The Dolphins have a huge game coming up this week against the Baltimore Ravens, a team that is also 7-5 and fighting for a playoff spot. Many football gambling fans are looking at this game as a pseudo playoff game, with the loser being at an extreme disadvantage in the head to head tiebreaker. The Ravens pass defense is ranked a dismal 31st in the league allowing 273.9 yards through the air per game, which means Ryan Tannehill has the opportunity to win this game by using his arm.
The Ravens’ pass defense has been shredded in the last 2 games allowing 775 passing yards and 6 touchdowns. They are also banged up with Jimmy Smith out for the rest of the season, and Lardarius Webb playing with constant back issues. This means they have been forced to rely on Anthony Levine at corner, who has not been having a smooth transition from the safety to corner back position. Philbin and Lazor must come up with a game plan that is going to attack the Ravens’ porous secondary. This is a game where they need to keep the ball in Tannehill’s hands.
Over the last 9 games Tannehill has had a QB rating over 100 in 5 of those contests, so it is clear that he is improving. Against the Ravens secondary, Tannehill will have the opportunity to make plays. Look for Jarvis Landry and Dion Sims to continue to get more targets, as they continue to develop more chemistry with Tannehill each week. Brian Hartline may be out for this game with a bruised knee, however in years past this would be a major loss, however this season Hartline has been an after thought in Miami’s passing attack, so this should make way for Rishard Matthews to get more playing time. Matthews has sparsely been used this season, however when he does see some action, he makes the most of it by catching 2 touchdowns and having 2 twenty plus yard receptions on a total of 9 receptions for this season.
There should be no reason why the Dolphins should not be able to nickel and dime their way down the field in the passing game against the Ravens. The key though will be for the offensive line to give Tannehill enough time to throw the ball. Baltimore has an outstanding pass rusher in Elvis Dumervil, who is currently tied for second in the league with 12.5 sacks this season, and another very good pass rusher in Terrell Suggs who has 7 sacks. Ja’Wuan James is going to have his hands full this game, along with the rest of the offensive line, but they need to give Tannehill time, because Tannehill has proven this year that when he does have time to throw he can be dangerous. The other key is that when Miami gets inside the redzone they need to score touchdowns like they did against Denver, not settle for field goals like they did against the Jets.
Tannehill has clearly made strides in the right direction this season, and in a big game like this against a below average pass defense, he has the chance to prove his worth and led the Dolphins to a much needed victory. I believe in Tannehill and I think as long as he is not running for his life, then he can make this a game where he can carry the team on his back to a victory. What does the rest of phins fans think of Tannehill being able to win this game for Miami?
I think it all sounds about right but Gibson not Mathews will be in for hartline, also the play action off of a good running attack by lamar miller should be the recipe for victory. and on the other side of the ball we need to stop forsette. the past 2 weeks on run defense wont get it done. also wake and Vernon and company putting pressure on flacco. PHINS UP AND GO CHARGERS HOW SWEET WOULD IT BE TO PLAY NEXT WEEK FOR THE DIVISION…
D must stop the run or even if we do get into the playoffs it won’t matter because
whatever team we face is going to run all over us and Tannyhill won’t have the ball for long enough to make a difference !
The thing is, Miami has usually been good against the run, it has only really been the last two games, so hopefully they can clean this issue up. Tackling needs to get better as well. A little extra focus on stopping the run and tackling this week in practice can make a world of difference.
The Run the last 2 games can be attributed to a couple of things, first: 1) Facing Manning and the Broncos the run was an after thought, Miami invited Denver to run and to Denvers credit they did and the game came down to one turn over or Miami’s game plan would have worked, 2) The Jets; well, going into their last drive the threw the ball 7 times at that point, thats right 7 times, and the Jets had the 4th best rushing attack in the NFL going into that game. So to just say doesn’t matter who we play in the playoffs is a ridiculous comment. Miami’s run defense is not as bad as it looked over the last 2 games, and it may have not been as good as it looked prior to those games, probably some where in the middle, which is good enough to beat any team in the NFL. Have you watched the season, already beat the PATS, last play off game lose to the Packers, and a turn over away from beating the Broncos,,,, the top 3 rated teams in the NFL by all. Miami can beat ANY team on any day any where.
I think it all sounds about right but Gibson not Mathews will be in for hartline, also the play action off of a good running attack by lamar miller should be the recipe for victory. and on the other side of the ball we need to stop forsette. the past 2 weeks on run defense wont get it done. also wake and Vernon and company putting pressure on flacco. PHINS UP AND GO CHARGERS HOW SWEET WOULD IT BE TO PLAY NEXT WEEK FOR THE DIVISION…
D must stop the run or even if we do get into the playoffs it won’t matter because
whatever team we face is going to run all over us and Tannyhill won’t have the ball for long enough to make a difference !
The thing is, Miami has usually been good against the run, it has only really been the last two games, so hopefully they can clean this issue up. Tackling needs to get better as well. A little extra focus on stopping the run and tackling this week in practice can make a world of difference.
The Run the last 2 games can be attributed to a couple of things, first: 1) Facing Manning and the Broncos the run was an after thought, Miami invited Denver to run and to Denvers credit they did and the game came down to one turn over or Miami’s game plan would have worked, 2) The Jets; well, going into their last drive the threw the ball 7 times at that point, thats right 7 times, and the Jets had the 4th best rushing attack in the NFL going into that game. So to just say doesn’t matter who we play in the playoffs is a ridiculous comment. Miami’s run defense is not as bad as it looked over the last 2 games, and it may have not been as good as it looked prior to those games, probably some where in the middle, which is good enough to beat any team in the NFL. Have you watched the season, already beat the PATS, last play off game lose to the Packers, and a turn over away from beating the Broncos,,,, the top 3 rated teams in the NFL by all. Miami can beat ANY team on any day any where.