Terron may play this week! If not…
The Miami Dolphins are entering a critical, 6-game stretch in their push to the playoffs… and beyond. Just days away from facing a tough San Francisco 49ers team on the road, amazing news has surfaced through Cameron Wolfe and Mike McDaniel a few days ago and confirmed in the Friday practice report that Terron Armstead may play this week. This is shocking considering Armstead suffered a strained pectoral muscle last week. Not only is this a testament to Armstead’s leadership but is also desperately needed because Austin Jackson will miss this week, and Greg Little is the only one left to man the position.
Little starting puts a big hit on Miami’s chances of winning, if Armstead doesn’t make a return.
Terron is a giant upgrade over Little
When you look over the match up of Little vs Bosa, it’s clear Armstead will be the hero this week if he can make an appearance and stabilize the offensive line against one the best defenses in the league. But, while we know how good Terron is and has been for the Phins, let’s take a look at the matchup of Little vs. Bosa to understand how big his presence or absence will be.
Little vs Bosa
- Greg Little: 27 pressures total, 17 hurries, 6 hits, and 4 sacks allowed in 232 snaps over 6 starts and a few fill in snaps. He has a PFF run blocking grade of 44.8, which is team worst.
- Nick Bosa: 55 total pressures, 27 hurries, 17 hits, and 11 sacks and has a run defense PFF grade of 86.5.
Doesn’t take the best football software to know this is a mismatch of mismatches.
Terron Armstead practiced in a limited fashion on Friday… will he play though? I don’t know the chances of further injury or reduced chances of injury if rested, but I do know I’d rather have him rest if that means more of a chance of him finishing the season. I also know that Armstead playing or not is a critical factor in us winning this game or not.
I’ll leave those decisions up to Armstead and the Dolphins training staff… I just hope they are thinking long term and not short term.
In the end, while Little doesn’t give us a big chance to beat the 49ers, Tua and Terron are need for the long haul and I hope that’s the goal first and foremost. While 9-3 sounds great, it will be disaster if either Tua or Terron ends up injured and misses the more critical games coming against conference and division rivals. Go Phins!!!