Miami Dolphins week five preview shows a lot of work for Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins will travel for the second week in a row this weekend when they take on the Cincinnati Bengals in Southwestern Ohio.

It’s time to stop licking the wounds of the whoopin delivered by the New England Patriots, stop all the sky is fallen rhetoric, pick your heads up and regroup. It’s time to move forward and look at the next match up and week five brings another talented group, as the Miami Dolphins are set to visit the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Miami Dolphins are coming into this game a little banged up on both sides of the ball and have been very humbled. Riding high for three weeks after starting the season 3-0, last weekend’s so-called statement game and divisional showdown with the New England Patriots was a serious letdown, not only for the team but their fans as well. The Miami Dolphins look to get back on track and get a much-needed road victory at 1:00pm this Sunday at Paul Brown stadium.

The Miami Dolphins and the Cincinnati Bengals have met 22 times (including 1 postseason game). The Dolphins have walked away with 16 of those games in victory and lost the other 6. The last meeting was September 29^th in 2016 in Cincinnati’s house where the Bengals won 22-7 and their star wide out A.J. Green exploded for a 10 catch 173-yard performance.

The Dolphins will have to ask Xavien Howard to mask A.J. Green all day and try to keep him in check, especially after Cincinnati lost their stud tight end Tyler Eifert for the season, they will probable look to lean heavily on Green. Unfortunately, A.J. Green is not my biggest concern as Tyler Boyd has been a man on fire and is reaping the benefits of Green drawing all the attention. With the loss of Bobby McCain last weekend, the man covering Tyler Boyd will be McCain’s backup and he will have his hands full all day trying to stop him.

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The good news is the back-end of the Bengals defense appears to be vulnerable to the pass at all levels. If the offensive line of the Miami Dolphins can give Tannehill 3 seconds, the quick release works. Matt Ryan did this all game last weekend to help neutralize the pass rush of the Bengals and with the speed of the Dolphin receivers the quick passing game can do a lot of damage.

Ryan Tannehill will be looking to rebound after the tough loss on Sunday. Tannehill will need to be fast and accurate, especially over the middle. I’ve been preaching all year about the open receivers on the drag routes and thus far he hasn’t been throwing them, well I’m going to say it again, Danny Amendola and Albert Wilson will be open over the middle. Mike Gesicki can take over the game, but just hasn’t built the trust with Tannehill yet, and I still see too many mistakes with him in protection.

The “Red Rifle” Andy Dalton is looking to get back to the Pro Bowl this year and his stats reflect it so far. He must not be allowed to sit in the pocket untouched or he will pick the defense apart. He has tremendous accuracy when he is not rattled and has great vision of the field. The arm strength is very apparent, especially when speedster John Ross is streaking down the field on a go route. The Miami Dolphins safeties will be challenge quite a bit in this contest, so they better have their head on a swivel, and have eaten two bowls of Wheaties for breakfast.

One huge problem last week was the Dolphins receiver’s ability to break the bump at the line in press coverage and get open. The quick release doesn’t do any good if you can’t separate at the line. Be assured that the Bengal’s defensive coordinator Teryl Austin has studied the film of the Patriots game and is asking his secondary to follow suit.

"“You’re just as good as your last game. That’s what it’s all about. We took a big L. We all have to play better. Myself, I have to do better. I have to be there for Ryan (Tannehill) when he needs me. I have to get open faster and make plays down the field. I can’t allow a guy to intercept the ball on me. I have to block better on the outside, stretch to finish. I just have to play better.” Albert Wilson following the Patriots loss."

Both teams have fast and elusive running backs that can catch the ball well out of the backfield and the running back screens should be on display. The Miami Dolphins linebackers will need to be fundamentally sound and in position as the dump off pass needs to be covered. Kiko Alonzo should be able to keep the running game at bay with his great tackling and awareness. I like it when he is heavily involved, because he brings the nasty and his team rally’s around that.

The thin defensive front is going to need to apply pressure, but the ends must do a much better job tackling in the open field and setting the edge against Cincinnati’s talented running backs. The rotation is much smaller now, so the big guys will have to not gas out early and hopefully will be able to keep the intensity up throughout the entire game.

I was as upset as the rest of the fans following that debacle in Foxborough, but I’ll leave you with a quote from the coach that should get you back on the path and get you ready for this weeks match up.

"“We’re coming back to work Wednesday. They’re not going to cancel the season. We’re 3-1. We’re out of the first quarter. The thing is we have to reset 0-0. That’s why today is always the toughest because everybody is brutally honest and you’re going to have conflict and you’re going to have some back and forth. Guys, they put a lot into this game and the same thing with coaches. It’s an emotional game. Today is an emotional day. And then once you get past today, you move onto the next opponent. Tuesday you get ready. Then when you come Wednesday, guys reset, they go back to work and then you forget about the last week.” head coach Adam Gase."

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