CBS4's Steve Goldstein Previews Sunday's Match Up Between The Fins And The Bucs
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - This Sunday it will be David versus Goliath at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
Well, it's not that much of a mismatch, after all every player is a professional, but one could look at the Miami Dolphins versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers game that way.
Tom Brady, of course, leads Tampa, the defending Super Bowl champions, with a legitimate chance to repeat. The Dolphins are struggling after a season-opening win at New England, but last week's loss to the Colts at home was alarming, with breakdowns on offense, defense, and special teams.
So how will the team respond? Will the three game losing streak galvanize the team with a determination to not let the season slip away?
Here are Week 5's quick hits.
'What you have here, is an opportunity'
If you've seen the movie "Miracle" you may find that opportunity sentence familiar. The movie portrayed how the United States Olympic hockey team in 1980 pulled off the biggest upset in sports history, beating the Soviet Union. Perhaps head coach Herb Brook's speech would apply. He told his team if they played the Soviets 10 times, the Soviet Union would win nine times, but not today. Sure the Dolphins are up against it against Tampa Bay in just about every facet of the game. A perfect time to shock the NFL and get a win.
Honest Flo
Head coach Brian Flores did not attempt to sugarcoat the loss against Indianapolis. After the game and the day after he was completely honest in saying his team got beat in all three phases of the game.
Downfield
A hot topic the last two weeks is the Dolphins' inability to throw the ball downfield until they're way behind and desperate. It was very clear there were some plays called last week and at least in one case Jaylen Waddle was wide open but quarterback Jacoby Brissett checked down and went underneath. It is going to be up to him and the offensive line to give him the time to go downfield early in the game. Not so easy to do if you're a quarterback and constantly being pressured on every drop back.
Grant gone
When a team makes as many mistakes as the coach said the Dolphins did, there has to be accountability. We will see about lineup changes and playing time but after a big drop earlier this season and then a fumbled punt that, in effect, put the game away for the Colts, longtime Dophin Jakeem Grant was traded to the Chicago Bears. The Dolphins have wide receivers that are better than Grant and now we get to see Waddle on punt returns. It was a good run for Grant and the Dolphins got good production out of a late round pick for those years.
Brady letdown
I am well aware this may be a reach, but after that much hyped game last Sunday night as Tom Brady went back to New England, and then the Buccaneers pulled out a dramatic win, perhaps as a team they could be a little overconfident and let their guard down on Sunday. It would be a key ingredient for the Dolphins to pull off an upset.
The Dolphins and Buccaneers kickoff at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday on CBS4, your official Dolphins television station.