Alright, the countdown has reached three, as the Dolphins and Chiefs are roughly 72 hours away from kickoff in South Florida.
If you follow me, you know I think Miami wins this game. I love this matchup for the Dolphins as much as I hated the Buffalo one. Hint.. that was a lot.
I think Miami has the better unit in all three aspects of the game. I think their defense is better, their pass rush is better, their offense is better (on paper, at least), and their receiving core is better.
Think about it.. who would you rather, Miami's receivers or Kansas City's receiver?
Miami's defensive line or Kansas City's?
Miami's secondary or Kansas City's?
Ryan Tannehill or Alex Smith? Okay, this one's a toss up because these two are secretly twin brothers.
My point is this, when picking a game, and deciding whether it's a good matchup or not, look at the two teams in question and ask yourself: Who would you rather have?
Right now, it's almost a clean sweep across the board in favor of the Dolphins.
On that note, let's delve a lithe further into a couple specific matchups I believe Miami MUST expose on Sunday in order to make me look really smart and win the football game.
Number one has got to be the Chiefs secondary. It's just not very good, folks. In-fact, through two games this group ranks 19th in league in passing yards per game with 240.
Between Sean Smith (yes, that Sean Smith), Eric Berry (who's listed as questionable), Husain Abdullah (who's also banged up), and Marcus Cooper (who?), Miami should be able to dominate through the air on Sunday. Look for Bill Lazor's new look, up-tempo, big play offense to finally take flight this week.
The second machup that should have fans drooling is the Miami pass rush against a Kansas City offensive line that has given up six sacks through the first two games.
In short, this unit really, really misses some guy named Branden Albert.
They've been decimated by injuries (LG Jeff Allen is on IR), suspensions (RG Donald Stephenson is serving a four-gamer) and inexperience- only one starter remains from last January's playoff loss.
That one starter? Eric Fisher, who ranks 63rd out of 66 left tackles. By comparison, Branden Albert, the guy they let Miami take, ranks, um.. oh yeah, first.
Between Cam Wake, Randy Starks, Jared Odrick, and Olivier Vernon, Alex Smith could and should be in for a long, long day on Sunday.
If the Dolphins can expose and dominate these two areas, expect them to get back on the winning track on Sunday. If they don't, then it could be another long day for the Fins.
And worse yet, it'll be a missed opportunity.
Miami could, and should, win this football game.
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