Quote:Whether we should win this game or not depends on several factors:

 

1. Denard Robinson runs 100+ yards.

2. Blake Bortles corrects his mistakes.

3. Telvin Smith gets more playing time.

4. Andre Branch is not missed on DL.

5. We still have less than five injuries.

 

It is much easier to say if we can win this game. ANY GIVEN SUNDAY. But I am hoping somebody can bail out J.T.Thomas because he has huge shoes to fill.

 

It's pretty unrealistic to think that Blake Bortles is going to miraculously stop being a rookie in the span of one week.  I like Bortles, I think he will be a good QB, but right now he's struggling and pressing, and that's a bad combination.  Miami doesn't have the best ball hawking defensive backfield in football, but we're good against quarterbacks who don't take care of the football.

 

I saw someone predict 28 points for Jacksonville.  Given how your offense is playing, and how historically bad rookie quarterbacks are at putting points on the board, you're going to need multiple defensive or special teams scores to match that effort.  It's therefore fortunate that the Miami Dolphins are A) prone to fumbling the football, and B. have been terrible on kick and punt coverage this season.

 

Miami opened up the season playing poorly due to a combination of new scheme, missing multiple key starters, and bad matchups.  Jacksonville honestly does not represent a particularly bad matchup for Miami, and the team is finally relatively healthy for once.  I understand that the Poz was not the best linebacker in coverage, but if you're weak in the middle, the Dolphins' running game will be a problem.  Miami has run the football very effectively in 5 out of 6 games, with the one bad performance coming against Buffalo's elite front four. 

 

I try to be pretty realistic.  I believe Miami is a much better team than Jacksonville at this point in time, and should win the game by 10+ points.  However, I believe it will be a low-scoring affair (21-10ish), and that Jacksonville absolutely has the chance to pull out a win on special teams or by scoring defensively.  It is also worth pointing out that Joe Philbin may be the worst coach in the National Football League, and routinely makes decisions that are absolutely baffling.  He flat out cost Miami the game against Green Bay, and also made some absolutely terrible game management decisions against Buffalo. 

 

Finally, I'll add that even if you guys get blown out this week, you should not feel bad about it.  Miami has looked like a legitimate playoff contender in four out of six games, and the advanced stats back that up.  Football Outsiders has Miami as the 10th best team in the NFL in total team DVOA, while Jacksonville is ranked 31st.  I know that a lot of Dolphins fans are going to be making the trip up to Jacksonville, so that will also somewhat mitigate your homefield advantage.

 

In summary, hope for a Jarvis Landry muffed punt, another Mike Wallace fumble, and more of Miami's atrocious kicking game to be exploited.  Your head coach is better than our head coach, too, so that's another factor to consider.

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