MIAMI GARDENS -- The Miami Dolphins offense may not look familiar this season; a lot of the same pieces are in place from last season's NFL leader in total yards, but the process looks markedly different.
That's by design.
A team that was once reliant on explosive plays to a fault is now more focused on sustaining drives and wearing down opposing defenses. Despite rostering two of the most explosive receivers in the league in Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, the Dolphins have seemingly found a counter to opposing game plans that often sell out to limit big plays to the NFL's highest-paid receiver tandem.
Hill even foreshadowed this offensive evolution in August, when asked how the league's top offense could get better.
"For us, going back and just looking at all of it from a veteran standpoint, I feel like we have to be able to stay on the field," he said. "For us, it's either boom or bust. We're one of those teams that if we don't have the long ball, it's like, 'Ah hell, here's [going to be] a long game.' So for us having a target like (Odell Beckham, Jr.), having a guy like Jonnu Smith on our team that can help extend those drives, are going to be huge.
"I think just being able to extend drives, have those 12-play drives, have those 10-play drives versus having a five-play and under drive where it's like, 'Oh, he hits Waddle on a 75-yard post.' And it's like, 'Oh, strike up the band.' And it's like, 'Bruh, we can't do that every game unfortunately.'"
The Dolphins rank fifth in the league in plays per drive this season with 6.1, compared to 5.56 points per drive over the previous two seasons. That number is even better since quarterback Tua Tagovailoa returned from injured reserve in Week 8, at 6.89 plays per drive.
In that same span, they have also recorded the fewest three-and-outs in the league, doing so on just 2.9% of their drives, and are tied with the Kansas City Chiefs for the longest average time of possession per drive (3:34).
Perhaps the culmination of the Dolphins' offensive transformation came during a win over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 11.
Miami scored on eight of its nine drives against the Raiders, including scoring drives of 14, 16, 14 and 10 plays.
"I think last year we might have had three drives that were 14-plus plays the entire year," Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. "So it has been a focus of ours in anticipation of how guys were going to defend us and then as we've gone through the season, adjusting to how defenses have adjusted to us, and I think that's a lot of hours of practice, meeting room -- that's what comes to mind."
Smith, who signed with Miami this offseason as its new starting tight end, was particularly impactful against the Raiders. He turned in his best performance of the season with six catches for a career-high 101 yards and two touchdowns, including a 57-yard score to ice the game.
In just 10 games, Smith ranks second on the team with 448 receiving yards -- more than any other Dolphins player other than Hill or Waddle has recorded in a single season since McDaniel took over in 2022.
"We've had plans to implement him in the past within the offense, so be it, the defense doesn't allow for him to get as many catches as we would like for him," Tagovailoa said. "But it's been really cool to see his progression from the prime-time game we had against the Rams to now. Just being in the right spots.
"It's just a lot of the reps that we've gotten throughout training camp and leading up to this point. So all of this that everyone is seeing isn't new to our team, but now that he's being implemented more and getting the ball, going through the progressions, that's just what it is. He's a baller."
Tagovailoa led the NFL in passing yards last season; he's unlikely to do so again in 2024 after missing four games but has played some of the most efficient football in the league since returning.
Since Week 8, Tagovailoa ranks fifth in Total QBR (73.5). His 5.28 yards per attempt ranks just 33rd, but it has led to a league-leading 77.7% completion rate in that span.
The big plays are down, as Miami has just 58 explosive plays this season after finishing last season with 124, but it's a byproduct of the team's new philosophy.
"I think what's been different with the quarterback play is now not trying to force things down the field if it's not there," Tagovailoa said after the Raiders game. "Taking the checkdowns, allowing our runners in space to go get first downs. Hopefully they can break a tackle and you can use that also as essentially a run play if you look at it in that sense. And we like our matchups with our guys in space, so that's what I would attest to today's performance for us offensively."
Miami converted just 36.2% of its third-down attempts in 2022, which improved to 42.1% last season, good for seventh in the NFL. The Dolphins are ninth in that category this season but are converting at a higher rate, 42.6%.
In what's becoming a theme for this team, that figure has also skyrocketed since Tagovailoa's return from injured reserve. The Dolphins are converting on a league-leading 60.4% of their third down attempts since Week 8, including 50% of their attempts on third-and-7 or longer.
Against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 10, Tagovailoa was spectacular on third down. He was responsible for all six of Miami's conversions on 11 attempts -- including completions on third-and-13 and third-and-19 for 36 and 25 yards.
Despite Miami finding its identity on offense, its efforts could be in vain. Tagovailoa's injury in Week 2 cratered the Dolphins offensive production and even his return did not prevent a 2-6 start to the season.
Even after their current two-game winning streak, the Dolphins remain 4.5 games behind the AFC East-leading Buffalo Bills, although they're only 1.5 games behind the Denver Broncos for the AFC final playoff seed.
With a winnable matchup this week against the New England Patriots, and Tagovailoa healthy, Dolphins players are confident there is still time to right the ship.
"Best in the world. You've got the best quarterback in the world," Smith said. "Makes things a lot easier for everybody else. And those guys that came in during that time when he was down, they did a great job and helped us as much as they could and showed a lot of grit and a lot of selflessness. We are happy to have those guys, but (Tagovailoa) is who he is for a reason. We're excited to have him back and excited we're back where we need to be."