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Dolphins vs Titans Preview |  | ||||||||
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GAME TIME: 1:00 PM EST on Sunday, Nov 14th. The game will be
broadcast regionally on CBS TV, on DirecTV channel 704, on Sirius
radio channels 113 and on XM radio channel 109.
PLACE: SunLife Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL FORECAST: Mostly sunny, with a high near 79. North wind between 7 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 4-4, in 3rd place in the AFC East. The Titans are 5-3, tied for first in the AFC South with the Colts.
Dolphins Pts/Game Rank Titans Pts/Game Rank
Scored 17.9 28 Scored 28.0 1
Allowed 21.9 17 Allowed 18.8 9
Dolphins Yds/Game Rank Titans Yds/Game Rank
Total Offense: 337 17 Total Defense: 344 20
Rushing: 106 16 vs Rush: 105 14
Passing: 231 14 vs Pass: 239 23
Titans Dolphins
Total Offense: 311 24 Total Defense: 321 13
Rushing: 123 10 vs Rush: 107 16
Passing: 188 26 vs Pass: 214 12
Sacks Made (Avg/G) Allowed (Avg/G)
Dolphins 21 2.6 12 1.5
Titans 26 3.2 15 1.9
Turnover differential:
Dolphins -7
Titans +6
Individual Skill Position Stats:
Dolphins
**QB: QB Pennington: 17-28-156-2-0-99.7
Rush: RB Brown: 101-433-4.3-2
Rush: RB Williams: 78-336-4.3-1
Rec: WR Marshall: 52-618-11.9-1
Rec: WR Bess: 44-451-10.3-3
Rec: TE Fasano: 20-260-13.0-2
** - Pre-season stats
Titans
QB: QB Young: 72-122-998-9-2-103.1
Rush: RB Johnson: 178-721-4.1-8
Rush: RB Ringer: 33-173-5.2-1
Rec: WR Britt: 23-434-18.9-7
Rec: RB Johnson: 22-90-4.1-0
Rec: TE Scaife: 19-179-9.4-2
Legend
QBs: completions-attempts-yards-touchdowns-ints-rating
RBs: rushes-yards-average-touchdowns
WRs: receptions-yards-average-touchdowns
HISTORY: Miami leads the series 17-15 and have won 6 of the last 10
meetings. Last year, however, they lost to the Titans in overtime.
These stats include the days when the Titans were the Houston Oilers.
DOLPHINS:
Questionable: S Tyrone Culver (ankle)
WR Roberto Wallace (knee)
Probable: LB Karlos Dansby (elbow)
OT Jake Long (knee)
S Chris Clemons (groin)
TE Anthony Fasano (chest)
TITANS:
Out: WR Kenny Britt (hamstring)
Doubtful: QB Vince Young (ankle)
Questionable: CB Ryan Mouton (hamstring)
Probable: DT Tony Brown (knee)
RB Chris Johnson (thigh)
DOLPHINS' STARTERS:
Offense: Defense:
QB - 10 Chad Pennington 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 - 67 Joe Berger RCB - 24 Sean Smith
RG - 74 John Jerry SS - 37 Yeremiah Bell
RT - 72 Vernon Carey FS - 30 Chris Clemons
K - 5 Dan Carpenter P - 2 Brandon Fields
PR - 15 Davone Bess KR - 28 Nolan Carroll
NOTES: There do not seem to be any changes to the starting lineup this
week - other than Chad Pennington, of course.
TITANS STARTERS: Offense: Defense: QB - 5 Kerry Collins RDE - 98 Dave Ball RB - 28 Chris Johnson RDT - 97 Tony Brown FB - 45 Ahmard Hall LDT - 91 Jason Jones WR - 85 Nate Washington LDE - 93 Jason Babin WR - 84 Randy Moss RLB - 92 Will Witherspoon TE - 80 Bo Scaife MLB - 55 Stephen Tulloch LT - 71 Michael Roos LLB - 51 Gerald McRath LG - 64 Leroy Harris RCB - 31 Cortland Finnegan C - 54 Eugene Amano LCB - 20 Alterraun Verner RG - 73 Jake Scott SS - 24 Chris Hope RT - 66 Michael Otto FS - 33 Michael Griffin K - 2 Bob Bironas P - 6 Brett Kern PR - 83 Marc Mariani KR - 83 Marc MarianiNOTES: Vince Young is questionable at this time with an ankle injury. Veteran Kerry Collins will start at QB if Young can't play. As of this writing (Saturday morning), it looks like Collins will start.
This week, QB Chad Pennington will start in place of Chad Henne. With a new gunslinger in town, fans will be watching to see if Brandon Marshall, Brian Hartline and Davone Bess make any more of an impact in this game. On defense, the Dolphins acquired Al Harris this week, so it will be interesting to see if he gets significant playing time. Vontae Davis will have an unexpected reunion with Randy Moss and Cameron Wake now leads the AFC in sacks with 8.5. Titans' QB Vince Young has been having a great year, but injured his ankle against the Chargers for the second time this year and is listed as questionable. It will be interesting to see if he plays. If he doesn't start, veteran Kerry Collins will take his place. RB Chris Johnson is a a very dynamic and gifted runner and, of course, the Titans will add Randy Moss to the lineup this week. MLB Stephen Tulloch leads the Titans with 79 tackles, while their defensive ends, Jason Babin and Dave Ball have combined for 13 sacks this year. And, if that's not enough, FS Michael Griffin has 4 interceptions. On special teams, Titans' return man Marc Mariani is averaging 26.6 yards per kickoff return, 10.9 yards per punt return and has one kickoff return for 98 yards and a touchdown. The Dolphins faced the Titans last year in a very similar do-or-die situation for Miami. Last year, the Dolphins needed a win to keep their playoff hopes alive and this year, they also need a win to stay in the hunt for a playoff spot. In the game last year, the Dolphins lost 27-24 in overtime, mostly on the play of Chad Henne, who threw 3 interceptions, one of which gave the Titans the ball deep in Miami territory in overtime. That pick put the Titans in position for their game winning field goal. This year, however, Chad Henne won't be starting for the Dolphins against the Titans. Following a bad outing against the Ravens, Head coach Tony Sparano has announced that Chad Pennington would be starting against the Titans on Sunday. Chad Henne was supposed to give the Dolphins a better passing game this season, because of his stronger arm. However, with the Dolphins trading away their only legitimate deep threat in Ted Ginn before the draft, the team either can't or won't throw the ball deep and so the one thing that was supposed to make Henne a better choice than Pennington is no longer relevant. But that's not the whole story. If you look closely at the Titans' stats, you'll see that they lead the NFL in sacks with 3.2 sacks per game and I'm sure the coaches are concerned about the Titans' pass rush. Based on the fact that almost all the Dolphins' passing formations have been keeping 7 or 8 blockers in, the coaches apparently don't trust Henne to handle the pass rush. They believe Pennington will be better in the face of the Titans' pass rush. When Miami has the ball this week, they will do what they've been doing all year - run the ball, throw the short to intermediate passes and stay conservative. I do think that you will see more shotgun and spread formations than you would if Henne were still the starter, but overall, the play calling is not going to change. The Titans' defense this year is a pressure defense, that thrives on sacks and turnovers. However, they are only 20th in the league in yards allowed, so if the Dolphins can avoid turning the ball over and work through the pass rush, they should be able to move the ball against the Titans. Last year, Miami was able to run and pass against Tennessee and they should be able to do that again this year. The Titans' offense is based around Chris Johnson, who already has over 700 yards rushing and 8 touchdowns in 8 games this year. That is unlikely to change this weekend, even with the addition of Randy Moss. The Titans will use Moss this weekend, but as new as he is to the team, he won't have had time to learn most of the playbook, so his use will be limited. With Kerry Collins likely to start and Moss being brand new, the Titans will not be as explosive as they would with Vince Young in the lineup. The Titans' best big-play receiver, Kenny Britt, is out this week, so while Moss will provide a threat, I don't think they will be as dangerous as they would be if Britt and Young were playing. For the Dolphins' defense to slow down the highest scoring offense in the league, the key will be to limit the big plays. Chris Johnson is a great running back, but he averages 4.1 ypc, which, while very good, is not outstanding. So as long as they can keep him from breaking any big runs, they should be able to contain him. And while Randy Moss is very dangerous, the Dolphins know as much about defending him as any team in the league right now. So, hopefully, they can keep him from being a big part of the game. One thing that will really help the defense will be to get pressure on Kerry Collins. Collins is very inconsistent and a big pass rush by Cam Wake and Koa Misi could force some turnovers. If the Dolphins can put pressure on Collins, avoid the big plays by the Titans' offense and special teams and play consistently on offense, they stand a good chance of beating the Titans on Sunday. If, on the other hand, they turn the ball over, score field goals instead of touchdowns and give up a couple of big plays on defense, it will be another long afternoon for Dolphins' fans. 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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