Sunday’s pivotal game against the Bills will be played against their new coach, but this “new” coach is all too familiar with the Dolphins. Just in case you live underground and haven’t heard, his name is Rex Ryan, the former coach of the New York Jets and he has moved further upstate to coach in Buffalo. For his troubles, he has received a more talented defense that fits perfectly with Rex Ryan’s mold of teams: “old school” of the NFL hay days – stingy defenses and a ground and pound attack. Both robust with the ingredients we seemingly lack.
Last year in the Dolphins first game against the Jets in New York in week 13, Rex ran the ball an astounding 49 times for 277 yards. I remember watching that game and cursing at the television because every pay per head software fan and their mother knew what the Jets were going to do – run the rock. Everyone knew it, but the ‘Phins could do nothing to stop them. Luckily for the Dolphins, their usually reliable Jets kicker, Nick Folk missed two field goals in the game, which proved enough to allow the Dolphins to squeak out a 16-13 victory.
The Dolphins should take a long hard look at that game film from last year because most sports gambling fans would bet that Rex is going to use a very similar formula with his new team this Sunday. The Bills have one of the most dynamic running backs in the game in LeSean McCoy. Even though he has been limited in practice with a hamstring injury, he has played the first two games with this injury, so I highly expect him to play this Sunday. Not only is McCoy dangerous on the ground, but he provides a safety outlet in the passing game and has already racked up 73 receiving yards in the first two games.
In addition to the bills running backs, they have a Quarter Back in Tyrod Taylor who is also dangerous with his legs. Taylor was a former QB at Virginia Tech, a college where he holds all the QB rushing records, which says a lot considering Michael Vick played there for two years. Taylor has already rushed 14 times this season for 84 yards, 1 touchdown, and a gaudy yards per carrying an average of 6 yards. In addition, Taylor has two rushes for over 20 yards, so Miami needs to not forget about Taylor’s legs.
With the combination of McCoy and Taylor, the Dolphins defense could be in store for a very long day. The Dolphins run defense looks just as porous as it did at the end of last year. They are allowing 4.1 yards per carrying on the ground and 142 yards per game. This is not the Miami Dolphins News fans were expecting after the organization signed Suh to a record-breaking contract.
Suh has yet to make his presence felt this season, and there were even reports earlier this week that he was freelancing on the field outside of the scheme on the crucial last drive. Though both the coaches and Suh have denied those reports, if it’s true or not, Suh needs to step up and be a force in the middle of the Defensive line. The entire D-line needs to step up and make it their top priority to stop the opponent from running all over them. Rex Ryan is already licking his chops thinking about this upcoming game and how much he is going to enjoy running on the Dolphins. This is a big test for the Dolphins rush defense. If they flunk this test, then this season’s high hopes will be flunked as well…and with it this regime.
