I bear in mind the parallel sport in opposition to Houston earlier this millennium.
No, not the 2007 sport the place the Miami Dolphins quarterback du jour, Trent Green, went to make a block and was knocked out so utterly he was really loud night breathing on the sphere.
Nor was it Ryan Tannehill’s first NFL begin in 2012 the place six passes had been blocked on the line of scrimmage and the massive query was about some mechanical defect.
I’ve chosen to overlook rather a lot in regards to the Dolphins the previous twenty years.
Some video games come again to me anyway.
I can’t overlook the 2003 assembly in opposition to Houston the place Dolphins gamers had been so stuffed with themselves they taunted some lowly Houston gamers upon coming into the stadium about having a “three-hour practice.”
That got here out afterward, in regards to the time Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt debated if the sport cracked his record of 5 worst defeats.
That Dolphins had been favored by 14 factors that day, their largest margin of the previous three a long time, relationship to a 15-point unfold in opposition to New England in 1992.
They’re favored by 13 1/2 factors Sunday.
“No game is more lopsided this week,” reads one Las Vegas tout sheet.
The tabloid New York Times really wonders with three highway video games coming subsequent whether or not the Dolphins will, “rest key players if they get out to a big lead.”
Here’s the place some may assume such speak ought to be doused as jinx-worthy and overflowing with overconfidence. Forget that. Bring it on. Handling expectations are the subsequent progressive stage for a profitable group — and so they’ve dealt with them simply advantageous so far.
The Dolphins (7-3) are favored on full advantage, too. They’ve scored greater than 30 factors in three consecutive video games — the one group to take action this season. They maintain groups to fifteen.4 factors at house (and a whopping 32.8 on the highway to underline the significance of a home-field playoff benefit).
Houston is 1-8-1, too. It has two fewer wins than every other group. Its offense ranks final in yards gained and its protection ranks thirtieth in yards allowed. Complementary soccer?
Houston additionally has a 79.8 probability of getting the primary decide within the 203 NFL draft, in accordance with analytic websites. Perhaps to make sure that it’s changing quarterback Davis Mills on Sunday with Kyle Allen, who hasn’t thrown a move this season.
So right here’s one other Sunday to measure simply how far the Dolphins have come since September. They’re not simply anticipated to beat a lesser group just like the earlier 4 Sundays in opposition to Pittsburgh, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland (mixed file: 13-29).
They’re now anticipated to drub the worst of them, Houston. Coach Mike McDaniel hasn’t a lot as addressed that together with his group, because the mission assertion hasn’t modified.
“We’re trying to progress and get better as a team each week, and you do that through very good prep and detailed prep for an opponent,” he mentioned. “But who we’re playing doesn’t matter. What matters is that we continue getting better at what we do and try to win football games in the process.”
Everywhere the Dolphins look ought to inform them of Sunday’s significance. New England (6-5) and the New York Jets (6-4) abruptly are sinking. Buffalo (8-3) escaped Detroit on Thanksgiving Day with a chinny-chin-chin win.
Then there’s the schedule. After Sunday, the calendar turns to December and the schedule turns chilly. At San Francisco (6-4). At the Los Angeles Chargers (5-5). At Buffalo.
There’s just one dropping group forward the remainder of the best way for the Dolphins after Sunday. That’s 4-7 Green Bay. You nonetheless get somewhat “queasy,“ as Joe Philbin as soon as mentioned, seeing Green Bay on the schedule, proper?
So that is most likely it for the Dolphins: Their final simple sport of the season. Houston is the place the Dolphins had been final yr, desirous to lose as a corporation and easy methods to tank for the No. 1 decide.
You exchange quarterbacks.
You put in a profession backup who hasn’t thrown a move all yr.
You make sure that 13 1/2 level unfold, the Dolphins’ largest in twenty years, won’t be large enough. Sure, they misplaced to Houston that parallel time in 2003 earlier than that “three-hour practice.”
Sunday isn’t a follow. It counts. And it ought to finish the Dolphins stretch of 5 dropping groups with one other assertion of how far they’ve come.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com