Analysis
12/9/21
3 min read
Miami Dolphins Quietly Climbing in Week 14 Discipline Index
Even with the Seahawks’ upset of the San Francisco 49ers, an undisciplined performance by Seattle pushed them down a spot, propelling the idle Green Bay Packers back to the top of the 33rd Team’s Discipline Index. Will the Packers be able to continue their disciplined brand of football coming off of a bye week, or will the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals catch up to Green Bay?
Here is how the top-10 of the Discipline Index looks heading into Week 14:
As a reminder, The 33rd Team’s Discipline Index combines the number of penalties, penalty yardage and turnovers on a per-game basis in order to show which teams are able to play the most mistake-free football in any given week.
Despite the Packers taking over the top spot in the Discipline Index, it is a more under-the-radar team from the AFC East who is quietly climbing up our rankings: the Miami Dolphins. Brian Flores and company are currently on a five-game winning streak that has seen them play a much more disciplined brand of football. In this stretch, the Dolphins are averaging 5.8 penalties per game, 44.4 penalty yards per game, and 1.4 turnovers per game. Furthermore, in the past two games, the Dolphins have only committed 8 penalties for 50 yards.
While four of the five teams the Dolphins have beaten in this stretch have records under .500, this is still an impressive feat considering that the Dolphins had such a poor start to the year. In Week 13, the Dolphins capped off a great stretch of disciplined football in a 20-9 victory over the New York Giants where the 'Phins committed only 3 penalties for 15 yards and had zero turnovers. Their disciplined play in Week 13 helped the Dolphins to be one of our highest risers in the Discipline Index by rising five spots to no. 17 in the rankings. With a tough stretch of games coming up, it is important that Miami continues to play this way in order to continue their ascent to a potential playoff spot. The Dolphins will be idle in Week 14, but they will have a chance to extend their win streak to six games against the New York Jets in Week 15.
A bonus team for this week is the Detroit Lions who were finally able to get their first win of the season against the Minnesota Vikings. Part of the reason for this win was the Lions’ ability to not make self-inflicting plays. While Detroit still had two turnovers on the game, they only committed three penalties for 11 yards. This allowed them to rise two spots in our Discipline Index rankings. The Lions will have another tough task in Week 14 as they take on the Denver Broncos who will have a bitter taste in their mouths after losing a pivotal game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday Night Football. If the Lions are able to not make self-inflicting plays once again, they could find themselves in a much better position than before.
Here is how the full Discipline Index looks heading into Week 14:
