Friday Football Fix: Week 8

NFL Week 8 Featured Game

Storylines: The first meeting between these AFC rivals (not that Ryan Tannehill would know anything about that) in Week 3 was exactly the type of back and forth contest you’d expect, along with a heavy smattering of replacement referee follies.  It was a game the Dolphins would have won if their pigskin kicker Dan Carpenter hadn’t missed field goal attempts in the 4th quarter and Overtime.  Despite the fact Miami hasn’t defeated anyone of consequence the team’s 3-3 record is a surprise, while New York continues to find ways to disappoint, fall short, and lose games.  Can the Dolphins redeem themselves, or will the Jets inflict a beatdown of epic portions in retaliation for the Fins placing Darrelle Revis on the IR?

Talking Points:

• Hurricane Sally: Sally is slowly making its way up the East Coast and while the entire storm might not be over NYC on Sunday afternoon, the weather forecast as of Friday is for an 80% chance of showers with a high in the upper 40′s.  Meaning this game should be a cool wet one and ball control is a must.  Maybe both teams can ask Norv Turner if the Chargers have any leftover stick-em.
• Mark Sanchez vs Kevin Coyle/Weather: Sanchez is off to another rough start this season completing only 53% of his passes with 9 TDs to 7 INTs and a 74.6 QB rating.  Still in spite of the Jets receivers having the case of the butterfingers and running poor passing routes that resulted in two interceptions, the Jets’ quarterback didn’t play horribly in his first meeting against Dolphins’ DC Kevin Coyle in Week 3.  But will the weather effect Sanchez?  Maybe not. He has his highest average quarterback rating when playing in rainy conditions…albeit that rating is only 80.1.
• Miami’s Defense: Despite regularly blitzing Sanchez in Week 3, Miami’s defense was only able to sack Sanchez once and rarely forced the quarterback into tossing incompletions.  The Fins leading sackman, Cameron Wake, has also failed to record a sack against the Jets in their last three meetings.
• The Dolphins Road Turnovers: Rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill is performing mildly better on the road this season compared to at home, completing 61% of his passes and averaging over 100 more yards passing per game.  However, on the road Tannehill has thrown 5 interceptions and only 2 touchdowns.  In fact the Miami’s offense has coughed the ball up a total of 10 times on the road, while their defense has only created 2 turnovers.
• Reggie Bush’s Impact: Prior to being injured during the second quarter of the Week 3 game, Reggie Bush had torched the Jets’ defense for 61 yards on 10 carries raising his career average per carry against Rex Ryan defenses to 5.97. Interestingly though when Bush has at least 5 carries in a game and averages over this number per rush, his teams only have a 9-8 record.
• Offensive & Defensive PPG Averages: Miami is 1-2 on the road this season scoring an average of 16 ppg (their highest point total in any game was 21) and allowing an average of over 22 ppg.  In comparison New York 2-2 at home this season averaging 25 ppg on offense and allowing an average of over 23 ppg on defense.
• The Jets Heading into the Bye: Under Rex Ryan, the Jets are 2-1 the week prior to the bye, winning both games by 4 points or more (their only loss coming in year one against the Dolphins…a 30-25 loss).
• Rex Ryan vs. Mike Sherman: Ryan and Dolphins OC Mike Sherman have only faced off against each other twice during their careers, with Sherman losing both contests, his offenses averaging 335 yards per game and never having scored more than 20 points.

Keys to Victory:  The Dolphins had tremendous success running the ball during the Week 3 matchup accumulating 185 yards on the ground with three different backs.  Expect Miami to continue to run the ball at one of the league’s worst rush defenses to take the pressures of the road and weather off of Tannehill. Still Sherman’s offense will have to find ways to put points on the board, something the OC has yet to succeed in doing.  One bright note for the Fins is that if the game again comes down to Dan Carpenter’s foot, the Dolphins kicker makes 8% more of his field goals on the road and his only two career misses against the Jets were in Week 3.

Fortunately for Mark Sanchez, Miami did a poor job of disgusting their blitzes in the first matchup and New York’s offensive line largely gave their quarterback enough time to avoid sacks and make plays.  So unless the Fins can get to Sanchez there is every reason to believe the he’ll have a solid performance against Kevin Coyle’s defense…that is unless his receivers continue to run bad routes and drop passes.  And if Rex Ryan’s defense can continue to contain Tannehill, plus actually sack the rookie, and create a few key turnovers, this might not be as tight of a contest as the spread would indicate it should be. Additionally, let us not also forget that last season the Dolphins were Tony Sparano’s team and that as Jets’ current OC he should offer a solid understanding of what the key players on Miami can or cannot do, possibly giving New York a larger edge.

Line: NYJ -2.5, 40.5 o/u

 win, take the Jets minus 2.5, and the over

Overall Record

• W-L: 5-2
• Line: 6-1
• O/U: 5-2

Beerbecue’s Beer Recommendation

Our friend/guru on all things related to beer, Mr. Beerbecue provides his biased, informative, and entertaining recommendation for your football fix.  Check out all of his illuminating beer reviews at beerbecue.com.

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout (Brooklyn, NY)
Let’s get straight to it, cause this beer don’t mess around. It pours like motor oil, except maybe a little more opaque. It’s got one of the darker heads you’ll see, like frothy Yoo-Hoo. It smells like dark chocolate, coffee, and roast. It’s kind of like you’re about to tie into a flagrantly decadent chocolate dessert, and you’re looking over your shoulder expecting Wilford Brimley to come crashing through the wall like Kool Aid Man to warn you of the dangers of “diabetus”. And although it’s huge, chocolatey, creamy, and sweet, it isn’t overbearing (not nearly as sweet as some of Southern Tier’s Blackwater Series). And the roast and char really come out to play, giving the beer a nice bitterness and taming the finish.

You won’t believe Brooklyn didn’t add any chocolate. Oh, yeah…it’s 10% ABV, so it has a little booziness to it. Nothing you people can’t handle, though.

Click here to visit Brooklyn Brewery’s Website and you can follow them on Facebook & Twitter.

Miami Dolphins Food Recommendations

With a huge Cuban population in Miami, it’s only natural to offer up a classic specialty from South Florida and arguably one of the best Cuban inspired hashes to start your NFL Sunday with.

Our Version of the Cuban Sandwich

Cuban Style Hash from Blue Jellybeans

New York Jets Food Recommendations

New York City is an amazing confluence of cultures and foods so one could just about select any recipe to recommend.  But you certainly can’t go wrong with either Japanese/Korean Pork Rolls or some classic Baked Ziti to satisfy your cravings while watching the games this weekend.

Teriyaki Pork Rolls with Sweet Pepper, Shiso and Gochujang from With a Glass

Baked Ziti with Ricotta and Ham from Herbie Likes Spaghetti

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