owner Stephen Ross would be foolish to look elsewhere for his head coach.

This isn't about dramatic scheme changes, this is about solving an identity crisis and burying a losing mentality.

Since Campbell took over, the Dolphins have transformed from a team without an identity to a team that very clearly wants to punch its opponents in the mouth on both offense and defense. The Dolphins want to be a physical team on both sides of the ball, with an aggressive, attacking style of defense and a smashmouth style on offense.

Those changes have manifested themselves in the Dolphins' results, a 38-10 win over the Tennessee Titans and a 44-26 win over the Houston Texans, but in forging their identity on the field, they've also made some pretty dramatic changes on the stat sheet.

The Dolphins have more rushing attempts in the past two games (67) than they had in the first four combined (65). They have 10 times as many sacks in the past two games (10) as they had in their first four (one). Quarterback Ryan Tannehill has transitioned from a quarterback that is asked to carry the heaviest of burdens (43 pass attempts per game in the first four games) to one who is just a spoke on the wheel (24 attempts per game in the past two games). 

Coach	Joe Philbin	Dan Campbell
Points/game	16.3	41
Points against/game	25.3	18
Yards/pass	5.4	9.3
Yards/rush	4.3	6.6
Def. yards/pass	7.8	5
Def. yards/rush	4.4	3.1
Sacks for	1	10
Sacks against	10	6

In the air and on the ground on offense and defense, everything has changed for the Dolphins, and it's all thanks to one change at head coach. 

That being said, the coach has made some changes that have created a ripple effect that allows the Dolphins to play faster, with more intent and more certainty. 

"I'd say they've simplified it—the number of the things they're running, like the number of calls that they have, it appears to be definitely a lot less than what it was before," said New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. "I'd say it looks like they're doing fewer things than they've done, they're doing them better, they're playing faster, they're more aggressive."

By making things easier on the players, the coaches are getting more out of the players because they are able to more closely focus in on the task at hand. Instead of spreading themselves thin, the Dolphins can put their energy and focus into mastering the things they're asked to do.

The new style of play has earned the Dolphins a lot of admirers across the country, as Yahoo's Charles Robinson joked:

In the end, only one admirer truly matters: Ross. 

If Campbell wins him over, he'll no doubt shed the "interim" qualifier from his label as head coach of the Dolphins. In order to do that, all Campbell has to do is keep winning, and in order to do that, it seems all Campbell has to do is keep doing exactly what he's been doing that's led to the sudden, remarkable turnaround of the Dolphins. 

Quotes obtained via team news release.