Dolphins Prep For Peyton Manning, Broncos
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DAVIE (CBSMiami/AP) — Following the Miami Dolphins big home win over the Buffalo Bills on Thursday Night Football, the team was given a couple of days off to rest and heal.
During the Dolphins weekend off, defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle relaxed on his couch at home while scouting the Denver Broncos and Peyton Manning.
Coyle will be in a much less comfortable position Monday, working along the visiting sideline when the Dolphins play at Denver. It will be a matchup of the NFL's most prolific passer against the No. 2-ranked defense.
The showdown lost a little luster when the Broncos were beaten Sunday by the St. Louis Rams, 22-7. But Denver (7-3) and Miami (6-4) are among the AFC's top six seeded teams.
"As a competitor, you love to play against these guys," Coyle said Monday. "It was nice yesterday just watching on the couch to see how good these guys are from a little different perspective. But I think for players and coaches alike, you get up for games like this."
The Dolphins beat Buffalo 22-9 on Thursday and haven't allowed a touchdown in their past two home games. But they'll next face an offense that ranks second in passing yardage and third in total yardage, and the Broncos are 5-0 at home.
Manning has a worse passer rating versus the Dolphins than against any other opponent — 79.8, with 18 touchdowns and 18 interceptions in 12 games. But he hasn't faced Miami since 2009, when he was still with the Indianapolis Colts.
Even with 10 days to prepare for Manning, the Dolphins aren't planning much to surprise him, coach Joe Philbin said. Doing the basics well are the best bet, Philbin said.
"To think that we're going to have something, like seven brand new coverages that Peyton Manning has never seen before, and have time to practice those — that's probably not realistic," Philbin said. "I think the formula that we've had is stop the run first, get pressure on the quarterback, have tight coverage and tackle well. I know it gets old to hear, but this a team that you have to really play solid, sound, fundamental football against, and not give up anything cheap."
That's what the Rams did. Manning threw for 389 yards, but he was intercepted twice and stopped on fourth down twice.
"St. Louis did a good job," Coyle said. "I thought they did a nice job mixing up pressure and coverage. Denver had some injuries during the course of the game where they had to start trying to plug people in. I don't know how much that affected them, but certainly St. Louis did a good job against the run, which forced them to throw the ball 54 times. Even with Peyton, I don't think that was what they wanted to do necessarily."
The Dolphins have won with more than just defense, and all six victories have been by at least 13 points. Offensive coordinator Bill Lazor said his unit must do its part Sunday, and he's crafting a game plan mindful that Manning will be on the other side.
"When you face these kind of teams that can score a lot of points, I think history would tell you that you've got to put great emphasis on each possession," Lazor said. "To me, the number one thing we have to do is score points, because if you get behind, you let them play the game exactly how they want to play it."
The forecast Sunday in Denver is for a high temperature of 40 degrees. In preparation, Philbin said, he has cooled the Dolphins' indoor practice bubble down to 62 degrees.
Philbin joked that he's not sure he can get it lower, because owner Stephen Ross might object.
"Depends on how much cloud cover we get," Philbin said. "Steve doesn't like the air conditioning bills when we have to crank it on all the time. But we'll talk about some of that stuff."
Watch Miami take on the Denver Broncos this Sunday at 4 p.m. on CBS4, your official Dolphins station!
(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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