Last week the Cardinals were able to create just enough big plays to finally get back on a winning track at home against the Redskins. Now against the Dolphins they must find themselves a similar performance as last week as they make the trip down to South Beach in a game that could be the turning point for both franchises’ 2016.
Running On the Beach
The Dolphins offense has been less than stellar throughout the season. Even with their six game winning streak they went on before being blown out by the Ravens, Miami still finds themselves in the 20’s in most of their offensive categories including points, total yards and passing yards per game. They do excel however at pounding the rock with their run game and have done so with mostly a single healthy running back all season. Arian Foster signed in the offseason but already signed his retirement papers, leaving the Dolphins with Jay Ajayi as their starting running back. He has not disappointed to say the least as he is already nearing a 1,000 yard season with 5.2 yards per carry average. The big issue however is there isn’t a secondary runner that the team can lean on if he is struggling. Ryan Tannehill is the second leading rusher as the quarterback and Damien Williams has not seen many great days running the ball thus far. If the Cardinals can shut Ajayi down they have a chance of forcing Tannehill to beat them, and that is exactly how you beat Miami.
Attacking the “Franchise” Quarterback
Ryan Tannehill was drafted by the Dolphins in hopes they would finally be able to fill a position that had not been adequately filled out since the retirement of the great Dan Marino. The QB position has been a regular carousel of journeyman after journeyman before the Dolphins finally locked one up in the first round. Since that time however, Tannehill’s franchise QB status has been a hot button issue. Just this season he will be barely reaching the 3,000 yard mark in the final quarter of the season and is only +5 in the touchdown to interception ratio. Pocket presence has also been an issue for Tannehill during his career. Just this year he has been dragged down for 28 sacks and he’s fumbled the ball twice. It is hard to grade the fifth year player as most of his years thus far have been surrounded with minimal talent but at some point a franchise player has to make that turn. So far he hasn’t and the Cardinals can certainly look to take advantage of that inability to come up big in the clutch by making him force a pass and capitalizing on that mistake.
Somebody Should Sue Suh
Ndamukong Suh isn’t just known for having one of the toughest names to say in football. He’s also one of the toughest defensive tackles to block in the league. Pair him up with Cameron Wake and Andre Branch and you are looking at one of the toughest pass rushing units to stop in the AFC. Suh is the catalyst however as he always draws the double teams due to his motor and constant hand work to get past the blockers. His speed is surprising for a man of his size as well, as he seems to always be in a position to chase down sweeps on run plays from the backside. The key to stopping Suh however is getting him to go more east and west than straight forward. Taking away his bull rushing ability makes him exert more energy and should take away his ability to make plays in the second half. Arians will likely try to use that philosophy with David Johnson and run stretch plays to try and get Suh to spend more time chasing the running back and less time beating down Carson Palmer.
Prediction: Cardinals – 20 Dolphins – 16
Catch the game on Fox this Sunday at Miami when the game kicks off at 11:00 AM.