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After a promising 3-0 start, the Dolphins crashed down to Earth and finished the 2018 season at 7-9.
Part of the reason for the season collapse was how poor the offensive line was playing. In total the team allowed 52 sacks, tied for 5th most in all of the 2018 regular season. In terms of quarterback hits—which include sacks—the Dolphins allowed 38 QB hits in the first 8 weeks of the season before wrecking that number in weeks 9-16, allowing 65 QB hits.
Those 65 QB hits were the most allowed by any team in that stretch. For comparison, here’s the rest of the rankings.
CLE: 9
IND: 29
NO: 31
NE: 32
BAL: 33
CHI: 35
MIN: 38
PHI, TEN: 39
DEN: 40
NYG: 41
PIT: 46
BUF, CIN: 47
CAR, NYJ: 49
ARI: 52
JAX, LAR: 57
GB, KC, SEA: 58
ATL, DET, LAC, OAK: 59
HOU, TB: 60
DAL: 61
SF, WAS: 62
MIA: 65
The Browns’ number is amazing, as they are ahead of second place by 20 hits. Miami’s number is amazing for the wrong reasons, as the injuries surrounding the offense and the incompetence of Adam Gase’s clock management sealed the fate of the 2018 season.
In total, the Dolphins gave up 103 quarterback hits, the 10th most this season. Here’s the rest of the rankings.
NO: 53
CHI: 64
NE: 68
CLE, TEN: 70
BAL, PIT: 71
IND: 74
CIN: 75
NYJ: 76
CAR: 77
DET: 83
LAR: 89
LAC: 90
DEN: 94
OAK: 95
MIN: 97
SEA, WAS: 98
BUF: 99
NYG: 100
PHI: 102
MIA: 103
GB: 104
KC: 107
DAL: 108
ARI: 110
JAX: 112
ATL, TB: 113
SF: 124
HOU: 136
At this point, the Dolphins have to enter a rebuild. There’s a lot of holes to fix on this roster and offensive line is easily one of them.