Miami Dolphins starters look good against Ravens back-ups
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins played their starters last night in their third pre-season game. The Baltimore Ravens did not.
Traditionally the third Miami Dolphins pre-season game is the “dress-rehearsal” for the for the start of the season. Starters tend to play two maybe even three-quarters as they will all most likely sit in pre-season week four. Unfortunately for the Dolphins, the Ravens opted to sit their starters.
When a team lines up with their starting units and the opposing team is opting to sit most of their starters, it is hard to judge exactly what you are seeing on the field. Last night there was no Joe Flacco on offense and no Terrell Suggs on defense. The Dolphins were pretty much playing against some starters and some back-ups.
While the Dolphins looked decent in the first half, finally scoring a touchdown with the first team unit, the slow start for Ryan Tannehill picked up in late in the first quarter and the defensive front played well. As did the secondary.
The question is was this because they are advancing together or because the stars for the Ravens were sitting on the bench? A combination of both is likely.
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Miami will open their 2018 season in two weeks at home against the Tennessee Titans before traveling to New York to face the Jets. The Dolphins must get a fast start to the season if they are going to hope for a run at the post-season. Their schedule is harder on the back-end.
On Saturday there were promising signs. Tannehill took a couple of hits and jumped up fine. Kenyan Drake ran with conviction and caught a deep pass from Tannehill that was perfectly thrown.
Defensively the edge rushers for the Dolphins are going to make big impacts this year. Cameron Wake looked strong and Robert Quinn looks as though he is going to lead the team in sacks this year. He has three in two weeks.
Overall the first team units shook off some rust and played well. Two weeks of practice remain before the season starts and there is work still left to be done.