The Dolphins really are in the thick of the playoff hunt! Can you believe it?! BUT, Miami MUST take care of business and win out… and then see how the rest of it plays out. Still, considering how bad things were this is great news. Their first win will be a tough one in New Orleans. The Saints are coming off a very impressive shut out road victory against the defending Super Bowl Champs and are also fighting for their playoff lives as well. This is essentially a playoff game for both teams since anything less would likely kill both team’s playoff aspirations.
Taysom Hill would have been a tough matchup for Miami because they still have problems with dual threat QBs. But, he was hit with Covid along with Trevor Siemian and neither will be available. It will be interesting to see if Miami can script up a real good defensive game plan involving a lot of pressure to destroy the rookie Ian Book while still containing Kamara. If we shut down Kamara, then the chances are very high of shutting down the Saints offense.
On offense, Miami will have their hands full because they aren’t taking on the Jets defense this week. Instead, the Dolphins are facing a very good Saints defense that just shut out Tom Brady and the highest scoring offense in the league! For starters, they should stick with Duke Johnson and see if he can provide another spark in the running game. I don’t expect Duke to have as much success as he did against the Jets, but at least let’s keep the Saints defense honest.
Tua will have to be smart… turnovers could sink the game and season
For Tua it’s probably going to have to be a lot of dink and dunk and just avoiding the negative plays. He will at least get back his go to target in Waddle, which should help out the overall offense. Then it’s just protecting the football and getting the ball out fast to avoid sacks. At ALL costs he can’t throw dumb interceptions in a game like this.
The various sportsbook software providers opened the line at +3.5 on the Dolphins and it is currently at – 2.5. It moved that much because Hill was put on the COVID list at the last second. This has all the makings to be a dog fight with both teams doing whatever it takes to get the victory to keep their playoff hopes alive! It will be a great game for Prime Time!
It’s never easy playing in the ‘Big Easy’, especially on Monday Night. So, if the Dolphins win this game, they will have earned it Taysom Hill or not. And, if they do win, they may very well go on to earn a lot more!
