Steelers at Dolphins: Game preview, odds, and prediction
By Matt Kerns
With the Pittsburgh Steelers coming to town, the Miami Dolphins will need a miracle for a victory on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium.
Two historic franchises who have played in two AFC Championship games against each other will meet again this week. Unfortunately for the Dolphins, their historic past seems light-years ago as they are off to a horrid 1-3 start. After cutting two former starters along the offensive line, Dolphins quarterback, Ryan Tannehill made it clear that the team means business and for those who aren’t performing, well, they’ll get left in the dust.
Tannehill had the following to say on the cuts via Pro Football Talk, ““I think it sends a pretty clear message, obviously, it’s a tough part of the business. [They are] guys that you spend a lot of time with — good people — but it sends a message to everyone on this team that, ‘You’ve got to get your job done, or we’re going to find somebody who can.”
Hm. Get your job done or find someone else that can? It’s east to point fingers at the offensive line after they surrendered six sacks last week and numerous other pressures to the Titans, but Tannehill hasn’t exactly “got the job done” either this season.
Miami is putting up just 17.6 points per game, 28th in the rankings. Tannehill is being sacked nearly once every 10 dropbacks. He has an interception rate of nearly 5% and the team has shown no signs of putting it all together. It’s easy for us to look at the Dolphins and blame their struggles on Tannehill but the fact of the matter is, he hasn’t been all that impressive since entering the league.
Although many Dolphins fans have run out of patience with Tannehill, he needs a chance to show what he can do with some time in the pocket. As of now, he couldn’t buy himself a clean pocket.
Odds
Line: Pitt (-7.5)
Over/Under: 48
Of course, their inability to run the football hasn’t helped the offense either. Miami has abandoned the run early and often thus far. When game planning this week, Pittsburgh won’t have to bother worrying about the Dolphins running game because it’s literally non-existent.
Miami ranks last in time of possession per game as they’ve averaged just 24:38 in TOP this year. The Steelers rank 15th averaging 30:30 per game with the ball. Steelers quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger is second in the NFL in total net yards passing with 1,421 yards. If he’s on the field all day, it’ll be a long day for the Dolphins.
But perhaps it will be the Steelers running game that will shred up the Dolphins defense this Sunday. Pittsburgh is averaging just over 100 yards per game on the ground. Miami is dead last in the league in defending the run, as they have given up an average of 150 yards per game.
Despite being on the road, the Steelers are heavy road favorites in this one. Most concerning for Miami has to be their offensive line. Tannehill has been sacked 17 times this year already, the third most among QB’s. Gase talked about how he would like to see Tannehill execute the offense from a clean pocket and given time to deliver the ball. But there are no signs that point to this offensive line improving.
Prediction: 38-20 Steelers