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GAME TIME: 4:15 PM EST on Sunday, Oct 25th. The game will be
broadcast nationally on Fox.
PLACE: Land Shark Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL WEATHER FORECAST: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 86. East wind between 7 and 9 mph. FIELD CONDITIONS: The Hurricanes will be playing on Saturday night at Land Shark, but the weather is supposed to be generally good, so the grass should be in good shape. STANDINGS & STATS: The Dolphins are 2-3 and in third place in the AFC East. The Saints are 5-0 and alone in first place in the NFC South.
Dolphins Pts/Game Rank Saints Pts/Game Rank
Scored 22.4 15 Scored 38.4 1
Allowed 21.2 19 Allowed 18.6 10
Dolphins Yds/Game Rank Saints Yds/Game Rank
Total Offense: 340 15 Total Defense: 301 9
Rushing: 177 1 vs Rush: 83 5
Passing: 163 28 vs Pass: 218 15
Saints Dolphins
Total Offense: 430 1 Total Defense: 301 10
Rushing: 158 4 vs Rush: 76 3
Passing: 272 7 vs Pass: 225 18
Sacks Made (Avg/G) Allowed (Avg/G)
Dolphins 12 2.4 13 2.6
Saints 12 2.5 4 0.8
Turnover differential:
Dolphins -3
Saints +9
Individual Skill Position Stats:
Dolphins
QB: QB Henne: 51-74-413-3-1-93.4
Rush: RB Brown: 93-443-4.8-6
Rush: RB Williams: 61-316-5.2-2
Rec: WR Bess: 23-175-7.6-0
Rec: WR Ginn,Jr: 16-195-12.2-1
Rec: WR Camarillo: 14-119-8.5-0
Saints
QB: QB Brees: 110-158-1400-13-2-118.4
Rush: RB Bell: 60-263-4.4-2
Rush: RB Thomas: 48-284-5.9-3
Rush: RB Bush: 42-165-3.9-2
Rec: WR Colston: 25-394-15.8-4
Rec: TE Shockey: 22-199-9.0-3
Legend
QBs: completions-attempts-yards-touchdowns-ints-rating
RBs: rushes-yards-average-touchdowns
WRs: receptions-yards-average-touchdowns
HISTORY: Miami has won three of the last five meetings and owns a 6-3 overall series edge.
Dolphins: None Reported.
Saints:
DOUBTFUL: LB Scott Fujita (calf)
CB Malcolm Jenkins (ankle)
QUESTIONABLE: LB Jonathan Casillas (hip)
TE Jeremy Shockey (shoulder)
CB Leigh Torrence (hamstring)
PROBABLE: DE Jeff Charleston (rib)
G Jahri Evans (toe)
LS Jason Kyle (knee)
P Thomas Morstead (ankle)
DOLPHINS STARTERS:
Offense: Defense:
QB - 7 Chad Henne LE - 70 Kendall Langford
RB - 23 Ronnie Brown NT - 95 Jason Ferguson
FB - 39 Lousaka Polite RE - 94 Randy Starks
WR - 19 Ted Ginn,Jr SLB - 99 Jason Taylor
WR - 83 Greg Camarillo ILB - 51 Akin Ayodele
TE - 80 Anthony Fasano ILB - 52 Channing Crowder
LT - 77 Jake Long WLB - 55 Joey Porter
LG - 65 Justin Smiley LCB - 25 Will Allen
C - 64 Jake Grove RCB - 24 Sean Smith
RG - 66 Donald Thomas SS - 37 Yeremiah Bell
RT - 72 Vernon Carey FS - 28 Gibril Wilson
K - 5 Dan Carpenter P - 2 Brandon Fields
PR - 15 Davone Bess KR - 19 Ted Ginn,Jr
NOTES: Matt Roth has started practicing again, but has not been able
to stay on the practice field. That, plus the fact that he hasn't
been on the playing field since January mean that he won't play on
Sunday.
Saints STARTERS: Offense: Defense: QB - 9 Drew Brees LDE - 94 Charles Grant RB - 25 Reggie Bush LDT - 98 Sedrick Ellis FB - 44 Heath Evans RDT - 71 Kendrick Clancy WR - 12 Marques Colston RDE - 91 Will Smith WR - 19 Devery Henderson LLB - 54 Troy Edwards TE - 88 Jeremy Shockey MLB - 51 Johnathan Vilma LT - 74 Jermon Bushrod RLB - 58 Scott Shante LG - 77 Carl Nicks LCB - 32 Jabari Greer C - 76 Jonathan Goodwin RCB - 22 Tracy Porter RG - 73 Jahri Evans SS - 41 Roman Harper RT - 78 Jonathan Stinchcomb FS - 42 Darren Sharper K - 1 John Carney P - 6 Thomas Moreshead PR - 25 Reggie Bush KR - 15 Courtney RobyNOTES: LB Scott Fujita is probably out. His backup is listed as Troy Edwards.
Chad Henne had a great game against the Jets and showed poise and excellent decision making. He must continue to play the same way against a team that is much better at taking the ball away than the Jets were. And the offensive line must continue to dominate at the line of scrimmage. One player who hasn't been talked about much this week is Ted Ginn,Jr. Now that the Dolphins have a strong armed quarterback, Ginn could change the entire dynamic of the Dolphins' offense. The Dolphins' defense faces what is probably their biggest test of the season. They must play well in all facets of the game this weekend, but Jason Taylor, Joey Porter and Cameron Wake must look more like they did against the Bills than they did against the Jets. And Dolphins' safeties Yeremiah Bell and Gibril Wilson must do a much better job of defending the deep pass and covering the tight end than they have. Right now, Saints' Quarterback Drew Brees is playing better than any quarterback in the NFL and his favorite targets are Marques Colston and Jeremy Shockey. While the Saints' starting running back is Reggie Bush, RBs Mike Bell and Pierre Thomas are getting more carries than Bush and are averaging higher yards per carry. Thomas, in particular, is averaging 5.9 yards per carry. On defense, the Saints' two leading tacklers are safety Roman Harper and cornerback Jabari Greer, which is not usually a good sign for a defense, especially in defending the run. But the Saints' defense thrives on takeaways and free safety Darren Sharper already has 5 interceptions this season. Their best pass rusher is defensive end Charles Grant, who will face Vernon Carey on Sunday. Neither team has anybody particularly explosive on special teams. The Saints are certainly the toughest opponents that the Dolphins have faced so far this season and may turn out to be the toughest opponents the Dolphins will face this year. They are ranked first in scoring, first in total offense and have a +9 turnover ratio. Drew Brees is the top rated passer in the league and the Saints have the 4th ranked rushing attack. The Dolphins do have some advantages in this game, but they are not substantial. They have the advantage of coming off the bye week, while New Orleans is coming off a big win on Sunday and faces a tough division opponent next week. Plus, the Saints will be going to Miami to play. It is the classic scenario for an upset. It doesn't take a genius to figure out Miami's basic game plan for this game. They will try to do exactly what they've tried to do all season long - establish the running game, control the ball and pass when the opportunity presents itself. On defense, they'll want to shut down the run, pressure the passer and cover well. They've been successful with some of these goals this year and not so successful with others, mainly on defense. On offense, I do believe the Dolphins will have success moving the ball against the Saints. The Dolphins have the number one rushing attack in the league and the offensive line has been getting steadily better as the season has progressed. With Grove, Smiley and Thomas pulling and Ronnie and Ricky providing the one-two punch, the Dolphins' Wildcat should be effective. Also, the stats on the Saints' run defense are misleading. While they rank 5th in the NFL in giving up yards per game on the ground, that is because opponents are not running against them. Opponents are only running on the Saints about 21.8 times per game, which is the third lowest number in the league. And the Saints are giving up about 3.8 yards per carry, which is only in the middle of the pack. Most encouraging is that the Saints give up a lot of first downs (they're ranked in the bottom third of the NFL) to running plays. Also, their two top tacklers are a safety and a cornerback, meaning their lineman and linebackers are getting defeated at the point of attack. So there are many reasons to believe that the Dolphins' running game will be successful on Sunday. Miami's passing game is more problematic. While the Saints' pass rush is only average, they lead the league in interceptions with 11, so it will be crucial for Chad Henne to continue his cool-headed play and not turn the ball over. In both of his starts this year, Henne has show exceptional poise and presence under center and in the pocket and as long as he keeps that up, the Dolphins can have a successful passing game. In the Jets' game, Ted Ginn,Jr provided one of the highlights of the game. If Henne can hook up with Ginn on even one deep pass, the Dolphins' offense will be that much more effective. When the Saints have the ball, the Dolphins' defense definitely has their work cut out for them. Despite Drew Brees' stats, the Saints are not a quick-strike team like the Colts. While they do have that capability, they prefer to control the clock like the Dolphins and are 5th in the NFL in time-of-possession. They want to run the ball and set up Brees for the pass. And with Mike Bell, Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush, they've been very successful doing that. The depth chart lists Reggie Bush as the starter, but Mike Bell and Pierre Thomas are both ahead of Bush in both total yardage and yard-per-carry. The Saints are ranked 4th in the NFL in rushing with 158 yards per game and are setting up the Saints' passing game. It is possible to limit the Saints offense. The Jets' defense only allowed the Saints offense to score 10 points and they did it by forcing Drew Brees to throw underneath and avoiding the big play. The Jets actually gave up 153 yards on the ground, but by keeping Brees from converting any big plays, they held the Saints offense in check. Unfortunately, big plays have been Miami's Achilles' heel this year and that does not bode well for the Dolphins. If they are to win this game, they'll have to do a better job of covering Jeremy Shockey and Marques Colston than they have of covering other big receivers this year. It might actually be better for Miami to concentrate on defending the pass in exchange for giving up some rushing yardage to limit the Saints' offense. If the Dolphins' defense can limit the Saints' big plays, they can force this game to be a battle for time of possession and a contest between the teams' respective rushing attacks. That would put Miami on an equal footing with the Saints and they would have an excellent chance of winning. If, on the other hand, Miami's defense continues to give up big pass plays, they will almost certainly lose this game. I do think this is likely to be a high scoring game and could come down to a finish like the Jets game - the last team with the ball wins. Hopefully, that will be the Dolphins. To watch the game on TV, you may go to one of the sports bars listed on my "Places To Watch" web page. To listen to the game live over the Internet, you must now pay the NFL for the privelege. They are charging .99 (US) per month or .99 for the season for something you used to get for free. If you want to sign up for that, go to the following link NFL Field Pass. Also, here is a list of some websites that have live scores and updates. Both the Official Website and NFL.com have almost live applications that run in your browser and give you current stats and play-by-play information.
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