Miami are resurgent, but the cold lies ahead.
The Miami Dolphins – for the most part – played a great game against the New England Patriots on Sunday.
Victory improved the Dolphins’ record to 5-6 and unbelievably keeps them in the hunt for the postseason.
The next challenge is a Thanksgiving night game at Lambeau Field against the 8-3 Green Bay Packers.
The weather forecast for the game is 20 degrees with scattered flurries and snow showers – for us Brits that is -7 Degrees Celsius!
That is nowhere near the conditions they faced in Kansas City last year, but it is still cold enough to impact the Dolphins’ pass based offense.
So how do they propose to break the narrative that Miami can not win in the cold?
The answer is obvious. Run the damn ball!
Despite losing Austin Jackson for the season, the offensive line has shown improvement in run blocking.
Aaron Brewer has been outstanding, Robert Jones and even Liam Eichenberg have been competent while Terron Armstead is just elite.
Triple threat
Miami are fortunate to have three very good running backs too.
De’Von Achane has been spectacular since Tua Tagovailoa returned from injury. Raheem Mostert’s snap count has diminished but he is still very much a threat on the ground. The wildcard is Jaylen Wright who is a bigger back but still has the speed to break a long run.
Midway through the fourth quarter of the Pats game, the Dolphins switched to their second stringers – including Skylar Thompson and Wright.
The result was a fumble in the backfield allowing the Pats to score, which led to Miami bringing back the first team offense to ice the game.
In the context of the game this seemed insignificant at the time, but unless I am mistaken that was the last time we saw Wright take the field.
Other coaches may have kept Wright in the game to repair his confidence given the upcoming game in the cold. Will the Dolphins regret this? Time will tell and let us hope they do not.
The other obvious solution to the weather is to shorten the pass game. This is where the rise of Jonnu Smith could be significant.
Smith’s season did not appear to start until Week 7, but since then he has amassed 395 yards at an average of 11.6 yards per reception.
Tua was very vocal after Sunday’s win about changing the narrative that this team can not win in the cold.
The team is built differently now. They can run the ball and they can shorten the pass game effectively.
The question is, will they? We will see.
Story originally by former writer Alan Peplow.
