Predicting the 2018 Miami Dolphins season week by week
Week 5: @ Cincinnati Bengals
This is a sneaky tough game in my opinion. The Bengals have a brutal schedule to start the season, and could be 1-3 coming into this game. However, I think they’ll keep games vs. Baltimore, AT Carolina and AT Atlanta closer than people think.
Weapons such as AJ Green, Joe Mixon and Jon Ross should scare a defense and Andy Dalton is an above average quarterback who had a down season last year. Plus, Cincinnati is back at home after two straight road games against top-tier teams.
It’ll be a dog fight, but I think Miami falls just short.
Prediction: Bengals 30-24 (3-2)
Week 6: vs. Chicago Bears
The Bears come off their bye week so they will have two weeks to prepare for the Dolphins, and the addition of Mack makes their pass rush scary.
Chicago rebuilt their offense in the offseason, giving Mitch Trubisky a new arsenal of weapons such as Allen Robinson, Trey Burton and Dion Sims. Plus, Jordan Howard returns after rushing for over 1,000 yards and nine TD’s.
But the Dolphins will be back at home and coming off two straight losses, and I think they will be motivated to prove to everyone it’s not just another mediocre season. Also, I just don’t quite trust Trubisky yet.
Prediction: Dolphins 30-20 (4-2)
Week 7: vs. Lions
For the first time all season, the Dolphins get to play back-to-back games in Hard Rock Stadium. Yet, once again the opponent, Detroit, is coming off a bye week and has two weeks to prepare.
You can pretty much throw all history out the window here as well. These two teams haven’t met since 2014 and Matt Patricia takes the reigns this season.
I still believe Matthew Stafford is one of the most underrated quarterbacks in the NFL, and he is coming off a season in which he threw for 4,446 yards, 29 TD’s and just 10 interceptions.
Despite all this, the Lions have to play AT San Francisco, New England, AT Dallas and Green Bay in four of their first five games. That has slow start written all over it, and the Lions have been a below average road team since 2012, going 20-28 in the last six years.
Prediction: Dolphins 28-27 (5-2)
Week 8: @ Houston Texans (Thursday night)
Do the Texans give any other Dolphins fans nightmares? They should because Miami is 1-7 against Houston all-time, and that one win was actually the last time the two teams met with Dan Campbell as head coach. So, the Texans were 7-0 against the Dolphins in the first seven games between the two teams.
Anyways, I hate everything about this game. It’s a short week, on the road, against a running quarterback who has all the makings of a star.
I love Deshaun Watson and he has all sorts of weapons around him that we won’t get into because I could write a whole article on this game. Plus, JJ Watt is back who leads the NFL in tackles for loss (136), fumble recoveries (13), and multi-sack games (21) since 2011 despite missing 24 games over that span, per @TexansPR via Twitter.
Prediction: Texans 34-14 (5-3)