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Cotton

One-armed Knife Sharpener
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Cotton

One-armed Knife Sharpener
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:yawnee
 

L.T. Fan

I'm Easy If You Are
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Bryant and Claiborne never practice it seems.
 

boozeman

28 Years And Counting...
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Dolphins’ shaky pass defense must now brace for some of league’s top QBs

By Barry Jackson


bjackson@miamiherald.com

Even with all the peaks and valleys in this rollercoaster of a season, the Dolphins have been fortunate that they’ve largely faced quarterbacks who are inexperienced, journeymen or have failed to fulfill expectations.

In Miami’s first nine games, all but New England’s Tom Brady would fit into that category.

That’s about to change.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he expects Tony Romo to play Sunday at Miami after missing seven games with a clavicle injury.

That means the Dolphins, over the final seven weeks, will face quarterbacks who have accounted for seven Super Bowl victories and 25 Pro Bowl appearances.

That’s worrisome for a Dolphins defense that’s not only dealing with injuries, but also ranks just 20th in pass defense and has allowed a 96.3 opponent passer rating (which ranks 23rd, or 10th-worst).

Here’s another way of looking at it: Excluding Brady’s 190-55 career record, the quarterbacks the Dolphins faced so far in their eight other games have a career record of 93-140. That twice counts the record of Buffalo’s Tyrod Taylor, who beat Miami twice.

Excluding Brady’s record, the other quarterbacks that Miami is expected to play the rest of the season (Romo, the Jets’ Ryan Fitzpatrick, Baltimore’s Joe Flacco, the Giants’ Eli Manning, San Diego’s Philip Rivers and Indianapolis’ Andrew Luck) have a career record of 437-338.

Two important caveats:

▪ Romo and Luck might be rusty when they play the Dolphins. Sunday would be Romo’s first game since Sept. 20 against Philadelphia.

Luck is expected to miss two to six weeks with a lacerated kidney. If he’s out the full six, he would return Dec. 27 at Miami.

▪ Though Rivers (94-68) and Flacco (84-52) have excellent career records, their teams are both 2-7.


But all seven of Baltimore’s losses have been by eight points or fewer, and Flacco is 4-0 against the Dolphins in his career, with a 105.6 passer rating.

Also, Rivers is eighth in the league with a 100.7 passer rating this season.

Romo’s value to the Cowboys, which was already obvious, was reaffirmed in his absence, when Dallas lost seven games started by Brandon Weeden (three) and Matt Cassel (four).

Dallas is 15-3 in the past 27 games that Romo has started, 0-9 in the others. What’s more, Romo has 68 touchdown passes and 21 interceptions over his past 32 starts.

“We’ll see what kind of flow he’s in, how he feels, but absolutely he can hurt you,” Dolphins interim coach Dan Campbell said. “He can make those throws, he can work in the pocket, he can get out of the pocket, he’s got weapons to go to” — including receiver Dez Bryant and tight end Jason Witten.

Already without their most productive pass-rusher (Cam Wake) because of a season-ending Achilles’ injury, the Dolphins also are dealing with injuries at linebacker (Jelani Jenkins’ ankle) and cornerback (Brice McCain’s sprained knee).

Campbell said both players are “day to day” and “we think [McCain] will be OK.”

In their absence, young players filled in capably during Miami’s 20-19 win Sunday at Philadelphia.

With Brent Grimes sidelined by food poisoning, rookie cornerback Bobby McCain played 95 of Miami’s 96 defensive snaps. He was going to play a lot regardless but ended up playing more than any Dolphins defensive player except safety Reshad Jones.

“Bobby did some really good things,” Campbell said. “There are a lot of things he’s got to clean up.”

Among Miami’s other cornerbacks, Jamar Taylor logged 79 snaps, Brice McCain 43 before his injury, rookie Tony Lippett 22 and Zack Bowman 21.

With Jenkins limited to 17 snaps at linebacker, undrafted rookie Neville Hewitt played 65 snaps after logging 40 combined over the first eight weeks.

“Certainly, it wasn’t perfect [for Hewitt],” Campbell said. “But the game didn’t look too big for him. He gave everything he had. He threw up three times, which was great.”

Undrafted rookie linebacker Mike Hull played the first 13 defensive snaps of his career, and another undrafted rookie linebacker (Zach Vigil) played five snaps and blocked a punt on special teams.


PRAISE FOR SUH

Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh’s eight tackles (including three for loss) Sunday were his most as a Dolphin, and he had a sack for the second week in a row, giving him four.

Why is he playing better?

“He’s a little more comfortable,” Campbell said. “He’s got a feel of what we’re trying to do defensively. When we lost Cam Wake, he knew he needed to step up and fill a bigger role.”

▪ Jarvis Landry now has 13 rushing attempts, second-most ever by a Dolphins wide receiver. Nat Moore had 14 in 1977.

Landry’s 101 rushing yards are second-most ever by a Dolphins receiver, behind Paul Warfield’s 115 in 1971.
 

boozeman

28 Years And Counting...
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Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill also grew up a Cowboys fan

1h



James Walker, ESPN Staff Writer

DAVIE, Fla. -- It is not just the Miami Dolphins' head coach who grew up a big Dallas Cowboys fan. It turns out Miami's starting quarterback also rooted for the Cowboys, who will travel to Sun Life Stadium on Sunday.

Dolphins quarterback and Texas native Ryan Tannehill said Wednesday that he grew up a Cowboys fan. The former Texas A&M quarterback said he's looking forward to playing against his childhood team.

"I had some good times watching them," Tannehill said.

Dolphins interim head coach Dan Campbell also is a Texas native and grew up rooting for the Cowboys.

Here are some other notes for Miami:
▪
The team is hurting this week at linebacker. Starters Jelani Jenkins (ankle) and Koa Misi (abdomen) did not practice on Wednesday. Jenkins, in particular, was in a boot, which usually is not a good sign. Backup linebacker Spencer Paysinger likely will be the first outside linebacker off the bench if either starter cannot suit up on Sunday.

▪
The Dolphins did get some good injury news at cornerback. Pro Bowler Brent Grimes (illness) and starter Brice McCain (knee) both participated in the media portion of practice. McCain said he's taking it day-to-day but feels like he could play a game Wednesday if he had to.

▪
Center Mike Pouncey said the safety and snap issues with Tannehill are behind them. Miami tied an NFL record by having safeties in three consecutive games. The Dolphins have a chance to set a new NFL record with a safety in four straight games on Sunday against Dallas.
 

Genghis Khan

The worst version of myself
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:towel Earlier in the week stuff thread.I like it. Bodes well. This season needs a clean slate.
 

ravidubey

DCC 4Life
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Romo isn't going to be some silver bullet out there. At least not for a while.
 

NoDak

Hotlinking' sonofabitch
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Romo isn't going to be some silver bullet out there. At least not for a while.
Wha? Is being a silver bullet out there good?

Does Miami have a werewolf on defense or something?
 

townsend

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Apr 11, 2013
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In two games.
In just two games. Not even close to enough information. He's fresh legs in the middle of the season, with a handful of carries. It's like basing Joseph Randle of off his Performance against Chicago last year.
 

L.T. Fan

I'm Easy If You Are
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Romo isn't going to be some silver bullet out there. At least not for a while.
He didn't lose his read ability in 7 weeks. He will go okay. His biggest enemy will be stamina.
 

ravidubey

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He didn't lose his read ability in 7 weeks. He will go okay. His biggest enemy will be stamina.
He's a big improvement over Cassel and an evolutionary leap over Weeden.

He's got Dez back and Randle is finally out of his way so this team got a lot better. 7-0 will be damned tough though with the Jets and Packers on the schedule. Washington is always a pest too.
 
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He's a big improvement over Cassel and an evolutionary leap over Weeden.

He's got Dez back and Randle is finally out of his way so this team got a lot better. 7-0 will be damned tough though with the Jets and Packers on the schedule. Washington is always a pest too.
I've seen enough of this team in the last 15 years that I can assure you they won't win all 7 games. They make way too many mistakes that costs them games and then they lose games by coaching. There is no way they go 7 games without those things killing them. I say they win 4 games and finish 6-10. Besides, they haven't won more than 6 games in a row since the Super Bowl years..
 

boozeman

28 Years And Counting...
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I think 8-8 wins the division.

I think we will go 7-9.
Kind of thinking we beat Miami. May upset the Panthers and everyone starts believing. Get crushed by the Packers and end up with that ninth loss to the Redskins or Jets or something. Then you will still hear bullshit about being alive until the end. Sounds like so much fun. It is really going to suck to look back at these seven losses and see that just winning one or two could have made a difference.
 

Rev

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun
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6-10. Garrett is one game better than Campo with better players...
 

Clay_Allison

Old Bastard
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Apr 8, 2013
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Kind of thinking we beat Miami. May upset the Panthers and everyone starts believing. Get crushed by the Packers and end up with that ninth loss to the Redskins or Jets or something. Then you will still hear bullshit about being alive until the end. Sounds like so much fun. It is really going to suck to look back at these seven losses and see that just winning one or two could have made a difference.
I know you'd love to not have to hear it from the Panthers goons in your local area, but I don't think we get through them.
 
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