Miami Dolphins Vs. Jacksonville Jaguars: Individual Expectations

Dec 9, 2012; San Francisco, CA, USA; Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill (17) looks for an open receiver against the San Francisco 49ers during the first quarter at Candlestick Park. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

This Sunday the Miami Dolphins(5-8) welcome the Jacksonville Jaguars(2-11) to Sun Life Stadium for a Florida battle. The Jacksonville Jaguars have looked terrible this season. Second year Quarterback, Blaine Gabbert, is out for the remainder of the season, which honestly shouldn’t make Jaguars fans too upset. A big portion of the problems for Jacksonville has been on Gabbert’s shoulders. The rest of the problems have been on the lack of effectiveness, and injuries, with star Running Back Maurice Jones-Drew(MJD), and overall poor performance on defense.

With Gabbert out for the season, former Dolphins QB, Chad Henne, has been the starter for the Jaguars.  Surprisingly Henne has played well considering the team he has around him. The offensive line is mediocre, first round draft pick WR Justin Blackmon, hasn’t lived up to his expectations, and MJD hasn’t performed well after holding out during the off-season. To add to that, the defense is absolutely terrible.  They are 29th in points allowed with 27.6 per game, and 31st in total yards allowed with 394.5 yards per game.

This game has no playoff implications, so this game is more or less an opportunity for Dolphins Rookie QB, Ryan Tannehill, to get more playing time and potentially having a big game. Plus it’s for a little bit of bragging rights for two of the three Florida Teams.

Here is my top five individual expectations list for this Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars:

1. Ryan Tannehill(Quarterback)- With the Jaguars having such a poor defense I expect Ryan Tannehill to have a big game. This game has the potential to be Tannehill’s best performance of the season.  I’ll be watching to see how he performs against this secondary.

2. Dolphins Offensive Line- Even with the Jaguars poor defense, the offensive line will have to show up. With LT Jake Long out for the season the O-Line is getting thin.  They haven’t performed well all season, but they should be able to give Tannehill time to throw the ball this week.  Can they give Tannehill the time he needs to throw the ball?  We’ll see.

3. Cameron Wake(Defensive End)- Cameron Wake had a good game last week recording 3 sacks including a forced fumble.  So far this season he has 14 sacks and continues to be the Dolphins top pass rusher.  I’ll be watching to see how many sacks he will get on QB Chad Henne.

4. Sean Smith(Cornerback)- Sean Smith will most likely be covering WR Justin Blackmon. Since Chad Henne became the starter, Blackmon has improved.  With his speed and big body Smith will have to bring his “A” game.  Smith has underperformed after starting the season looking promising.  Will he finally get back on track this week?

5. Reshad Jones(Safety)- Reshad Jones has played well this season.  He especially played well against the New England Patriots with recording an interception and sack on star QB, Tom Brady.  Playing against a former teammate, and a poor offense, I expect Jones to have another good game.  If there will be any big plays in the secondary defense you can almost bet Reshad Jones will be around.

Those are my top five individual expectations for this weeks game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Do you have a top five individual expectations list?