Dolphins Offense Could Be In For A Mammoth Game Versus Jets Sans Darrelle Revis
By Abraham Gutierrez
With an intradivisional Week 12 showdown in the horizon, Dan Campbell and the desperate Miami Dolphins might be able to capitalize on the fact that perennial cornerback Darrelle Revis is likely to be sidelined when the New York Jets play host in this pivotal AFC East clash.
That's because as of Thursday morning, all indications are that the six-time Pro Bowler will be in street clothes when the Fins invade MetLife Stadium Sunday afternoon. According to various reports, Jets head coach Todd Bowles had no choice but to send the four-time All-Pro defensive back home, as he's still under the NFL's concussion protocol.
"I sent him home today and he is still going through (the protocol)," said Gang Green's first-year head coach. "Hopefully, he will feel a little better as the week goes. He wasn't 100 percent still and the docs won't let him sit in meetings just yet.
"We are ready to play without him, but if he comes back it will be a bonus," Bowles added. "We will see later in the week, but we are preparing to play without him."
In the midst of one of his worst performances as an NFL pro, "Revis Island" suffered a concussion in last week's (24-17) loss to the Houston Texans and was not able to return. Uncharacteristically, Revis was no match for Texans wide receiver, DeAndre Hopkins, who dominated Revis to the tune of 118 yards on five catches and a pair of scores, including a 61-yard backbreaker.
The former 14th overall pick will likely be replaced by either Skrine or Marcus Williams, which could open the door for Miami's receivers to have a huge game. The Dolphins come in featuring one of the most anemic offenses in all of football, mostly by this team's lack of big-play ability.
The Fins will kick off Week 12 ranked 21st in passing yards (236.5) and 26th in both total yards (336.2) and points per game (20.5). Nevertheless, without Revis in the lineup and with Antonio Cromartie less than 100 percent, all indications are that this could be a breakout game for Ryan Tannehill and dangerous wide receivers such as Jarvis Landry and Rishard Matthews.
Landry is currently the team leader in receptions (63) and is second in both receiving yards (651) and touchdowns (3). Meanwhile, Matthews leads the way in receiving yards (662), and touchdowns (4), while trailing Landry in total catches (43).
After being called out by their head coach on Monday, it's going to be interesting to see how Miami's offense responds with the Jets leaving a window of opportunity open with injuries to their hobbled secondary.
"That's a hard way to live," Campbell said after Miami's 24-14 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 11. "Our offense, we have to score points. We have to find a way. We have to be scoring more than 21 points a game or whatever we're at."
And while the Dolphins defense has taken most of the criticism for the team's poor play, the Fins interim head coach believes that the offense's inability to control time of possession is overstressing his defense.
"We ended up with 41 plays and we really only produced 14 points out of that," Campbell said. "At some point when you look at where your defense is at you feel like you have to start getting chunks or explosive passes. I felt like we kind of did what we had to do to be honest with you."
Abe Gutierrez's (Twitter: @GutierrezAbe) passion led him to ditch law school journey in order to launch his own publishing company. His expertise make him a valued addition to Examiner.com, AXS.com and the CBS-Sports family. Some of his work can be found on CBS-Miami (Dolphins), CBS-LosAngeles (Chargers), CBS-BayArea (Raiders), CBS-NewYork (NY Jets), CBS-TampaBay (Buccaneers), AXS.com, Examiner.com and other online publications.