It's gameday here at the Dolphinsider, as the Fins and 49ers are about three hours away from kickoff out in San Francisco. Until then, take a look at what I think are five keys to a Dolphins win today, plus, my prediction. Enjoy.
1. Contain Colin Kaepernick. I wrote about this earlier this week, and it's pretty simple, when the Fins play mobile QB's, they have not done well this season. Andrew Luck, Jake Locker, Russell Wilson and Ryan Fitzpatrick all had success against the Dolphins defense because they all make plays with their legs. Today will be no different with Kaepernick. The Fins must contain him if they hope to win.
2. Ryan Tannehill must be accurate. Last week we saw the bad side of Tannehill, as his accuracy was off for a good part of the afternoon. That led to missed opportunities all over the place, especially on that first quarter overthrow to Brian Hartline that would have been a sure fire TD. Tannehill cannot afford to miss opportunities today, not against this 49ers defense, because he may only get one or two.
3. Make a special play on special teams. Surprisingly, this was the downfall of the Dolphins last week, with the muffed snap by P Brandon Field, and the roughing the kicker by Jimmy Wilson. Today, the Fins are going to need a spark in this area, especially because I don't see the offense scoring a lot of points. Whether it's a blocked punt, a kick return for TD, or even a surprise onside kick, the Fins must look for a big play today from their special teams.
4. Run Reggie, Run. This will be asking a lot, especially given that the 49ers rank 3rd at stopping the run, but if the Fins are to pull of this upset, it will be crucial that Reggie Bush make some big plays on the ground. He's been looking better the last couple weeks, and could take a big load of Ryan Tannehill's shoulders if he can open up some passing lanes by running the ball effectively.
5. Make the plays on the "money down." This is what players refer to third downs as in this league, the "money down." Why? Because this is the most crucial play of every series, and this is where these guys make the big bucks, both offensively and defensively. The Fins, specifically Ryan Tannehill, have been terrible this season on this down, as he's thrown only one TD and six INT's. He must find a way to correct this today, because you can only have so many three and outs until the game gets out of hand. Defensively, it's pretty simple, GET OFF THE FIELD!
PREDICTION
I'm teetering on picking the upset here, because this is the kind of game the Dolphins like. What do I mean by that? I mean that this will be the most physical game of the year for the Fins, and that's playing into their strengths. They love these type of games, it's the other games, the finesse, speed type of games that they tend to lose. But not the physical ones, because, say what you want about them, these Dolphins do not get pushed around. However, it's still a road game against an angry 49ers team, and as much as that scares me, just imagine Ryan Tannehill back there without his pro bowl LT... YIKES
Final: Dolphins 14 49ers 24
Remember to check back in right before kickoff for any last minute news, including the inactives.
And, as always, follow the live blog throughout the game.
Until then, GO FINS!
No comments:
Post a Comment