The Miami Dolphins offensive line can be bullied. As just so happens, the Ravens need lunch money.
When the Dolphins lost arguably their best offensive player, left tackle Branden Albert in November after he suffered a season ending knee injury against the Lions, it resulted in some personnel shuffling of the offensive line. Since, results have been mixed.
Through 12 games this season, Miami QB Ryan Tannehill has been sacked 21 times per the metric website Pro Football Focus. That should certainly bode well for a Ravens pass rush that has to pick up the slack of a very bad secondary unit.
“I think it’s Ryan is throwing the ball better,” Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin said when asked about Tannehill’s fifth game in a row completing more than 70 percent of his passes. “I think his receivers are helping him better. I think at times the protection has been better too. That’s certainly something we need to keep working on too.”
Baltimore’s defense has fared well in getting to Tannehill as some fans will remember. Last season when they made the trip to South Florida, they sacked the Dolphins signal caller six times en route to a 26-23 victory.
One player who has thrived when playing the Dolphins has been veteran linebacker Terrell Suggs, who recorded three out of the six sacks in that game in October of 2013. More impressively, Suggs has posted at least one sack in six-straight games vs. Miami.
Will this year be different?
“It’s always going to be difficult when you have a quarterback that can do both, run and throw,” Suggs stated on Wednesday following practice. “Tannehill has proven himself in this league, and it’s also showed this year.
“He has seven wins out of 12 [games], so that speaks a lot. And we definitely have our hands full, but we’re going to prepare.”
One on the reasons that Miami’s offense has been successful is the use of the Read-Option thats been heavily incorporated into their game plan this season.
As Dean Pees installed the Ravens defensive game plan today, Suggs and company understand the importance of containing that system.
“You pretty much just have to read your keys. It’s all in preparation,” the former Defensive Player of the Year remarked. “You have to know where you’re vulnerable at, and even with that you have to play run and pass, but that’s just like every play.
“We’re not making too big of a deal about it.”
Bid deal or not, the Ravens better be aware of it and ready to act accordingly. They cannot afford another let down on the road this late in the season in what shapes up as an early playoff game on Sunday. The loser will very likely find themselves on the outside looking in come the postseason.
The Ravens are no stranger to the pressures of finishing the season on an upward swing, however the pressure to improve after last week’s loss may be exactly what they needed. A swift kick in butt if you will to provide focus for what’s at stake against Miami.
“I think so. I think it has the potential to be, absolutely. They’re rolling,” Sizzle said Wednesday on if Miami could prove to be a turning point game for the season. “They’re coming off an emotional win and we’re coming off an emotional loss, so it definitely could be that – a momentum swing – tremendously.”
Lets all hope the Ravens can survive the heat not just of South Florida but the heat of what’s at stake come kickoff on Sunday.
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