My keys for each team based on what I've watched with both teams:
Seahawks keys to a win:
- Protecting Russell Wilson
- Running the ball & controlling the clock
- Defense containing Gaskin
- Stopping Gesicki on the outside routes
- Getting pressure with 4-man front
Dolphins keys to a win
- Keeping the play action relevant
- Keep Wilson off the field
- Attack the middle of the field often
- Contain Wilson on the ground
- Don't abandon the run game
Today will be all about T.O.P.
Slowing down the game.
If it turns into a shootout, the game could come down to special teams and the field position game late.
Keep your eyes on:
-Seattle run game: can Miami make Seattle one-dimensional and double Lockett?
-Miami pass rush: When we blitz, how does Miami mask and retain coverage over the top?
-The trenches: Seattle will blitz often to cover up their banged up secondary. Miami will be tested and dared to throw deep under pressure, knowing Fitz can't throw deep very well.
-Matt Breida torched the Seahawks while in SF. So we finally get to see that league-leading speed with the screen and hook route over the middle?
-Weather: It's always the humidity in Miami that gets to West Coast teams. In the fourth quarter, does the humidity wear out the Seahawks big men?
-Coaching: Carroll is experienced, yet always seems to take risks in games. Will the Fins capitalize on this when the time comes? Also, does Brian Flores get more aggressive on 4th down, in the red zone, to extend drives and score touchdowns?
My prediction is we'll either be losing by 21 at the end of the first half, and game over, or it will be a shootout and high scoring until one team gets a turnover late and makes it a two-possession game inside 5 minutes to go and wins by 3 on a game-saving turnover.
Let's go Fins!