Sunday, September 30, 2012
Week 4 Preview: Dolphins @ Cardinals
7:55 AM | Posted by
Phins 2 Phins
After coming off a devastating loss against the Jets on week 3, the Dolphins head out 3,000 miles west to face the undefeated Arizona Cardinals, add to that the fact that their star player Reggie Bush is lised as questionable and you now have Tannehill facing the toughest challenge of his professional career thus far. I don't know about you, but I am excited to see just how this game plays out because I do believe we can take this one.
It all comes down to the defense, both teams have a solid defense (Arizona is currently ranked at #2), and have had average play at the QB position. I expect our front seven to shut down their running game, something they've been doing all season long and which should be an easier task this week given the injuries that the Cardinals have in the backfield (B. Wells is in IR and they have injuries at TE and FB) this would make the Cardinals offense one-dimensional and put it all in the hands of Kolb who is a backup and whom I expect our secondary to shut down. I want to see how far Sean Smith has come when he's covering a true #1 receiver such as Larry Fitzgerald.
With Bush out, the load of the carries would go to Thomas with Miller playing a complimentary role, which means the pressure really would all be on Tannehill who would likely have to rely on his passing game more heavily. This is the same exact situation he found himsle fin last week after Bush went out and despite that one INT early in the third quarter, he found a way to bounce back. This week however he goes into the game with a gameplan, and Bush finds himself listed as questionable. If Bush was to suit up, this would increase the rookie QBs options and may just give him the confidence he needs to beat this Cardinals team even if Bush only had a small number of carries.
I'm excited to see this one play out... It's a reach but I'm saying Dolohins 17 Cardinals 13 in a game that's close until late in the fourth quarter.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Week 3 Dolphins v Jets
Well call me a coach and put me on the sidelines since my
game plan for last week was executed completely and to perfection. This Sunday’s
game, which is suspected to be a wet one, will be against a much tougher opponent
but the rewards for pulling off a win are significantly bigger. First of all,
the winner will be at the top of the AFC East, and who really predicted the
Dolphins would ever find themselves there? Talk about a confident booster for a
young team from whom people around the league have little to no expectations at
all.
Most importantly however, a victory this Sunday gives all
loyal dolfans the chance to walk up to any obnoxious Jets fan and tell them to
suck it, and I can’t think of anything better than that. The fans wouldn’t be
the only ones walking away with bragging rights though, the players also get to
walk away from a game in which they beat their former coach, and while Sparano
may have been loved in the locker room prior to departing, you know the players
he coached would love to walk up to him at the end knowing that they were the
better ones on Sunday.
The keys to winning the game this Sunday are simple really,
run the ball on offense with enough passing to open up lanes for Reggie and
Miller, and make them one dimensional on defense forcing them to throw the ball
in uncomfortable situations. The tricky part in defense this week will be
defending the so called “Tebow package” which is really just a fancy name for
we’re going to run the wildcat on the team that re-introduced it to the league!
I mean we should be able to defend something we have been practicing longer
than anyone else and a gimmick which we perfected before the clown who mocked
us tried to make it his own. I think Sparano prepared the Tebow package just for
this game but I also think the Dolphins are prepared for Tebow, after the
number he ran on us last year when he came in to town and singlehandedly won a game
in the fourth quarter. I also believe that after Rex’s outburst this week when
confronted about his starting QB situation, his pride may get the better of him
and put him in a position where Sanchez, once again plays longer than he should
just to prove a point.
Regardless of what the situation with that dysfunctional team
that’s coming into town is, it’s important to remember that we win this game by
playing our game and having them adjust theirs, stop their gimmicky plays once
or twice and limit their third down conversions like we did last week and
surely they will implode but that’s not enough, we also have to be sharp on
offense and make our own QB mobile and comfortable, don’t force him to pay
visits to Revis island but don’t discourage him from it if he feels he gets a
good look. We need to trust our QB and our QB needs to trust his line and
playmakers so the chemistry that we are seeing continues to develop, this will
be a true test to the team’s ability and cohesiveness and I really do believe
that we will be the ones that come out on top this weekend.
Score predictions: Dolphins 17 Jets 9 (I mean it is field
goal Sparano, lol)
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Week 2 Dolphins v Raiders Preview
In this Sunday's home opening game against the Raiders the Dolphins will pay homage to the 1972 team in honor of the 40 year anniversary of their still unmatched undefeated season. Fans attending the game will receive a throwback hat commemorating the event, but as big of an honor as attending this event is, there are other things us fans expect to see this Sunday from what is the first real test of where this team stands in term of of competitiveness in the league this year.
The Raiders are traveling 3000+ miles, changing time zones and missing key components in their offense so loosing is definitely not an option for them, not only do they have the better match up going into the game but starting the season at 0-2 heading into the Jets game next week is just not an option.
Here are some of the things I look forward to seeing this game: first of all I expect to see Reggie Bush carrying the load off the back field with both rushing and receiving yards, I'm also hoping Miller can step up and fill the void left by Thomas who has been ruled out for the game (he's a third round pick and thus I'm expecting him to perform at a high level, otherwise, Ireland opposers will have some more ammunition to attack his character going forward).
I also expect to see more mobility from Tannehill, after throwing 3 INTs in last weeks game against the Texans, I would think adjustments have been made; introducing a 5-7 step drop would be helpful in terms of buying him time, as it was that short 3 step drop that allowed the Texans to get to him several times last game.
The offensive line also needs to step up their protection, I am not interested in playing the blame game, tipped passes are both the QBs and o-lines fault, it's not like the o-line doesn't realize they have a rookie under center, he might make some mistakes but we need to be more aggressive in coverage when he does, we can't allow all tipped passes, regardless of culpability to all go the other way.
I'm also looking forward to Brian Hartline being put more to use during the game, he came into play several times late into the last game and seemed to be pretty effective despite having had missed most of the offseason's mini camps and training camp. If he's to be our # 1 WR going forward then we need to start exploring and building that bond between him and the QB.
On the defensive side of the ball I expect to see more of what I saw last week, we were very effective stoppingt he run, which will be important considering most of the Raiders offense will likely come from McFadden since the team has injuries at the WR position. The secondary needs to remain tight however, we need them to step up their coverages little bit more, something that should be considerably easier to do this week.
Finally, I expect to see more stamina from the team as a whole, we can't go into the 4th quarter with the tank running close to empty, the weather conditions in South Florida should make it so that we can outlast every other team so I hope conditioning played an important role during practice this week; I mean we all know how long a football game is, and I expect to see the same level of play from start to finish.
Game score prediction: Dolphins 24 - Raiders 10
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