The Miami Dolphins will be playing football tonight as they kick-off their 2019 pre-season schedule in Miami against the Atlanta Falcons.
There are a lot of things to watch tonight in the Miami Dolphins pre-season kick-off but the best thing to watch is the team being back on the football field.
We know that Ryan Fitzpatrick is starting the game at quarterback but Josh Rosen is expected to see significant playing time. The game will wrap with Josh Ruddock taking the final reps of the game.
Quarterback will be one position everyone watches but it won’t be the only one and may not be the most important. The play of the offensive line has been horrible most of training camp. In fact, after only four days of camp, Brian Flores fired offensive line coach Pat Flaherty. Dave Guglielmo took over but their hasn’t been head and shoulder improvement.
Tonight the Dolphins offensive line will be under the micro-scope. Jesse Davis will start at right tackle and rookie Michael Dieter will start at left guard next to Laremy Tunsil. While the starters will play a little more than usual the depth on the Oline will get plenty of time to show what they can do. Entering the season, the offensive line could be the weakest unit on the football team.
If we express concern over the offensive line then we can dismiss whether the play of the running backs or wide-receivers will make a difference. It all depends on whether or not the offensive line can do their job. If they can’t no one is going to have a good day offensively.
On defense the front seven will get the microscope treatment. Can they generate a pass rush or get pressure on the quarterback? Can they stop the run? Will the linebacker rotation look more like a hodgepodge of players out of position or will start to see a Brian Flores type defense start to emerge?
Physicality is the key for the defense and is really what we need to focus our attention on. Flores wants a physically tough and abusive defense pre-season will be a good indication as to whether or not the team is trending that direction.
Overall tonight’s game is nothing more than an opportunity to get the players action against someone other than their teammates. There is no game planning as most is evaluation. There will be plenty to evaluate after tonight for certain.