1. Colt McCoy isn't Tom Brady or Matt Schaub. For the first time, the Dolphins' defense doesn't face a dangerous quarterback, and this is especially important with the loss of Vontae Davis (groin) for Sunday. McCoy ranks 23rd among quarterbacks after two games (Chad Henne is 27th), which is too small a sample size to draw any conclusions. McCoy will have a chance to attack cornerback Nolan Carroll and safety Reshad Jones in the way Brady and Schaub did. But McCoy doesn't have the targets to throw at those guys did. As important, McCoy isn't Schaub, who isn't Brady. For the first time this year, every Dolphins' mistake won't be magnified.
2. The Dolphins are a better road team than home team. Don't try to explain this one. Nothing makes sense. But the numbers are the numbers. The Dolphins are 1-11 on their recent run at home dating to the end of 2009. They were 6-2 on the road last year. We'll see if this holds this season. It's the strangest home-away number in the NFL right now.
3. Peyton Hills runs into the Dolphins strength. Hillis is essentially the one-man offense of Cleveland, and teams know it. He's also listed as questionable with an illness. Cincinnati and Indianapolis stacked up to stop him, and he averaged 3.4 yards a carry against them. If that's the offense, it's not enough. The tight end? Benjamin Watson has five catches for 61 yards in two games. The deep threat? Mohamaed Massaquoi can get deep as his 20.2-yard-per-catch average shows. But he has just six catches.
4. Josh Cribbs is questionable for the game with a groin injury. By NFL definition, that means he's 50 percent, and his loss would strip the Browns of their only big-play threat. Cribbs has a groin injury. Cribbs has had kickoff returns in the first two weeks of 51 and 52 yards and a punt return of 43 yards. Three of his eight punt returns have gone for more than 20 yards. The Dolphins look like a team ready to give up a big special-teams play, too. Last week against Houston, they gave up kickoff returns of 43, 37 and 33 yards and a 40-yard punt return.
5. The Dolphins are the more desperate team. Everyone's vented about the Dolphins' 0-2 start. Pick a topic, and it's been beaten to a pulp. Tony Sparano's future. The practice habits. On and on. They enter Sunday knowing 0-3 effectively ends their season (2.8 percent of teams that have started 0-3 have gone on to the playoffs).
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