The Miami Dolphins travel to face the Pittsburgh Steelers to wrap up Week 8 of the NFL season on Monday Night Football. The sad thing is that we are hardly surprised to report that Miami has gone winless thus far. They gave up 59 points to the Ravens in the opening week of the season, and they were just never in the game. They scored over 20 points for the first time on the season in scoring three TDs versus Buffalo a week ago, but the whole team is a mess now. They continually go back and forth between a young QB and a man who has been growing a beard since said QB (Josh Rosen) was in elementary school.
Pittsburgh, on the other hand, has been disappointing this year, but in a different way than Miami. With the Ben-Bell-Brown era officially being completely over, they have leaned on young QBs. Devlin Hodges had to take over after Mason Rudolph suffered a concussion and has done a respectable job, but the other aspects of the team have not been too good. The running game woke up in their last game before the bye, and we should expect it to deliver again.
The 2-4 Steelers are 14-point favorites, with the over/under being set at 43.
What Can Miami Even Do?
It is hard to exactly pinpoint where the blame should begin and who fingers should be pointing at, but Miami has been downright terrible. The Dolphins have had no running game at all, while Rosen and Ryan Fitzpatrick keep being shuffled in and out as the starter at quarterback, one usually replacing the other by game’s end. Their best receiver was undrafted, showing that they really did not do enough homework on the draft itself. Their defense has continued to allow big points, and the fact that the Redskins were able to beat them pretty handily in a game tells you where they are.
Fans of the team may be happy about this so the team can get the No. 1 pick. But they will not do what the 49ers did and become an instant contender after years of mediocrity. This will be tough, and we’ll see how much time Brian Flores gets.
First Winning Streak?
There is a good chance that without knowing the spread or having watched any football this year that you would expect Pittsburgh to be favored in this game. The Steelers’ offense has been coming on in recent weeks, and at 2-4, they need a win to try and keep pace with Baltimore, who they nearly beat, in the AFC North. They have started three QBs this year and will likely be getting Rudolph back from the nasty concussion he suffered a few weeks ago. He is completing 72 percent of his passes with seven touchdowns to just two picks.
Pittsburgh’s two wins have come against winless Cincy and the 3-5 Chargers. Their losses to Seattle, San Francisco and Baltimore all came by a combined nine points.
Steelers Get It Done
Pittsburgh will smoke the Dolphins Monday night to get to 3-4 and closer to .500.
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