Green Bay and Denver come off the bye to play each other next week, and I would much rather have the loser of that game as an available team. While our Net Expected Points (NEP) metrics do not measure the performance of coaches, it is clear that this team is different with Dan Campbell running the show instead of Philbin. The Texans pass defense makes opponents work for every catch, allowing a completion percentage of 57.7%.
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But, in Sunday’s matchup with the Dolphins, there will be a greeting that doesn’t even seem possible on the surface. He didn’t play really a lot last year so this has been a lot like his first year.
Since Dan Campbell became the interim head coach in Miami, the Dolphins have taken on a new identity-one that mirrors Campbell. It didn’t happen last week, and now the question lingers whether this team has successfully altered its offensive personality or just stumbled upon a game it could and wanted to run in? In recent years, the most successful coaches have been football nerds.
So far, the move has paid off as the Dolphins earned a huge victory this past weekend against the Tennessee Titans. Two Texas A&M roommates will meet, well, I think they’ll meet, at a few point as head coach of one team and player on the other.
“The challenge now is for these guys to not start patting themselves on the back”, Campbell told reporters.
Only the Cleveland Browns have given up more yards per game on the ground than the Dolphins, indicating that the Texans could go with a ground-heavy approach if the game script allows it. In 2014, Sims and Albert were two of the best run blockers on the team and a huge reason for running back Lamar Miller’s big season.
On the season, the Miami Dolphins average 245.5 yards in passing and 69.2 yards in rushing. While the defense should continue to attack instead of reading and reacting to the offense.
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Dolphins’ defensive lineman Earl Mitchell played with Foster for four seasons while he was with the Texans. This week, they have to back up everything they did to Tennessee with another fast start, both on offense and defense. “With all the renovations going on and having one home game in six weeks, it’s good to be back home”. This definitely qualifies as a Don’t Trust Me Bowl, as neither team has beaten anybody of significance (four combined wins against Washington, the Titans, Bucs and Jags), but it’s Week 7 and you have to roll the dice once you run out of division leaders. If they have the same sort of impact early this week as what they did last week, the Dolphins will have to be taken seriously heading into a Week 8 Thursday Night Football game against the New England Patriots. Stopping Arian Foster and DeAndre Hopkins will certainly be a tall task, but the Texans are also starting a replacement-level quarterback in Brian Hoyer who is best suited as a game-manager. Defensively, the Dolphins yield 239.0 yards in passing and 160.5 yards in rushing. Dallas Thomas and Billy Turner are solid run blockers but the pass protection needs improvement.
