The score can’t bring success for 2017, but continuity and health sure as heck does
A good night can help Miami have success in Week 1
The Miami Dolphins will be facing the Philadelphia Eagles in their 3rd Preseason game tonight at 7pm. Success in this game is as much about keeping the starters healthy as it is getting effective play from the starters, who’ll see extended playing time this week.
Since this is the last preseason game that the starting units will play, it’s the last time opportunity for the offensive and defensive teams to build cohesion, before the regular season game on September 10th.
But given that injuries have already pilled up and the cap is tight, the most important thing is that the Dolphins get through this game with minimal injuries.Yeah, injuries are a part of the game, but it’s important for the staff to hedge their bets at every turn to protect the players by making wise decisions on playing time…
…and for us fans to pray and hope for no whammies.
Even if Miami has a bumpy ride tonight, continuity can be built during the season and built quickly. No one wants a rough start to the season, but missing players for an extended period of time during the regular season would be worse. This is why health is the primary determiner of a successful night… unfortunately, that will take as much luck as skill.
Don Shula on success, “Luck favors the prepared”
So, here are the keys to successful tonight… at least as far as what can be controlled and is directly related to the skill of the staff and the players:
Jay Cutler will be the starting QB, and he will need every rep to continue to build chemistry with his offensive teammates and knock off rust. It will be a very big deal if he does well given he’s only been with this team for just over 2 weeks. If he’s rusty and there are some bumpy patches that’s to be expected. Injury and a disastrous night should be the only real concern.
The offensive line is the fuel that makes everything go. And the effectiveness and health of this unit is the key of keys for tonight. Can Jesse Davis have a third excellent game? Will Mike Pouncey and Ja’Wuan James make it through the game without injury?
This is the million dollar question.
Yes, there are other important components to watch for: Devon Gochaux continuing to succeed, Nat Allen finally playing in a game, Leonte Carroo making an impact, Charles Harris continuing to develop, Senorise Perry maybe stealing the 4th RB spot, Julius Thomas staying healthy and making an impact, Alterraun Verner taking that 3rd CB or Nickel spot, Cordrea Tankersley doing well on the fast track, and Bobby McCain moving from meh to making plays are among some of the most interesting story lines.
Tonight can affect the success of the 2017 Season
But none of these focus points are as critical to the success of the 2017 Season as the health and production of the starting Offensive Line.
And last, as far as the line goes for this game, most bookie website software have the Dolphins as the road underdog at +3.5. This indicates that the Dolphins are a slight underdog. And in this case where the starters are only playing a half or so, the Dolphins are being viewed as having slightly weaker depth than the Eagles. So, while many might want to stop watching in the 3rd and 4th quarter, there will be a lot to learn about who this 2017 Dolphins will be in ‘garbage time’. So keep your eyes glued till 00:00. What are the rest of the Miami Dolphins News fans thoughts about what you are looking to see from this third preseason game?
Considering the live hitting practices with the Eagles this week I don’t place as much emphasis on the “3rd preseason game” as you hear in the media. The main goal should be the final evaluations on several players (potential starters) and position battles, and also some game tempo rhythm for squads i.e. OL, QB, DB’s, those groups that need to execute in tandem.
Otherwise for me its 12-15 plays for the starters and out.
12-15 plays is about two successful drives… I’d say that would be it for Cutler and then Moore would get some reps with the 1st string. Pouncey needs to see if he can holds up… and it’s near 3 weeks till opening day. So a I see a bit more than you, but I don’t see it going into the 3rd. But yeah, final evals and some of those evals are about getting a bit of banging.
…everybody sucks at left guard …even the OTs got beat last night …only hope now is that they can find someone off the waiver wire …but there are a few teams ahead of them that need OL help as well …going to be a wild final cut night …I say at least 2, maybe 3, pickups get added to the final roster
…need help in the secondary …Brady will eat this defense alive if Burke can’t scheme better …Wentz consistently had receivers open …and they were able to run on us as well …just don’t see where the improvement is so far
…otoh, outside of the OL, the offense looked ready to go …and Ajayi looked good despite the OL …not impressed with Thomas though, his blocking sucked for the most part and he didn’t impress in the pass game either …Cutler definitely looked better than Moore
First 2 drives was Steen and he was avg. Davis came in and has a lesser game than Week 1 and 2, but overall I wouldn’t say he sucked. The Tackles on the other hand… Tunsil and James played pretty poorly. Both have missed time and James is injured. It is a real concern. Some of Tunsil’s PB and RB was terrible in spots. As far as G, Davis will likely be the starter till Urbik gets back and then by Week 8 Larsen might return. If Pouncey is healthy then the interior is good enough, but now the concern is the Tackles. Young hasn’t looked good and Smith had a performance that was a notch down and he isn’t ready for prime time.
The defense isn’t scheming at this point. They are just calling plays. Still Maxwell had a bad week. Still don’t see any actual press aside from the Cb’s playing up on the WR. Jones had a poor night and he looks like he’s still getting into form. LB’s looked good as did the line, minus Harris who continues to struggle. A big problem was that Allen had only played with this unit for a week. Brady will likely toast most secondaries… but I am a bit concerned. It will take Week 1 to see how and if Burke can scheme before I think this way or that.
Thomas sucked too, not impressed at all. Blocking sucks and his one TD he was almost late getting his head around on it.
…lmao mj …it hurts you to say it but both Steen and Davis sucked …you’ve just lowered your standards to the point if they don’t get knocked down on every play, they must be ok …i remember when we had a real LG, but he wasn’t PC enough for Philbust and we’ve hurt there ever since
…I’m about ready to call James out, he’s just not there and wasn’t much last year either …but we’re stuck with his 5th year option now …Tunsil is having problems but I’m hoping its more to do with the lost year at LG than anything real …that would be worse than losing Pouncy again
…Thomas is looking much more like his Jag play than his Bronco …that will definitely hurt Gase’s game if he can’t use the TE like he wants
…say what you want about the secondary but they have been burned badly in all 3 preseason games so far …hoping that Burke is an improvement at DC over Joseph but certainly not seeing it so far …if you read back, I posted serious doubts about Burke when Gase promoted him to maintain “consistency” …well he’s got that all right 🙁
…its preseason so you really cant tell yet …but so far, I’m not seeing this defense as being much better than last …we got new bodies but the jury is still out on the results …I’m certainly not seeing anything pointing to a top 10 defense …I think its looking more like praying for a top 20
…otoh, we do have some receivers that can get open and can get yac …and a QB who can hit them anywhere on the field …except his back …or a stretcher if the OL pb doesn’t improve
Considering the live hitting practices with the Eagles this week I don’t place as much emphasis on the “3rd preseason game” as you hear in the media. The main goal should be the final evaluations on several players (potential starters) and position battles, and also some game tempo rhythm for squads i.e. OL, QB, DB’s, those groups that need to execute in tandem.
Otherwise for me its 12-15 plays for the starters and out.
12-15 plays is about two successful drives… I’d say that would be it for Cutler and then Moore would get some reps with the 1st string. Pouncey needs to see if he can holds up… and it’s near 3 weeks till opening day. So a I see a bit more than you, but I don’t see it going into the 3rd. But yeah, final evals and some of those evals are about getting a bit of banging.
Shocked that Steen is starting at LG… he’s sucked so far at LG. Interesting.
…everybody sucks at left guard …even the OTs got beat last night …only hope now is that they can find someone off the waiver wire …but there are a few teams ahead of them that need OL help as well …going to be a wild final cut night …I say at least 2, maybe 3, pickups get added to the final roster
…need help in the secondary …Brady will eat this defense alive if Burke can’t scheme better …Wentz consistently had receivers open …and they were able to run on us as well …just don’t see where the improvement is so far
…otoh, outside of the OL, the offense looked ready to go …and Ajayi looked good despite the OL …not impressed with Thomas though, his blocking sucked for the most part and he didn’t impress in the pass game either …Cutler definitely looked better than Moore
First 2 drives was Steen and he was avg. Davis came in and has a lesser game than Week 1 and 2, but overall I wouldn’t say he sucked. The Tackles on the other hand… Tunsil and James played pretty poorly. Both have missed time and James is injured. It is a real concern. Some of Tunsil’s PB and RB was terrible in spots. As far as G, Davis will likely be the starter till Urbik gets back and then by Week 8 Larsen might return. If Pouncey is healthy then the interior is good enough, but now the concern is the Tackles. Young hasn’t looked good and Smith had a performance that was a notch down and he isn’t ready for prime time.
The defense isn’t scheming at this point. They are just calling plays. Still Maxwell had a bad week. Still don’t see any actual press aside from the Cb’s playing up on the WR. Jones had a poor night and he looks like he’s still getting into form. LB’s looked good as did the line, minus Harris who continues to struggle. A big problem was that Allen had only played with this unit for a week. Brady will likely toast most secondaries… but I am a bit concerned. It will take Week 1 to see how and if Burke can scheme before I think this way or that.
Thomas sucked too, not impressed at all. Blocking sucks and his one TD he was almost late getting his head around on it.
…lmao mj …it hurts you to say it but both Steen and Davis sucked …you’ve just lowered your standards to the point if they don’t get knocked down on every play, they must be ok …i remember when we had a real LG, but he wasn’t PC enough for Philbust and we’ve hurt there ever since
…I’m about ready to call James out, he’s just not there and wasn’t much last year either …but we’re stuck with his 5th year option now …Tunsil is having problems but I’m hoping its more to do with the lost year at LG than anything real …that would be worse than losing Pouncy again
…Thomas is looking much more like his Jag play than his Bronco …that will definitely hurt Gase’s game if he can’t use the TE like he wants
…say what you want about the secondary but they have been burned badly in all 3 preseason games so far …hoping that Burke is an improvement at DC over Joseph but certainly not seeing it so far …if you read back, I posted serious doubts about Burke when Gase promoted him to maintain “consistency” …well he’s got that all right 🙁
…its preseason so you really cant tell yet …but so far, I’m not seeing this defense as being much better than last …we got new bodies but the jury is still out on the results …I’m certainly not seeing anything pointing to a top 10 defense …I think its looking more like praying for a top 20
…otoh, we do have some receivers that can get open and can get yac …and a QB who can hit them anywhere on the field …except his back …or a stretcher if the OL pb doesn’t improve