Turn Up The Heat In New York

New York and Miami have had some sloppy games in the past.

New York will likely be a disaster in regards to field conditions due to weather.

The Miami Dolphins will be playing against the New York Jets on Saturday. The forecast for Saturday night is high 30’s with a 53% chance of precipitation. It will probably be a nasty combination of rain, sleet and snow. Luckily for Miami, they just played through a torrential downpour last week against the Arizona Cardinals, so they should be prepared for the upcoming elements due to the recent experience.

With the Dolphins offense missing their starting QB in Ryan Tannehill, combined with the weather, most pay per head sportsbook fans are predicting a slightly out of sync passing offense.

So, in order to win this crucial game, Miami is going to have to bring the heat. And I am not talking about bringing the South Florida sunshine up north with them. Miami needs to make a statement with their defense. Given that Bryce Petty had 6 sacks last week against the 49ers, Miami should approach that number this week.

New York playing with QB Petty are susceptible to pass rush.

While the offense maybe have uncertainty due to injury, on the defensive side of the ball, Miami appears to be getting back some injured players in Kiko Alonso, Jelani Jenkins and Xavien Howard. So there’s several factors promoting the defense to an excellent performance against the Jets.

And they just might have too have one for a Dolphins victory.

Adding to the Dolphins defensive advantages, the Jets may be without starting running back Matt Forte, who is a game time decision with a knee injury. Even if he does play, he won’t be 100%. I guess a fair retort by Jets fans could be, what player is 100% at this point of the season. But, the reality is, Forte will likely be far below 100% if he does play.

This would be good news for Miami, considering he gashed Miami for 92 yards on 12 carries for a 7.7 yards per carry and 1 touchdown last game. If he can’t play then Bilal Powell will get the nod, and he can be dangerous — although he lacks home-run speed. Last week, Powell ran the ball 29 times for 145 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 5.0 yards per carry against the 49ers. The Dolphins are going to have to focus on stopping the Jets running attack early and often. For me this is one of the biggest keys of the game, because if Miami can stop or at least limit the Jets running attack, then second year QB Bryce Petty will be forced to pick up the slack.

With New York is starting Bryce Petty who is raw and displays happy feet in the pocket.

Petty was a fourth round pick in the 2015 draft, and he will be making his 3^rd career start in the NFL. He has attempted 94 total passes in his short career, and has already been intercepted 4 times, and sacked 8 times, which shows that Petty can be easily rattled and forced into making bad decisions. If Miami can stuff the Jets running game, then Cameron Wake and the troops will have the opportunity to pin back their ears and tee off on Petty. This should lead to errant throws, sacks, fumbles, and three and outs.

Of course the circle comes full turn as the terrible field conditions will restrict player like Wake and Branch who rely on speed and hard cuts. But, this type of field will play into the hands of players such as Suh and Jordan Phillips who use power as the main recipe for their attack. So, it’s six of one, half a dozen of the other for Miami.

Bottom line is this is a game where the Dolphins Defense can really set the tone, put the entire team on its back, and propel Miami to victory. And a win this week would give Miami it’s first winning season since 2008 — and wouldn’t that be grand! Go Fins!!!