Dolphins vs. Raiders: What Are Experts Saying About Miami?
Coming off a disastrous loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 3, the Miami Dolphins have made their fair share of headlines over the last five days as they head to London to face the Oakland Raiders.
Thanks to a combination of lackluster play from Ryan Tannehill and the complete incompetence of Joe Philbin, there now seems to be a quarterback controversy in Miami.
While Tannehill is all but guaranteed to start this week—he said so himself—things can change quickly if the Dolphins don't begin to turn it around against Oakland.
Labeling a Week 4 game a "must-win" may seem to be a bit premature, but there's no doubt the Dolphins would be feeling much better about themselves heading into their bye week at 2-2 instead of 1-3.
With that said, let's take a look around the country to see what some of the experts are saying about this overseas matchup.
Danny Williams: Tannehill Must Overcome Philbin's Distraction
1 of 5
Philbin's decision to not name Tannehill as the starting quarterback this week can be looked at in three different ways.
The first of which is that he is trying to light a fire under his young quarterback, showing him that his job isn't safe if he continues to disappoint on the field.
The second scenario is that he truly doesn't believe in Tannehill and isn't willing to publicly back him at this time.
Then, of course, we get to the final—and most likely—reason for what Philbin did and that's because he's simply clueless.
As evident by his apology to the team on Thursday, via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, Philbin didn't seem to realize that not naming Tannehill the starting quarterback for Sunday would cause a distraction.
While he clearly realizes it now, it doesn't really matter at this point.
Because as Danny Williams of SBNation.com says, distraction or not, Tannehill needs to overcome it and perform on the field:
"If Tannehill's confidence is too shaken from the comments from his coach, and he doesn't turn the comments into motivation to prove his doubters wrong, then he was never the guy.
Can Tannehill turn his season around? Of course, we are only three games in. However, whether he does or not will have a great amount to do with his response from this recent adversity.
Philbin's comments, and Tannehill's subsequent performances on the field, are either the beginning of the deterioration of this era in Miami, or the beginning of the improvement process.
"
If Tannehill continues to struggle and the Dolphins lose on Sunday, it's going to be a very long and controversial bye week ahead.
Adam Beasley: Offense Still out of Sync
2 of 5
While much of the focus as been on the lack of production from Tannehill over the first three games, Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald decided to put a spotlight on the Miami receivers and the out of sync offense as a whole.:
"First-year offensive coordinator Bill Lazor identifies yards-per-attempt a good indicator of a team’s effectiveness on offense. The Dolphins rank last in the NFL in that category, averaging 5.0 per pass.
On Sunday, they gained 3 more yards every time they called a running play than when they called a pass — an unthinkable statistic in today’s NFL.
Tannehill must play better, no question.
So must Wallace and his fellow wide receivers — who were supposed to be the offense’s strength.
The Dolphins will pay more in base salary to their receivers than any other team in 2014 ($22.5 million). But they haven’t been getting a great return on their investment.
Miami’s five wide receivers have combined for seven drops through three games. Basically, one out of every 10 passes thrown to Dolphins receivers has been dropped.
"
There's no doubt that Tannehill's accuracy has been spotty at best early on this season, but at the same time he hasn't gotten much help when he does make accurate throws.
Going up against a very poor Raiders defense should give the offense a nice boost, but it will still come down to making the plays when they have the opportunities.
Bill Williamson: Ground Game Will Decide Outcome
3 of 5
On the Oakland side of things, ESPN's Bill Williamson says that the team is hoping that the return of Maurice Jones-Drew will be enough to spark their lackluster rushing attack.
So far this season the Raiders have rushed for a total of just 193 yards on 54 carries, while they have dropped back to pass on 68.7 percent of their snaps—the third-highest mark in the league, according to Williamson.
For a team with a rookie quarterback and minimal weapons to throw to, that type of one-dimensional offense is exactly what the Dolphins will be hoping to see on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Williamson says that the Raiders defense is also expecting the Dolphins to try to establish the running game early after they went extremely pass-heavy in their last two games:
"The Oakland Raiders are centering Sunday’s game against the Dolphins in London on the strength of improved play against the run. The Dolphins, however, are entering the game in a ground-game slump.
"
The Dolphins, according to ESPN Stats & Information, have focused on the run less in the past two games than they did in Week 1 against the Patriots, their only win of the season. The Dolphins ran on 52.2 percent of their plays against New England. However, they ran just 27.7 percent of the time in their two losses.
Oakland defensive end Justin Tuck knows the Dolphins will be trying to reestablish their ground attack against the Raiders. Tuck said Oakland must continue to play spirited on defense as it did last week.
In the case of the Dolphins, there's no doubt that the team needs to commit to the ground game more, especially if Lamar Miller can produce the way he did last week when he averaged over seven yards per carry on his way to pounding out 108 yards on the ground with just 15 touches.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Omar Kelly: Dolphins Looking to Get Charles Clay More Involved
4 of 5
One of the biggest disappointments so far this season has been the play of tight end Charles Clay.
Coming off a breakout year in which he caught 69 passes for 759 yards and six scores, Clay has been nearly invisible over the first three games of 2014.
One of the big reasons for Clay's uninspired performance early on—in which he has caught just 12 passes for 79 yards and no touchdowns—has been that he's nursing a knee injury that has slowed him down since training camp.
However, Omar Kelly of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel says that Clay isn't looking for sympathy, and the team will be looking to get him involved much more this upcoming week:
"Clay, who was recognized this offseason as the 89th best player in the NFL based on the NFL Network's player rankings, is averaging 6.6 yards per reception, which pales in comparison to his 11.7 yards per catch average in his first three seasons.
Finding ways to jump start Miami's stalled offense has been Clay and Bill Lazor's focus, and the team's offensive coordinator admits he has to find a better way to utilize the team's H-back.
Coach Philbin isn't stressing Clay's slow start, which features him catching all but five passes thrown his way, one of which was a drop. He pointed out the Dolphins have only played three games, and a breakout performance could drastically improve Clay's statistical outlook.
"
The Dolphins could sorely use another reliable weapon in an offense that has been extremely dependent on Mike Wallace to start the season.
Clay is certainly the best non-Wallace weapon the team has, so it makes sense that they will be looking for more ways to get him involved—balky knee or not.
Andy Cohen: Oakland Will Be a Telling Game for Miami
5 of 5
Regardless of how early it may be, there's no doubt that this game against the Raiders on Sunday could potentially make or break the Dolphins season.
A win would put the team back on the right track and give them some momentum heading into their bye week, while a loss could send them even further on their downward spiral and may even force some changes in the organization.
That is why, as Andy Cohen of MiamiDolphins.com argues, this game on Sunday is as big as it gets for Miami:
"Everyone knows the problems. It’s the solutions that will determine the fate of this football team. Joe Philbin and his staff have had some challenging weeks since arriving three seasons ago. This week figures to be as challenging as any.
"
That’s what happens when you lose by 19 points two weeks in a row, when your quarterback continues to struggle, when the sacks and dropped passes mount far too quickly, when the run defense and tackling are both alarmingly inconsistent and when the special teams can’t make a difference.
No, I haven’t lost faith in this football team. Yes, I still believe there is plenty of time to turn this season around, a victory over Oakland on Sunday would give them a 2-2 record heading into the bye and you can certainly build from there.
But as much as I believe this season can still be a successful one, I also believe that this is the week the momentum must shift. An important time? It may as well be December for the Miami Dolphins.
If the Dolphins fail to show up on Sunday and lose to a winless Raiders team, there could be a number of changes in South Florida over the bye week.
With that said, the solution to avoiding any rumors and speculation about whose job is safe and who's on the hot seat is very simple—just win baby.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
