Minnesota Vikings vs. Miami Dolphins: What Are Experts Saying About Miami?

Week 16 for the Miami Dolphins hopes to reverse a trend that has been constant around the team in the last two seasons—the trend of not showing up in December. 

In their last five December games, the Dolphins have been outscored 121-49 and are 1-4. In each of those games, Miami had the chance to either clinch a playoff berth or maintain control of its playoff position yet failed to do so each time. 

Now the Dolphins are nowhere near being in control of their playoff destiny as they are set to host the 6-8 Minnesota Vikings. Rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and first-year head coach Mike Zimmer look to end the season on a winning note, and the team has been a tough out all season long. 

This will be a challenge for the Dolphins and a tougher game to predict than one would expect. Here's a roundup of some expert predictions from around the media for Sunday's game. 

Mike Tanier, Bleacher Report: "Dolphins Aren't Fighting Back"

Charles Krupa/Associated Press

Mike Tanier, NFL Lead Writer for Bleacher Report, wrote:

"

This year, so many teams have bought property in Quitsville that it is hard to separate the teams that are putting on their waders and heading for the ol' fishin' hole at halftime (Chicago Bears, Redskins) and your average December quitters. Watching the Dolphins in the second half of the Patriots game, I saw a team that had lost all faith in itself and its coaching staff. These guys are eager to turn the page and try something else; they are just going through the motions with more dignity than the Bears.

The Vikings, meanwhile, are my early playoff risers for 2015 because they have so much young talent, and they love mucking out close games (win or lose). If the Vikings put up a fight until the fourth quarter, they will find that the Dolphins, unlike the Detroit Lions, aren't fighting back.

"

I've seen a lot of things out of the Dolphins that I have disliked in the last two weeks. 

Quitting isn't one of them. Do they get frustrated? Definitely, and that frustration does spill onto the field and has been seen with heated discussions on the bench. 

But quit? That's not something I've seen the Dolphins do in the last two weeks despite being overpowered by the Ravens and Patriots. 

Now, while the team doesn't look like one that has quit to me like it does to Tanier, he is correct in the sense that the Dolphins look like they have lost some faith in themselves and perhaps the coaching staff. There's good reason for both based on their play as well as some of the moves that have been made. 

Loss of faith doesn't mean loss of effort, though. The effort is there, but the results are far away. If the Vikings put up a fight until the fourth quarter, I expect the Dolphins to fight back hard; I just question if they can pull off the win. 

Erik Frenz, Bleacher Report: "Dolphins Better Than They Have Shown"

Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press

Erik Frenz, AFC East Lead Writer for Bleacher Report wrote:

"

In hopes of making a push to the playoffs, the Dolphins have turned in two poor performances in a row against good teams. If they can't get it done against a bad Vikings team, they will prove they don't belong in the playoffs. The Dolphins defense is better than it showed against the Patriots, and they will surely tee off against an inferior Vikings offense.

"

In the same article and on the same page where Tanier says Miami has quit, Frenz offers up the take that the Dolphins will tee off against a team with an inferior offense compared to their last two opponents. 

I'm actually not sure if I agree with Frenz's take that Miami's defense is better than it showed against the Patriots. The trend I've seen from Miami's defense since the game against Denver has been a team that can't stop the run, which leads to them eventually getting carved up against the pass. 

I'm in favor of completely revamping Miami's defense in 2015. It could use more attention than the offense and would be an easier fix. 

Despite that, I could easily see a bit more dominance from the defense against the Vikings. The best way to describe their offense, currently ranked 24th in scoring and 28th in yards, is anemic. 

What would be ideal for the Dolphins would be to shut the Vikings offense down early and then have the Miami offense score early and often against a considerably tough Vikings defense. While the Vikings won't quit if they get down by more than 10 points, it won't exactly be easy for them to score. 

Frenz was one of 12 Bleacher Report writers on that piece (written by Gary Davenport) to pick the Dolphins to win, while Tanier was one of four to pick them to lose on Sunday. 

David Steele, Sporting News: "Vikings over Dolphins in Upset of the Week"

Rick Osentoski/Associated Press

David Steele of Sporting News wrote, "The Dolphins, blown out by contenders two weeks in a row with the playoffs in their sights, are on life support. Speculation about Joe Philbin’s job is surfacing. They don’t draw well when things start to go south. The Vikings are a tougher out every week. Vikings 28, Dolphins 20."

I have no idea what commenting on the attendance has to do with any of this; in fact, I really don't know where to start with this prediction. 

So there's speculation about Joe Philbin's job, the Dolphins are on life support, and the Vikings are a tougher out every week. We already know all that. 

The question is, How does all of that together combine into Steele's prediction?

I'm seriously asking, How did he arrive at this prediction? I could see why—the fans who follow both teams could as well. Now why does he think the Vikings will win? 

I could easily say why I think the Vikings will win: Despite the offense's struggles, the Vikings will keep it close due to having the sixth-ranked defense against the pass, while Miami will eschew the run game again. 

This will give an opening for Minnesota to just need a big drive to beat Miami in the fourth quarter—something that rookie Teddy Bridgewater is more than capable of doing, and something that we've seen done to Miami's defense time and time again this season. 

That's my reason why I'd pick the Vikings over the Dolphins, even though that's not exactly the prediction I'll make (you'll see that on Friday in my weekly game preview, same Bleacher time, same Bleacher website). 

Pete Prisco, CBS Sports: "I Think They Reverse the December Swoon"

Charles Krupa/Associated Press

Pete Prisco of CBS Sports predicted a score of Dolphins 23, Vikings 14, writing: "The Vikings, especially Teddy Bridgewater, have made strides in the second half. The Dolphins have lost two straight, and their playoff hopes are nearly done. But they are at home, and I think they reverse the December swoon. It's just too late."

You probably think I was picking on Steele of the Sporting News in my previous slide, and likely because he picked the Vikings to win. 

That's not why I picked on him; I was confused by his analysis and reasoning. To show you that that was the only issue I had, look at Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com's prediction. 

See any analysis there? Well, he provides the analysis of Bridgewater making strides in the second half of the season; however, all he can say about the Dolphins is that their playoff hopes are nearly done. 

Oh, and they're at home. Other than that, he doesn't explain why the Dolphins would win. 

Just as easily as I said on the last slide how the Vikings will win, I could easily say that the Dolphins will win because their offense will show signs of life early in the first half, moving the ball up and down the field through the steady use of the run game, thus allowing Ryan Tannehill more time in the pocket to throw to his receivers. 

With a lead early, Miami's pass-rushers will pin their ears back and get to Bridgewater, stalling out Minnesota's anemic offense. 

That's if I were to pick Miami to win. Will I? Once again, read Friday's article to find out!

Jeff Saturday and Herm Edwards, ESPN: Jeff Picks Vikes, Herm Likes Miami

Ric Tapia/Associated Press

Both predictions come from the same NFL Live video on ESPN.com, so we'll take their predictions one at a time. 

Jeff Saturday said, "I'm going with Teddy Bridgewater and the Minnesota Vikings, I think this team is getting better each week, his performance is getting better, you can see this team beginning to grow in the right direction, I think Miami is going the other way, I think they [Minnesota] get the win."

You can't think of two teams that appear to be going in opposite directions than the Dolphins and Vikings, despite the fact that it's possible they wind up with the same record. 

Saturday's points about the Vikings growing in the right direction is fairly spot on, as Bridgewater has progressed from week to week, while their defense is showing signs of becoming similar to head coach Mike Zimmer's defense back in Cincinnati. 

Also, one could argue that no team has had a better draft last season than the Vikings, as Anthony Barr has had a presence on the defense. 

As for the Dolphins going the other way, it certainly feels like that, mainly on defense. The offense really isn't too different from what we've seen this season. 

On NFL Live, Herm Edwards said, "They might be going the other way, but here's the problem, they [Miami] are playing at home and that's good for Miami, and I like their defense. Teddy Bridgewater struggled against a pretty good defense last week in Detroit, so I'm going to give the nod to Miami."

He just explained why I would pick Miami. 

While I've been critical of Miami's defense and feel it should be revamped, that doesn't take away from the fact that under certain situations, it can dominate. 

This is one of those situations. Bridgewater isn't Peyton Manning, Tom Brady or Joe Flacco, but he's not Geno Smith either. He's a rookie quarterback with plenty of promise, but a player that the Dolphins should be able to stop. 

Statistics courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com.

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