The Miami Dolphins take the field tomorrow afternoon at Hard Rock Stadium and, once again, almost the whole world is expecting them to lose. This week’s opponent? The lowly Washington Redskins. Miami’s Week 4 contest against the LA Chargers was their closest call yet — with the Dolphins keeping things interesting through the early portions of the 3rd quarter before fading to lose by 20 points.
How will the Dolphins have handled their early season bye? Were there any clues to a better game plan in an extra seven days of rest? We’ll find out — but in the meantime, here are three bold predictions for tomorrow’s Week 6 contest between the Chargers and Dolphins.
The Dolphins will concede 5+ sacks to Washington…
Please excuse the lack of optimism. But Washington’s front seven poses challenges to the Dolphins’ front in all phases. Against the Chargers in Week 4, the Dolphins’ interior line wasn’t overly stressed and thus Josh Rosen was allowed to operate cleanly and step up into the pocket. That won’t be the case this week against Washington.
The only hope here is that Rosen quickly processes information before the snap and keeps Miami out of disadvantageous snaps. The Dolphins simply don’t have the forces up front to bang heads with the likes of Da’Ron Payne, Jon Allen and Ryan Kerrigan each play.
…but QB Josh Rosen will post a career high passer rating
All that pressure aside, the Dolphins will have opportunities with their skill players to find some room to work against Washington. Rosen’s best game as a pro came in Week 4 against the Chargers — he posted an 88.9 quarterback rating and averaged 7.5 yards per attempt. It will take some big plays for Rosen to keep that yards per attempt average up, but Rosen will simply need to eat the ball instead of throwing it up for grabs when under pressure to avoid turnovers.
If he does that, the plays that go right will heavily outweigh the sacks and incompletions.
The Dolphins hold a 4th quarter lead
The reactions here will be all over the board. But if (or should we say when) the Dolphins hold a late game lead against Washington, hearts will race for better or for worse. Miami has so much youth and inexperience that it will be difficult to see them making the clutch plays down the stretch to hold it together.
But never say never — even in 2019, the year of the tank.
