By the Numbers: Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins have been playing football since 1966, and in their 58 seasons of action they have won two Super Bowls – VII (14-7 over Washington) and VIII (24-7 over Minnesota) and lost three others – Super Bowl VI (24-3 to Dallas), Super Bowl XVII (27-17 to Washington) and Super Bowl XIX (38-16 to San Francisco). The Dolphins are now 495-397-4 in the regular season and 20-22 in the playoffs and are currently experiencing the beginning of what could be a long run of success in the AFC East. Here is a look at the Dolphins by the numbers before Christmas Eve afternoon’s game against Dallas at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.
15 – The Dolphins have listed eight offensive players and seven defensive players as questionable for Sunday afternoon’s game with the Cowboys. The offensive players listed include four offensive linemen – left tackle Terron Armstead, center Liam Eichenberg, right guard Robert Hunt and right tackle Austin Jackson, as well as tight end Durham Smythe, running backs Raheem Mostert and De’Von Achane and wide receiver Tyreek Hill. Defensively, the Dolphins are hurting in the secondary, where five guys have landed on the injury report heading into Sunday, including three starters – cornerback Xavien Howard and safeties DeShon Elliott and Jevon Holland, and two vital backups in corners Kader Kohou and Cam Smith. Linebackers Andrew Van Ginkel and Emmanuel Ogbah are the other two defenders questionable for Sunday. The Cowboys have just five players questionable for Sunday – running back Rico Dowdle, left tackle Tyron Smith, right guard Zack Martin, defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins and safety Malik Hooker.
20 – Dolphins running back Raheem Mostert has a nose for the end zone. This season, he has scored 18 rushing touchdowns and another two receiving to lead the NFL with 20 touchdowns scored through 14 games played in 2023. His 120 points scored this season, has him tied for third on the NFL’s scoring list with San Francisco running back Christian McCaffrey and Baltimore kicker Justin Tucker. Mostert and friends are behind only Dallas kicker Brandon Aubrey (133 points) and Cleveland kicker Dustin Hopkins (121 points) and could easily move into first on the list with a big game against Dallas on Sunday afternoon. Mostert’s 18 rushing touchdowns this season is a Miami franchise record, passing the 16 that running back Ricky Williams had during a 16-game season in 2002.
94 – Now in his eighth season in Miami, cornerback Xavien Howard already leads the franchise in passes broken up with 94, which is 17 more than his closest competition on the list – Sam Madison, who had 77 pass break ups from 1997 to 2005 and Patrick Surtain, who also had 77 passes knocked away from 1998 to 2004. This season he has 11 in just 11 games played, which is still best on the team and just in front of fellow cornerback Kader Kohou, who has nine through 14 games. His 11 passes broken up has him tied for 15th this season with Philadelphia’s James Bradberry, Houston Steven Nelson, Buffalo’s Rasul Douglas, Tampa Bay’s Antoine Winfield Jr., Cleveland’s Greg Newsome II, Cincinnati’s Dax Hill and Cleveland’s Martin Emerson Jr. All of them are chasing San Francisco’s Charvarious Ward, who has 22 through 14 games this season. Howard also has 41 tackles, one tackle for loss and one interception.
274 – Hall of Fame coach Don Shula is still considered one of the best head coaches to ever walk the sidelines in the NFL. He did it for 26 years in Miami, where he racked up 257 regular season wins and another 17 wins in the postseason to place himself at the top of the franchise’s all-time win list by a head coach. No other coach in Dolphins history has more than 42 wins in the regular season (Dave Wannstedt, 2000-04) or more than two playoff victories (Jimmy Johnson, 1996-99) during their tenure as the boss in Miami. Only Todd Bowles, who went 2-1 in 2011 after the Dolphins fired Tony Sparano, has a higher winning percentage than Shula -- .667 to .659, in team history. Shula, who had another 73 wins as the coach of the Colts before coming to Miami, still leads the NFL in victories with 347, just in front of Bill Belichick (332), George Halas (324), Andy Reid (279) and Tom Landry (270).
1,542 – Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill is having the best receiving season in franchise history with 1,542 yards through 13 games this season. He is on pace, if he plays in the Dolphins final three games, to finish the season with 1,898 yards and break his own single season franchise receiving record of 1,710 that he set last season. His current season is already second on that franchise list with Mark Clayton (1,389 yards in 1984), Jaylen Waddle (1,356 yards in 2022) and Mark Duper (1,313 yards in 1986) round out the team’s top 5 in yards receiving in a single season. Hill also owns the franchise record for most receptions in a single season with the 119 he caught in 2022. Through 13 games this season he has 97 catches, which puts him on pace to tie his single season record if he plays in the final three games of the season.
3,921 – Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is having an All-Pro type of season in Miami. The fourth-year signal caller has thrown for nearly 4,000 yards in 14 games this season and is on pace to finish the season with 4,761 yards passing and that would jump him to second on the franchise’s all-time single season yards passing list, just behind Dan Marino (5,084 yards in 1984) and just in front of second, third and fourth place seasons by Marino (4,746 yards in 1986; 4,453 yards in 1994; and 4,434 yards in 1988). Tagovailoa’s 2022 season, where he threw for 3,548 yards, is good enough for just 17th on the Dolphins’ single season passing list, while his 2021 season of 2,653 yards is 29th on the list. Tagovailoa played in just 13 games in both those seasons because of injury.