Dallas –3.5 @ Miami
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Tony Romo looks to have forgotten all about the playoff game in Seattle. He was lights out in the season opener going 15 for 24 racking up 345 yards with 4 TDs and 1 INT. He averaged a huge 14.4 yards an attempt and also had a rushing TD. The Cowboys were able to do whatever they wanted to do to the Giants D.
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Julius Jones and Marion Barber make a nice RB tandem and rushed for 131 combined yards gaining 4.7 yards on average. They also have a huge offensive line in front of them who has looked solid thru the preseason and in the opener. Miami’s D will have their hands full trying to cover TO, Witten and Crayton. And this year under new offensive coordinator the Dallas RB’s are going to be more of a receiving threat than in years past.
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I watched the Miami/Washington game last week and Miami’s D was solid in the first half, but by the second half they started to looked gassed and Washington was able to pound the rock down their throats. I feel very strongly that this Dallas o-line will wear down Miami’s front 7, and come the second half the Dallas rushing attack will take over. The redskins finished the day with 191 yards gaining 4.7 yards a clip. And most of those yards came in the second half.
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I would call Miami an elite defense, but their secondary is VERY suspect. Jason Campell wasn’t really able to expose them last week, but he was able to connect on a few big plays going after cornerback Will Allen. And we all saw what Romo can do to bad pass defenses, especially with good protection. If Dallas can get the running game going, expect a lot of play action passes against a beat up secondary. The Dolphins secondary was already venerable before an injury to starting safety Yeramiah Bell. Who was quite possibly the best player in that defensive backfield. The Phin’s scampered this week bringing in 2 FA’s (Donovan Darius and Lamont Thompson) to fill out that secondary. Dallas should be able to find some favorable matchups with Witten, Owens and Crayton.
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Trent Green looked average last week against Washington. I don’t know if its because of Washington’s D or his unfamiliarity with Miami’s scheme. He went 24 or 38 for 219 and 1 TD. HALF of his completions were to runningbacks!! He was checking down awful quickly and barely went after Washington’s aggressive safeties. The key for Dallas will be to limit Chris Chambers as much as possible.
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Dallas D didn’t look so hot in week 1 against the Giants. I’m not going to overreact because I think this D is better than the 35 points they gave up. They gave up some big plays because of bad tackling, they will need to fix this issue this week. They have a lot of young talent on that side of the ball and will bring some heavy pressure at Miami. Look for them to attack Miami’s rookie center. If Terrence Newman can play that would be a bonus, but I think they will be just fine without him.
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As far as the heat and humidity goes I don’t think it will be that big an issue. Sure it will be hot, the players will just have to deal with that. And it doesn’t hurt now that some of the Dallas players are using those intercooler shoulder pads to get a nice chill when they are on the sidelines. Wade Phillips and Cam Cameron are very familiar with each other spending the past few years as coordinators for San Diego. Both teams run the same offense, originating from Norv Turner.
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[FONT="]Prediction: Dallas 30 Dolphins 17 :animated-Dead12: [/FONT]
