We don’t generally think of the Dolphins as having one of the top offenses of last year. (And that’s fair, because they didn’t score enough points, gain enough yards or win enough games.) But with a lot of stats rolling by me over the few weeks, and there’s one area where Miami was surprisingly good.
Consider three-and-out drives – the number of times a team has to punt after three plays. In this area, Miami had the No. 1 offense in the entire league last year – and the 2nd-best offense of the last four years.
This is unusual, because normally this kind of offense is piling up more yards and points – and thus, winning more games. Most of these kind of teams tend to be winning their divisions and going to the playoffs. Miami went only 8-8 last year.
Last season, by the way, was a good one for offenses. Of the top 15 offenses (at avoiding three-and-out series), seven of them came from 2014.
LOWEST PERCENTAGE OF 3-AND-OUT DRIVES (since 2011) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | Drives | 3&out | Pct |
2012 | New England (12-4-0) | 186 | 23 | .124 |
2014 | Miami (8-8-0) | 181 | 23 | .127 |
2011 | New Orleans (13-3-0) | 175 | 23 | .131 |
2011 | San Diego (8-8-0) | 172 | 23 | .134 |
2014 | Green Bay (12-4-0) | 169 | 23 | .136 |
2013 | San Diego (9-7-0) | 167 | 23 | .138 |
2011 | Green Bay (15-1-0) | 181 | 27 | .149 |
2011 | Philadelphia (8-8-0) | 190 | 29 | .153 |
2013 | Denver (13-3-0) | 202 | 31 | .153 |
2011 | New England (13-3-0) | 180 | 28 | .156 |
2014 | Dallas (12-4-0) | 179 | 28 | .156 |
2014 | New Orleans (7-9-0) | 174 | 28 | .161 |
2014 | Pittsburgh (11-5-0) | 174 | 28 | .161 |
2014 | Baltimore (10-6-0) | 182 | 30 | .165 |
2014 | Seattle (12-4-0) | 175 | 30 | .171 |
2012 | Green Bay (11-5-0) | 186 | 32 | .172 |
2012 | Dallas (8-8-0) | 180 | 31 | .172 |
2011 | Dallas (8-8-0) | 185 | 32 | .173 |
2011 | Washington (5-11-0) | 188 | 33 | .176 |
2012 | NY Giants (9-7-0) | 176 | 31 | .176 |
2012 | Seattle (11-5-0) | 170 | 30 | .176 |
At the other end of these 128 teams, by the way, are the Raiders from last year. Over a third of their series in 2014 were of the three-and-out variety.
Two other teams from 2014 finished in the bottom 20 – Cleveland and Tampa Bay.
HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF 3-AND-OUT DRIVES (since 2011) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | Drives | 3&out | Pct |
2014 | Oakland (3-13-0) | 198 | 71 | .359 |
2011 | Indianapolis (2-14-0) | 186 | 60 | .323 |
2012 | Arizona (5-11-0) | 209 | 65 | .311 |
2013 | Jacksonville (4-12-0) | 195 | 60 | .308 |
2011 | Denver (8-8-0) | 204 | 62 | .304 |
2011 | Chicago (8-8-0) | 199 | 60 | .302 |
2012 | San Diego (7-9-0) | 180 | 53 | .294 |
2013 | NY Jets (8-8-0) | 196 | 57 | .291 |
2013 | NY Giants (7-9-0) | 204 | 59 | .289 |
2012 | Jacksonville (2-14-0) | 196 | 56 | .286 |
2011 | NY Jets (8-8-0) | 203 | 58 | .286 |
2011 | Jacksonville (5-11-0) | 194 | 55 | .284 |
2013 | St. Louis (7-9-0) | 184 | 52 | .283 |
2011 | St. Louis (2-14-0) | 196 | 55 | .281 |
2014 | Cleveland (7-9-0) | 193 | 54 | .280 |
2012 | Oakland (4-12-0) | 188 | 51 | .271 |
2013 | Baltimore (8-8-0) | 207 | 56 | .271 |
2011 | Kansas City (7-9-0) | 189 | 51 | .270 |
2011 | Cincinnati (9-7-0) | 197 | 53 | .269 |
2014 | Tampa Bay (2-14-0) | 180 | 48 | .267 |
—Ian Allan