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Dolphins fire O'Shea

Miami looking for a new offensive coordinator

The Dolphins have fired offensive coordinator Chad O’Shea. That’s a surprise, considering the way that team came on in the second half of the season. Strictly off the numbers, you could argue that O’Shea did one of the better coaching jobs in the league.

Miami didn’t have a lot of talent. It was a lesser team to begin with, and they went into this season tearing apart the roster. They didn’t re-sign JaWuan James and traded away Laremy Tunsil – moving down from one of the league’s best pair of young tackles to pretty much nothing at the position.

They ranked last in rushing, but they didn’t really have much at the position. They went with Kenyan Drake for a while (before trading him) then cycled through Mark Walton, Kalen Ballage, Patrick Laird, Myles Gaskin and Samaje Perine – lesser backs running behind the league’s cheapest offensive line.

They plugged in journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback.

Yet, despite having modest talent, the Dolphins played surprisingly well once they got things going. Miami averaged 25.4 points in its final nine games, 9th-most in the league. They also went 5-4 in those games, beating a pair of playoff teams (New England, Philadelphia).

SCORING (final nine games)
TeamPtsOTDSRTDPTD
Baltimore35.2361125
New Orleans32.733825
Tennessee31.2361620
San Francisco30.2291019
Tampa Bay29.128919
Kansas City27.7251114
Dallas26.825718
Atlanta26.221813
Miami25.423716
Seattle24.924816
Minnesota23.921813
Philadelphia23.8241014
NY Giants23.227522
LA Rams22.7231013
Indianapolis22.621138
Cleveland22.422616
Arizona22.2231013
NY Jets22.018414
LA Chargers21.922913
New England21.919514
Houston21.422814
Green Bay21.322913
Buffalo20.019712
Washington19.61679
Denver18.916610
Cincinnati18.316610
Oakland18.017710
Carolina17.919910
Detroit17.917512
Jacksonville17.315213
Chicago16.917512
Pittsburgh15.41028

The Dolphins averaged 353 yards in their final nine games. That ranked 14th among the 32 teams – slightly above average. Miami ranked last in rushing during that span, but 5th in passing.

Not that this was one of the league’s best offenses, but I thought they were definitely punching above their weight. Not sure what it was that Brian Flores (pictured) didn’t like about O’Shea, but I would guess some other team will bring O’Shea aboard in some kind of role.

OFFENSIVE YARDS (final nine games)
TeamYardsRunRkPassRk
Dallas42712683093
Tampa Bay41992283391
Tennessee407168225714
Atlanta38998253132
New Orleans388107202916
Baltimore386208118332
Philadelphia377129526611
LA Rams37791292954
San Francisco376115122808
LA Chargers367104222817
Kansas City3631101626610
Seattle361146324117
Oakland3571081826412
Miami35377322945
Carolina347101232789
NY Giants3461052126313
Cleveland3381131423718
Cincinnati337127623022
Houston3371191123719
New England3361131323520
Arizona3291221022524
Minnesota3241131522425
Green Bay324122922226
NY Jets322903024516
Detroit3211081923321
Buffalo318127720627
Jacksonville313813125015
Indianapolis313137419231
Chicago309972622823
Denver284992419529
Washington2811101719628
Pittsburgh264922719230

—Ian Allan

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