Dolphins face pivotal game against Panthers

The Miami Dolphins didn’t play on Sunday but they got a look at how the rest of the AFC fared. With the season now entering the second half, playoff positioning now becomes more than just talk.

tonight’s game will not give the Dolphins any tie-breaker advantages unless the division comes down to like opponents but it is still a win/loss situation and Miami, with a win would move into the NFL’s sixth spot with a victory.

Currently that spot is held by the Buffalo Bills who are at 5-4. A win tonight would put Miami tied with the Bills at 5-4. Of course the playoffs don’t start next week but the Dolphins and Bills have yet to play a game against each other and they will have to wait until the final three weeks of the season.

Miami and Buffalo will face each other twice in a span of three weeks with the final game coming in week 17. As it looks now, the games could have playoff implications for both teams potentially.

To get there however the Dolphins need to start adding games to the win column. Last weeks loss to the Raiders hurt especially because for once the offense played a decent game. In fact Jay Cutler earned FedEx Air Player of the Week honors. He will need to have another game like that tonight.

The Dolphins schedule will get tougher in the coming weeks with Kansas City and Denver on the slate as well as two against the Bills and two against the Patriots. tonight’s game followed next week by the Tampa Bay make-up game are paramount to the Dolphins heading into that final stretch above .500.

The Panthers are not playing good football but they are a dangerous team and can get hot through the course of the game. Rookie running back Christian McCaffery is a strong runner but he excels in the passing game as a receiver. Cam Newton has been up and down this year but he tends to play much better in primetime games.

Defensively the Panthers are the number one ranked team in the NFL but Miami can exploit some of their weaknesses and to do that they will need to flip field position and run the ball effectively. The Panthers 6-3 record looks far better than the team has played as a whole this season. Their defense has kept them in games.

Jay Cutler will need to be near flawless tonight as the Panthers have the 4th ranked pass defense in the NFL.