The Miami Dolphins (4-3) will face off against the Arizona Cardinals (5-2) this Sunday in Arizona. The Dolphins are coming off of a win against the Los Angeles Rams, led by a powerful defensive showcase. The Cardinals will be fresh off their bye, which was preceded by an impressive overtime win against the Seahawks. 

A look at the Dolphins

Offense

• Total offense:28th (324.4 yds/gm)
• Passing: 21st (226.4 yds/gm)
• Rushing: 28th (98 yds/gm)
  

The Dolphins will be led on offense by rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. This will be Tua’s second start this season, after winning last week’s game against the Rams. The win against the Rams didn’t require much from Tua, who only threw for 93 yards and a touchdown, with only 34 yards in the first half. He wasn’t required to do much but play mistake-free football, which aside from a fumble on his first drive, he did. Nonetheless, it was an extremely conservative performance from the Dolphins’ offense, one that didn’t really give us much to sink our teeth into when it comes to evaluating the young quarterback.

It’s not every week where the defense and special teams can put the team in a position to have 28 points at the half on only 54 yards of total offense. There is a high likelihood that the offense is opened up significantly more than last week.

The running back situation will be interesting for Miami. Running back Myles Gaskin suffered an MCL sprain on the last play of last week’s game, and is expected to miss three weeks. 

Gaskin is the team’s leading rusher by far, with a total of 387 yards and 3.9 yards per carry. On top of that, Gaskin is second on the team in receiving targets, showcasing his versatility and importance to the offense.

Without Gaskin, the team would presumably turn to Matt Breida. Breida has shown flashes of potential, but hasn’t really done much overall. This season he has 128 yards rushing and an additional 79 receiving.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Breida did not practice and was listed as having a hamstring injury. 

Dolphins third-string running back Patrick Laird was a limited participant in practice Wednesday with an ankle injury, but practiced in full on Thursday. He showed he could be a reliable offensive player last year, primarily as a receiving back.  

The other two remaining healthy backs, as of now, are Jordan Howard and Salvon Ahmed. Howard has been a healthy scratch from the past three games, after averaging an abysmal 0.8 yards per carry.

Ahmed, who is a rookie, went to college at Washington. He was teammates with Myles Gaskin in 2018, and split carries with him. The duo put up an impressive 1,989 yards and 19 TDs. 

If Breida and Laird are both unable to fill in for Gaskin, I would expect Ahmed to have a heavy usage. He offers a similar skill set to Gaskin, with their former coach describing the difference between the two as Gaskin being smooth jazz and Ahmed being hip-hop. 

The Dolphins receivers will once again be led by DeVante Parker. Parker has been dealing with a groin injury, but had the injury designation removed. He played a limited role last week, and had only three yards receiving. 

Receiver Preston Williams will also be looking to improve from last week. Williams had 15 yards last week and 2 dropped passes against the Rams. 

Receiver Isaiah Ford was traded to the New England Patriots on Tuesday, opening up room for the Dolphins to activate receiver former-Brown Antonio Callaway.

Callaway, since his college days at Florida, has been regarded as an extremely talented athlete. His off-the-field issues have held him back, including his most recent substance abuse suspension, which forced him to miss the first eight games.

It’s not yet known whether Calloway will be active for this week’s game. 

Left tackle Austin Jackson, who has missed the last two games with an ankle injury, was back at practice on Wednesday. It’s unknown whether he will be able to return on Sunday to face the Cardinals, but as of now it seems unlikely.

The Dolphins offensive line had been solid all season, up until last week. The Los Angeles Rams, with Aaron Donald, presented the most difficult challenge for this young group all season, and they did not look as good as in the week’s prior.  Despite only giving up one sack, Tua was under heavy pressure and the running game averaged a season-low 2.2 yards for the game.

Defense

• Total: 20th (376 yds/gm)
• Passing 20th (350.9 yds/gm)
• Rushing 21st (125.1 yds/gm)

The Dolphins defense is now first in the NFL in points allowed per game. They are coming off three solid defense games against the 49ers, Jets and Rams. Last week against the Rams, they forced four turnovers in the first half, returning one of those for a touchdown.

The defense has continued to barrage their opponents with blitzes, sending 119 blitzes this season, which is third highest in the NFL. Their 40.3% blitz per dropback is 4th in the NFL. 

Defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah is coming off of yet another good game, which he had a strip sack, resulting in a recovery and touchdown. Ogbah has been one of the best ends in all of football. He will be facing a dynamic quarterback in Kyler Murray, who has only been sacked 9 times this season.

Cornerback Xavien Howard is coming off one of his more underwhelming performances, allowing 84 yards mostly to Robert Woods and 2 total touchdowns. He was targeted 10 times, allowing 7 completions. However, he still leads the league in interceptions, and dropped one last week. 

This week he will be tasked with covering DeAndre Hopkins, who is first in the NFL in receiving yards. 

In 2018, Howard commented that Hopkins likes to push off to gain separation. Hopkins responded by asking, “Who’s Xavien Howard?”

Howard faced Hopkins that week, holding him to eight yards in the first half. Hopkins would have the final laugh, finishing the game with 82 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Linebackers Jerome Baker and Kyle Van Noy are a large part of the Dolphins defensive success at applying pressure. Baker was sent on a blitz 18 times last week, with one play in particular where he hit Goff as he threw, resulting in an interception. Van Noy was sent on a blitz 19 times. 

Safety Eric Rowe has a legitimate case for best defender on the team, alongside Howard and Ogbah. On top of his interception last week, he was targeted 9 times, allowing 4 catches and a pass rating of 12 when targeted. 

A look at the Cardinals

Offense

• Total offense: 1st (419.1 yds/gm)
• Passing: 14th (284.4 yds/gm)
• Rushing:  2nd (160.7 yds/gm)

The Cardinals have been up, and down, this season. They have had several impressive wins, including a thrilling overtime win over the Seahawks, and a dominant defense showcase against the Cowboys. But they have also had an embarrassing loss against the Panthers and a shocking defeat against the Lions. One could also make the argument that they have had a lax schedule, with three of their wins coming against the Cowboys, Washington Football Team and Jets. 

The Cardinals are the #1 ranked offense in total yards this season. They boast an impressive running game, led by quarterback Kyler Murray. Murray is the team’s most efficient rusher with an average of 62 rushing yards per game, 7 rushing touchdowns and an average yards per carry of 6.7. 

Murray is the definition of a dual-threat quarterback. Though he thrives as a runner, his arm is absolutely terrific as well, as he leads Kliff Kingsbury’s “Air-Raid” offense. He has 13 touchdown passes and 7 interceptions. He is also averaging 326 passing yards per game. He is firmly in the MVP conversation, trailing only Russell Wilson.

Running back Chase Edmonds will receive the bulk of the work at running back. He took over for Kenyan Drake in Week 7 after Drake went down with an injury. Edmonds has 176 yards rushing this season with an average of 6.1 yards per carry. He also has 222 yards receiving. 

Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins is the NFL’s receiving yards leader. He has 704 yards on the season, which adds up to an average of 100.4 yards per game. His remarkable hands haven’t faltered in the slightest, and he can still torch a defense. He has been listed as “questionable” with an ankle injury throughout the season, while also missing practice frequently, but that is customary for Hopkins to do. At the end of the day, he doesn’t miss games. 

Wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald is one of the best receivers of all time, and despite his age, has still shown his use. His days of being the primary producer may be long gone, as he is fourth on the team in receiving yards with 207. He is second on the team in targets, trailing only Hopkins, but averages a mere 7.1 yards per catch.

Christian Kirk is slowly becoming a staple of the Cardinals offense. He has four touchdowns for the team in their last two games. 

Wide receiver Andy Isabella is their occasional big-play threat. He has 20 catches over the last two years, with three of those for over 50 yards.

Defense

• Total yards allowed: 23rd  (378.4 yds/gm)
• Passing yards allowed: 18th (347.3 yds/gm)
• Rushing yards allowed:  25th (131.1 yds/gm)

The Arizona defense is commanded by former Dolphins defensive coordinator Vance Joseph. Like Flores, he likes to send disguised blitzes to get pressure on the quarterback. The Cardinals have brought a blitz 118 times, trailing the Dolphins by only one. 

Cardinals fans have a love/hate relationship with Joseph, for allowing so many easy yards early in the game, only to close out big in the final moments, like against Seattle.

Other games, it’s hard to blame the calls, and easier to blame the players. In the Cardinals Week 4 loss to the Panthers, the tackling was atrocious, with little plays turning into massive gains. The Cardinals are 30th in yards after catch allowed. 

Some consider safety Budda Baker to be a defensive player of the year candidate. On the season he has: 59 total tackles, which is most among safeties, two sacks, and two interceptions. He has more solo tackles than many notable linebackers, including Fred Warner and Bobby Wagner. 

Legendary cornerback Patrick Peterson is tied with Baker for the lead in interceptions on the team with 2. He played a large role in the Cardinals wins vs Seattle, holding D.K. Metcalf to 22 yards.

Sounds good right? Well, the rest of the Cardinals secondary allowed Tyler Lockett to finish with 200 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Linebacker Haason Reddick leads the Cardinals in sacks, as the team is trying to fill the void of losing Chandler Jones for the season with a bicep injury. Rookie Isaiah Simmons was regarded as one of the best prospects heading into the draft. Unfortunately for Cardinals fans, he got off to a rough start. Vance Joseph said that he looks like a new man after the bye week, but it will need to be seen consistently to believe.

The Cardinals will be without edge rusher Devon Kennard, who is their highest rated defensive player, per PFF. They will also be without cornerback Byron Murphy, who plays primarily in the slot. Both players tested positive for COVID-19 during their bye week. 

Expectations

Tua has over 35 pass attempts. The Dolphins defense has been great, but relying on four first half turnovers and 14 points from the defense/special teams in the first half every week is unrealistic. This game should be competitive, and that alone means the Dolphins will be forced to move the ball downfield. While last week there wasn’t much to look at from Tua’s performance, this week should allow fans to see what the rookie has.

A great game from Chase Edmonds. Edmonds might be one of the best running backs that the Dolphins have faced this season. Chris Carson is a powerful runner who can lay the hammer, Raheem Mostert has exceptional burst and great vision — but Edmonds is electric, both as a rusher and receiver. The Cardinals hadn’t had groundbreaking production from Kenyan Drake, but now that Drake is out with an ankle injury, I think it will become apparent that Edmonds is the better of the two backs.  I expect Edmonds to have over 120 total yards. 

Keys to the Victory

Get the ball in your playmakers hands. Much like last week vs the Rams, the Cardinals are going to look to pressure the rookie quarterback and force quick reads. The Cardinals struggle with getting players on the ground, and their linebacker group looks too slow to catch up the ball-carriers. This is a perfect game to get guys like Mike Gesicki, Jakeem Grant, Lynn Bowden and Malcolm Perry involved. 

Protect Tua and don’t turn the ball over. Tua did a great job at securing the ball last week after his fumble early on, but this game will require more of that. Sun-Sentinel’s Omar Kelly said his biggest complaint with Tua was that he held on to the ball far too long in practice — while we didn’t see that last week, as he had the second quickest time from snap-to-throw — we can’t have a game where he is getting sacked at will, or being forced to make bad decisions.

Another masterful defensive performance. This isn’t as simple as my usual “stop the run,” or “contain X player.” The Cardinals have a truly well-rounded offense, with their only issue being their run-blocking. Even then, Murray’s potential as a runner nulls that issue, and makes them an extremely difficult challenge. There will need to be a little of everything. Hopkins will need to be neutralized. Murray will need to be contained. Edmonds will need to be limited, while also not falling asleep on  Larry Fitzgerald, Andy Isabella and Christian Kirk. Everyone will need to be on their game, yet again.