Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
O-line, Ajayi create an old school work of art
From one side came center Mike Pouncey, full of fire. From the other side came guard Jermon Bushrod, shaking a celebratory fist. Miami Dolphins coach Adam Gase saw them coming. He knew what they wanted.
“Keep running the ball!” Pouncey told him. “This is fun!” Bushrod said. This was in the final quarter of the Dolphins old-school work of art, a 28-25 win against Buffalo, and it wasn’t like Gase needed to hear that. He saw what his offensive linemen did.
“Every time that No. 23 was getting the ball, he was popping a run,” he said of running back Jay Ajayi.
Ajayi didn’t just run through the Bills’ defense for 214 yards on 29 carries Sunday. He (gulp) ran into history. He (gulp) ran for consecutive 200-yard games — something only three running backs previously had done.
“Now there’s four,” Ajayi said, smiling by his locker after the game.
O.J. Simpson and Earl Campbell, both Hall of Famers. Ricky Williams, a Pro Bowler. And ... Jay Ajayi? “It’s very surreal,” he said. “When you think in Week 1, I was benched, and how tough that was, to be able to have a game like this, I’m blessed.”
This is the crazy thing about sports. They take you where you can never expect. For much of the past decade with these Dolphins, it’s been taken with a marginal offensive line and increasingly marginalized running backs.
Now a player who was benched for poor attitude has become the most productive runner in the league of late. He’s the one media surrounded to ask about a 53-yard run. He’s the one teammates called to across the locker room.
“You’re a Ferrari!” defensive end Andre Branch said.
He’s the one Deion Sanders asked to Facetime with for a TV show.
“When I was in high school in Texas, I’d drive by your home every day on the way to workout,” Ajayi said to Sanders, sitting at his locker and holding a cellphone for the show.
And across the way other stars of Sunday were ignored by comparison. This is actually the part you do expect. “The Mushrooms,” some former Dolphins linemen used to call themselves, because they were kept in the dark and fed leftovers.
There’s no ignoring a cause and effect central to this season, though. The Dolphins line became whole two games ago and everything changed. The Dolphins won both games — after going 1-4 previously. Ajayi has run for 416 yards — after running for 117 yards previously.
Ryan Tannehill, who was sacked 17 times in the first four games, has been sacked once in the past two. These two games are also his highest-rated, including a 99.4 passer rating on Sunday after completing 15-of-25 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown.
And the Dolphins’ defense? They were on the field for 54 plays this Sunday after 53 the previous game. That’s the two lowest of the year. Did it matter?
“They out-toughed us,” Buffalo tackle Jordan Mills said.
How many times have you heard an opponent say that about the Dolphins in recent years?
OK, there have been a few wins like this amid forgettable years. That’s why you don’t have to give up your card-carrying right as a Dolphins fan to sit back and see where this goes. There are questions of penalties, of depth and especially of the defense.
But understand something: This offensive line, when healthy, can change a game. Even down 17-6 late in the third quarter, Gase ran the ball eight times in a 10-play touchdown drive.
“I keep reminding myself to stay with him, because he seems to find the right hole and pops it, and it becomes a 10- or 12-yard gain,” Gase said. “That’s my biggest challenge. Sometimes it’s just easier to start throwing it around, because the yards come quicker. But staying with him and letting him get in a rhythm is critical for us.”
And getting the line healthy was critical for this season. As is having the right attitude for what’s ahead.
“How many games have we played?” Gase said. “Seven. We’ve got a ways to go.”