Dolphins film study: What went wrong for Miami’s offense? And analyzing Claypool debut

It was an uncharacteristic outing for the Dolphins’ offense in the team’s 31-17 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

A unit that leads the NFL in points, passing and rushing was held to season lows across the board. And seven of those points came via a pick-six from inside linebacker Jerome Baker.

Facing a stout defensive line, an offensive line missing three starters struggled to consistently pass protect. Self-inflicted mistakes, from penalties to dropped passes, negated an early touchdown and stalled promising drives.

But head coach Mike McDaniel on Monday highlighted one area that was particularly detrimental for the offense.

“Probably the biggest opportunities that we kind of squandered just so happened to be in the run game,” he said. “We had some details that were just a hair off that were negative plays that through our lens, we see as explosive opportunities. That’s a vast difference that greatly affects your overall production, so for the most part, we’ve been pretty locked into our opportunities and have taken advantage of them in the run game, and [Sunday] night we didn’t.”

The Dolphins ran for just 45 yards on 12 carries, one of which was an aborted play from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa that lost 3 yards. Miami’s success rate of 33.3 percent on run plays was also a season-low.

Miami’s improvement in running the ball has been a key reason for the offense’s overall success, particularly in early downs. The Dolphins’ 45.7 percent success rate on first down leads the NFL, according to TruMedia. But against the Eagles, the Dolphins struggled to string together productive runs on early downs, which put Miami behind the sticks and in obvious passing situations against a good pass rush.

All of the Dolphins’ rushing attempts against Philadelphia came on first or second down. And the final total was a bit inflated by a pair of runs from Raheem Mostert that gained 21 and 15 yards.

Otherwise, Miami lost yardage on three attempts and gained between 1 and 3 yards on four other tries, excluding Tagovailoa’s aborted play.

In the first half, the Dolphins struggled to get to the edge on staple concepts. Miami has executed a toss play in which the wide receiver is responsible for executing a crackback block on an edge defender. On the Dolphins’ opening drive, the offense called on this play with a backward toss to Mostert. Wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, in a tight slot alignment, was responsible for blocking edge defender Hassan Reddick. But Reddick crashed down into the backfield as soon as the ball was snapped, preventing Waddle from getting the right angle on the block. Mostert lost 2 yards.

McDaniel made good adjustments in the second half to set up both of Mostert’s long runs. On Mostert’s 21-yard run, an outside zone concept from a pistol formation, wideout Cedrick Wilson Jr. was in a tight slot alignment, similar to Waddle. But he was asked to block the inside linebacker, instead of the edge defender. Tight end Durham Smythe, motioning from left to right, was asked to help right tackle Austin Jackson block edge defender Brandon Graham, and Smythe chipped Graham before heading to the second level.

On Mostert’s 15-yard run, Miami went back to asking a receiver to crackback block an edge defender. This time, it was Chase Claypool but they successfully got to it in a different manner. Claypool first lined up in the backfield to the right of Tagovailoa in a shotgun formation before motioning to the left in a traditional slot alignment. Derek Barnett originally lined up as a five-technique on the outside shoulder of left tackle Kendall Lamm. But when Claypool motioned to the slot, Barnett followed him out there, giving Claypool a perfect angle for a crack block. Claypool was able to impede Barnett, while a motioning Julian Hill got to the second level and also made a key block for Mostert.

They were nice wrinkles to give the running game some life but overall it was an inconsistent effort for a part of the Dolphins’ offense that has made significant strides.

“In a way it does change how we go about playing out there because there’s actions off of those runs that we’d like to get,” Tagovailoa said of the run game struggles. “And when the run game is not going the way you would expect it to go, then that kind of mitigates the way we run-pass and then it’s more of just a drop-back sort of game. But they did a really good job. Second half we came out with some adjustments. We got some things going in the run game. But really, for us offensively and as a team, it’s really just trying to sustain putting consistent drives together, being able to go out there defensively and getting three-and-outs and sort of playing off each other in that sense.”

Claypool package

Claypool made his team debut on Sunday night, playing four offensive snaps. McDaniel said the plan was for Claypool to play more but the game flow forced them to go away from the package they put together for him.

Still, the plays gave some insight into how the talented pass-catcher could make an impact.

• Snap No. 1: First quarter, first and goal, Philadelphia 6: Claypool motions out of a tight slot alignment from left to right and chips an edge defender before moving to second level on a backward toss. Loss of 1 yard on a Mostert run.

• Snap No. 2: Third quarter, first and 10, Miami 27: Same exact play and formation as first snap. Claypool does the same motion but doesn’t chip the edge defender before moving to the second level. Mostert gains 2 yards.

• Snap No. 3: Third quarter, second and 19, Miami 49. Claypool is lined up in the slot in a 3x1 formation (three receivers on one side, one receiver on the other). Clayool runs a stick route, running 5 yards upfield before sitting in the Eagles’ zone defense. Tagovailoa’s throw to running back Salvon Ahmed is incomplete.

• Snap No. 4: Third quarter, first and 10, Philadelphia 43. Claypool executes the crackback block on Mostert’s aforementioned 15-yard run.

The role Claypool took on was very similar to that of wideout Erik Ezukanma, who is on the non-football injury list because of a neck injury. As Claypool gets more comfortable in the scheme, his responsibilities could evolve to mimic Ezuknama’s more, from different types of touches, including jet sweep handoffs and backfield carries.

“He’s doing a great job, he’s carved out a little role with us already,” McDaniel said. “So, I’m hoping that expands as he gets the opportunities to play within our offense.”