The Dolphins’ season is on life support, and most of their players are in the ICU, and to make matters worse they are going to face arguably the best team in the NFL on their home field. In addition most sports gambling fans would not believe this, but Miami has actually defeated the New England Patriots in their last two meetings, so defeating the Patriots for a third consecutive time would be a monumental feat, which no NFL team during the Brady and Belichick era can say they have ever accomplished.
To make the odds even worse for the Dolphins, they have so many injuries that this team is started to looking like a patched up home made quilt that is made of various scraps of material. The new list of injured players that are doubtful or definitely not playing this weekend are Koa Misi, Jelani Jenkins, and Louis Delmas. The Dolphins are going to have to plug these holes with players such as Jason Trusnik, Kelvin Sheppard, and Walt Aikens. You can bet that Belichick is going to have a unique game plan that is going to attack these Dolphin fill-ins.
The one positive spin is that these injuries will give other players the chance to step up and prove their worth. Jenkins was a player that was on the fringe of making the 53 man roster in the beginning of the season, and then when injuries decimated the Dolphins’ starting line-backing corps Jenkins got a chance to play. All he has done with his opportunity this season is lead the team in tackles with 99, (the second closet player has 62 tackles) 3.5 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles and has provided excellent coverage against opposing tight ends. Most sports gambling fans would agree that he has played better than Ellerbe and Wheeler did last season, and those were two expense contracts.
Every team in the NFL experiences injuries throughout a grueling 16 game season, so this is no different for the Dolphins. The next man up on the depth chart needs to be ready at any moment, and when their number is called they need to make the most of their opportunity. Look at the Patriots’ QB, a guy named Tom Brady, he was the back up to a quality Drew Bledsoe, and when his number was called he stepped in and all he has done is win 3 Super Bowls and cement himself as one of the best QB’s that has ever played the game.