The Miami Dolphins play the New Orleans Saints in London in Week 4 which is a story in itself. However, we have three more storylines to watch in this showdown.
There are stories within the game to watch that a lot of people find interesting on a more personal level. Of course how Jay Cutler bounces back and the Miami Dolphins defense matching up with Drew Brees are the big stories. Still, here we will focus on the smaller stories inside the game.
Here are three storylines that fans should have their eye on in Week 4 of the 2017 season.
Jay Ajayi comes home
Ajayi was born in the United Kingdom and lived the first seven years of his life there. He still remains a citizen of the U.K. as well. Not only that, but he’s been thoroughly embraced by his country and is even considered the face of the NFL in London, which I expect to be represented this Sunday by the fans. He even became the first NFL player to have his own Twitter emoji this week. To say Ajayi is excited would be an understatement, as he said this via ESPN.com:
"“My whole family is flying out,” Ajayi said. “It’s a special thing, and I think it will be even more special when I get there and it’s about to kick off and all of that. I think that will be a great moment for me and for my family as well because I’m bringing everyone. So I think everyone is excited for it.”"
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As excited as Ajayi is to be back home, the fans appear to be equally excited. We will have to wait and see if he puts on a show for London.
Kenny Stills faces his old team
As most fans of either of these teams knows, Stills was drafted by the Saints in 2013 and was a breakout star during his two seasons in New Orleans. He was then traded to the Dolphins prior to the 2015 season. Stills was labeled as immature by the Saints organization and they abruptly shipped him off for linebacker Dannell Ellerbe and a third-round pick.
This will be Stills’ first game against his own team and he will surely want to send a message. The Saints defense is susceptible to pretty much everything so there should be opportunities for Stills to make a few plays. Also, that third-round pick turned out to be Florida State cornerback P.J. Williams who we could see matched up on Stills at points in this game. Just something else to watch for.
Lawrence Timmons makes his Phins debut
After a nightmarish and controversial start to his Dolphins’ career, Timmons will finally make his team debut assuming he doesn’t go AWOL again prior to the game. After going missing prior to the team’s 2017 opening game Week 2 in Los Angeles, he has now been reinstated and wants to get back to football.
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Miami desperately needs him and will embrace him if he performs like he has during his impressive career in Pittsburgh. However, if he doesn’t the Phinatics will not be kind to a player that has already rubbed many the wrong way thanks to his unexplained antics just two weeks back.