Sunday in Miami the Chicago Bears arrive: team toned, rested and in great shape; perhaps the exact opposite of the Dolphins. What are the keys to reading the match?
We're certainly not spending a nice week. The defeat last week was terrible, if not devastating; far worse than the one against the New England Patriots. In Foxborough had not practically played, the Pats had been superior in every single juncture of game, better in attack, clearly better in defense, quite better in the special team. In Cincinnati instead the Dolphins self-destructed: starting the fourth quarter ahead of two TD (17 to 3) managed to get sucked into a black hole and lose that match for 27 to 17, due to some bad decisions and some unfortunate junctures, which we described in the Monday address. Of course we must honor the merits of those Bengals who did not give up an inch, clinging with their nails to the wall of the ravine where they were falling; a team of character, however, would have thrown boiling oil on those same hands, controlling the game and making the ascent impossible, we can not hide the truth: the Dolphins have lost the game much more than the Bengals have won.
With a record of 3 - 2 still nothing is lost, and just return immediately to win to send in the oblivion of the bad days the game on Sunday, but it is much easier said than done, because the guests we have in a couple of days are among those you would rather not meet, being currently one of the league's hottest teams.
The Chicago Bears that will drop in Miami are one of the most difficult teams to tackle right now; they come out of a round victory that saw their young and promising QB Mitch Trubisky launch 6 TD while his team destroyed Tampa Bay, for 48 to 10, in a convincing performance arrived two weeks ago, before enjoying the rest of the bye week in the last weekend. I have my doubts about the fact that Trubisky manages to record similar numbers every week but, certainly, Sunday will be confident of being able to repeat and in any case, if it should shine little personally, it can always put the oval in the hands of a backfield of all respect composed by Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen.
That said, the Bears offense worries me very little if I compare the problems that can cause these 11 to those that can create their defense. Because Trubisky, Howard, Cohen and receivers Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel, as well as the TE Trey Burton are dangerous, but they do not get much as soon as the Chicago defensive depth chart flows.
We speak of a gritty, technical and bad unit, masterfully led by an expert coordinator like Vic Fangio, who can count on very valid athletes such as Akiem Hicks (LE), Danny Trevathan and Leonard Floyd (LB), Kyle Fuller (CB) and a crazy playmaker, incredibly effective as Khalil Mack (LB), one who will give headaches to the entire offensive line of Miami, especially if Laremy Tunsil is missing. Mack is one of those few defenders who always manages to snatch possession, either for a forced fumble, for an intercept, or for a sack on the third attempt. The number 52 is a force of nature, a generational player, one who arrived in Chicago in exchange for 2 picks on the first round - a treasure of selections that could make Oakland a team of young phenomena in a few years, but that for now he has deprived him of his best player and condemned to a season in which he will hardly be able to see 500 wins - and a sumptuous salary, which Mack has immediately shown to deserve to the last penny, bringing Chicago to the first place of a far from easy division, where - we must remember - they also play Packers and Vikings.
If the Dolphins offensive line were to get bruised as it came out of the Paul Brown Stadium, let's get ready immediately to witness a triumphal march for Mack and his teammates.
The situation at home Dolphins
The conditions of the Fins are anything but heavenly. The team comes out of a defeat that could prove detrimental not so much for its final result, as for the conditions in which it arrived. We said it at the beginning, you can not grant a similar period to any team in the NFL, or you go out defeated. Mentally I can not say which train leaves such a fool, especially in the head of what is, without too many doubts, the chief responsible for that debacle: Ryan Tannehill.
Let's take a few lines to talk about this QB: in my opinion it is not a brocco, it has never been and I never believe it, who reads more often this space will perhaps remember how I complimented your choices after the victory against the Raiders , when thanks to some of his decisions we found 3 - 0. From that week on, however, only defeats have come, the last of which is mainly on his shoulders. Without spitting bile and various abuse, remember what Tannehill was able to do last Sunday, as the Dolphins were above 10 to 17 and could still, with a good control drive, stretch and cut out the Bengals. 2nd and long, Tannehill is in trouble because the Bengals break the lines and enter the pocket and will never be able to take a first down and instead of leaving the lines and throw the ball off the field, instead of taking a sack and continue to attack what does it do? launches the oval centrally, at half height; it hits the helmet of a companion and bounces in the hand of a defender, who grabs it and brings it back to the goal for the equal 17. Of course, it is one of those situations in which bad luck has given us a hand but Tannehill's mistake was serious, and he sank the team and the game. You do not throw the ball in an area so crowded to force an incomplete, or you run a useless risk that, in cases like the one just described, then becomes concrete and turns into a bloody pick 6. If you make such an error, then you deserve all the criticism.
It will therefore be necessary to see if Tannehill will succeed in transforming the disappointment, the anger and the frustration that all of us are trying in these days, in grit, on Sunday when he will come on the pitch. Of course, it will also be necessary that the line gives him time and way to pass the ball and this could be a problem if in place of Tunsil should go on the field Sam Young who, with all due respect for his professionalism, is not exactly a tackle reliable. It will be essential to double Mack and deploy a TE able to block, I expect to see A.J. Derby and Durham Smythe freshman in the field quite often, with Mike Gesicki employed in a smaller number of snaps.
Given the forces at stake, it will be essential, if Miami wants to try to win it, that the defense plays a good game. The presence of Reshad Jones is a relief, in Cincinnati has shown us what difference he knows how to do on the pitch, and there is a good chance of recovering both Andre Branch and Cam Wake, who could therefore return to form a really fearsome couple with Robert Quinn. In addition to them, special observers are always two playmakers like Kiko Alonso and Xavien Howard, both really fit at the moment. It will not be the game, and we'll probably not even see it next week, Bobby McCain.
To achieve this, it will be essential to play at the best of the possibilities of each single unit, and even this may not be enough, if the Bears - fresh and rested - were still those of two weeks ago. Despite the fact that the Fins are playing at home, I think the Bears favorites are the best team at the moment, but that does not mean that Miami has already passed off. Force Dolphins.
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