Although the Miami Dolphins won’t wow you with their records, don’t sleep on them. That said, they will be traveling to New England to open their regular season. To this extent, they will be having difficulties in beating their opponents in the same manner they did in the Gillette stadium.
Another thing to take note is that the NFL will require every team to be open for divisional games, which means the Jets will be playing against the Bills, so a match between the Dolphins and New England is set on stone. However, the Dolphins’ home schedule will happen on week two as they host the Buffalo Bills.
If you can remember, the Bills who went on to play in the playoffs last season is the only team in the AFC East to sweep the Dolphins. As the Bills will host the Dolphins in the season finale for a rematch, not all is lost. However, their matchups are not the only things that people should look out from the Dolphins.
Miami Dolphins Free-agent Signings in 2020
Former Dallas Cowboys cornerback Byron Jones signed the most significant contract for that specific position starting up the off-season picks of the Dolphins. That said, he will be pairing up with fellow professional Xavien Howard. Not only that, but the Dolphins also picked starters for their defense with Shaq Lawson and Kyle Van Noy. For their offense, they also added the back player Jordan Howard.
— DolphinsTalk.com (@DolphinsTalk) July 8, 2020
Jordan Howard
Jordan Howard is very fitting with the team in terms of ball possession. As a rookie, Howard made 1313 rushing yards and 5.2 yards per carry. However, that all changed when current Bears head coach Matt Naggy came into play. The outstanding 5.2 yards per carry lowered down to 3.7 as the offense was changed by Naggy.
However, the Dolphins are going with the opposite, which fits Howard well. While the team is likely to implement power concepts because of their powerful offensive line, Howard can churn out long distances.
Christian Wilkins
The rookie season for Wilkins sure is a slow burn, which started pretty calm and not much hype, but by the end of it, the presence of Wilkins grows steadily in the field. Remember that Brian Flores made Christian Wilkins the face of the first-round picks of 2019 because of this versatility and passion for the game.
By the end of the 2019 season, the experiences he acquired earned much respect from his coaches and teammates. However, this season, he is lined up by more veterans and talented players who will compel him to be at the next level.
— DolphinsTalk.com (@DolphinsTalk) July 8, 2020
Coronavirus Hangover
The hype for the upcoming season is continuing to build as the pandemic is still raging. That said, the NFL sent out rules and regulations for the safety precautions and instructions for necessary social distancing and disinfecting protocols for when the staff and player get back. Sports Illustrated even sent out a report that says that training camp will soon commence mid-July.
However, this doesn’t change the fact that the past months in the lockdown wasted weeks of practice, training, conditioning, and hands-on instructions for many players. This means that there will be rust in their game, which makes games quite slow. This might be a pure hypothesis, but if you look back in 2011, the same happened due to the lockout that happened somewhere in mid-March to mid-July.
The most affected team during that lockout were the Browns. They lost their opening game because of their disorganization and low performance due to the lockdown. We could also look at the Clevelands and their defense, which can be coined as comical. The Clevelands have a disarrayed defense and could barely push back the huddle as a touchdown pass to A.J Green was unprotected, which earned him an easy touchdown.
Also, among the teams that struggled the most during that time were the teams with new defensive and offensive coordinators. This is because they had little time to install their systems during the weeks of downtime. Let’s hope that the Dolphins will not suffer the same fate as the Vikings, who had a new defensive coordinator and was not ready for the season.
In short, most teams and players aren’t ready to play just yet back at the time, which might happen again this season. This could also mess up some predictions that bettors made pre-covid. That said, some major changes will be made in ligas eletrónicas and other betting and prediction sites.
Takeaway
The Miami Dolphins have a few great picks that complement the team’s defensive and offensive plays. However, because of the coronavirus pandemic, the lack of training and practice, and tons of downtime might affect the team’s coordination and play. Let’s hope that the training camp will mitigate these effects and make them the best condition to play in the field.
