"Need to Know: Five early thoughts on Redskins vs. Dolphins Rich Tandler Here is what you need to know on this Friday, September 4, one day before the Washington Redskins make their final cuts. Five early thoughts on Redskins vs. Dolphins The preseason is officially over and the next time the Redskins take the field it will count. Here are some thoughts on Redskins’ opponent for their opener, the Miami Dolphins —Remember the 2013, when Robert Griffin III was so bad he was deactivated for the last three games? Well, you could take his numbers from that year, project them over 16 games, throw them into Ryan Tannehill’s career, and you’d never know the difference. The reasons Griffin is benched and on the roster bubble and Tannehill just got an extension worth $96 million is that Tannehill has been durable, never missing a start, and he has improved in most major areas from year to year in each of his three seasons. He’s not a guy to be scared of necessarily but he is a competent NFL QB. —The line that will protect Tannehill is very much in flux. They likely will be starting a rookie right guard in Jamil Douglas, and may be without left tackle Brandon Albert, who is still recovering from a knee injury he suffered last November. With a shaky secondary the Redskins’ ability to get pressure on the passer will determine in large part how well they defend the pass. A shuffled Dolphins offensive line could help. —Welcome to the NFL, Brandon Scherff. You get to line up against Ndamukong Suh in your first official game. The fifth overall pick has struggled with his technique all summer and he will have to play well to keep Kirk Cousins upright. It seems likely that he will get some help from center Kory Lichtensteiger. At right tackle, Morgan Moses will have his hands full with left end Cameron Wake. —Like the Redskins, the Dolphins are kind of scrambling at safety. They lost Louis Delmas for the year earlier and the competition to replace him is ongoing. They could be like the Redskins in that if the pass rush doesn’t hit home the defensive backs will be vulnerable. Kirk Cousins has shown a good knack for being able to evade pressure in the pocket; if he can do it for four quarters on September 13 he could have a chance to make some plays. —This game offers the Redskins a chance to change the negative vibe that has surrounded the team in the past couple of weeks. With a win the Redskins would do a lot to push aside “I feel like I’m the best QB”, concussion clearance-then-reversal, “I just work here, man”, intern Instagram likes, QB controversy, the GM’s wife’s tweets, and whatever else might pop up between now and game time. The Dolphins will be favored by about a field goal but if Scot McCloughan’s work over the offseason has truly improved the team to a significant extent this is a winnable game for Washington."
[video=twitter;639827929959133184]https://twitter.com/Rich_TandlerCSN/status/639827929959133184[/video]
He must have forgotten that Brandon Scherff is lining up vs ndamukong suh in his first pro start. And Morgan Moses vs Cam Wake. That's cute. Get a stretcher....they may need it for cousins.
Why are Redskins fans taking us so lightly? Either they are delusional, don't know anything about us, or we're the ones who are crazy. Honestly, to me, anything less than a win with a 10 point difference in the scores will be disappointing.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but the one thing I think is that article is seriously underestimating our D-Line. Guess we will see come game day!
The line right now is 4 points in favor of the Dolphins.. so winning by double digits would be VERY surprising to oddsmakers. On a side note.. because of that Brady crap, NE is favored by a TD against the Steelers. Damn that judge.
If you do this and plug it into to ALMOST ALL NFL QB's early career stats you wouldn't know the difference. It's a really rare feat when a QB starts his career with top-notch stats. The one big difference between RG3 and Tannehill is that while one is regressing every year since coming into the league, the latter is making huge strides in that same time span.
Everyone is taking us lightly, a I like it....Underestimate all you want. Fact is the fins havent proven anything and coming off an 8-8 yr, people are going to disrespect the dolphins until they earn in. Personally, I think this is the year, the earn it. Bay area radio station i was listening to yesterday verbatim: "the AFCE is a joke, the dolphins have a worse qb than Colin Kap, no oline and Suh cant play every position. Brady and the Pats win that division by 3 or more games" No joke
Was discussing this the other day. The line was initially Dolphins -2.5 and at that spread I would have bet it huge. Now it's at Dolphins -3.5 and the game still hasn't quite gone up on the online books. At this point, I'd still take it but not sure I'd bet the farm on it.
You're correct but for the wrong reasons. Currently the Dolphins are 3.5 point favorites and so yes if they were on a neutral field they'd be 6.5 point favorites. However as 1.5 point favorites they wouldn't be favored by 7 on a neutral field. They'd be favored by 4.5.
Most have us around 12-16 in overall rankings, but some think much more highly of us. Take Fox Sports.. they have us at #7, so not everyone is taking us lightly: http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/power-rankings
I was referring to us being favored on a neutral field at this point, not at open. My reference to the opener was how much it's jumped up.
Depends on where you bet.. We're 4 point favorites here: https://www.sportsbook.ag/sbk/sportsbook4/nfl-betting/nfl-week-1-lines.sbk
Lol it's also not true. In 2013 RGIII had 3203 yards on 60% completion, 16 TDs and 12 INTs, all in 13 games. Extrapolated to 16 games gives him 3942 yards, assume same completion of 60%, 19 TDs and 15 INTs. That would have made Tannehill's 2013 better stat-wise, let alone 2014.
What strikes me is the writer completely ignores our offensive weapons, Miller, Landry, Jordan, all have made big plays in this league and are all quite young and healthy. My one concern is Coyle is so concerned with getting upfield and at the Qb, Morris has a big day. And it would not surprise me at all to see a ST return TD for us, that unit is hungry. Tackle well, don't turn the ball over, we win by 10 pts
I've been seeing a lot of buzz in the media regarding the Dolphins lately. I don't think everyone is taking us lightly, as opposed to past seasons. Heck, Vegas has us in the playoffs. Redskins fans, however, seem to think they can beat us even with all the turmoil going on over there... oh well.
Hey.. without those Redskins fans, the line would be worse for those who want to bet on the Dolphins, and I am DEFINITELY putting $$ on the Dolphins for this game, though not on the spread. I just stay away from spreads in general and just bet who wins the game. Line for that is -185 for Dolphins (bet $185 to win $100) and that's the line I'll be taking.
I'm guessing the writer wanted to compare RG3's 2013 stats to Tannehill's 2014, as if RG3 was as good as RT. Then when he realized there really was no comparison, he had to re-write that paragraph to make it true, so he included the whole "Ryan Tannehill's career" bit. Yeah, sure, when you throw in those stats in the early part of any QB's career, they don't look strange at all since most QB's have average-bad starting statistics.
Probably not far from the truth, but even then Tannehill is better. Across his career, Tannehill averages 21 TD's, 14 INT's, 61.9% completion and 3750 yards per season, ALL of which are better than RG3's extrapolated stats from 2013. EDIT: noticed yards are worse.. sorry.. almost all then.
out of the preseason that's where I saw some big gains coming also. Those little dumps to the RB, break an arm tackle by the LB or even middle screens.
They, like most are really sleeping on us and that is ok. I like it that way. I don't think they have watched this team in preseason but I have watched a little of the Redskins. If we don't win by 10, as others have said, it will be a disappointment.
That's more along the lines of what I'm thinking. I realize they're an NFL team, and any given Sunday with a play or two going your way, etc, BUT...our DL is going to destroy these fools, and their defense is nothing special.
Why wouldn't Redskin fans feel their team can beat the Dolphins at home? The Dolphins are coming off an 8-8 season and haven't been in the playoffs since 2008. While those of us who follow the Dolphins feel this year can be different because the talent level is the best this organization has fielded in over a decade. Fans around the league who don't follow the Dolphins continue to see the Dolphins as an average team. I don't think the fans of other teams who see the Dolphins on their teams schedule assume their team can't win that game. It is up to the players and coaches to prove that this years team is not the same old Dolphins that gives it's fans a lot of hope going into the season, only to collapse when the pressure of making the playoffs becomes a reality. Like you, I think the Dolphins have the talent to beat the Redskins by double digits next week. Now they just have to go out and show everyone that this Dolphin team is different than the teams who have disappointed their fan base for far too long.
Honestly outside of the lazy Griffin vs Tannehill assessment I don't have too many gripes with the article other than he doesn't talk to much about the Redskins own problems outside of the oline potentially struggling with Suh and Wake.
That's more than a bit optimistic imo . If we play well overall and win it's a positive start . Sure it would be great to dominate but let's see how we perform when it matters before expecting anything like that .
IMO, it doesn't have much to do with the Dolphins. I think any 8-8 mediore team is going to kill the Redskins. I think they are going to be historically bad.
Make no mistake, Redskins fans are ALWAYS delusional. It's nothing personal. Most of the DC area still believes in Bob Griffin.
Sure. We have been the definition of mediocre for along time now, but this is a very talented team for a change. Even the wise guys in Vegas have taken notice and put the Dolphins in the playoffs this year and when it comes to understanding and putting numbers to it, those guys do it for a living. It will not be long before the talking heads in the national press start giving us a little respect as well. At this point most people out there don't really know what is going on in Miami. They just see the same mediocre team that we have have been since Marino retired.