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GAME TIME: 8:20 PM EST on Thursday, Nov 18th. The game will be
broadcast nationally on the NFL Network and on Sirius radio channels
125 and 126.
PLACE: SunLife Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL FORECAST: A 10 percent chance of showers before 10pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 69. North wind between 8 and 14 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph. FIELD CONDITIONS: SunLife Stadium has a grass surface. There is no serious weather in the forecast and baseball season is over, so the field should be in good shape. STANDINGS & STATS: The Dolphins are 5-4, in 3rd place in the AFC East. The Bears are 6-3 and tied with the Packers for first place in the NFC North.
Dolphins Pts/Game Rank Bears Pts/Game Rank
Scored 19.1 26 Scored 19.4 23
Allowed 21.3 13 Allowed 16.2 2
Dolphins Yds/Game Rank Bears Yds/Game Rank
Total Offense: 344 16 Total Defense: 302 4
Rushing: 104 19 vs Rush: 82 2
Passing: 240 13 vs Pass: 220 15
Bears Dolphins
Total Offense: 297 29 Total Defense: 314 8
Rushing: 95 23 vs Rush: 110 16
Passing: 202 21 vs Pass: 204 6
Sacks Made (Avg/G) Allowed (Avg/G)
Dolphins 23 2.6 13 1.4
Bears 13 1.4 34 3.8
Turnover differential:
Dolphins -5
Bears +3
Individual Skill Position Stats:
Dolphins
QB: QB Thigpen: 6-12-79-1-1-64.2
Rush: RB Brown: 113-444-3.9-3
Rush: RB Williams: 89-400-4.5-1
Rec: WR Marshall: 55-652-11.9-1
Rec: WR Bess: 48-480-10.0-3
Rec: TE Fasano: 25-367-14.7-3
Bears
QB: QB Cutler: 150-246-1908-12-9-86.2
Rush: RB Forte: 125-470-3.8-3
Rush: RB Taylor: 65-206-3.2-1
Rec: WR Knox: 32-617-19.3-1
Rec: RB Forte: 30-324-10.8-3
Rec: WR Bennett: 27-284-10.5-1
Legend
QBs: completions-attempts-yards-touchdowns-ints-rating
RBs: rushes-yards-average-touchdowns
WRs: receptions-yards-average-touchdowns
HISTORY: Miami leads the series 7-3 and owns a 4-2 record over the
Bears in Miami. The last time the Dolphins faced the Bears was in
2006, when Miami won 31-13 in Chicago. The most memorable meeting
between these two teams was on a Monday night in 1985, when Dan Marino
and the Dolphins gave the Bears their only loss of the '85 season.
DOLPHINS:
Out: S Chris Clemons (hamstring)
C Joe Berger (knee)
Doubtful: QB Chad Henne (knee)
Questionable: OT Jake Long (shoulder)
WR Roberto Wallace (knee)
S Tyrone Culver (ankle)
Probable: LB Karlos Dansby (elbow)
S Yeremiah Bell (toe)
OT Vernon Carey (knee)
LB Channing Crowder (ribs)
LB Tim Dobbins (ankle)
DE Kendall Langford (ankle)
WR Brandon Marshall (hamstring)
BEARS:
Out: LB Pisa Tinoisamoa (knee)
Probable: CB Zachary Bowman (foot)
WR Rashied Davis (quad)
WR Devin Hester (shoulder)
WR Johnny Knox (ankle)
DOLPHINS' STARTERS:
Offense: Defense:
QB - 16 Tyler Thigpen LE - 70 Kendall Langford
RB - 23 Ronnie Brown NT - 96 Paul Soliai
FB - 36 Lousaka Polite RE - 94 Randy Starks
WR - 19 Brandon Marshall SLB - 55 Koa Misi
WR - 15 Davone Bess ILB - 52 Channing Crowder
TE - 80 Anthony Fasano ILB - 58 Karlos Dansby
LT - 77 Jake Long WLB - 91 Cameron Wake
LG - 68 Richie Incognito LCB - 21 Vontae Davis
C - 71 Cory Procter RCB - 24 Sean Smith
RG - 74 John Jerry SS - 37 Yeremiah Bell
RT - 72 Vernon Carey FS - 20 Reshad Jones
K - 5 Dan Carpenter P - 2 Brandon Fields
PR - 15 Davone Bess KR - 28 Nolan Carroll
NOTES: Thigpen will start at quarterback, Cory Proctor will take over
for Joe Berger at center and Reshad Jones will step in for Chris
Clemons. A lot of other players are banged up, most notably Jake
Long, who will probably start while wearing a shoulder brace.
BEARS' STARTERS: Offense: Defense: QB - 6 Jay Cutler LDE - 71 Israel Idonije RB - 22 Matt Forte DT - 75 Matt Toeaina FB - 86 Brandon Manumaleuna DT - 95 Anthony Adams WR - 23 Devin Hester RDE - 90 Julius Peppers WR - 13 Johnny Knox LLB - 55 Lance Briggs TE - 82 Greg Olsen MLB - 54 Brian Urlacher LT - 68 Frank Omiyale RLB - 53 Nick Roach LG - 74 Chris Williams LCB - 33 Charles Tillman C - 57 Olin Kreutz RCB - 26 Tim Jennings RG - 63 Roberto Garza SS - 38 Danieal Manning RT - 73 J'Marcus Webb FS - 46 Chris Harris K - 9 Robbie Gould P - 4 Brad Maynard PR - 23 Devin Hester KR - 38 Danieal ManningNOTES: LB Pisa Tinoisamoa, who was the starting right outside linebacker, was a surprise scratch on Tuesday. Otherwise, the Bears are healthy.
Clearly, all eyes will be on Tyler Thigpen this week. A lot has been made about the fact that he was the third string quarterback going into the Titans' game, but most analysts skip over the fact that he was the starter for the Chiefs for 11 games in 2008 and threw 18 touchdown passes. Also on offense, Jake Long will be playing with a separated shoulder and Cory Proctor will be starting at center in place of Joe Berger. And TE Anthony Fasano is on track to have the best year of his career. On defense, Cameron Wake appears fine after the injury scare on Sunday, but S Chris Clemons is out with an injury, so rookie Reshad Jones will get the first start of his career. Bears' QB Jay Cutler has been very inconsistent since he came to Chicago last year and is capable of being either great or terrible. Bears WR Johnny Knox is their big play threat, averaging 19.1 yards per reception but starting running back Matt Forte only averages 3.8 ypc. TE Greg Olsen leads their receiving corps in scoring with 4 TDs. MLB Brian Urlacher is a perennial Pro-Bowl player and leads the Bears in tackles this year with 62. They signed defensive end Julius Peppers this year, but so far he has just 2 sacks. And CB D.J.Moore leads their defense with 4 interceptions. On special teams, Bears' return man Devin Hester is the best kick and punt returner in the league and may be one of the best of all time. When Miami hosts the Bears on Thursday night, they will be starting Tyler Thigpen, who will be the key to Miami's offensive performance against the 2nd ranked run defense in the league. He has a tough challenge ahead of him, but he is not an inexperienced rookie. He started 11 games for a very poor Chiefs' team in 2008 and threw 18 touchdown passes in that time. This will be a tough game for Thigpen, but it should also tell us a lot about his abilities. The Bears' defense is excellent against the run and is second in the league in interceptions, so Thigpen will have to throw the ball well to win this game. Thigpen is a very different type of quarterback than Henne, so the Dolphins will need a different gameplan. Thigpen has a weaker arm, but is a lot more mobile and accurate on the move. As a result, the Dolphins will use a lot more rollouts and moving pockets to try and get the ball down the field. Ultimately, with the injury to Jake Long and the absence of Joe Berger, the Dolphins will probably not be able to establish much of a running game this week. They will have to rely on their passing game to score. The Bears are vulnerable to the pass, but Thigpen must be accurate and not make too many mistakes if the Dolphins are going to be able to move the ball. When the Bears have the ball, the Dolphins should be able to stop their offense if they can put enough pressure on Jay Cutler. Cutler makes a lot of mistakes under pressure and the Bears' offensive line has given up a lot of sacks this year. With Cameron Wake and Koa Misi pressuring Cutler, Miami should be able to reign in the Bears. The biggest danger from Chicago is WR Johnny Knox, who averages 19.1 yards per reception. The Bears will undoubtedly use Knox and TE Greg Olsen to test rookie safety Reshad Jones deep and see if Miami will give up the deep ball. The Bears' rushing attack is only average and Miami should be able to control them, but Miami needs to be careful about the deep pass. On special teams, Miami faces their biggest challenge of the year in Devin Hester. The Dolphins will undoubtedly kick away from Hester as much as possible to avoid having to try and contain him, but Miami must not give up any scores on kick returns if they are going to win this game. The bottom line for Thursday night will be in the passing game for both teams. If the Dolphins can avoid turnovers and pressure Jay Cutler, they should be able to beat the Bears. On the other hand, if the Bears can pick off several passes from Thigpen and protect Cutler, the Dolphins will probably not be able to win. To watch the game on TV, you may go to one of the sports bars listed 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 $9.99 (US) per month or $39.99 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 Field Pass. Also, here is a list of some websites that have live scores and updates. Both the Official Website 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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