Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Dolphins move on in post-Ajayi era.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The only team possibly happier than Philadelphia that Miami traded tailback Jay Ajayi to the Eagles is the one the Dolphins face today.
Considering that Ajayi rushed for 214 yards in the first matchup with Buffalo last season, then followed that jaw-dropping performance up with a 206-yard game, which included a 57-yard run in overtime to clinch the series sweep, it’s quite possible the Bills had enough of Ajayi.
But then again, so did Dolphins head coach Adam Gase, who was the driving force behind Miami sending the mercurial tailback to the Eagles for a 2008 fourth-round pick.
And coincidentally, or not, the Dolphins’ struggling offense began to find its footing in the six games that followed Ajayi’s exit. Heading into today’s 1 p.m. kickoff, the Dolphins have scored 24 points a game in the After Ajayi portion of the 2017 season.
“I think that was just a good move for us,” said Gase, who built Miami’s offense around Ajayi’s power rushing, but had to alter the team’s approach when Dolphins began the 2017 season on pace to score the fewest points in franchise history.
“The good thing is we’re so bunkered down here [at tailback], we’re not really listening to what anybody else says. We’ve got a lot of confidence in that room. Those two [tailbacks] work extremely hard.”
Ajayi is averaging 7.0 yards per carry on his 44 attempts with the Eagles over the past five games. And considering the Eagles have already qualified for the postseason, don’t shed a tear for Ajayi.
On the flip side, the Dolphins are averaging 100 rushing yards a game in the six contests played without Ajayi. That’s a 23-yard improvement over games with Ajayi.
A couple of weeks ago Gase spoke about having a featured back, admitting that the Ajayi experience convinced him that he’s a tandem tailback kind of coach going forward.
Kenyan Drake has emerged as an up-and-coming talent, gaining 234 yards on 48 carries the past two games, where he’d had to serve as the featured back while Damien Williams’ shoulder injury heals.
Gase plans to go back to the tandem tailback approach when William is cleared to play, and there shouldn’t be much concern about that since Drake isn’t the only catalyst of the offense’s transformation.
The Dolphins have been cutting down on penalties, which often stalled drives, and are limiting turnovers lately. Miami has also gained early leads, which have allowed the defense to play more aggressively. And let us not forget that the defense has scored two touchdowns, and two safeties during the past three games.
“I think we are playing real good team football right now. Whenever our offense is playing good, our defense is playing good,” said center Mike Pouncey. “I think that just rolls over into everyone looking like we’re clicking right now. Obviously we’re clicking at the right time of the season.”
If the Dolphins keep winning Miami can enter the AFC wild-card conversation.
The Bills hold one of two AFC wild-card playoff spots. The other spot is held by the Tennessee Titans (8-5).
Miami is one game behind Buffalo but would also have to hurdle the Baltimore Ravens (7-6) and the Los Angeles Chargers (7-6), and the Oakland Raiders (6-7) would need to stumble.
Miami and Buffalo have yet to play each other this season but will battle twice over the final three weeks of the regular season. A Dec. 24 road game against Kansas City is sandwiched between today’s game and Miami’s Dec. 31 regular-season finale against the Bills, which will be a home game.
If the Dolphins win all three games, and finish the season with a five-game winning streak, Miami won’t be a lock for a postseason berth. But a strong finish, and back-to-back winning seasons, should help ease some of the growing pains Miami experienced this season.
“There’s three games left and we’ve got a big one coming up,” said Jay Cutler, who owns a 6-5 record as Miami’s starting quarterback this season. “This league is about consistency. I think we talked about it in here. You’ve got to be consistent. We’ve got to have another effort like we had last week.”
Williams (shoulder/illness) and safety Michael Thomas (knee) did not travel to Buffalo, and will not play in Sunday’s game against the Bills.