Dissecting Most Crucial Matchups in Miami Dolphins' Week 12 Contest with Denver

My vote for this week's best—and most important—game is between the 6-4 Miami Dolphins and the 7-3 Denver Broncos.

In addition to being important in terms of the playoffs, playoff seeding and possibly home-field advantage, it's also a fun game chock full of fun matchups.

In fact, Bleacher Report's Ian Wharton already highlighted some of the matchups to look for on Sunday. He only scratched the surface, though, as there will be more games within the game to keep an eye on come Sunday.

Jared Odrick vs. Louis Vazquez

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

Getting to Peyton Manning is the key to Miami winning Sunday's game.

This will be an oft-repeated theme, but it's worth noting as that was the blueprint used by the St. Louis Rams in their victory over Denver last week.

The majority of this comes not from the edges but the interior, where Denver seems to be struggling to find an answer to its woes.

We won't see a Richie Incognito revenge game—if I'm calling the shots in Denver, I sign Incognito at the very least for Sunday's game since he has practiced against Jared Odrick and Randy Starks in the past—but instead we will see Louis Vazquez move back to his natural guard position to take on Odrick.

Vazquez played at right tackle for the Broncos last week and allowed two hits and two hurries on Manning. He graded out at minus-2.0 (subscription required) for the afternoon, which he'd like to forget.

With the possible return of right tackle Paul Cornick, who has been a full participant at Broncos practice all week (per the team's official website), Vazquez moves back to guard.

As for Odrick, the impending free agent is having a fine season, recording 13 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble as part of Miami's dominant interior defensive line. Odrick boasts a grade of 11.6 (subscription required) on the season, which makes him the 13th-best defensive tackle (subscription required) in the league.

Jimmy Wilson vs. Wes Welker

David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Remember two years ago when this matchup scared you as a Dolphins fan?

It's still a scary matchup to think about. However, in recent years, it has become more even.

With Emmanuel Sanders dealing with a concussion, his status is still up in the air, which could cause Manning to go to Welker more in this game.

Covering Welker—who will take his place in the slot as usual—will be Jimmy Wilson in a matchup that wasn't very favorable to Miami the last time around.

Game	Catches	Yards	Touchdowns	Long
9/12/2011	8	160	2	99
12/24/2011	12	138	0	42
12/2/2012	12	103	1	14
12/30/2012	8	94	1	23

The good news is that was two years ago. In 2014, Welker is a receiver who has 30 catches for 264 yards and one touchdown.

Wilson has improved since then as well, but he will have to be at his best on Sunday.

With Cortland Finnegan's injury status also up in the air, Miami can ill afford to use a double-team on Welker—especially since Brent Grimes will have his hands full with Demaryius Thomas while Reshad Jones will have to provide safety help on Sanders (if he plays) or whomever Jamar Taylor is covering.

Olivier Vernon vs. Ryan Clady

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Cameron Wake will likely have Paul Cornick as his assignment on Sunday, but you can't just rely on one pass-rusher alone in order to get to Manning in the pocket.

This is where Olivier Vernon comes into play, and he will have his hands full with Ryan Clady.

Clady is banged up right now, but his 2014 hasn't been one to remember. He's currently graded out at minus-6.5 (subscription required) and was atrocious against St. Louis.

This should provide Vernon with plenty of opportunity to use his athleticism to get past the veteran left tackle. With Clady's groin being tender at this time, he will have a hard time keeping up with Vernon throughout the course of the game.

The goal for Vernon, and the Dolphins' defensive line as a whole, is to attack early and often.

Let's hope that's part of the plan on Sunday afternoon.

Statistics provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com and Pro Football Focus (subscription required) unless otherwise noted. 

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