NFL
By: Rick O’Donnell
The Miami Dolphins head out west mid-day Sunday to face the Seattle Seahawks. It’ll be their first full game without starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa as he will miss some time with a concussion. The Dolphins need a strong showing early in the season as the back end of their schedule gets tougher come the playoffs. Miami can’t afford to miss too many games early on. How do they beat the Seahawks?
Offensively the Dolphins have plenty of weapons, but not many of them have been too involved early on. De’Von Achane is getting involved a bit more in the passing game but as a full-time back, his productivity has dipped. He’s rushed for 120 yards so far, but his average of 3.8 ypc is well below his rookie total. As of right now, he’s shouldering the load as no other Dolphin is in double-digit carries. Miami would like to get rookie Jaylen Wright more involved but against the Buffalo Bills, he rushed 5 times for just 4 yards.
Mike McDaniel needs to figure out a way to get the run game on the right track as Miami can’t rely on the same explosiveness out of Skylar Thompson as they do Tua. That’s not a knock on Thompson, but if he could perform at the same level, he would’ve been pushing for a starting spot.
With that being said, Thompson has plenty of talent around him and it’s his third year in this system. If Miami establishes a run early and can play off of play action, Thompson should be able to find open windows with his speedy receivers.
Defensively, Miami has the highest QB presssure rate in the NFL right now but they need to turn those pressures into sacks. Seahawks QB Geno Smith has already taken 5 sacks and any time you can disrupt timing, you have to do it. Seattle has ways of spreading the ball out and controlling the tempo so the Dolphins need to get after them and set the tone early on. However, it won’t be easy in a visiting stadium.
If Miami is looking to walk out of Seattle with a victory on Sunday it’ll come from clean football and limiting turnovers. The explosiveness might have slowed a bit so they’ll need to play fundamentally sound and limit mistakes. If they can’t find ways to win on the road in September, don’t look for them to do so late in the season with the playoffs on the line.
