The Dolphins are effectively in playoff football already.
The Miami Dolphins’ overtime win against the New York Jets last week has at least given them the chance to continue playing meaningful games in December.
This weekend’s game against the Houston Texans features two offenses that have failed to live up to their outstanding 2023 seasons – albeit for very good reasons.
Miami has shown more consistency since the return of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. But while the passing game has shown signs of life, the running game has almost disappeared.
The fear that the Dolphins are becoming too one dimensional is hard to ignore.
Head coach Mike McDaniel needs to dig deep into his box of tricks to ensure Miami can stay on the field offensively. They require the return of a strong ground game from De’Von Achane to compliment Tua and to keep what can be an explosive Houston attack off the field.
Houston have also suffered injuries at key positions and C.J. Stroud has not been as effective this season. That said, he is an extremely talented quarterback, who has both the touch and arm strength to shred teams in the secondary.
The keys to the game lie in the Dolphins ability to get Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle into the game consistently. They must stretch the Texans while opening up the run game and making Jonnu Smith more of a factor than he was before overtime last week.
The Texans for their part, will surely challenge the Dolphins depleted secondary and try to establish running back Joe Mixon early in the game.
There is no doubt that playing in a dome will help the Dolphins in terms of their speed, but with the Texans also in need of a win to maintain their two-game lead in the AFC South, this should be a great battle.
