Good Feeling Versus the Dolphins

[Hostile]

I usually dread playing the Dolphins. Strange things happen when we do.

No Leon!!! (Can't get that image out of my head.)

Over the years other than the victory in Super Bowl VI, I have not enjoyed the games against the Dolphins. I respected Shula, and I feared him a bit too. We're 3-7 against them over the years.

But this week I feel really confident even though it's the Dolphins. There are a few reasons why.

1. We're not playing them on Thanksgiving. We've done that 4 times and lost 3 of them. No Leon!!!

2. Jason Garrett should know the offensive strengths of the Dolphins with the possible exceptions of Trent Green and Tedd Ginn Jr.

3. Wade Phillips should know the offensive philosophy of Cam Cameron after facing him in practices for the last several years.


Now, can the last 2 things be turned back against us? Sure, but I honestly think the Dolphins are one of the 5 worst teams in the NFL and the Cowboys one of the 5 best offenses in the NFL.

42-10 Dallas.

:dolphins:

 

[YosemiteSam]

Usually if I feel dread the outcome opposite. This year seems to be different. I felt dread about the Giants and had full reason too. As for my feelings about Miami, I only have slight hesitation which probably means we may start out slow, but I expect we will pull away at the end. 17(+) point win anybody?

 

[firehawk350]

I usually dread playing the Dolphins. Strange things happen when we do.

No Leon!!! (Can't get that image out of my head.)

Over the years other than the victory in Super Bowl VI, I have not enjoyed the games against the Dolphins. I respected Shula, and I feared him a bit too. We're 3-7 against them over the years.

But this week I feel really confident even though it's the Dolphins. There are a few reasons why.

1. We're not playing them on Thanksgiving. We've done that 3 times and lost all 3. No Leon!!!

2. Jason Garrett should know the offensive strengths of the Dolphins with the possible exceptions of Trent Green and Tedd Ginn Jr.

3. Wade Phillips should know the offensive philosophy of Cam Cameron after facing him in practices for the last several years.


Now, can the last 2 things be turned back against us? Sure, but I honestly think the Dolphins are one of the 5 worst teams in the NFL and the Cowboys one of the 5 best offenses in the NFL.

42-10 Dallas.

:dolphins:

I doubt that outcome very seriously Hos. If I was the Phins, I would play deep zones to protect against TO and rely on the front seven to stop the run and pressure the QB. I think you'll see some longer sustained drives (as opposed to the quick strikes you saw in NY) by the Boys, and as things get more compact towards the endzone, a lot of Boys FGs.

On offense, I expect Miami will try to pound the run in the middle seeing that huge gaping hole that was once filled by Ferguson. I have no idea if it will work, but it's going to eat up clock. So I think it will be a relatively low scoring affair.

 

[ThreeSportStar80]

42-10? Heck naa! Dallas will score like 21 points Sunday and Miami will only score 10...

 

[Hostile]

I doubt that outcome very seriously Hos. If I was the Phins, I would play deep zones to protect against TO and rely on the front seven to stop the run and pressure the QB. I think you'll see some longer sustained drives (as opposed to the quick strikes you saw in NY) by the Boys, and as things get more compact towards the endzone, a lot of Boys FGs.

On offense, I expect Miami will try to pound the run in the middle seeing that huge gaping hole that was once filled by Ferguson. I have no idea if it will work, but it's going to eat up clock. So I think it will be a relatively low scoring affair.

Playing a deep zone against a team that has a RB like Marion Barber is an invitation to a pounding. I respect Miami's defense, but they have to actually get to Romo. They only got to Campbell twice, and that was despite you losing a key cog to your OL. The Giants have a decent pass rush as well, yet they only got to Romo 1 time.

I'm not saying those trends are forever, just that I've got more confidence in our OL than I do their DL. We're going to move the ball on them and score. I think as we do it they will get demoralized and the score is going to get inflated.

I think they are one of the 5 worst teams in the NFL this year. They played you guys tough and it wasn't enough. There's a letdown coming and it casts a Texas sized shadow.

 

[theogt]

I doubt that outcome very seriously Hos. If I was the Phins, I would play deep zones to protect against TO and rely on the front seven to stop the run and pressure the QB. I think you'll see some longer sustained drives (as opposed to the quick strikes you saw in NY) by the Boys, and as things get more compact towards the endzone, a lot of Boys FGs.

On offense, I expect Miami will try to pound the run in the middle seeing that huge gaping hole that was once filled by Ferguson. I have no idea if it will work, but it's going to eat up clock. So I think it will be a relatively low scoring affair.

LOL. Deep zones = Witten for 100+ yards.

 

[Royal Laegotti]

Hey Hos, we did beat the Jimmy Dolphins 20-0 on T-giving day in '99. Justa minor error there!

 

[thekavorka]

Is this the same feeling you got last year when you said if the Cowboys beat Indy, they'd run the table?

 

[Hostile]

Hey Hos, we did beat the Jimmy Dolphins 20-0 on T-giving day in '99. Justa minor error there!

Was that on Turkey Day too? I think you are right and I did forget that game. We've played them 4 times on Turkey Day.

That's an incredible stat if you think about it. 4 years from now will probably be #5 even though it could be the Bills.

 

[Hostile]

Is this the same feeling you got last year when you said if the Cowboys beat Indy, they'd run the table?

No, that was gas.

 

[AtlCB]

I doubt that outcome very seriously Hos. If I was the Phins, I would play deep zones to protect against TO and rely on the front seven to stop the run and pressure the QB. I think you'll see some longer sustained drives (as opposed to the quick strikes you saw in NY) by the Boys, and as things get more compact towards the endzone, a lot of Boys FGs.

On offense, I expect Miami will try to pound the run in the middle seeing that huge gaping hole that was once filled by Ferguson. I have no idea if it will work, but it's going to eat up clock. So I think it will be a relatively low scoring affair.

I hope this is the Miami game plan. Dallas could just pound the ball all day against their 7 man front. Miami is stronger passing the ball than running it, and Dallas has problems in the secondary. If Miami tries to use their weakness against the Cowboys' strength, the Phins will have a lot of trouble moving the ball. I could see a 42-10 score with this Miami game plan.

 

[Hostile]

LOL. Deep zones = Witten for 100+ yards.

There's more truth in that than in my comment about running Barber at them.

 

[Royal Laegotti]

Was that on Turkey Day too? I think you are right and I did forget that game. We've played them 4 times on Turkey Day.

That's an incredible stat if you think about it. 4 years from now will probably be #5 even though it could be the Bills.

We'll just have to work at evening out the record with'em!

 

[Hostile]

We'll just have to work at evening out the record with'em!

3-7 now. We win this 4-7. We win 4 years from now, 5-7. 8 years from now, 6-7. 12 years from now, 7-7.

It's very important to me that we beat them. A loss means it takes 20 years to even the ledger if all goes right. In truth we may never hold a lead in this series since we play them so infrequently.

 

[YosemiteSam]

LOL. Deep zones = Witten for 100+ yards.

Yes, but you still have to punch it in the end zone. Moving the ball down the field is one thing. Punching it into the end zone is another. Especially, if they take the deep ball away. The question is, can we move the ball on a short field. Against the Giants we didn't have to as we attacked the end zone from outside the red zone.

 

[FCBarca]

Before I saw the weather forecast, I felt pretty confident Dallas would steamroll the Dolphins...Now with a steady string of 10 days straight of thunderstorms for the Miami area I am concerned about the upset....Rainy weather makes a passing game tough, running game sloppy and mistakes rampant...Let's face it, the odds were far more in our favor for a win with weather not a factor...As it stands now, it may have more than evened out...We'll see but I don't like the thunderstorms

 

[firehawk350]

Playing a deep zone against a team that has a RB like Marion Barber is an invitation to a pounding. I respect Miami's defense, but they have to actually get to Romo. They only got to Campbell twice, and that was despite you losing a key cog to your OL. The Giants have a decent pass rush as well, yet they only got to Romo 1 time.

First off, Marion Barber isn't that great. Reserve that kinda optimism for players like LT, Frank Gore, LJ and Brian Westbrook. Barber can disappear as often as he can dominant and it's more often than not that Miami's front seven dominants the run. I don't think they need 8 in the box to stop the run.

Oh, Jansen is a key cog now? I remember a lot of people saying he was overrated and the like. Heyer stepped in and played very well in any case. We also kept Cooley into help block. Miami has a MUCH better pass rush than the Giants, especially considering Umeniyora was injured and Strahan most likely not in game-shape. You can't compare the two performances.

I'm not saying those trends are forever, just that I've got more confidence in our OL than I do their DL. We're going to move the ball on them and score. I think as we do it they will get demoralized and the score is going to get inflated.

I have no idea why. Flo looked average and is a holding penalty in waiting. I think he's a shell of his former self and Taylor will eat his lunch. You didn't do all that great in the run against a team that everyone knew was going to be horrid against the run. I think Miami will give you the underneath stuff and accept 3-5 gains on the run, so you'll get yards, but you'll have to settle for FGs as they tighten up toward the endzone.

I think they are one of the 5 worst teams in the NFL this year. They played you guys tough and it wasn't enough. There's a letdown coming and it casts a Texas sized shadow.

That might be true. Who honestly knows at this point? My worst 5 teams are (in no particular order) Cleveland, Oakland, Arizona, NYG and Buffalo. So it looks like we both believe that the other team beat up on a crappy opponent.

 

[firehawk350]

I think the Boys will have to keep Witten in a bit to help out with the pass rush. If they don't, he may get good yards, but I think they'll end up being with Romo looking up from the ground.

 

[AtlCB]

That might be true. Who honestly knows at this point? My worst 5 teams are (in no particular order) Cleveland, Oakland, Arizona, NYG and Buffalo. So it looks like we both believe that the other team beat up on a crappy opponent.

The Giants and Bills would have no problems beating the Falcons and Dolphins.

 

[superpunk]

Yes, but you still have to punch it in the end zone. Moving the ball down the field is one thing. Punching it into the end zone is another. Especially, if they take the deep ball away. The question is, can we move the ball on a short field. Against the Giants we didn't have to as we attacked the end zone from outside the red zone.

Hopefully that's the exact same thing we do to the Dolphins.

Don't let inept Jason Campbell's stat line fool you. On deep passes, these players DO NOT play the ball in the air. They're more lost than Jacques Reeves out there. Bell was their best player in that secondary.

It's cute that certain Commanders fans suddenly have a very high opinion of Miami.