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[ Roster | Key Matchups | Players to Watch | My Analysis | Places to Watch | Related Links ] GAME TIME: 1:00 PM EDT on Sunday, Oct 12th. The game will be broadcast regionally on CBS. PLACE: ALLTEL Stadium, Jacksonville, FL WEATHER FORECAST: Partly cloudy, high around 81 degrees F. No rain is in the forecast. FIELD CONDITIONS: ALLTEL Stadium has a grass surface and despite a little rain in the forecast for Saturday, should be in fine shape. STANDINGS & STATS: The Dolphins are 3-1 and alone in first place in the AFC East. The Jags are 1-4 and are last in the AFC South.
Dolphins Pts/Game Jaguars Pts/Game Scored 20.3 Scored 20.0 Allowed 12.0 Allowed 26.0HISTORY: The Dolphins and Jaguars have only faced each other 1 time in the regular season and once in the playoffs. The last regular season meeting was on Oct. 12, 1998, which the Dolphins lost 28-21. Jay Fiedler has never started against the Jaguars and Byron Leftwich has never started against the Dolphins. And, of course, Dave Wannstedt has never faced Jack Del Rio as a head coach.
Dolphins:
OUT: OL Mark Dixon (ankle)
QUESTIONABLE: DT Tim Bowens (Hand)
C Tim Ruddy (Knee)
LB Junior Seau (Hamstring)
FS Shawn Wooden (Ankle)
PROBABLE: LB Brendon Ayanbadejo (Abdomen)
QB Jay Fiedler (Toe)
FB Rob Konrad (Knee)
FS Brock Marion (Ankle)
G Jamie Nails (Shoulder)
T Wade Smith (Elbow)
DE Jason Taylor (Quadricep)
Jaguars:
OUT: LB Eric Westmoreland (Knee)
DOUBTFUL: CB Kiwaukee Thomas (Groin)
QUESTIONABLE: QB Mark Brunell (Elbow)
CB Jason Craft (Groin)
LB Mike Peterson (Ribs)
PROBABLE: CB James Trapp (Ankle)
DOLPHINS STARTERS:Offense: Defense: QB - 9 Jay Fiedler RDE - 99 Jason Taylor RB - 34 Ricky Williams RDT - 64 Larry Chester FB - 44 Rob Konrad LDT - 95 Tim Bowens WR - 84 Chris Chambers LDE - 93 Adewale Ogunleye WR - 88 Derrius Thompson SLB - 52 Morlon Greenwood TE - 81 Randy McMichael MLB - 54 Zach Thomas LT - 74 Wade Smith WLB - 51 Tommy Hendricks LG - 66 Jamie Nails LCB - 23 Patrick Surtain C - 61 Tim Ruddy RCB - 29 Sam Madison RG - 75 Todd Perry SS - 24 Sammy Knight RT - 71 Todd Wade FS - 31 Brock Marion K - 10 Olindo Mare' P - 1 Matt Turk PR - 32 Charlie Rogers KR - 32 Charlie RogersNOTES: It looks like Junior Seau will not start on Sunday. If he doesn't, then Tommy Hendricks will take his place, even though Corey Jenkins is officially the backup on the depth chart. Tim Ruddy will be back, but will still rotate with Seth McKinney. And if Tim Bowens can't play, then Jeff Zgonina will get the start. Offense: Defense: QB - 7 Byron Leftwich RDE - 58 Hugh Douglas RB - 28 Fred Taylor RDT - 98 John Henderson FB - 44 Marc Edwards LDT - 99 Marcus Stroud WR - 82 Jimmy Smith LDE - 90 Tony Brackens WR - 8 Matthew Hatchette SLB - 51 Akin Ayodele TE - 80 Kyle Brady MLB - 54 Mike Peterson LT - 72 Mike Pearson WLB - 53 TJ Slaughter LG - 64 Vince Manuwai LCB - 25 Fernando Bryant C - 63 Brad Meester RCB - 29 Jason Craft RG - 65 Chris Naeole SS - 20 Donovin Darius RT - 74 Maurice Williams FS - 27 Rashean Mathis K - 6 Seth Marler P - 3 Mark Royals KR - 34 David Allen PR - 34 David AllenNOTES: Mike Peterson is listed as questionable, but practiced on Friday and should start.
For the Dolphins, it was the interior offensive line that had the most problems with the Giants' defensive line last week. They'll need to play better this week if Miami hopes to get its running game going. Chris Chambers also needs to have a better game, but it was Rob Konrad, Randy McMichael and James McKnight who had the most impact for the Dolphins on offense last week. And it goes without saying - but I'm going to say it anyway - that Jay Fiedler will be under the microscope again this week. On defense, Madison and Surtain will have Jimmy Smith to cover, while the linebackers will have to deal with Fred Taylor. Tommy Hendricks will be making the second start of his career and his first at outside linebacker. He has the opportunity here to make a serious statement about his future or to show that he can't handle starting in the NFL. Undoubtedly, the Jaguars will attack him to see if he can handle it. On special teams, Charlie Rogers finally had one exceptional kick return last week. He'll have a chance to do it again this week. On offense, the Jaguars' Byron Leftwich is a rookie who had a great game last week against a poor - make that very poor - defense. He'll have a much tougher test this week against the Dolphins. Fred Taylor has been the leading weapon on offense for the Jags this year, leading the team in rushing and in number of receptions. But WR Jimmy Smith came back from suspension last week and had a big game. The Jaguars' defense has Tony Brackens and Hugh Douglas at the ends, but Douglas has yet to live up to the expectations placed on him. Mike Peterson anchors the middle, but strongside linebacker Akin Ayodele leads the team in tackles and has an interception to his credit. The Dolphins come into this game having won two tough games in a row against two of the better teams in the league. In two weeks, they face the Patriots in an important division game. The Jaguars are only a 1-4 team and the only team they've beaten is the Chargers. It's a classic trap game. The Jaguars, for their part, are 1-4, but 3 of the 4 losses were to Carolina, Indianapolis and Buffalo, back when Buffalo still looked like a powerhouse. Fred Taylor is one of the better running backs in the league and Jimmy Smith is an outstanding wide receiver. On defense, the Jaguars are ranked 6th in the league against the run, which puts their strength against the strength of the Dolphins. In other words, the Jaguars are probably a more talented team than their record would indicate. On offense, the Dolphins will probably use a gameplan similar to the one that they used against the Giants. They will run Ricky to set up the play action pass and they'll count on the Jaguars doing everything they can to stop Ricky. Then they'll hit them with the reverse or the pass to McMichael or Konrad. The Jaguars defensive line is not as dominating as the Giants', however, so hopefully Miami will have better luck this week running Ricky and give Jay Fiedler more time to get the ball down the field. The key for the Dolphins is to hold on to the football on offense and just keep doing what they've been doing. I believe they'll have more success running the ball this week and will protect Jay Fiedler better, resulting in more success passing to Chambers. The biggest danger for the Dolphins' offense is turnovers. So I think Miami will move the ball on the Jaguars. When the Jaguars have the ball, the situation is not as clear because we don't know yet if Byron Leftwich is the real deal. Leftwich lit up the field against the Chargers last week in his first start, but the Chargers are one of the worst teams in the league. Leftwich will face a much tougher test this week against the Dolphins' defense. While Fred Taylor is their main weapon, the Dolphins are playing very well against the run this season and Leftwich is going to have to pass to put points on the board. When he does pass, he'll see very tight coverage from the Dolphins and some very experienced and talented defenders. He'll also see mixed coverages as the Dolphins get better at integrating the zone defense into their gameplan. In the last 2 games, the Dolphins have picked off 6 passes from opponents and Leftwich, however talented he may be, is still a rookie. Miami should be able to get him to make enough mistakes to take away a few passes. The biggest question mark for the Miami defense is going to be Tommy Hendricks, who will start in place of Junior Seau at weakside linebacker. Hendricks has been a special teams demon for several years and did start one game in 2001, where he played fairly well. He will have his work cut out for him on Sunday, trying to track down Fred Taylor. If I were the Jaguars, I'd probably run plays to attack Hendricks, seeing if I could isolate Fred Taylor or one of the receivers on him. Overall, as long as the Dolphins show up mentally and are serious about this game, I don't see the Jaguars' offense being able to do much against the Dolphins' defense. I think the Dolphins will be able to hold Fred Taylor in check and keep Jimmy Smith from making any big plays. On special teams, the Jaguars have signed former Dolphin punter Mark Royals to punt for them. In case you haven't heard, the Jaguars' pro-bowl punter Chris Hanson injured himself with an Ax that coach Jack Del Rio placed in the Jaguars locker room as a motivational tool. That's even worse than that lobster trap that Dave Wannstedt put up in the Dolphins locker room last year. Having Royals punt for the Jaguars probably means good field position for the Dolphins after punts, so special teams play should favor Miami. The bottom line this week is that the Dolphins should win this game by a respectable margin, but I don't think it will be a blowout. I think that the Jaguars will play Miami tough and will make a game out of it, but I just don't see the Dolphins dropping this one.
To watch the game on TV, you may go to one of the sports bars on my Places To Watch web page To listen to the game live over the Internet, you must now pay the NFL for the privelege. They are charging $9.95 (US) per month or $34.95 for the season for something you used to get for free. If you want to sign up for that, go to the following link: NFL Fieldpass Also, here is a list of some websites that have live scores and updates. Both the Dolphins Endzone and NFL.com have almost live applications that run in your browser and give you current stats and play-by-play information.
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