One day away. We’re one day away from the second installment of NFL football, and that’s a really good thing because let’s face it; football is really cool. That being said, Miami travels up the I-95 to my area of the country, the North East to face a foe who is coming off a big week 1 win against the mighty Lions in a game where the only reason people were watching, besides that it’s football, was to see rookie QB Sam Darnold. What we got, besides Darnold being sharp, was the Jets absolutely wiping the floor with the Lions on the road. Not going to lie, I thought the Jets would sort of be a pushover due to their roster being devoid of not many real play makers and although I still believe that to be true, they do have that confidence that average teams need to win games that they shouldn’t. Don’t fret because if Miami can go out there and try to accomplish the goals I have they should be 2-0 on the season and 1-0 in the AFC East.

Maybe just maybe start the game up tempo to try and score early

Last week was another game where the Dolphins took their opening drive and went absolutely nowhere with it. They actually took all of their drives in the first half except for one nowhere. Now if you want to go ahead and blame that pesky marathon lightning delay as part of the problem go ahead but remember, the first delay didn’t occur until 1:11 in the first half, so I wouldn’t hang your hat on Mother Nature to bail you out. Starting fast is something that Gase and the boys preach about doing all the time but like Pat Robertson promising to deliver the messiah, Miami still comes out with nothing. So, how about going up tempo with a hurry up? Like try it once and see what happens. Can’t be any worse than what usually happens.

Overcome the loss of Josh Sitton

I really didn’t need to hear this news, on a Friday no less, that our newly tough, rugged, gritty guard tore his rotator cuff and will be out for the year. I didn’t need that at all. We all thought the offensive line was going to be a sneaky good unit not just on this team but throughout the league and a lot of that was because Miami brought in Sitton. Sitton was supposed to be the defacto leader on this unit and now he’s gone. It just plain stinks on ice. Enter Ted Larsen. Though Ted Larsen sounds like your neighbor who’s always cutting their grass who thinks mild wings are too spicy (something I would never tell him to his face), he is the man who will be replacing Sitton at left guard. Larsen has started 73 games in this league. I know, I was surprised about that too. He also started the last 8 games last year. Little history and math lesson here, Drake led the league in rushing the final 5 games of the year last year. Larsen played in those games which equals Miami should be able to run over everybody this year. If only it were that easy, who knows maybe it is. In my best crying Dick Vermeil impression “We will rally behind K̶u̶r̶t̶ ̶W̶a̶r̶n̶e̶r̶ Ted Larsen and we will play good football.”

 Keep up the swagger they had against the Titans because the Jets are physical 

One thing Miami did last week that was a breath of fresh air was that they were the ones who dictated the physicality instead of Tennessee doing that to them. The Titans were billed as this bruising team that wanted to pound the rock but Miami were the ones who flexed on them. They actually did that consistently. Sure, Andre Branch maybe made a block that is against today’s rules, though it wasn’t flagged, and maybe Branch was fined for yelling out the cute phrase “body bag” after said block while the guy was laying on the ground. We can play the maybe game all day. What I can say is that the Dolphins dolling out punishment throughout the game is a positive because the Jets come into Sunday’s contest boasting even more swagger. They bullied the lifeless Lions in their own building and they really enjoyed it. They made the Lions quit. Miami has to match that first punch in the mouth and raise them a Tank Abbott right cross. Make the Jets bend to your will and let Powell, Crowell and anyone else who has a football in their arm know early that you’re not just going to be hit by one of them that you’re going to get hit by the whole team Greg Joseph included.

The D-Line needs to get home and teach the rookie Darnold what AFC East football is all about

Wanna get Sam Darnold’s head spinning? Pressure him from all directions. He’s an alright athlete but there’s no reason why Wake, Quinn, Phillips, Branch, Hayes, Harris and Jones can’t make Sunday a pure nightmare for Darnold. Let him know that USC is very far away. Darnold was sacked twice last week and the Lions d-line pales in comparison to what Miami has. Release the hounds and Darnold will throw it up into our ball hawking secondary. Last week against the Titans, Miami pressured Mariota, even knocked him out of the game, but didn’t record a sack. No way that can happen two weeks in a row, right? It really better not.

Ryan Tannehill needs to be the exact opposite of Matthew Stafford

If you would have asked me a week ago if Tannehill should be more like Stafford I would have said yes because Stafford zings the ball and leads that sorry excuse of an offense to points often. Ask me that now and I say give me a hell no. Do not play like Stafford did last week against the Jets. Even though the Jets apparently knew the plays that were coming, you still need to see that throwing into triple coverage is going to lead to undesirable outcomes. 4 INTs is what Stafford did last week. Ryan threw two INTs last week. Can’t have that this week on the road. I said last week Miami, at this point, are not good enough to overcome to many mistakes and turning the ball over especially in the red zone is unacceptable. If Ryan goes out there, plays fast and within himself, he and the offense should be able to take advantage of match ups. But, everyone needs to be on the same page. No stupid miscommunications that lead to INTs. Can’t have it. I’m not looking for Ryan Fitzpatrick video game numbers, but I wouldn’t hate it. Surgical strikes early and often are what Ryan needs to do for the whole game. There will be opportunities out there. Ryan 2.0 just needs to seize them and make the Jets pay for their sins.

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