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Dolphins vs Jaguars Preview - Injuries Updated 12/12/09 |  | ||||||||
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GAME TIME: 1:00 PM EST on Sunday, Dec 13th. The game will be
broadcast regionally on CBS TV, on DirecTV channel 705, on Sirius
radio 125 and 155 and on WQAM radio.
PLACE: Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, Jacksonville, FL WEATHER FORECAST: Mostly cloudy, with a high around 71. A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mostly around the start of the game. FIELD CONDITIONS: Jacksonville Municipal Stadium has a grass field that should be in good shape. There is some rain in the forecast Saturday and Sunday, but not enough to cause any serious problems during the game. STANDINGS & STATS: The Dolphins are 6-6 and tied for second place in the AFC East with the Jets, but own the tie-breaker over them, so are effectively in 2nd place. The Jaguars are 7-5 and in second place in the AFC South.
Dolphins Pts/Game Rank Jaguars Pts/Game Rank
Scored 23.2 12 Scored 18.8 24
Allowed 24.7 26 Allowed 22.8 22
Dolphins Yds/Game Rank Jaguars Yds/Game Rank
Total Offense: 326 19 Total Defense: 346 19
Rushing: 150 4 vs Rush: 104 11
Passing: 176 26 vs Pass: 242 23
Jaguars Dolphins
Total Offense: 352 14 Total Defense: 350 22
Rushing: 131 7 vs Rush: 107 14
Passing: 221 17 vs Pass: 243 24
Sacks Made (Avg/G) Allowed (Avg/G)
Dolphins 35 2.9 25 2.1
Jaguars 12 1.0 34 2.8
Turnover differential:
Dolphins -2
Jaguars 0
Individual Skill Position Stats:
Dolphins
QB: QB Henne: 173-301-1847-9-8-74.4
Rush: RB Williams: 172-867-5.0-9
Rush: FB Polite: 26-87-3.3-0
Rec: WR Bess: 59-548-9.3-1
Rec: WR Camarillo: 32-342-10.7-0
Rec: WR Ginn,Jr: 27-302-11.2-1
Jaguars
QB: QB Garrard: 239-396-2848-10-6-86.6
Rush: RB Jones-Drew: 233-1077-4.6-13
Rush: QB Garrard: 60-241-4.0-2
Rec: WR Sims-Walker: 52-752-14.5-6
Rec: WR Holt: 44-590-13.4-0
Rec: RB Jones-Drew: 42-279-6.6-0
Legend
QBs: completions-attempts-yards-touchdowns-ints-rating
RBs: rushes-yards-average-touchdowns
WRs: receptions-yards-average-touchdowns
HISTORY: Despite being in the same conference and the same state, the
Dolphins have only faced the Jaguars 4 times during the regular season
(and playoffs). Historically, the Dolphins only have a 1-3 record
against the Jaguars in games that count.
Dolphins:
DOUBTFUL: C Jake Grove (ankle)
QUESTIONABLE: CB Nathan Jones (hamstring)
PROBABLE: LB Joey Porter (knee)
LB Jason Taylor (shoulder)
Jaguars:
DOUBTFUL: WR Mike Sims-Walker (calf)
DT John Henderson (shoulder)
CB Rashean Mathis (groin)
QUESTIONABLE: G Kynan Forney (back)
DE Julius Williams (knee)
PROBABLE: RB Maurice Jones-Drew (knee)
WR Mike Thomas (hamstring)
DOLPHINS STARTERS:
Offense: Defense:
QB - 7 Chad Henne LE - 70 Kendall Langford
RB - 34 Ricky Williams NT - 96 Paul Soliai
FB - 39 Lousaka Polite RE - 94 Randy Starks
WR - 83 Greg Camarillo SLB - 99 Jason Taylor
WR - 82 Brian Hartline 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 - 21 Vontae Davis
C - 67 Joe Berger 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: It looked like Jake Grove was healing earlier in the week, but
sat out Friday practice and Joe Berger will likely start. At right
guard, Donald Thomas has been alternating with Nate Garner and that
looks like it will continue. And if Joey Porter can't start, Charlie
Anderson will get another chance.
Jaguars STARTERS: Offense: Defense: QB - 9 David Garrard RE - 90 Julius Williams RB - 32 Maurice Jones-Drew RT - 98 John Henderson FB - 33 Greg Jones LT - 96 Terrance Knighton WR - 81 Torry Holt LE - 91 Derrick Harvey WR - 11 Mike Sims-Walker OLB - 52 Daryl Smith TE - 89 Marcedes Lewis MLB - 56 Justin Durant LT - 75 Eugene Monroe OLB - 51 Clint Ingram LG - 67 Vince Manuwai LCB - 27 Rashean Mathis C - 63 Brad Meester RCB - 21 Derek Cox RG - 77 Uche Nwaneri SS - 42 Gerald Alexander RT - 73 Eben Britton FS - 25 Reggie Nelson K - 10 Josh Scobee P - 3 Adam Podlesh PR - 38 Brian Witherspoon KR - 38 Brian WitherspoonNOTES: Mike Sims-Walker did not practice on Thursday. He is the Jaguars leading receiver, but has been hobbled by injuries the last few weeks and has not been as productive.
On the offense, OG Nate Garner has been rotating with Donald Thomas at the starting position. Either they've found a real diamond-in-the rough in Garner or Thomas has been slipping. That rotation will likely continue this week. Both Chad Henne and Davone Bess really shone last week and should continue to be productive this week. And while Brian Hartline is not catching a lot of passes, he does make a lot of big plays. Joey Porter is still injured and it's not clear if he's going to play this week. Charlie Anderson had a big game starting in place of him a couple of weeks ago. It does look like Jason Taylor will start and Paul Soliai will need to step up his game this week to help contain Jones-Drew. In the secondary, Vontae Davis came up big in a crucial situation last week and Sean Smith continues to be a steady force on the other side. Coach Sparano keeps saying that we will see more of Cameron Wake, but he still doesn't get many plays. However, when he is on the field, he almost always puts pressure on opposing quarterbacks. The Jaguars' biggest threat on offense is Maurice Jones-Drew, who already has 1000 yards rushing at 4.6 ypc this year and is third on the team in receiving. QB David Garrard is a strong quarterback who runs well out of the pocket and can throw deep. However, when he gets pressure, he is prone to make mistakes and has fumbled 12 times this year. Mike Sims-Walker is their best receiver, but injuries have limited him to 5 catches over the past two games. LBs Daryl Smith and Justin Durant lead the team in tackles with 79 and 73 respectively, but none of the Jaguars' defenders has more than 1.5 sacks this year. CB Rashean Mathis has 3 interceptions and several other players have two each. On special teams, Ted Ginn,Jr has not run a kickoff back for a touchdown since the Jets' game, but is still 4th in the league for players with at least 20 returns with an average of 28.6 yards per return. And Dan Carpenter has quietly become "Mr. Automatic" as a field goal kicker this year, tied for the lead in the NFL by making 95% of his field goals. The Jags return game is not nearly as dynamic, while their kicker, Josh Scobee, has only made 65% of his attempts. The Dolphins have put themselves back into the playoff hunt with their win against the Patriots last week and are in a position to make the playoffs if they can play well down the stretch. Each of the teams they face from now until the end of the season is in competition for at least a wildcard spot and both Miami and the Jets could overtake the Patriots if the Patriots continue to slide. Right now, the Jaguars hold the final wildcard spot in the AFC and are one game ahead of the Dolphins. If the Dolphins win this weekend, they will be tied with the Jaguars in the standings and hold the tie-breaker, because of their head-to-head victory. This does not put the Dolphins into the 6th wildcard spot automatically, because Baltimore has the same record and owns the tie-breaker due to common opponents record, but it does put the Dolphins one step closer to the playoffs. The Jaguars are a tough team, especially at home and have been improving gradually as the year progresses. Like the Dolphins, their best offensive weapon is a running back and they would like to rely on him for most of their production and use him to set up their passing game. Statistically, the Dolphins and Jaguars are very similar in most respects. Their defensive statistics are nearly identical and offensively, they have the same character. The Dolphins prefer to run, but can throw when needed and like to use their running game to set up the play-action. Both Miami and Jacksonville defend the run better than the pass and run the ball better than they throw. At quarterback, David Garrard is having one of the best years of his career and has an 86.6 quarterback rating. However, Garrard also has 12 fumbles and tends to make mistakes when pressured. And despite starting 3 more games than Chad Henne and throwing for 1000 more yards, he only has one more touchdown pass than Henne. Still, despite the production of Jones-Drew and Garrard, the Jaguars do not score a lot of points. They can control the football and typically control the clock. However, controlling the clock doesn't do much good if you can't score and the Jaguars are 24th in the league in scoring at 18.8 points per game, which is significantly behind the Dolphins' 23.2 points scored per game. However, the biggest single difference in these two teams is the strength of their respective pass rushes. The Dolphins are tied for 3rd in the league with 35 sacks while the Jaguars are dead last with 12. That is the place where Miami has the biggest advantage and where the Dolphins can dominate this game. When Miami has the ball, the Jaguars will be expecting Miami to run and Miami will run when it can. But the Dolphins will be more likely to pass this week than they have in other games this year. Without an effective pass rush from the Jaguars, Chad Henne should have plenty of time to throw and should be able to find open receivers. If Miami can move the ball well with the passing game, they can get an early lead and hopefully force the Jaguars to throw more than they'd like. And when the Jaguars throw, Miami's pass rush should be effective in disrupting David Garrard's rhythm. When Garrard has been sacked 4 or more times this season, the Jaguars are 1-3. Of course, the key to getting the Jaguars to throw is to at least slow down Maurice Jone-Drew. Fortunately, the Jaguars do not have any other backs who are nearly as dangerous, so the Dolphins can focus on Jones-Drew. But if Miami can put the Jaguars into third and long situations, they can get pressure on Garrard and force mistakes. The other place the Dolphins have a significant advantage - and it seems strange to say this - is on special teams. Dan Carpenter is having an excellent year, while the Jaguars' Josh Scobee is not doing well. If the score is very close at the end, Miami's kicking game will give them an advantage. Ultimately, I believe the Dolphins have two possible paths to victory in this game. They can either stop Maurice Jones-Drew on defense or they can score a lot through the air on offense. Either situation forces the Jaguars out of their gameplan and allows the Dolphins' pass rush to exert pressure on David Garrard. 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 $9.99 (US) per month or $39.99 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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