The Miami Dolphins are itching to get their season started after Hurricane Irma wrecked their Week 1 plans. The Fins’ season-opener against Tampa Bay was canceled due to the monster storm and they now face the arduous task of playing in 16 consecutive weeks this 2017 NFL campaign. That’s quite troublesome for the Dolphins who have been plagued with injuries this past preseason. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill and middle linebacker Raekwon McMillan have already been ruled out for the season because of ACL injuries, and left guard Ted Larsen will be out for months with a torn biceps.
To address their QB concerns, the Dolphins signed Jay Cutler to a one-year, $10 million deal. He’s quite familiar with the offense of head coach Adam Gase, who was his offensive coordinator with Chicago in 2015 when the quarterback threw for 21 touchdowns with 11 picks, and had a career-best passer rating of 92.3. Over the seven seasons in which he was mostly healthy for Chicago, Cutler made great use of running back Matt Forte and we expect that to be the case with his new partner Jay Ajayi. He was targeted on just 35 of the Fins’ 477 pass attempts last year and put up just 151 yards on 27 catches.
That’s one way to expand the Fins’ offense who averaged just 22.7 points per game last season. Much is expected from Ajayi who had a breakout season in 2016. The Boise State alum rose to acclaim when he had a trio of 200-yard rushing games last year. Ajayi also went over the 1,300-yard mark and was selected to his first Pro Bowl.
The Dolphins are 4-6 SU and 5-5 ATS in their last 10 road games.
So near yet so far. That’s surely the feeling right now inside the Chargers camp after their comeback bid fell short against the Denver Broncos on Monday night. Los Angeles lost 24-21 to Denver after Shelby Harris blocked Younghoe Koo’s field goal attempt at the buzzer. Koo appeared to have made the game-tying field goal in his first try, but the Broncos just got a timeout in before the snap. That proved to be costly for the Chargers who have now lost in each of their last four appearances on Monday Night Football.
The Chargers will look to get their season back when they host the Dolphins this coming Sunday. That’s the start of a three-game home stretch for Los Angeles who will play for the time being at StubHub Center. For the Chargers to record their first win of the campaign, they will need to start out strong against Miami. Philip Rivers struggled in the early going against the Broncos, recording just 115 passing yards through the first three quarters.
One of the few positives for the Chargers in that loss to Denver was their superb defense in the fourth quarter. LA used back-to-back turnovers in the final period to score two touchdowns and slice the Broncos’ huge 17-point advantage. They will need to apply that same kind of defensive pressure against Jay Cutler who will definitely be feeling some nerves in his first-ever start for Miami.
The Chargers went 3-5 last season in their final home campaign at Qualcomm Stadium.
