I’m officially submitting my selection for the official nickname for the Miami Dolphins offense: “The Miami 500”—a spinoff of the name of the famous Daytona 500 race. The “500” in the name alludes to Miami averaging almost “500” yards per game, and like a NASCAR race, this offense is fast, forever in motion, and runs “circles” around the competition. I appreciate you in advance for your consideration. Now, back to our regularly scheduled program.

The Miami Dolphins have their biggest challenge of the year on Sunday night against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles are one of the most complete teams in the NFL. They’re equipped with both elite offensive and defensive lines, a premier rushing attack behind Jalen Hurts & D’Andre Swift, they have a dangerous Wide Receiver corps with the duo of AJ Brown & Devonta Smith (and have recently added future Hall of Famer Julio Jones), and they have a respectable secondary. All of that, coupled with their unstoppable play, “The Brotherly Shove,”. This game will be a great measuring stick for the Dolphins against a potential Super Bowl-bound team. Which is why I think we’ll see the best game yet by this Miami Dolphins football team.

An opponent like the Eagles will bring the best out of this team, and I think we’ll see a level of play we haven’t seen all season. Both of these teams will have something to prove. I expect Philadelphia to be hyper-focused after their first “L” of the season being handed to them by the New York Jets while Miami still has to prove that they’re able to hang with the big “dawgs.” I’m sure the Dolphins would like to put the narrative to rest that they can only beat bad teams. Other factors make this game interesting, including another Bama vs Bama Quarterback matchup, Dolphins defensive coordinator Vic Fangio being a former consultant for the Philadelphia Eagles, and Philly being one of the teams that cut Raheem Mostert at the beginning of his career. This game has the ingredients to be an old-fashioned primetime showdown.

That being said, here is what I think are Miami’s keys to victory.

Feed Raheem

It’s easy to believe that Miami should rely on their explosive pass attack to win this game, but I think Miami needs to get down and dirty and dig their nails into the run game to beat the Eagles. The run game has succeeded and needs to be established early. This game has a Raheem Mostert revenge game written all over it; not only has he been on a tear proving naysayers wrong, but he also remembers every team that cut him early in his career, Philadelphia being one of them. This offense needs to be put on the backs of Mostert and the Running back group. I expect Mostert to have a big game with an assist from the returning Jeff Wilson. The pair is the perfect combo for the bruising type of game that Miami is in for. 

General Tagovailoa 

Expect Tua to command this offense in a way we have never seen before. We witnessed him calling his own plays in the last two games, and I believe he’ll need more of the reigns with the loud and rambunctious atmosphere of the Lincoln Financial Field. Tua will have to do more than manage this game; he will need to command it like a general. With Philly’s ferocious defensive line, we’ll need to see Tua’s improvisation skills on full display: moving out of the pocket, maneuvering in the pocket, and taking off to run when necessary. Miami’s offensive line has done a remarkable job protecting their Quarterback, only allowing the 2nd fewest Quarterback hits in the NFL this season. Still, they’ll have their plates full, so he’ll have to do all he can to help make this offensive line’s job easier. More than anything, efficiency will be important in this game for Tua. He’ll need to avoid forcing plays that aren’t there and take what the defense gives him. If the run game is established early, then he’ll just need to be smart with the football, that’ll include relying on the check-down if need be. I believe there will be plenty of opportunities for big plays if Tagovailoa and this offense stay disciplined.

Supporting cast

I’m sure the Eagle’s focus will be to eliminate Tyreek Hill from this game. I’m not sure how successful they’ll be, but if they scheme up a game plan similar to what the New England Patriots did in Week Two, then Miami will need its supporting cast to step up hugely. We’ll need to see Jaylen Waddle step up into a bigger role than he has all season and will need more production from Braxton Berrios, Durham Smythe, and the other receivers. The Dolphins will have to make it difficult for the Eagles to focus on one player in coverage, especially since getting the ball out fast and improvising will be imperative for Tua. Berrios and Smythe will need to find the soft spots in the defense for easy completions to keep the chains moving. Having safety blankets will come in clutch for Tua when he’s under duress. I’m not sure if we’ll see newly acquired Chase Claypool in this game, but if we do, that’ll be huge for this offense to keep Philly’s defense on its toes.

The defense needs to do its job

I won’t buy into Fangio being a former consultant for the Eagles impacting this game. That rarely affects the game since your opponent is usually as prepared as you are. But we may see Fangio’s best playcalling in this game yet than we’ve seen all season. We may get a glimpse of this defense’s full potential. For the past couple of weeks, we’ve been teased by what this defense can do when Fangio incorporates what the personnel does best with his scheme. Miami currently leads the league with the most Quarterback hits in the NFL. Of course, Miami will face a more respectable offensive line than they did against the New York Giants and Carolina Panthers. It’ll bode well for Miami’s defense if they can carry that momentum into this game; I predict that Miami’s front seven will have their best game this season. Our secondary might even force an all-so-elusive turnover. It’s a bold take, but I truly believe this game will bring out the best in this defense. There’s no pressure of facing a division opponent like the game in Buffalo; this is the perfect game to put the league on notice. I’m betting that Miami’s defense seals this game just like the game against the LA Chargers.

McDaniel has to call it right 

Ultimately, the game will come down to how well McDaniel coaches in the “big game.” McDaniel will have to have the discipline to stick to the run and manage the clock well. Both have been the Achilles heel for McDaniel in playoff atmosphere games, but it’ll have to be a hump that the team gets over if they want to compete with other elite teams. He seems to get away from the simple things and stray away from what this team does best in these kinds of games. This will be a big game for the players and how they execute but this will also be a big game for Mike McDaniel, who will need to do his best work coaching.

Of course, this comes with bias, but I’m predicting a 30-27 game with Miami over Philly. However, the game turns out it’s sure to be a good one, with two 5-1 teams looking to sustain their dominance. Who knows, we may even be looking at a Super Bowl preview.