The Miami Dolphins (5-3) journey to Chicago to play the Bears (3-5) at 1 p.m. Sunday in Week 9 of the season; listed below are some keys to the sport to observe for:
Dolphins being hunted as an alternative of the hunter
Some persons are mentioning the Dolphins and the Super Bowl in the identical breath. You know what which means. Teams are going to come back on the Dolphins even tougher now that they’ve made the trades to accumulate cross rusher Bradley Chubb and working again Jeff Wilson Jr. The Dolphins now have enormous expectations inside and out of doors of their locker room, and opponents at all times play a bit tougher to knock off these groups.
Look on the Dolphins taking down Buffalo earlier this season, Miami making an enormous comeback and gorgeous Baltimore, and the New York Jets beating the Dolphins. Opponents are going to be a contact extra targeted of their preparation for the Dolphins. Game plans will likely be slightly extra intricate. We’ll see if the Dolphins are able to deal with their new function within the NFL.
Pass rush
The Bears have given up a league-worst 31 sacks whereas the Dolphins’ 15 sacks are tied for twenty second. It’s not but recognized how a lot Chubb will play, however by some means the Dolphins have to get strain on Bears quarterback Justin Fields. The Bears, who’re twenty third in scoring at 19.4 factors per sport, have put factors on the board just lately with their 33-14 victory over New England two weeks in the past and a 49-29 loss to Dallas final Sunday. So you’ll be able to’t take it as a right you’ll hold them from scoring regardless of the actual fact they’re twenty eighth within the league in completion % (58.8%). Among cross rushers Jaelan Phillips, Melvin Ingram, Andrew Van Ginkel and others, the Dolphins should make life tough on Fields and the Bears cross safety bundle.
By the best way, on the again finish of the protection regulate the security alignment and utilization of gamers. Before security Brandon Jones went down with a season-ending knee damage, he performed down within the field for run help (he was the workforce’s main tackler) and blitz functions, and Jevon Holland was deep. Last Sunday Holland was down within the field extra typically, which isn’t his specialty, and undrafted rookie Verone McKinley III was deep. We’ll see the way it performs out this Sunday.
Run sport
Just because it’s not recognized how a lot Chubb will play, the identical is true for Wilson. The Dolphins, in idea, upgraded their run sport by buying Wilson from San Francisco and reuniting him with coach Mike McDaniel and working again Raheem Mostert. Wilson is aware of the outside-zone scheme utilized by McDaniel and the Dolphins so the transition must be comparatively easy.
The Dolphins are twenty eighth in speeding at 88.1 yards per sport though there’s hope as a result of they’ve rushed for greater than 100 yards in three of their previous 4 video games. Chicago is unhealthy at stopping the run. The Bears are second-to-last at 156 yards allowed per sport. Just as this “soft” a part of the schedule permits the Dolphins to remedy their total ills, the Bears sport ought to enable them to work on their run-game points.
Playing sensible
Penalties. That’s largely the wrongdoer right here. The Dolphins don’t have loads of blown coverages or different such absent-minded errors any longer. It’s the penalties which are the most important offender. The Dolphins are tied for fourth within the league in penalties (55) and ninth in penalty yards (416). They’re making life a lot more durable on themselves.
The pre-snap penalties equivalent to false begin and delay of sport can’t be tolerated. Penalties are going to occur, however coaches hate these pre-snap penalties as a result of they’re largely avoidable and present a scarcity of self-discipline. Let’s see if that will get corrected.
Tua’s decision-making
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has seemed an increasing number of like a franchise quarterback. The Chubb and Wilson trades, with the Chubb commerce sending away the Dolphins’ 2023 first-round decide, just about affirm the Dolphins are using with Tagovailoa. Now, Tagovailoa (12 touchdowns, three interceptions, 112.7 passer ranking) must proceed bettering.
He’s already proven enchancment in decision-making with regards to issues equivalent to wildly throwing the ball to keep away from a sack or having the knowledge to throw the ball away as an alternative of taking a sack. Tagovailoa had some questionable selections/throws in opposition to Pittsburgh, a sport he ought to have had three or 4 interceptions, however cleaned issues up within the win over Detroit. We’ll see if that pattern continues in opposition to Chicago, and the remainder of the season.
()
Source: www.bostonherald.com