The Miami Dolphins are now a win-or-go-home team for the rest of the year. It’s do-or-die time, and there’s a bunch of talented teams standing in their way, but it’s time to sink or float, and it only takes one team to make the 2024 season sink.
The injury to Tua Tagovailoa in week two and the failure to have a viable backup option to keep them afloat resulted in a 2-4 start.
Tagovailoa’s return in week eight didn’t change the team’s losing ways due to poor defense, but he dramatically improved their scoring output.
Standing at 2-6, the Dolphins now have to travel across the country to take on the red-hot Los Angeles Rams...on prime-time television.
The cross-country flight coming after a two-game losing streak with Tagovailoa in the lineup looks bad on paper, especially when you tag on the fact that the Dolphins are horrible in any prime time slot for all of recent memory, but I have a gut feeling the Dolphins will pull this out.
Vegas has this game as a pick’em, leaning closer to my feeling of the Dolphins being able to pull out the win, but the media will not board that train.
ESPN:
- Kalyn Kahler - Rams 27, Dolphins 21
- Eric Moody - Rams 28, Dolphins 21
- Seth Walder - Rams 26, Dolphins 20
NFL.com:
- Ali Bhanpuri - Rams 24, Dolphins 22
- Brooke Cerosimo - Rams 27, Dolphins 23
- Dan Parr - Rams 27, Dolphins 24
- Gennaro Filice - Rams 30, Dolphins 27
- Tom Blair - Rams 27, Dolphins 24
ProFootballTalk:
- Mike Florio - Dolphins 23, Rams 20
- Chris Simms - Rams 24, Dolphins 21
Bleacher Report:
- Brad Gagnon - Dolphins
- Kris Knox - Dolphins
- Gary Davenport - Dolphins
- Brent Sobleski - Dolphins
- Maurice Moton - Dolphins
- Wes O’Donnell - Rams
- Ian Hanford - Rams
- Vincent Michelino: Rams
- Consensus prediction - Dolphins 28, Rams 24
CBS:
- Pete Prisco - Rams 31, Dolphins 23
- Will Brinson - Rams
- Jared Dubin - Rams
- Ryan Wilson - Rams
- John Breech - Rams
- Tyler Sullivan - Dolphins
- Dave Richard - Rams
- Jamey Eisenberg - Rams
USA Today:
- Tyler Dragon - Rams 26, Dolphins 24
- Lorenzo Reyes - Rams 26, Dolphins 24
- Jarrett Bell - Rams 27, Dolphins 24
- Chris Bumbaca - Rams 26, Dolphins 23
- Nate Davis - Rams 35, Dolphins 31
- Mike Midlehurst-Shwartz - Rams 30, Dolphins 24
Fox Sports:
- Data Skrive - Rams 29, Dolphins 13
The consensus pick here is leaning towards a close Rams win. My guess for why is that they think the Rams will pick on the Dolphins’ struggling defense all night.
The Rams’ offense has a handful of pro-bowl-level weapons, and they’re finally getting healthy. Sean McVay’s offense, similar to what the Dolphins run, will aim for long, grinding drives that keep Tagovailoa and the offense on the sideline for long stretches of time.
With Zach Sieler on track to getting back into the starting lineup, they may be able to get more stops in the run game and force more third-and-long situations. Matthew Stafford not being as mobile as Josh Allen and Kyler Murray will be a big plus in these situations because the Dolphins are much better against traditional pocket passers.
The Rams’ defense is a bottom-third unit in most defensive categories, so they shouldn’t pose a huge threat to the Dolphins’ resurging offense.
A win against a team as respectable as the Rams in a prime time slot could give the Dolphins the momentum they’ve been looking for to kick off a late-season run.
