Sunday the Miami Dolphins travel to the dome in Minneapolis to take on Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings.
Talk about a battle of opposites. These teams are different in almost every aspect, and that is what will make this game so exciting to watch. It will also make this one helluva tough game.
Henne vs. Favre
One is a First Ballot Hall of Famer, and the other is a first year full time starter. Favre has made his career living on the edge of out of control. His mentality is to throw first, answer questions later.
Henne, on the other hand, has been taught to be efficient. Find the open guy, but if its not there, check it down to the safety valve. Take your shots, but only when its warranted. Control the game, slow and steady. You could compare these 2 as the tortoise and the hare.... and not be that far off.
Favre is coming off ankle surgery, and hasn't had the benefit of Training Camp. Henne had his first full offseason, and is continuing to grow. If the Dolphins are going to win this game, Cameron Wake and Koa Misi will need to keep Favre on the ground, hit him often, and make him feel uncomfortable. I think everyone in the league knows that is how you beat Favre......including the Vikings.
Offensive Lines
Minnesota has a very stout Offensive line. Names like Steve Hutchinson, and Bryant McKinnie on the left side remind you of how solid this line is. McKinnie was limited in practice recovering from a dislocated finger, but he is expected to play.
The Dolphins have a line that is still very much in flux. Despite our stellar rushing attack last year, our line hasn't gelled as quickly or as nicely as a lot of us expected. The Dolphins line is coming along, make no mistake about it... but as was evidenced by the center quarterback exchange issues last week at Buffalo, they aren't there yet.
Running Backs
Some of the best in the game, albeit, in 2 different forms. Minnesota has Adrian Peterson. There is nothing I can tell you about Adrian Peterson that you don't already know. If you follow the NFL at all, you know AP is one of the top running backs in the game. He does have fumble issues, but he'll pick up a defender and pile drive him before he runs around him. He's electric when he has the ball, and I guarantee you we focused all week on stopping him.
Ricky and Ronnie are our own hydra running backs. They feed off of each other, and spell each other based on how the game is going, how they feel... etc. Last year they were the 4th best rushing attack in the NFL, so you know its working. Whether is smash mouth football, the Wildcat, or even dump offs...Miami has 2 guys that can do big things.
Wide Receivers
Minnesota isn't as deadly this week as they were last year. The main reason is that Sidney Rice is out for half the season while recovering from offseason surgery. Percy Harvin hasn't practiced (as of Thursday) due to a new hip ailment....but we don't really know how severe, or what, it is. Bernard Berrian has been mostly ineffective, so he'll have to step up, and of course their newest WR, Greg Camarillo, is someone every dolphin fan already knows everything about...he's not flashy, but he has great hands, and is great on 3rd down.
Miami on the other hand, has one of the top 3 WR's in the league...Brandon Marshall. He had 8 catches last week in Buffalo, and expect him to have around that again this week. Brian Hartline is going to have to come into this game realizing that he has to shine...he was zero'd out last week in everything but drops, which is not a good thing, so expect him to find his groove and prove the nay sayers wrong this week. Davone Bess, is always consistent, he'll work the middle of the field, and we may see him lined up outside a few times, with Hartline in the slot just to change it up.
Defense
Here is where the drastic difference is. The Vikings defense is one of the top rushing defenses in the league. Everyone knows the Williams Wall, but there entire unit is very stout. Miami is going to test the DBs, and Henne is going to have to sling the ball around a lot if they want to move the chains this week.
Miami is .....well..... fluid. We don't know what Miami's Defense is. We know that right now they are the #1 Defense in the league, but the truth is, we don't know what all is contained in this group. Our pass rushers are both entering their 2nd game, our free safety is entering his 2nd game as a starter... the Defensive Line is mostly new.... and the Coordinator is new... Its like a ferrari that you've driven around the block but not on the highway.... I want to see what its got under the hood...and this is the week we'll get a good glimpse of it. Was last week a fluke against an anemic offense, or is this defense for real? We'll find out on Sunday.
My Prediction: I've had this one on the calendar as a Loss for Miami since the schedule came out. However, I think its going to be a lot closer than I think. I still give the edge to Minnesota, but with everything I saw in Week 1, I would not be surprised to see us punch them in the mouth. Starting out 2-0 would do phenomenal things to this locker room.....
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