MIAMI DOLPHINS V.S, BALTIMORE RAVENS

Well here we go again Dolfans, week 9 is upon us and once again the Dolphins seem to be in a do or die situation.  With a 4 -3 record they currently sit third in the AFC East behind the Jets at 5-2 and the Patriots at 6-1.  To keep pace with these two teams the Fins will have to pull out a victory, as the Jets and Pats have almost guaranteed wins this week against Detroit and Cleveland respectively.  With that in mind here are the key match ups for the Dolphins this week.

Key Matchups

Chad Henne V.S. Ravens Secondary

Chad Henne played very well last week in the second half and if he keeps that up he will start to prove he is the quarterback everyone thought he could be.  Baltimore has once again one of the best defences in the league.  The Ravens do have some weaknesses that have been exploited, there secondary gave up a 4 touchdown and 382 yard performance by Ryan Fitzpatrick and the lowly Bills 2 weeks ago.  This should give the offense some confidence going into this game.  The X-factor really will be Ed Reid.  He is back in the lineup and looks as good as ever.  Chad Henne will have to watch out for Reid floating around the secondary looking for interceptions.  If he can be aware of Reid at all times, Chad has a shot at having a big game!

Dan Henning V.S. Himself

This will continue to be a key to the game for the Dolphins until Dan Henning starts to show consistency in his play calling.  He is obvious and predictable when you shouldn't be and completely unpredictable when you should be.  This has been one of the biggest reasons for the Dolphins having such an inconsistent offence this year.  The Ravens typically play man to man in the secondary and usually refuse to double team receivers, which they will continue to do even against Brandon Marshall this coming week.  This is the perfect opportunity for Dan Henning to finally use Marshall as a deep threat and take some chances with him.  If Brandon Marshall has one on one coverage on him,  Henning and Henne should be taking shots with him all day. This may finally be the day we see Brandon get his touchdowns.

Baltimore's Offense V.S. Miami Defense

The Dolphins defense showed last game that they are for real!  If the Dolphins D can continue to play the way they did last game against the Bengals they should have a good chance of shutting down Baltimore's offence.  However Joe Flacco does have Anquan Boldin and Derek Mason as wide receivers.  These two can cause a problem for any defense and the Dolphins are no different.  The Fins will have to be aware where those two are all the time and work as a complete unit to shut them down.  From the Front 7 look for Cameron Wake to get back to collecting some sacks this week.  This will need to happen to give the secondary a chance at covering the wide outs effectively.

If the Fins can do these 3 things I think they have a great chance of going 5-3 and staying right in the hunt for the AFC East title as well as a Wild Card.

GO PHINS!!!!

Phinatic