Miami Dolphins Show They're Willing to Ride Lamar Miller to Victory

Change your offensive coordinator. Change the world.

The Miami Dolphins parted ways with former offensive coordinator Bill Lazor last Monday and promoted quarterback coach Zac Taylor to the position on an interim basis. Taylor responded by doing something that hasn't been done, literally, in years: He gave the ball to Lamar Miller and told him to run with it.

The running back rewarded his new offensive coordinator's confidence with a big game en route to a 15-13 Dolphins victory over the Baltimore Ravens. Miller finished the game with 20 carries for 113 yards and added a five-yard reception in the passing game.

It was the first time we've seen a truly run-first approach from the Dolphins in quite some time, and Miller made sure he delivered as the spotlight shined on him. In fact, it was the first time Miller has earned 20 carries in more than two years—the last time it happened was December 1, 2013. The Miami Herald's Adam Beasley "extended an invitation" to take note of what Miller is capable of doing when given the opportunity:

Under Lazor, the Dolphins offensive approach was so pass-heavy that they often forgot that running the football was an actual thing they could do. From Week 1, 2014 to Week 12, 2015 (Lazor's tenure as offensive coordinator), the Dolphins ran 1,089 pass plays (63.7 percent) and 620 run plays (36.3 percent). The NFL average in that span was 58.7 percent passes and 41.3 percent runs.

That gives you an idea of how far the Dolphins skewed away from the norm. The problem is, it never really seemed to work for them. The Dolphins had some success through the air, but they only surpassed the 300-yard passing mark five times—three times in losing efforts. 

Throwing the ball often is not a bad thing in and of itself. The New England Patriots are among the NFL's most imbalanced teams, but then again, Tom Brady is one of the NFL's best quarterbacks. At a certain point, it becomes a lot like the definition of insanity. You know, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

Look, Ryan Tannehill is an effective quarterback. He's efficient at times—though not always—but never quite a deadly level of efficiency. It's difficult to execute that high-tempo, no-huddle offense unless your quarterback is ridiculously accurate on those short and intermediate throws. It's hard for him to be that efficient, that accurate, that deadly when he is constantly being pressured.

That's part of the problem with the Dolphins' continually ignoring the running game. The offensive line has struggled in pass protection for years. You'd think, eventually, they would change their approach and try running the ball more to help those linemen by letting them dictate at the line of scrimmage rather than reacting to a pass rush while on their heels. Andrew Abramson of the Palm Beach Post expressed optimism that Miller will be prominently featured during the remainder of the 2015 season:

At least now, the Dolphins have seen what their offense can do when Miller is featured in a prominent role. The Dolphins scored just 15 points—their lowest point total in a win this season—but they found the right recipe for success with a strong defensive performance to complement their effective running game. 

It took until Week 13 of the 2015 season, which might be all too late for the Dolphins to revive their playoff hopes. Right now, the best the Dolphins can hope for is to get a strong and fair analysis of how Lamar Miller works into their future plans. But if he continues to play the way he played on Sunday against the Ravens, the Dolphins have plenty to like and plenty to look forward to.