4 keys of the game the Miami Dolphins need to do to beat the Titans

Alas, we’re here. We’re finally at the Miami Dolphins game that we’ve had circled all the way since Monday night. PSYCHE! I think most of us had this game circled no later than when Taysom Hill was ruled out for the game on Monday night, which is around Wednesday of last week.

Others have had this game on their radar due to who the quarterback that the Tennessee Titans employ. I’m not going to tell you you’re wrong for whatever your chief motivation is for Sunday’s game. I mean, your only thoughts should be that if the Dolphins win it means they, most likely, have a date with the New England Patriots that will decide their postseason fate. If the biggest aspect of the game against the Titans is to see Ryan Tannehill fail, well, I hope he does but it’s far from the most important part of the game.

Before I keep going, Happy New Year. I hope your holidays have been everything you thought they could be. I’m writing this article at 5:30 PM on New Years Day and let me just say, this article is brought to you by Sam Adams Wicked Hazy IPA and Susquehanna Brewing Company Strawberries and Cream.

Ryan Tannehill provided us with much frustration and I understand wanting to stick it to him. The truth is me and mostly everyone else wanted him to get better every year when he was drafted with the 8th overall pick back in 2012. He only marginally got better over each year and eventually, after seven years, we wanted him gone. That’s it.

That’s the story of Tannehill in Miami. I mean there’s more than can be said such as Adam Gase thought he was a drop-back passer when he clearly is and was a quarterback that is dependent on deception such as play-action. But I don’t feel like getting into the ups and downs of the Tannehill era.

I can’t wait for the game tomorrow. I have all my supplies ready such as a taco station that I will be annihilating tomorrow. I’m in two fantasy football championships and the Miami Dolphins have a great chance to shut up the Chris Simms’, Jeff Saturdays, and Colin Cowherds of the world who think the Dolphins seven-game win streak doesn’t mean anything due to who they played.

The Tennessee Titans are thought of as a legit team and with good reason they are. They’re currently the #2 seed in the AFC and have mostly weathered the storm that is not having Derrick Henry. Henry got injured in week eight and the Titans, predictably, have been up and down. They won their last game against a surging 49ers team.

They will be the best team the Dolphins will face during this ascension from basement dweller to the land of “in the hunt” status to actually being the 7th seed in the playoffs. I realize we say that every week and guess what? If the Dolphins win on Sunday, we most definitely will be saying it for next Sunday’s contest against the Patriots. Deal with that.

The Dolphins have a good thing going with their injury report.

If you were wondering about the status of Brandon Jones, here you go.

The Dolphins are pretty much at full strength and I think they’re going to need everyone to defeat the Titans. Having Brandon Jones available is huge. Eric Rowe would do a fine job and Miami has shown they will put Nik Needham back at safety if they have too and that has also worked. But we all know that Brandon Jones is playing like Jamal Adams should be playing or is it that Jamal Adams isn’t playing like Brandon Jones? Not sure on that one. The point is, having Brandin Jones available means the Dolphins could run their high-flying defense they want to without any replacements.

And that’s how the Dolphins will win. By playing the style of defense that we’ve been accustomed to seeing every Sunday for the last two months, the Dolphins can take out anybody. I realize that Tannehill to AJ Brown is a real thing that the Dolphins have to gameplan for that. But, if the Dolphins come ready to play and the offense doesn’t do anything outlandish, the Miami Dolphins will have every opportunity to beat the Titans and have their magic number set to one. To do that there are a few things I think they need to do. Let’s get at it.