2009 Schedule Preview: Week 6 @ Miami Dolphins
by Dave Cariello on Jul 29, 2009 6:00 AM CDT
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PrintWeek six of the 2009 season has the Saints travelling to beautiful Miami to take on the Dolphins for the second time of the year. Oddly enough, the Saints will face the Phins relatively soon when the two teams meet in pre-season. But the game in late October is the only one that counts and worth any concern. Let's look at the 2009 Dolphins and see how the team plans to follow up on last years sucess since I wouldn't expect to learn anything from their first pre-season matchup against the Saints.
Dolphins Offense
The arrival of Chad Pennington last season was a huge reason for Miami's surprise turnaround in 2008 and he will surely be the starter when 2009 opens. Any slip by Pennington, however, and backup QB Chad Henne could quickly be sent in to replace him. While you'd think that the Dolphins would be set at the position, keep in mind these guys run the now famous Wildcat offense, so it's no surprise that they drafted the dangerous and versatile West Virginia quarterback Pat White in the second round of this years draft. Head coach Tony Sparano has already stated that White will only be used as a quarterback. This means you can expect to see a healthy dose of rotating between Pennington and White at the position.
Regardless of who is slinging the ball, the Dolphins don't have much in the way of receiving threats on the other end. The teams leading receiver last year, Ted Ginn, Jr., has been somewhat of a disappointment.and Greg Camarillo is coming off injury. Miami drafted wide receivers Patrick Turner and Brian Hartline in the mid rounds of the draft to help add some speed on the outside. Davone Bess could be the go-to guy for the Dolphins in 2009.
Both Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams should see significant time in the backfield this year but will run behind a less than solid interior offensive line. The tackle positions are in pretty good shape with Jake Long and Vernon Carey.
Overall, not much to worry about here. The Saints defense last year might have had a chance to handl this matchup so this year should be no problem.
Dolphins Defense
Possibly the biggest off-season story for the Phins defense this year was the return of Jason Taylor. Taylor, that dancin' fool, just couldn't stay away from Miami for too long. He comes back to the Dolphins after a short hiatus in Washington and joins last years team sack leader Joey Porter. But the aging linebacker just doesn't seem as effective as he once was but should still be a positive influence on the rest of this defense, at the very least.
After losing Renaldo Hill and Andre' Goodman, the Phins have made just as many significant adjustments to their secondary as the Saints this off-season. They drafted cornerbacks Vontae Davis - a possible Saints draft pick - in the first round and Sean Smith in the second while also signing cornerback Eric Green and safety Gibril Wilson in February. The team is sure to see some improvement on last years 25th ranked pass defense.
Regardless of any upgrades this off-season the Saints should have no problem doing some damage to the Dolphins defense.
Dolphins 2008 Season
11-5 Record
Last Meeting
October 30th, 2005
| Week 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | F |
| Dolphins | 3 | 6 | 2 | 10 | -- | 21 |
| Saints | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | -- | 6 |
Why the Saints Can Win
Their offense is just too good.
Why the Saints Can Lose
The Wildcat, or "WildPat", could be crazy, man!
Prediction
Saints 42 - Dolphins 24
Newly Acquired
DT Tony McDaniel
DE/OLB Jason Taylor
CB Eric Green
S Gibril Wilson
OL J.D. Quinn
DE Ryan Baker
TE Jared Bronson
NT Louis Ellis
RB Anthony Kimble
WR Brennan Marion
DE Orion Martin
WR Chris Williams
2009 Draft Class
CB Vontae Davis
QB/WR Pat White
CB/S Sean Smith
WR Patrick Turner
WR Brian Hartline
TE John Nalbone
FS Chris Clemons
OT Andrew Gardner
ILB J.D. Folson
Key Losses
QB John Beck
FB Boomer Grigsby
WR Tab Perry
DE Vonnie Holliday
ILB Derek Smith
CB Andre' Goodman
FS Renaldo Hill
WR Todd Lowber
Linkage
Dolphins @ Saints 2008 Pre-Season: The View from Section 108
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Wow. How did this Miami team win 11 games last year?
Did they have an easy schedule?
"Knock 'em the (- -) out!" - G Dub
We won with a
new coach, attitude, playing like a team, and making very few mistakes (excuse me while I ignore that playoff game…). And we aim to win 11/12 this year, too!
What about Cameron Wake? – if J Peezy (Porter) declines as it’s “predicted” Wake will fill this void. And JT? he’s pumped. Say no more.
Our O-line is a LOT better and barring injury, we’ll be running much more. While giving kudos to Satele fro playing injuring all season, Grove is much better run blocker.
Beck wasn’t really a key loss – Holliday was, though.
Our secondary is much more physical this year, too. Receivers are going to have a harder time coming off the line. With an upgraded pass rush, Camarillo’s ahead of schedule on his recovery, and while this fuss about not having an elite receiver, CP10 knows how to make the most of it. (i.e. playing like a team). With these guys the sum is greater the the parts.
And yes, we’re gonna beat you guys, too. 24-17.
Hey, as an aside; Who do ya’ll think’s gonna “bite” on Vick?
Larry Little is the man.
V.P., Administrator, and non-rap songsmith?
looks like the Jags, huh?
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by Dave Cariello on Jul 29, 2009 9:47 AM CDT up reply actions
payton's getting a taste for grilled tuna
the last time we played a team coached by the tuna (dallas),it was a blowout.
i look for the phins to put up a better fight, while most people think bill had more talent in dallas, i think dallas quit playing,something they are prone to do (see the second philly game last year).the phins will not wuss out if the saints take an early lead, the saints will have to play mistake free football, for 4 quarters.
miami had a great draft. like the saints, they needed secondary help. davis and smith should really fill the bill. this team will win their division this year.
Despite Brady?
Sorry, I’d consider them the odds on favorite for 2nd place and even a possible wild-card despite their very rough schedule, but unless Brady comes out whiffing and just flat sucks for half or more of the season (i.e. if it takes a long time to get settled down from all the bodies flying around near his reconstructed knee) then I’m pretty sure Bellicheat is taking “his” division back.
But I do agree this is going to be a tough game for the Saints.
the tuna will abide
the window is closing on the pats, due to the improvement of other teams in their division, the bills, phinns, and the jets use to be three of the weakest teams in the nfl, it’s not hard to be a playoff team with competition like that. gone are the seasons of 6 easy wins.plus, now that brady won’t know the opponents defensive calls before the snap, he will have to learn to use his presnap read , i’m not so sure he can. remember they were cheating most of his time under center.
Who says he won't know the opposition's plays in advance?
A post-parity dynasty gets caught cheating, doesn’t so much as “seem” repentant, and gets little more than a slap on the wrist. Goodell loves him a winner, more than he loves punishing the wicked even. The Pats have no reason to stop filming opposing sidelines.
amen brother
the sad part is, they had to cheat to beat teams like the jets,and bills. if the pats played in any other division they would have been a .500 team.
Good point. You can still film from OUTSIDE the sidelines, after all. So they film from the stands with a computer geek who digitizes the info and uploads it to them over wireless internet or some-such. They can still look at it all over halftime and keep doing what they were without changing.
Mind you, I think that would take a seriously arrogant bastard to try this, but then bellicheat is one, so… :)
The Dolphins are in the same boat as the Falcons
It’s statistically unlikely they will repeat last year’s performance, as they will have a tougher schedule and less a-list youngblood coming from the draft. They are a much improved team from earlier in the decade, but they are low on my list of AFC East threats. That doesn’t mean they can’t beat us, it just seems less likely than the Patriots, or maybe even the Bills doing so.
afc east
i like vontae davis and sean smith,both were on my short list for the saints to pick. i thought jenkins would be gone when we picked. the bills are in trouble, the o line is a big ?. not to mention the TO circus. i think they took two steps back. the jets and phins improved the most in the afc east. mark my words, the pats will be out of playoff contention when they visit the dome for the monday night game. the saints will blow them out, thier D is to slow to hang with the saints speed, on our home turf, and it’s not likely to snow in the dome(their only chance)………………….. what a jinx of a post, if we lose blame me
we will win this game
but it won’t be that high of a score. i’d say we win 31-24. even with the additions to the secondary, i don’t like davis very much. he will get burned at least once but i think he’ll have the best chance of having a pick too. Brees is too good of a quarterback, along with a good receiving core, to get shut down by 2 rookies even if they do have gibril wilson. Pats will win the division, cheating or not cheating. Brady will be back to form and with welker, moss, and galloway, they will win the division. dolphins will be 9-7 this year.
Superbowl bound!!!...I hope? Go Saints! :D
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