This upcoming weekend the Dolphins have to travel up to mile high and play the Denver Broncos and Payton Manning. On a side note, it would have been very nice to have won the Manning free agent sweep stakes 3 years ago, which would have meant that Miami would be the perennial Super Bowl contender and the Broncos would be a team looking for an identity.
Denver is coming off its third defeat of the season, and most sports gambling fans would say it was their worst defeat this season, because the offense was completely handcuffed by the St. Louis defense the entire game. Manning was held to throwing only 1 touchdown, which ended a 15 game consecutive streak of throwing at least 2 touchdown passes. He threw for 389 yards, but the key was the Rams kept him out of the end zone. In addition they put a heavy rush on Manning all day, which caused him to throw 2 interceptions and get sacked 2 times.
If the Dolphins want to have any chance to beat Denver, then they are going to have to study that Rams tape very thoroughly, because they need to play the same way on defense. I believe that the Dolphins have the talent and the coaching capability to get the job done, but this is obviously not going to be an easy task. Denver is struggling to find the right offensive line combinations, so Miami’s defensive line, must strike early and often and not give Manning time to pick them apart like the carcass of a dead animal lying in the desert. The defense needs to be extremely physical against the Broncos offense, and prove why they are ranked as one of the best defenses in the league. If they want to be the best then they have to beat the best, and there is no arguing that the Broncos offense is one of the best offenses in the league.
One silver lining for the Dolphins is that the Broncos got hit pretty hard with the injury bug against the Rams. They lost three players in the Rams game that could not return to the game, those were Julius Thomas, Montee Ball and Emmanuel Sanders. Thomas suffered an ankle injury to the same ankle which side-lined him for the previous game, and there is a chance that he may not be able to play against Miami. Sanders suffered a concussion in the game, so he will need to pass all the necessary medical tests if he hopes to be active against Miami. Ball aggravated his groin, which was the same injury that kept him out the previous 5 games. So there is a chance that the Broncos may be missing a few key starters on offense. The Broncos have other players that have the capability to step up, however there is a chance for a little rust in the chemistry between Manning and whoever may fill in for these injured players.