Id rather see NE beat SD and get them at 5 losses. On paper we re mathematically capable of winning the east. Reality is, we're much more likely to get in as a WC. So im rooting for NE to tale care of business and beat SD.
You never know which Ravens team will show up on the road. Their backs are against the wall...maybe they play great, maybe they fall flat. I thought they played really well against San Diego, but Rivers just made ridiculous plays all over the place against pressure. Baltimore's pass-rush is fierce from both sides: Suggs, Doom, Ngata pushing up the middle. Really good front 4, as has been mentioned. I think it's important to get ahead or keep it close so those guys on the edge can't just pin their ears back. Ravens secondary, though, is dinged up and quite vulnerable. Their safety play has been especially weak. They can be had over the top, particularly deep-middle. Offensively they're streaky as hell. Flacco's hard to figure out, but I feel really good about Grimes on Torrey Smith down that right sideline where Joe likes to hit him. Losing Pitta was big - Daniels is a fine player, but not a game-changer imo like Pitta was from an athletic standpoint. Hopefully Steve Smith stays quiet, which he has been recently. Bottom line: Baltimore probably has the best OLine - DLine combo in the League. Gonna be a hell of a trench battle all game, and it'll probably decide the game.
their front line is any more of terror than Buffalo or Detroit. agree that our Oline has to play well, but it's more about Lazor scheming to compensate for the lack of protection. hopefully we can run the ball. I expect we will at home
Parody runs rampant in the NFL. Any given Sunday, but next week is going to be very tough. Getting pressure and, especially, stopping Forsett will be a big challenge. Also, at this point, it becomes about attrition. We have some OL issues, but this team does not seem to fold like in the past. They've made some great adjustments and pulled through. Just have to hope.
Man Rick, with you every week it is something negative...Man sit back and relax and enjoy the ride..this team has spunk and we just might take out the Patriots..you do realize how close we are to have winning the last 3 against them..take away a few terrible calls. If San Diego beats the Pats next week which they can do an we beat the Ravens then we are going to Foxborough with a chance to whip them and head home in 1st place in the AFC East..Stranger things have happened....Come on Dolfans...WE CAN DO THIS !
A healthy Cortland Finnegan will go a long way towards fixing our run defense too... Our injuries in the secondaries have been forcing seriously conservative playcalling thus far.
Especially with Standfod at one corner. I think this where we are beginning to miss Solai .We need to put two guys to do his job and stop the run up the middle.
Sorry Rick, you are correct...We have to beat the Ravens...and if Chargers beat the Patriots as well, Then...........
Forsett is having a huge year. Ravens will probably employ a Jets type strategy, but with them you can never sleep on that Flacco long ball. Even if they run 7 straight times. it's tough not to respect the home run ball... which wasn't ever a threat against the Jest's. Jeez this is going to be a good test for the D. Can't wait for this game.
Ravens are 32nd in the league in passing yards allowed per game(274). I hope the O-line holds up long enough for Tannehill to try and exploit it.
not sure what it means on a wednesday but smith, brown, forsett and zuttah are not practicing today https://mobile.twitter.com/jeffzrebiecsun/status/540216366692073472 interested to see if any player will miss practice for us today or at least if a new face shows up on the report, practice will be at 4:15 today....that sucks
This game is going to come down to whether there is an offensive personality on the Dolphins who can make plays and inspire the offense enough to overcome the strength of the Ravens' defensive front, which has been a Dolphins nemesis with several opposing teams in 2014. Knowshon Moreno would've been a good candidate, but now it's going to have to be a combination of Tannehill and Landry in my opinion. If they don't get at least one person to rise to that occasion, I think we're looking at a loss here.
I would like to see ryan run for a few first downs when protection breaks down which it will early in the game..That can set a tone and allow for some hesitation to creep in the minds, then i'd like to see lazor move the pocket east and west early to keep the defense from having target practice and help out the shady protection. this is something that has not been utilized enough by both that I believe would help us tremendously..attack with the qb..
I liked the read-option inside run by Tannehill I saw against the Jets. Get Haloti Ngata thinking about that for a change. Some middle screens would also help.
Okay, that's true...we could win in Foxboro. However, the Pats have been playing much better since the last time we played them and it's in their house.
Ya they have...and they're coming off a loss, and they RARELY lose 2 in a row...good thing the Chargers have them this week... That being said...we play them well regardless.
a quarterback wearing 17 led us to victory over the ravens once before it can happen again..... http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-cant-miss-plays/09000d5d805248bb/WK-15-Can-t-Miss-Play-Camarillo-TD
Hope to see Finnegan and Clay. All about giving Tannehill enough time imo. Their secondary is meh. Could turn into a surprise rout ala San Diego. Watching tape of our offense must be a nauseating experience for the Ravens. Endless screens. Teams have been very close to picking them off. Meaning if our wide receivers have enough time for some double moves, game over imho.
Whoa, doggie! That is HUGE!!!!!!!!! http://thebiglead.com/2014/12/04/haloti-ngata-suspended-4-games-for-adderall/
A win in that game would be huge. Right now my mind is on Baltimore though. Lets stomp them and then worry.
There's a lot of doubt in this thread for a team that's favored by Vegas and the Odds to win the game. I guess that's why so many members on this forum are happy with 9-7 or worse because recent history has conditioned us to expect a loss. Maybe a win will help us realize this is not the same Dolphins but the old Dolphins. Personally, I don't like the way the team is preparing for this game. Yesterday was their first day of practice, and it was a "walk through" practice. I'm not sure what they're doing today, or what they're planning to generate offense, because I think it will come down to some wrinkles in our offensive game plan and blocking scheme. Can they get all that in place in two days practice?
Dolphins Points/Game 25.1 Ravens Points/Game 27.3 Dolphins Points Allowed/Game 19.3 Ravens Points Allowed/Game 20.2 I always like to look at these stats when predicting the scores of a game, I've only done it a few times and have been pretty close. This game is too close to call. Of course I will give us an advantage because I am a homer and this is a home game for the Dolphins. Plus Ngata being suspended is a big deal. Whether or not we can stop the run is a big question mark since we haven't been able to the past 2 games, this has to be a concern for our coaches and they must be working on a fix, I just don't see us having 3 bad run defense games in a row. On the other hand, one thing that has been consistent about our defense is our pass defense, we've been the #2 pass defense for a while, of course we haven't moved from there the past two weeks because Denver and the Jets ran all over us, but even before this run defense problem has occurred we have been solid all year on pass defense. With the belief that we will fix our run defense and our pass defense will continue to be good I am giving the Ravens offense less points than they are accustomed to. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Dolphins have 3 to 7 more points than I am about to give them, but I am going with the safe, more realistic prediction. The reason I wouldn't be surprised if we score 3 to 7 more points is because Ngata will not be playing, I think he has that much of an impact on a game. Dolphins 23 Ravens 17
We need an ex-Dolphin to publicly call out the D line like Shlereth (sp) did about the Broncos O line.
We've also faced much tougher defenses than they've faced all year, which makes those 25.1 points per game look pretty good.
Personally, I feel just being at home where the noise affects an offense more than a defense getting off the ball is going to help the run defense. Then, I don't think Kevin Coyle is going to try to protect his right cornerback as much this week by having the LBers and Safeties playing back so far to help. Bringing at least some of those guys up a bit will make a difference by attacking the running game rather than just having the opposing OL do all the dictating. Add to those two items the pride that's on the line for the DL members, and I think we'll see a much better run defense this weekend. Knock on wood.
I feel like we can move the ball on the Ravens. Tiatans and Steelers played significant number of spread looks and had success. Titans, having a rookie Qb who had trouble with fast decisions in spread, had less success than the Steelers with Ben and Brown. We are probably somewhere in between those two teams. Titans scored less than 20, Steelers scored 43 with a defensive turnover in the Ravens' field. We can likely hang 24-27 on them at home. I'm optimistic about more than 24 pts. It will be interesting to see how balanced we play and how our zone read matches up against the Ravens, who have two of the best inside LBers in the league and get off block extremely well--they are both probowlers imo. As far as our D, Ravens mix up playaction, loaded fronts, 3-step shotgun, 5-step and a hitch with spread, 3-step quick passes under center. They mix it up well. It's interesting that the Ravens are kind-of forcing spread passing game as well. I would say about 50% of their offense is from spread looks and Flacco is not doing as well as he is when goes to playaction or quick 3 step. I suppose because of his athleticism he needs to be able to step into a throw, or just quickly sling it. That bodes well for us. Ravens Oline is not good in pass pro, especially in spread looks when they lack loaded front. Flacco often drops to 5-step and a hitch , unless they go shot gun, and is often caught by DEs--the drop is not deep enough for Flacco to set, step in, and deliver. Pressure gets there too quickly. I feel like we have clear advantage at edges against Flacco and Ravens Oline on majority of passing downs, and the interior D should do well also. It will be interesting to see if Ravens keep the spread at the same number of snap considering our recent struggles against loaded fronts and the run game. I am optimistic about Coyle keeping them to 20.
