I know I've been pretty hard on our offensive line, telling everyone that will listen how bad I think they are and even telling some people who don't want to listen what I think. After doing a little homework on the subject now I'm more confused than ever. Here are the facts as we know them.
2011 Team Stats
Passing Yards
3425 total yards, or 215/game with a 60% completion percentage. We allowed 52 sacks in a 16 game season at a 10% sack rate for passes attempted.
Rushing Yards
1987 total yards, or 124/game with an average per attempt of 4.2 yards per carry.
Our Offense scored a total of 31 touchdowns in 2011, which was an average of 1.9 touchdowns per game. They also had an average yards-per-game of 339.
2012 Team Stats
Passing Yards
2690 total yards, or 224/game with a 58% completion percentage. We have allowed 25 sacks so far in our 12 games, which is a 6% sack rate for passes attempted.
Rushing Yards
1299 total yards, or 108 per game with an average per attempt of 4.0 per carry
Our offense so far in 12 games has scored 22 touchdowns for an average of 1.8 touchdowns per game with an average yards-per-game of 332.
Please keep in mind that this is only offensive touchdowns. It does not include defense or special teams.
As you can see the numbers are almost identical to last year except for the sacks are way down. I know that having a rookie QB is part of the reason that we haven't improved on some of these stats, and maybe the mobility of that QB is the reason that the sacks are down, but I would have to think that after investing a 2nd round draft pick in an offensive lineman that we should have made better gains than what we have.
Now, I'm not blaming Martin for the lack of production because, as I said, we have almost mirror stats as last year. But were we any good last year? Maybe, but just because we have the same stats doesn't mean that we weren't bad last year too. One glaring difference that we have right now is the difference in 100 yard rushing games. Last year we had a running back rush for over 100 yards five times, this year one time through 12 games. Is that the line's fault or the running back's fault?
So I will ask the question one more time.
IS OUR OFFENSIVE LINE AS BAD AS I THINK IT IS, OR ARE MY EYES DECEIVING ME?
Thanks for stopping by. I'm looking forward to someone giving me the correct answer.
Email me at todd@dolphinshout.com
