Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Add a pinch of physicality
Winning recipe may have been discovered with dominant offensive line
NOTEBOOK: Even though it was shorthanded, the defense played well against the Bills.
MIAMI GARDENS — Mike Pouncey was rushing out of Hard Rock Stadium after Sunday’s game, but he wasn’t heading to some elaborate dinner. The Miami Dolphins’ Pro Bowl center was on his way to the team’s facility to wade in the cold tub, and ice his body down.
Fellow offensive lineman Jermon Bushrod heard about Pouncey’s plans for a soak session and made sure he invited himself.
When you’ve helped pave the way for the NFL’s fourth back-to-back 200-yard rushing performance your body is going to pay the price.
“I know our offensive line is sore as hell,” Pouncey said.
Considering Miami’s offensive line has sparked the Dolphins’ resurgence from a 1-4 start, that unit needs to do whatever it takes to keep the running game, which has been nicknamed “the J-Train,” rolling.
Only way to beat a bully is to not back down, and that’s exactly how the Dolphins manhandled the Buffalo Bills in Sunday’s 28-25 win.
For the second week in a row — against a secondconsecutive physical opponent — the Dolphins imposed their will.
Traditionalists will testify that football games are won and lost in the trenches, and the Dolphins left Hard Rock Stadium the victors because they won those wrestling matches at the line of scrimmage.
Miami ran for 256 yards behind Jay Ajayi’s 204-yard rushing performance. Ajayi has now rushed for 418 yards and three touchdowns in back-to-back wins over the Pittsburgh Steelers and Bills.
“They were a more physical team today. There’s no doubt about that,” Bills coach Rex Ryan said. “They controlled the game and that’s why they won the game.”
The Dolphins have spent nearly a decade trying to build a physical team that can hold up to a Ryan coached squad, which had beaten Miami four consecutive times in games played in South Florida going back to his tenure as the New York Jets head coach. This one might finally have the right recipe.
“Definitely not a surprise,” said Cameron Wake, who had a sack and a half in his second start of the season. “At some point you’ve got to draw a line in the sand and say that’s enough.”
He’s referring to the Dolphins’ defense doing their part, containing a physical Bills team to 67 rushing yards on 22 carries. It didn’t hurt that LeSean McCoy made the unwise decision of trying to play on a strained hamstring and gained only 11 rushing yards on eight carries before being removed from the game.
But the Ryan-led Bills had been successful despite numerous injuries this season, so this isn’t a time to lean on that excuse.
What is more logical is that Miami’s success running the ball provided an assist to the defense because the time of possession heavily favored the Dolphins for the second week in a row. Miami had the ball for 14 more minutes than Buffalo.
“We get some rest, for sure,” Dolphins defensive end Andre Branch said, referring to the 50 snaps Miami’s defenders played. “That’s been great because every time we go in we’re fresh.”
We’ve seen mirage games before during Dolphins seasons. Last year around this time the Dolphins pounced on Tennessee and Houston before fizzling out the rest of the season, losing seven of the final 10 games.
But this year’s Dolphins believe they’ve finally found an identity that might have staying power, and will continue to build on it after this upcoming bye week.
“You’ve seen the last two weeks, when we run the ball successfully it opens up everything else. Our offense is rolling right now,” Pouncey said. “Jay Ajayi is running the hell out of the football, and making the offensive line look really good. ... It shows, when the offensive line is all together, and healthy we can keep doing special things.”
Special things like a cold tub party in Davie.