The Miami Dolphins swim to the Pacific for a Week 5 date with the San Francisco 49ers. Both teams are coming off losses, with the Fins coming up short against Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers getting smacked by the Philadelphia Eagles. Which team will rebound? Check out our preview and prediction for this game below.
Rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will have to wait before he ascends to the top of the quarterback pecking order in South Beach. For now, Ryan Fitzpatrick will be the Fins’ starter in Week 5, as announced by head coach Brian Flores. Despite the overall lack of talent on the Miami team, Fitzpatrick is doing a relatively nice job of making himself look decent at the very least. In last week’s 31-23 home loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Fitzmagic managed to throw for 315 yards on 29-of-15 completions. He did have a couple of interceptions but he connected to 10 different receivers. The 49ers can be stingy on defense, but that won’t stop Fitzpatrick from trying to hook up with his targets, especially DeVante Parker, who’s one of the best receivers in the league today. Parker is capable of beating any defender and making big plays happen. Plus, if the 49ers will start either Nick Mullens or CJ Beathard, that should be good news for Miami, which, in that scenario, will have its confidence in Fitzpatrick being the best quarterback on the field.
The Dolphins are 6-4 against the spread in their last 10 road games.
As of this writing, Jimmy Garoppolo’s status for the Week 5 game against the Dolphins remains uncertain. If Jimmy G, who’s dealing with a knee issue, sit out, then it’s going to be either Mullens or Beathard running the show from under center for the 49ers this coming weekend. Mullens started in last week’s 25-20 home loss to the Philadelphia Eagles and proceeded to throw for 200 yards (18/26), a touchdown, and two interceptions before being pulled out for Beathard, who went 14-of-19 for 138 passing yards. Whichever quarterback the 49ers start against Miami, he can expect a Swiss-cheese Dolphins defense to take advantage of. The Dolphins are 27th in the league in total defense with 409.8 total yards allowed per game and 28th against the pass with 285 passing yards surrendered per contest. Even more bad news for the Dolphins’ defense is the looming return of 49ers top running back Raheem Mostert, who’s reportedly practicing this week, a good sign for his availability this coming Sunday at home.
The under is 2-0 in the 49ers’ last two home games.
