5 things to watch from Miami Dolphins on Sunday

The Miami Dolphins will kick-off their 2nd game of the season shortly after 4:00 eastern. It’s a game that they are supposed to win but is it a game that they will? If they do will it be a well rounded game or will it be sloppy like last weeks victory over the Washington Redskins?

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The Dolphins walked out of Washington with a victory but fans can agree that the game was a little short of opening expectations. While Ryan Tannehill finished the game with a greater than 93% rating, he also had several passes that should have been intercepted. The running game was stagnant for almost the entire first half and the new receiver corp was unimpressive. That left a lot of questions that needed to be answered.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Dolphins gave up over 160 yards rushing. The total goes completely against what the Dolphins set out to alleviate during the off-season. After a 2014 crash in run defense, the Dolphins needed to fix the problems but if last Sunday was any indication, those worries were not put to rest. While the defensive line played a role in allowing those yards, the linebackers too were a big issue as well.

Then of course there was the cornerbacks who gave up, time and again, first downs on third down thanks to broken coverages. While the Jaguars don’t pose the same threat they are formidable in the sense that they have no expectations heading into the season. The Jaguars are young and growing into a team. They have talent but that talent hasn’t been on the field long enough to build quality chemistry.

This week the Dolphins need to realize that they were lucky last Sunday. No matter how you put it, the Dolphins very easily could have lost that game due to the way they played and this week could put them in a similar position if they can’t get their play to meet their own expectations. Will they come out and play angry, determined, or will they look ahead to a Buffalo Bills team that looked far better in week one than many expected?

Answers won’t come until kick-off but here are five things that the Dolphins need to improve on in order to not only win this game but to ready themselves for a tough road ahead.