We have a Broncos team that came out looking like a serious contender and since have sputtered to looking no more than ordinary. If I called the Broncos defense terrible that would not be fair to the word terrible. Not to mention that their best player Champ Bailey will be inactive after injuring his groin two weeks ago. Jay Cutler needs to have a big game and Brandon Marshall should be able to find some success against an average Dolphins' secondary. The Dolphins have been great one week and terrible the next. Last week the team saw former first round slections Jason Allen and Ted Ginn jr. really step up and push those doubters who label them bust aside. Ronnie Brown has struggles the last two weeks but should shine this weekend. Jake Long is sure turning into an "Elite" left tackle early on here. I doubted his could be as good as Joe Thomas but I think he may be better. Joey Porter will have to continue to get pressure so that Cutler does not have time to pick us apart. 1. Position Battle #1: Quarterback: Jay Cutler vs Chad Pennington -While Jay Cutler has more big play potential he has looked very average. Cutler has the big arm while Chad has a "noodle" arm but Chad Pennington has defiantly been playing better recently. With Champ Bailey out, I expect the Dolphins to try to get Ted Ginn the rock some more. Advangtage: Draw 2. Position Battle: Running Back -The Dolphins have two running backs who would be the best back on the Broncos. Ronnie Brown is a special talent, a top 5 running back, and should find great success against this terrible Denver defense. Ricky Williams seems to be making some big plays despite the Miami media stating that he has lost a step. I think Ricky responds to this claim and has a solid game as well. I see Ricky and Ronnie both finding the end-zone once. Mike Pittman and Selvin Young do not scare me at all. I think our defense will shut down their running gameearly and often. Advantage: Dolphins 3. Position Battle: Wide Receiver -Brandon Marshall is going to have a big game against us. He is big and will over-power our secondary. I expect Ginn to have another big game, not like last week though. Greg Camarillo will have a few nice catches but Marshall is bordering elite level so the Broncos take this one. Advantage: Broncos 4. Position Battle: Tight End -Anthony Fasano is severely under the radar but does lack consistency. David Martin has shown the best hands on the team this season which surprises me. Scheffler is good but has never broken out and continues to fight the injury bug, Daniel Graham's best years are behind him. Advantage: Dolphins 5. Position Battle: Offensive Line - The Dolphins win this one hands down. The Broncos are known for having a tough offensive line but the Dolphins' front office has been succesful in creating a good line in Miami. Jake Long has shown glipse of being an Elite tackle in this league. Justin Smiley has turned out to be one of the best free-agent signings in the league and Vernon Carey is at home on the right side. Samson Satele has not regressed IMO as some have stated. Advantage: Dolphins 6. Position Battle: Defensive Line - The Broncos D-Line is terrible. Jason Ferguson, Randy Starks, Phil Merling, Kendall Langford, and Vonnie Holliday give a Dolphins defense depth as well as the ability to pressure the QB. The Dolphins dominate this battle. Advantage: Dolphins 7. Position Battle: Linebacker -A year ago I would have given the Broncos the advantage due to the fact that DJ Williams is a beast. this year no way because Joey Porter is the league's Defensive MVP as we stand today. Channing Crowder has become a tackling machine and Akin Ayodele is the definition of solid. Matt Roth is inconsistent but with Boss Bailey being out, Roth gets the nod. Advantage: Dolphins 8. Position Battle: Secondary -If Champ was healthy the Broncos win this one hands down but he is not. Will Allen and Dre Bly is a wash. Yeremiah Bell makes plays but gets beat in coverage. Jason Allen brings physical play to the Dolphins secondary. Advantage: Draw 9. Position Battles: Special teams -Dan Carpenter is okay but has not been put under pressure. Brandon Fields is starting to come in his own. Ted Ginn Jr. is a special return man and I think that gives us the advantage Advantage: Dolphins PREDICTION: I think this game is set for our taking. I think Brandon Marshall has a 100 yard game with a TD. -2 FG's for Denver as well. Ricky and Ronnie score. Chad Pennington hits David Martin for a score. Carpenter hits a FG. Dolphins: 24 Broncos: 13
Denver is ranked 12 in the league in rushing, we are 21st? How is that a draw? Most of our rushing yards are from the wildcat, we are struggling running out of the base offense.
I'll be shocked if there are less than than 45 points scored in this game. The OU is 49, the highest of any game this week.
I'm not buying that the Dolphins are the favorites here. They Broncos have 2 weeks to prepare for this game. Which negates the wildcat. And Miami will likely see the best of Cutler/Marshall. This is going to be like the Houston/Miami game. Very simlilar.
The Broncos have the least sacks allowed, more rushing yards and a higher ypc average than our team. I do not see how our OL is better than theirs. I like our young guys too, but they haven't really figured out the running game yet and sometimes the right side of the line collapses in pass protection.
Don't forget the battlecry "Remember the Texans...." another team we should also have beaten but couldn't...this teams 'ups and downs' aren't quite over yet...besides Denver is in a dogfight in their division where they are supposed to be the leader and aren't...
This. This is Arizona and Houston all over again. Anybody who thinks Denver is going to push over cause of lack of defense is dreaming. We are going to need to score a lot this game cause Denver will. Samphin's Usain Bolt photoshop masterpiece is going to apply again.
Will Allen needs to be 100% for this game. If Miami is forced to put Goodman or J.Allen on Marshall, its over. Even if they snuff out Marshall, Denver has still got Royal, Stokley, both TEs..... And their zone blocking is going to require great discipline from the Dolphin front 7. Bootleg, screens, draws, maybe a reverse; it's going to be a handful. I'm guessing Miami takes a hard look at the tapes of DEN/KC and DEN/NE to generate a defensive gameplan. If Miami can't stop their pass, no way Denver loses.
Yeah, forgot about them...Sorry (you know, brain fart)...but I think Denver is better than Driscoll is giving them credit for...Once the Bolts started to tank this season, Denver kinda took their spot. At any rate, I'll stand by the fact that we just aren't over with our bumps and bruises yet with this team. They are showing more and more signs of developing into a good team, but until we start to consistently run the ball and stop the run, we're just not there...
I think Denver has the highest ranked offence in the leauge in terms of yards/game. Playing at mile high, with the low oxygen content will definitely wear on our larger D and O lines too. If we don't establish a run game that can eat up a lot of time or a disruptive and sustained pass rush, that offence will destroy the Dolphins. We haven't really been able to do either since the New England game.
We have struggled big time with the run, the Bronco's have not. The Bronco's are a better team right now running with the ball, and there is no way you can argue that. And Brown is better than Pittman, but we all know you can be the best RB in the league, but without good run blocking, your not going to have a successful season running the ball. We are not run blocking well right now, I think we can run against the Bronco's defense, but when stacking up the teams running games, the Bronco's are better right now.
I agree on all points. But I also think Miami could finish with more rushing yards than Denver, and lose. I think Brandon Marshall has 10+ catches. They may not need to run till the 4th quarter.
This post is obviously biased. I'm OK with that. We are all Phin fans. If any of us have watched any games at all (and I know we have watched them all) then we know our DBs like to give our opponents a 20 yard cushion. The one thing Cutler can do is throw. Giving them time to let him pick us apart will kill our hopes of a victory. We do need to establish the run and control the clock. I hope Porter has a few more sacks and we finally see Ricky and Ronnie run for big gains.
I believe that Jason Allen needs to be the one on Brandon Marshall this week because he is really our only physical corner we have. Will Allen may be faster but he will get killed with the big strong recievers. This is just like when Will Allen was covering Bolden and Larry in the cardinals game. He will get beat all day long because of his lack of aggression.
Hey guys I live about 65 miles south of Mile High...the weather here has been fantastic....70+ degrees all week. I think we are looking at great weather on Sunday (65 degrees) which will be a big plus. Without Champ Bailey their secondary is horrible...Dre Bly is a total joke who wouldn't even make our team as a d-back...that's how bad they have been. Chad should get 300+ yards passing, and Ginn 150+ receiving. They cannot stop anyone. We just have to get pressure on Cutler and he will fall apart.
This is a game I hope we have the ball last. I do think we will be able to control clock and run the ball well. I think the wildcat will have a big return this weekend.
Hate to say it, but we don't have anyone who can cover Marshall 1 on 1. Suprised? I thought so. We would have to double team him all day to slow him down. However, we can't afford to do that bc of all the other weapons Denver's offense has. We absolutely need to put up 27-30 points to win this game. Thinking we hold Denver to 13 is just insane.
