Miami Dolphins: 3 Panthers players to plan for ahead of Sunday

Cam Newton

This would be a much more frightening matchup if it weren’t for the Dolphins’ defensive performance against the Ravens a couple of Thursdays ago. Miami has had their struggles with mobile quarterbacks dating back through previous regimes, but they did an outstanding job of limiting the explosive Lamar Jackson to just 39 rushing yards on 9 attempts.

The Dolphins faced off against Cam Newton twice last season during his time with New England. He ran for 75 yards on a season-high 15 attempts in the first matchup of the season, an obvious exploitation of Miami’s inability to contain the edges. The Dolphins will host Newton and the Panthers this coming Sunday, in what should be another good test for the defense. The Carolina quarterback has looked comfortable back in his old home, putting up somewhat efficient numbers in his first start of the season last week, including 10 rushes for 64 yards.

The Dolphins’ defense has been bringing plenty of pressure off of the edge in recent games, and it will be up to the blitzing secondary and edge rushers to contain the corners of the line of scrimmage. Rookie linebacker Jaelan Phillips has been coming in to his own lately, and he could prove to be an important piece for Miami’s defense on Sunday afternoon.