Fall is finally in the air here in week seven, as the Miami Dolphins and Chicago Bears are three hours away from kickoff in chilly Soldier Field.
Miami is 2-3, and coming off a heartbreaking loss last week that put Joe Philbin, Ryan Tannehill, and others under a huge microscope today. Can they respond? Can they make the RIGHT calls at the RIGHT time? Can they keep pace in the AFC East?
A lot of questions, a lot on the line today.
Here's how to win:
1. Change the narrative: I wrote about it yesterday, I've harped on it all year long. NO MORE SLOW STARTS. Get out of the gate fast, and don't fall behind. The defense needs a chance to pin their ears back early on with a lead, and if the offense doesn't change the narrative from the first five games it's going to be another long day.
2. Turning over a new leaf: Two, count em', two turnovers in the first half last week for your Miami Dolphins. That just doesn't work in this league, and it's really not going to work on the road against a potent offense. Limit them today. Create them today.
3. Spread the wealth: Again, I talked about this yesterday... When is Ryan Tannehill at his best? When he's throwing to Brian Hartline every other play, when he's finding Charles Clay, and when he's hitting Jarvis Landry over the middle. Yes, Mike Wallace is your playmaker, he's the guy everyone wants to see, but he's going to be covered closely today, folks. Time for this offense to expand, it'll do wonders for Tannehill.
4. David vs Goliath: Have you seen Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery? Have you seen Brent Grimes and Cortland Finnegan? Yeah, there's a bit of a size difference there. How does Miami counter this? Get to Jay Cutler, and get to him a lot. I wrote about this earlier this week, I believe the front seven has a chance to have a huge day against a below average defensive line, and if they are to win they're going to have to. Giving Jay Cutler and those monsters time to connect is a death sentence.
5. Pray: I don't have any smart, quick fixes here, so bear with me. Two guys really, really concern me today: Matt Forte, and Martellus Bennett. I don't know who, or how, Miami plans on covering these two, and I fear it could be a huge problem. The Dolphins struggle with covering TE's. They have for years now. Bennett is a monster of a player, and, somehow, between Koa Misi, Philip Wheeler, Jelani Jenkins, and others, this defense is going to have to find a way to stop him.
Forte is an equal, if not more concerning, problem. This defense struggles with fast, playmaking running backs. Especially ones that catch the ball all the time out of the back field. Forte fits both these categories, folks. My one suggestion... Pray.
PREDICTION
These teams are the jekyll and hyde's of their respective conferences. You just don't know what team you're going to get. However, I'm burned. I'm burned so badly after last weeks fiasco, and I don't think I can trust this team yet. I need to see some consistency first.
And, unfortunately, I don't see them finding it on the road, in hostile territory, against an offense like Chicago's.
But hey, I'm 1-4 this season in picking games. So this is probably the best thing for all of us.
Final: Bears 27 Dolphins 23
Alright, you know how it works. Come back before kickoff for the inactive list and any last minute news. THEN, make sure to come back during the game for the quarter by quarter blog, beginning after the first quarter.
2.5 hours.
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