The Miami Dolphins head north and look to avoid a Colts stampede
By Sean Moon
The Miami Dolphins head north and look to avoid a stampede by the Indianapolis Colts this Sunday at 1:00pm.
It’s time to get back into the swing of things Miami Dolphin fans, as the bye week comes to an end, and week twelve starts, the Miami Dolphins are on the cusp of the most important game of the season. This is the beginning of a six-week stretch that will decide very quickly if the Miami Dolphins are looking towards January or looking towards April.
Dating back to 1970, these two-storied franchises have played one another 73 times (including 2 post season games), with the Miami Dolphins winning the majority of those games. Miami holds a 47 – 26 overall advantage in the series , but the Colts are 5-1 in the last six match-ups.
Week 12 takes the (5-5) Miami Dolphins up north to visit the (5-5) Indianapolis Colts at Lucus Oil Stadium, home for some 63,000 screaming pumped up Colts fans. This is a very crucial game for both teams who have had their ups and downs this season, but both teams are in the mix to snag the final playoff spot.
The Dolphins come into this contest having lost their last game to the Green Bay Packers and are looking to hopefully get back in the win column and steer this team into playoff contention. With only six weeks left in the regular season every game from here on out is especially crucial, as there is a five team pile up for the last playoff spot in the AFC.
The Indianapolis Colts ride in to this match-up on a 4 game winning streak and are looking to keep their streak alive. Their quarterback Andrew Luck is starting to find his groove after missing considerable time due to injury, and is starting to show why he is considered one of the young studs at the QB position in the NFL.
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The biggest question for the Miami Dolphins this weekend will be, are they going to get their QB Ryan Tannehill back from injury. That would be a huge boost for a stagnant offense and would greatly increase their chance to stay in the win column throughout the remaining six games of the regular season. Realistically that is a long shot, even though this has been the targeted date since Tannehill hurt his shoulder in the October 7th game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Slow progress during rehab may have prolonged that comeback date, but the Miami Dolphins will likely wait and call that a game time decision.
The Miami Dolphins are going to need to establish a ground game in this contest and will need to heavily involve Kenyan Drake. Kenyan Drake has been a bit of a question mark recently in Dolphins games. I’m not sure if there is an undisclosed issue there with head coach Adam Gase or what, but his production has really suffered as of late. Kenyan Drake can shred this Indianapolis defense out of the backfield on those short screens that Adam Gase loves to call. Multiple teams have found success utilizing that against the Colts defense this season.
Frank Gore as always, will be in the game bull rushing forward, question is does Gase stick with the ground and pound throughout the game, which would help keep Andrew Luck and his offense on the sideline. The decimated wide receiver and tight end groups are going to have to really step it up this game and find ways to give who ever their QB is a chance down the field (Kenny Stills is the last man standing). They must shake the bump at the line and get open quickly, in hopes the QB has time to get rid of the ball.
The Miami Dolphins rotating offensive line should be able to give their QB a shot to make some plays, especially to the tight ends. A.J. Derby and Mike Gesicki should be able to have some success in this game, double tight end packages should allow a few things here. One, is this will help with some assistance for the offensive line and the running game and two, is it will allow the tight end to leak out for opportunities over the middle. That should help keep third and manageable situations as well.
The defense is going to have to play mistake free football. The cornerbacks, defensive ends and defensive tackles are all very thin at this point. The pass rush will most likely need to come from blitz packages, because you cannot let Andrew luck sit in a clean pocket and dissect your defense. The Miami Dolphin cornerbacks must keep wide out T.Y. Hilton and tight end Eric Ebron in check. Andrew Luck loves to find his tight end, and that guy can kill you all day over the middle. Eric Ebron comes in as Luck’s most targeted threat and with 9 touchdowns on the season he has a knack for finding the end zone. I assume that Xavien Howard will shadow T.Y. Hilton all afternoon and with Bobby McCain likely out due to concussion protocol, it looks like MinKah Fitzpatrick will move outside to be the number two cornerback.
Statistically, these two teams are very similar and evenly matched. They both have a speedy wide out, complimentary running backs and a decent defense. It should shake out to be a close contest, as there will be a lot riding on this game. The bye week should have helped the Dolphins heal up a bit (those who are left anyway) and helped the Dolphins team game plan for the Indianapolis Colts. This is a pivotal game of the season and this Miami Dolphins team does not want to be playing catch up with a tough schedule ahead, which includes a week 14 match up against the Patriots.