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[ Game Time | Place | Weather | Field Conditions | Standings & Stats | History | Injuries ]
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GAME TIME: 1:00 PM EST on Sunday, Dec 5th. The game will be broadcast regionally on CBS, on DirecTV channel 705 and on Sirius radio channels 126 and 153.

PLACE: SunLife Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL

FORECAST: Sunny, with a high near 75. North wind between 8 and 10 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 6-5, in 3rd place in the AFC East. The Browns are 4-7 and are in 3rd place in the AFC North.

Dolphins       Pts/Game  Rank   Browns         Pts/Game  Rank
Scored          18.6      28    Scored          19.6      24
Allowed         20.5      10    Allowed         20.8      13

Dolphins       Yds/Game  Rank   Browns         Yds/Game  Rank
Total Offense:	 341      16    Total Defense:   357      22
      Rushing:   106      19          vs Rush:   119      21
      Passing:	 235      14          vs Pass:   237      19

Browns                          Dolphins
Total Offense:	 310      27    Total Defense:   305       6
      Rushing:   117      12          vs Rush:   104      14
      Passing:   193      28          vs Pass:   201       4

Sacks		Made (Avg/G)	Allowed (Avg/G)
Dolphins         27    2.5        22      2.0
Browns           23    2.1        25      2.3

Turnover differential:
Dolphins         -3
Browns           +4

Individual Skill Position Stats:
Dolphins                        
QB:   QB Henne:     212-335-2447-11-12-81.3
Rush: RB Brown:               140-539-3.9-3
Rush: RB Williams:            112-496-4.4-2
Rec:  WR Marshall:            58-693-11.9-1
Rec:  WR Bess:                55-600-10.9-3
Rec:  WR Hartline:            43-615-14.3-1

Browns      
QB:   QB Delhomme:       57-95-569-1-6-54.2
Rush: RB Hillis:             199-905-4.5-11
Rec:  RB Hillis:               46-414-9.0-2
Rec:  TE Watson:              40-474-11.9-2
Rec:  WR Stuckey:              32-296-9.3-0
Rec:  WR Massaquoi:           23-284-12.3-2

Legend 
     QBs: completions-attempts-yards-touchdowns-ints-rating
     RBs: rushes-yards-average-touchdowns
     WRs: receptions-yards-average-touchdowns
HISTORY: Miami leads the series between these two teams, holding a 9-6 record over the Browns, including a 5-1 record in Miami. The last time they played, however, the Browns beat Miami 22-0 in 2005.

INJURIES:

DOLPHINS: 
Doubtful:     LB Channing Crowder (knee)
              CB Al Harris (hamstring)
Questionable: WR Brandon Marshall (hamstring)
Probable:     LB Karlos Dansby (elbow)
              OT Vernon Carey (knee)
              C  Joe Berger (knee)
              S  Rashad Jones (ankle)
              OT Jake Long (knee)
              DE Phillip Merling (achilles)

BROWNS: 
Doubtful:     LB Scott Fujita (knee)
              QB Colt McCoy (ankle)
Questionable: LB Eric Barton (shoulder)
              DE Kenyon Coleman (knee)
              WR Joshua Cribbs (foot)
              DT Shaun Rogers (ankle)
              S  T.J. Ward (thigh)
Probable:     RB Lawrence Vickers (calf)
              C  Floyd Womack (knee)
              CB Eric Wright

DOLPHINS' STARTERS:

Offense:		     Defense:
QB -  7 Chad Henne           LE  - 70 Kendall Langford
RB - 23 Ronnie Brown         NT  - 96 Paul Soliai
FB - 36 Lousaka Polite       RE  - 94 Randy Starks
WR - 82 Brian Hartline       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  - 67 Joe Berger           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: It looks like Joe Berger is back at center and Phillip Merling is back on the roster. It seems unlikely that Brandon Marshall will start, but Karlos Dansby should be back in the middle of the defense.
BROWNS' STARTERS: 

Offense:                     Defense: 
QB - 17 Jake Delhomme        LDE - 90 Kenyon Coleman
RB - 40 Peyton Hillis        NT  - 71 Ahtyba Rubin
FB - 47 Lawrence Vickers     RDE - 91 Brian Schaefering
WR - 80 Brian Robiskie       OLB - 53 Matt Roth
WR - 11 Mohamed Massaquoi    ILB - 50 Eric Barton
TE - 82 Ben Watson           ILB - 51 Chris Cocong
LT - 73 Joe Thomas           OLB - 96 David Bowens
LG - 65 Eric Steinbach       LCB - 21 Eric Wright
C  - 55 Alex Mack            RCB - 24 Sheldon Brown
RG - 66 Shawn Lauvao         SS  - 26 Abram Elam
RT - 78 John St.Clair        FS  - 43 T.J. Ward

K  -  4 Phil Dawson          P   -  2 Reggie Hodges

PR - 10 Jordan Norwood       KR  - 10 Jordan Norwood
NOTES: Starters Kenyon Coleman, TJ Ward and Eric Barton are questionable and have not practiced all week.

KEY MATCHUPS:

  1. The Dolphins vs Themselves: Which team will show up? The one that walloped the Raiders or the one which bumbled their way to a loss against the Bears?
  2. Miami's Defensive Front Seven vs Peyton Hillis: Hillis is the Browns number one runner and receiver. He is a battering ram in the style of Larry Czonka and Miami must stop him if they are to stop the Browns' offense.
  3. Matt Roth vs Vernon Carey: After the bizarre episode of Matt Roth's departure from Miami in 2009, he has played very well for the Browns. He will be looking to show his old team what he can do.
  4. TE Ben Watson vs Miami Pass defense: Miami has had trouble with quality tight ends this year and Watson is second on the Browns' roster in receptions.

PLAYERS TO WATCH:

Chad Henne was much improved last week, but he needs to continue to play well to silence the nay-sayers and lead the Dolphins to another victory. The Dolphins have been playing well in the absence of Brandon Marshall, so it will be interesting to see if he returns this week. And Vernon Carey will be tested throughout the game by Matt Roth.

On defense, the linebackers will have their hands full containing Peyton Hillis. Also, Vontae Davis and Sean Smith were both in the doghouse last week, but responded well. All the defensive backs should have chances for interceptions this week, but they must hold on to the ball if given the chance.

Browns' QB Jake Delhomme is a former SuperBowl quarterback, but has looked very erratic this year, throwing just 1 touchdown and 6 interceptions. RB Peyton Hillis has gone from journeyman backup to an incredible starter, averaging 4.5 ypc and scoring 11 TDs this year. TE Ben Watson is the second leading receiver for the Browns.

On defense, safety T.J. Ward leads the team in tackles, while outside linebackers Matt Roth and David Bowens are both ex-Dolphins who have been playing very well for the Browns.

MY ANALYSIS:

When Miami faces the Browns on Sunday afternoon, they take on a team that is very one dimensional and overall, not very good, but a team that is very tough and will fight to the last second of the game.

The Browns' main weapon is running back Peyton Hillis, who has been running over defenders with power since he got the starting job and will be very tough for Miami to bring down. For the Dolphins to contain him, Miami's defensive line must hold their ground and the linebackers must do a good job swarming to the ball-carrier. The Dolphins must gang-tackle Hillis in order to consistently bring him down.

When the Browns pass, Jake Delhomme has thrown a lot of interceptions this year and Miami should be able to come up with some turnovers, as long as their defensive backs can hold on to the ball. Cameron Wake should continue his dominating ways and put pressure on Jake Delhomme, which should give Miami plenty of chances for big plays.

If the Dolphins' defense can contain Hillis, they can effective shut down the Browns offense and I believe they can get that done.

The bigger question is whether or not Miami's offense can get established against the Browns' defense. Last week, Miami went back to basics, pounding the ball repeatedly against the Raiders' defense, even when it wasn't working. Ultimately, their persistence in the running game paid off and opened up the passing game, as well as controlling the clock.

Hopefully, the Dolphins will continue to use the same gameplan and pound the ball against the Browns. The Browns do not have an especially good run defense and Miami should be able to get Ronnie and Ricky going, provided they are patient and persistent. This should give Henne the ability to use play-fakes and make his passing more effective.

If the offense will stick to the running game, like they did against the Raiders, they should be able to move the ball effectively. The Browns' run defense is not ranked very highly and the Dolphins should be able to shove the ball down the Browns' throats.

The Browns are a dangerous team, because they are tough and play hard. They are not an especially talented team, but their toughness means they can never be taken for granted and the Dolphins can not afford to throw interceptions, miss tackles or give up any big plays.

As long as the Dolphins play good well, without any big mistakes, they should beat the Browns on Sunday. But they can not afford any big mistakes against a team as hard-nosed as the Browns.

PLACES TO WATCH:

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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