Miami Dolphins: Team needs to make a statement in Week 4
The Miami Dolphins head to London for a showdown with the New Orleans Saints in Week 4, and they need to make a statement after losing to the Jets.
The Miami Dolphins stole a win Week 1 from the Los Angeles Chargers and followed that up with a demoralizing loss to the miserable New York Jets this past week. The team must come out and make a statement this upcoming week against a very beatable, but always tough, Saints squad.
Any team can lose a bad game, especially early in the season. The fact that the team is attempting to incorporate a new quarterback and figure out their defensive personnel only makes a loss like this more predictable. With that said, they also need to bounce back and pull one out this week in London.
It’s always dangerous when you go head-to-head with Drew Brees. The fear is that the team may be becoming a perennial slow starter. Last year was incredible, but you can’t expect them to dig themselves out of a hole every year.
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The Saints are the perfect matchup this week for the Dolphins to improve their flaws. The secondary will be forced to step up against the Saints passing attack and the offense should be able to get more done against the New Orleans porous defense.
Reshad Jones can and will be better, while it would be nice to see Byron Maxwell, Nate Allen and Alterrnaun Verner play better as well. I don’t expect the linebackers to get any better in coverage so they are just going to have to weather the storm there.
For better or for worse, it’s also time to open up the playbook for Jay Cutler and let him sling it. We all know it’s not an ideal situation, but if being conservative doesn’t work against the McCown brother who doesn’t have a Verizon endorsement, it certainly won’t be good enough against a future Hall of Famer. Getting Kenyan Drake involved might not be such a bad idea either.
Regardless of how they do it, the Dolphins need to come out with grit and toughness. This needs to be a statement victory and they need to avoid another slow start in a year where the AFC doesn’t look particular strong outside of a few teams.
Next: 2017 NFL Picks, score predictions for Week 4
String together some wins, lock up another playoff spot this year and show you’re developing a winning culture and legitimately building a winning culture. We believe last season was no fluke, now the team led by head coach Adam Gase needs to prove us right.