The Miami Dolphins came into Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons absolutely reeling. Okay, let’s be honest, even after the Dolphins went to Atlanta and throttled a team starting a backup-but-not-really quarterback 34-10, they are still reeling at 2-6.
Yes, Tua Tagovailoa was 20-26 passing for 205 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions despite a pre-game eye issue, but it was head coach Mike McDaniel’s unique offensive line formations that may have stolen the show.
Specifically, McDaniel employed six offensive linemen on the field at once in a new “jumbo” package with center Daniel Brunskill.
“Utilization of your roster, we had a couple injuries that we saw the opportunity to dive into some of the things that Dan (Brunskill) has done,” McDaniel said after the game. “Knowing him from all the way back to his 2019 San Francisco (season), I know what type of professional he is, and his versatility. We had some injuries at the (tight end) position so it gave us the opportunity to do something that…having not done that one time since I’ve been here, that they wouldn’t be preparing for it. So it’s a credit to him.”
Miami Dolphins used Brunskill as more than just an ordinary offensive lineman
Kyle Crabbs of A-to-Z Sports did a good job of breaking down how the whole Brunskill experiment went down.
“Brunskill, who played with McDaniel in San Francisco, didn’t just line up and plow bodies off the line of scrimmage, either,” Crabbs writes. “The Dolphins were so bold as to give him motions and in-space assignments across his plays in this game.
“Among reps with Brunskill in the game as an eligible player, Miami posted gains of 17 yards, 18 yards, 18 yards, and also logged gains of 21 yards and 15 yards via penalties.”
It sounds like McDaniel should have thought of something like this a long time ago.
Brunskill’s versatility was key to making the formation work for the Miami Dolphins
Something was going right for the Dolphins on Sunday because there weren’t many people that thought they had a chance to win this game outright, let alone crush the Falcons by 24 points. The Falcons were seven-point favorites for crying out loud!
But, with the help of the six-offensive-linemen formations, the Dolphins managed to rack up 338 total yards, with 197 through the air and 141 on the ground. They were 6/13 on third downs and managed 24 first downs on the day.
McDaniel was eager to heap praise on Brunskill.
“Offensive linemen, typically in the segmentation of the offensive play call, don’t even listen to the formation at all…so for him to, in a week’s time, be able to digest the play calls, and the assignments, and the alignments? It takes a special breed, that’s why I think that’s his sixth position in the league, that he’s started at,” McDaniel said.
The Dolphins have a short week as they host the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime this week. Maybe the fact that it’s on Mischief Night will help them? I have no idea why, but I think the Dolphins need all the help they can get. Maybe next week they use seven offensive linemen?
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