The Miami Dolphins are facing quite the opportunity this weekend against the Arizona Cardinals. Yes, moving to 5-3 on the season with a big road win over an upstart Cardinals team would be quite the impressive victory and would undoubtedly kickstart nothing but hype around the Dolphins, who will enter a third-quarter of the 2020 season after this game with winnable football games all around. Miami will have an equal or better record than each of their next four opponents after Sunday no matter what happens in Week 9. But in the big picture, the Dolphins have the chance to win their fifth football game on Sunday in their eighth try — it took Miami 16 games to win that many contests last season.
This is a big game for Miami, make no mistake. So, with that in mind, what should we expect to see this weekend as the Dolphins face the Cardinals? We’re glad you asked.
Kyler Murray throws as many interceptions as he did in all of October
That would be two. Murray threw two interceptions in October while guiding the Cardinals to a 3-1 record for the month — and the lone loss came in the first game of the month against the Carolina Panthers. Murray had a three interception stinker against the Detroit Lions earlier this season as well and has a total of 7 interceptions on the season; but given the Dolphins’ ability to generate turnovers and Murray’s aggressive approach, look for Miami to steal a few possessions against the Cardinals.
Miami holds Murray to a season low in rushing yards
The Dolphins staff has done a good job of taking away what opposing teams do well as of late — and there’s no reason to think that won’t continue against Arizona. Does that mean Miami will have all the answers for Arizona? No. But Miami, if they’re disciplined with their linebackers, will likely force Murray to sit in the backfield to beat them. Murray’s season low is 29 yards. Look for the Dolphins to challenge that.
Patrick Laird will offer similar returns to Myles Gaskin
Miami settled on Gaskin as their lead back because he offered the majority of the playbook. And while Gaskin is the Dolphins’ best option this season, Laird is the best backup plan to that role. Laird is a capable pass catcher and Miami has used him in the 20-personnel Wildcat package and asked him to block, too. He’s tough and agile. This may not be a sexy play in fantasy football, but Laird offers Miami the best chance to keep everything else in the offense status quo without Gaskin this week.
Tua Tagovailoa will pass for 250+ yards
Law of averages suggests we’ll see a much bigger, better performance for the offense against the Cardinals than we saw last week against the Rams. And with the running game compromised with injuries to Miami’s top two running backs, the pressure will fall on Tagovailoa to have a high-volume effort on Sunday. He might not push the ball down the field with frequency or efficiency, but expect Miami to sprinkle in plenty of throws inside of 15-yards and ask their young quarterback to keep the offense moving in what should be a closely contested football game.
The team who has the ball last will win
Speaking of closely contested, we think this one will come down to the last possession. Look for some late game magic from one of these two young quarterbacks — we just won’t dare declare which one it will be. Miami hasn’t had their share of close games as of late, but we have a feeling that may be about to change with a trip to the desert this weekend.
