Dolphins vs Patriots: Five Things To Watch For
The 2014 season is finally here. After what seemed to be the longest off-season ever the regular season is at last, upon us. The Miami Dolphins face a tough task in week one, as they’ll be opening up against the New England Patriots, who are riding a 10 game opening day winning streak. Here are 5 things you should watch out for on Sunday:
- Offensive Line Play
- Bill Lazor’s Play Calling
- Running Game
- Linebackers
- Ryan Tannehill
The offensive line seems to have improved vastly in pass blocking, based on preseason stats(Four sacks, only one given up by the starting offensive line). Rookie right tackle Ja’Wuan James, along with free agent acquisitions LT Branden Albert, LG Daryn Colledge, RG Shelley Smith and C Samson Satele have brought much needed stability to the offensive line. However, this unit’s ability to create lanes for the running game is still an unknown. They had one good rushing game in exhibition play, against the Dallas Cowboys in the dress rehearsal game, who had the worst defense in the NFL last season.
New Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator hopes to bring a faced past offense that will put up points on the board t0 an offense that was very stale last season. He seems to be very QB friendly, as well as a stern and demanding coach. But can he call plays effectively ? Remember, Lazor was a QB coach in Philadelphia, not a coordinator. This will be his first game as an offensive coordinator on the professional level, and the game plan he comes up with to attack New England’s defense should be monitored very closely.
The Dolphins hope to have a two headed rushing attack this year in Lamar Miller and Knowshon Moreno. If the line can create holes, they can be a formidable duo. Miller was built for this offense as he has the speed to get on the outside, whereas Moreno has great vision to run inside and find holes. If they can run the ball effectively, that would take a huge load off QB Ryan Tannehill this season, as well as improve an 24th ranked rushing attack in 2013.
Whenever someone mentions any Miami Dolphins linebacker, a wave of questions, uncertainty and doubt flood their mind, and for good reason. An already mediocre linebacker unit will be heading into Sunday’s game without Phillip Wheeler, who’s out with a thumb injury. With that, backups Jason Trusnik, Jelani Jenkins, and Chris McCain will be asked to step up in Wheeler’s absence. Tom Brady loves to attack the middle of the field, and with TE Rob Gronkowski making a return, things are looking bleak for the Dolphins at linebacker.
Ryan Tannehill goes into Sunday’s game with the weight of an entire NFL franchise on his shoulders. This has to be the year Tannehill develops into a top 15 QB at least. He has all of the necessary tools to be very successful in this league. His performance on Sunday should give us a little sneak peek of things to come, good or bad.