Special Preview– NFL, Week 13
Miami Dolphins at San Francisco 49ers
Dolphins: They’ve impressed me this year. I hope other teams with young Quarterbacks are watching and taking notes. Build around your Quarterback and place weapons around them. This is exactly what they have done in the last two years. First in 2021, they drafted Tua Tagovailoa’s former college teammate, Jaylen Waddle from Alabama. They had a great chemistry together back in Tuscaloosa. Just this past off-season, they won the “Cheetah” sweepstakes and were able to acquire Tyreek Hill from the Kansas City Chiefs. Okay, that’s perfect segue there because I wanted to discuss him. He’s the best non-Quarterback in this league and his impact has been incredible for this offense. Tyreek is that vertical threat down the field that can stretch things and take tops off any coverage. That’s not all he does because he can also run the short routes and work everything underneath if he isn’t properly defended. They still have the top spot in the AFC East due to their perfect record in the division and they still own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Buffalo Bills. Another thing that impresses me with the Dolphins is the speed they have overall as a team. They’re quick on both sides of the football, especially on the defensive side. As a unit, they collectively swarm to the football. Mike McDaniel has worked wonders with this group and a coaching change was needed, this is no disrespect to Brian Flores, but sometimes that change is necessary. On Sunday, they’ll travel west to California.
49ers: I always say around this time as the stretch of the season comes that there are always teams that I wouldn’t want to face or see come December or even in January during playoff time. This is one of those teams I’d try to avoid because they’re rounding up and getting healthy at the right time. Another thing I always say is they’re a group that’s more than equipped to travel into a cold/wintery atmosphere because they have the formula to win football games in January and that’s a consistent rushing attack, a nice, short to intermediate passing attack and the most physical defense in the league with speed in each tier. They have been rolling as of late on both sides of the football. Here’s the thing: You don’t need Jimmy Garoppolo to take the game over, in fact, he’s not that type of Quarterback. All the 49ers need from him is to control things. Hand the ball off, get the ball to George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and Christian McCaffrey and most importantly, don’t turn the football over. He’s not the Quarterback that’s going to bomb the ball down the field. That’s why they drafted Trey Lance, but he unfortunately got hurt. The game was ugly against the Saints in week 12, but they got the job done and held New Orleans to a goose egg on the scoreboard. They’re such a physical team with that hard hitting mentality and they hustle on every play. With Seattle losing yesterday, they are still in sole possession of first place in the NFC West. They’ll be back home Sunday for a showdown with the Miami Dolphins.
Dolphins X-Factor: Christian Wilkins– I loved his game at Clemson and he’s had a nice start to his NFL career. Christian is a 6’4, 310-pound Defensive Lineman that prides himself on stopping the run. Against the pass, he needs to polish his skills to rush the passer, but he can get his hands up to bat a pass down. What do I always say? If you can’t get to the passer, get your hands up and knock the ball down! You can still impact the play in some capacity. Christian sniffs out the run perfectly. He knows how to get himself to the ball-carrier.
49ers X-Factor: Talanoa Hufanga– This kid has come on the scene and been an electric force for the 49ers defense. He’s been compared to Troy Polamalu by many. Talanoa’s instincts are off the chart as a football player and he plays with the perfect combination of tenacity and technique. I can see why people compare him to a Hall of Famer. I still remember when teams were hesitant to throw the ball in Troy’s vicinity and he was a force in coverage. I get those same vibes when I watch Talanoa play. The 49ers got a steal with this kid in the draft.
Final Thoughts: This is a homecoming for Mike McDaniel. He was on Kyle Shanahan’s staff with the Niners for five seasons before becoming the head coach in Miami. Now, Mike will take on his former boss. These two teams remind me of one another in a way. Yes, there are better teams, but these offenses can dominate at any time in January and they each have defenses that can punish you. I’ll be watching this Miami Offensive Line against the front four of the 49ers. That’s going to be a war and this will be the toughest front that the Dolphins will see all year. I’m flushing Tua to his right-hand side and forcing him to throw off his back foot. The Niners will be aggressive from the jump and will try to make the Dolphins as one dimensional as possible. For Miami, you must be able to turn to Waddle if Hill is contained. The key for success when it comes to San Fran is Jimmy Garoppolo limiting mistakes offensively. This should be a fun on at Levi on Sunday.
Prediction: 49ers 27, Dolphins 21
