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Published: July 20, 2010
The Miami Dolphins in the 2009 regular season finished with a 7-9 record and failed to make the playoffs.
After an 11 win season in 2008 aided by an easier scheduled the Dolphins took a step back last season. The team opened the season with three loses and concluded the campaign with three losses.
Following a season ending injury former Dolphins starting quarterback Chad Pennington has been demoted to second string to open training camp.
Chad Henne has been given the reigns at Miami as the starter heading into the new season. Henne passed for 2878 yards last season with 12 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
Behind their wildcat offense the Dolphins finished fourth in the league in rushing averaging 139.4 yards per game. The team was very good in the red zone with touchdowns 61.1% of the time finishing fourth in the league.
Veteran running back Ricky Williams had a big 2009 season with 1121 yards and a 4.7 yards per carry average with 11 touchdowns.
Defensively the Dolphins once again struggled in their secondary against the pass as they allowed an average of 234.6 yards per game through the air ranking 24th in the league.
The Dolphins faltered mightily on the defensive side of the ball during their three game losing streak to close the season allowing no less than 27 points in those games.
Miami finished 26th in the league in turnover differential at -8.
The Odds:
Bodog sportsbook has set the Miami Dolphins 2010 season win total projection at 8 ½ wins with over favored at -120 odds and under lined at -110 odds.
Miami has been set at 30-1 odds to win Super Bowl XLV.
The team has been lined at 16-1 odds by Bodog to win the AFC Championship and +325 odds to win the AFC East division.
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2010 Miami Dolphins Regular Season Schedule:
The Dolphins play in the AFC East and that means a home and road game against the New York Jets, New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills.
Miami’s AFC East division in 2010 will play every club from the AFC North and NFC North in the regular season.
The Dolphins AFC North opponents will include home games against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns with road trips to the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens.
The NFC North opponents for the Dolphins will be at home to the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions and on the road to the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers.
As the third place finisher in the 2009 regular season the Dolphins will play against the two other AFC third place teams and that will deliver a home contest against the Tennessee Titans and a road game at the Oakland Raiders.
Miami will be featured in three prime time games in 2010. They will host the New York Jets on Sunday night football and host the Chicago Bears on Thursday Night football. They travel to the New England Patriots on Monday night football.
The Dolphins open the 2010 season with consecutive road games at the Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings.
The schedule is difficult early as they then host the Jets and Patriots before hitting the highway to the Green Bay Packers and host the Steelers in week 7. Following the home game to Pittsburgh the Dolphins hit the road again to face the Bengals and Ravens.
Miami’s bye comes in week 5 smack in the middle of their tough opening 8 games of 2010.
Offense:
Chad Henne will undergo his first training camp as the teams number one quarterback. He possesses a stronger arm than Chad Pennington and stretches the field. He passed for 12 touchdowns and made 14 interceptions in 2009 in 14 games. At -8 turnover margin the Dolphins sat at 26th in the league in this key stat.
The Dolphins Wildcat formation aided the clubs rushing total as they finished fourth in the league at 139.4 yards per game and 4.4 yards per attempt. Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams figure to share the carries in 2009.
Brown has been plagued by injury problems missing 7 games in 2009, 9 games in the 2007 season and 3 games in the 2006 season with ailments. Prior to his season ending foot injury last season Brown amassed 648 yards rushing on 147 carries for a 4.4 yards a carry average.
Veteran Ricky Williams had an outstanding season rushing for 1121 yards on 241 carries 11 touchdowns and an impressive 4.7 yards a carry average. The running game for the Dolphins contributed to the teams red zone success with a touchdown at 61.1% of the time ranking 4th in the league.
The Dolphins added an impact wide receiver to aid Chad Henne as Brandon Marshall was acquired via trade from the Broncos. The receiver had 101 catches for 1120 yards and 10 touchdowns last season.
Davone Bess is shown on the depth chart as the #2 with Greg Camarillo and Brian Hartline at the #3 and #4 option. Bess has great speed and had no problems catching balls over the middle and sheds tacklers. He caught 76 passes last season with 2 touchdowns. Tight end Anthony Fasano had 31 receptions for 2 touchdowns in 2009 after 7 touchdown receptions in 2008.
The offensive line will feature Joe Berger at center with Justin Smiley and Nate Garner at guards. Vernon Carey and former first round draft pick Jake Long man the tackle position. Miami allowed 34 sacks a year ago. Guard John Jerry was drafted in the third round out of Ole Miss and the team signed guard Richie Incognito from the Bills in the offseason to vie for starting guard positions. The Dolphins are very solid at the tackle position.
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Defense:
With the 22nd ranked defense in the NFL a year ago the team parted ways with defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni and hired into the position former head coach and defensive coordinator Mike Nolan. Seven of the eight Miami Dolphins draft picks came on the defensive side of the ball.
The Dolphins 3-4 defense will feature Randy Starks at the nose tackle position flanked by ends Kendall Langford and Jared Odrick. Starks was second on the club last season with 7 sacks. The team was to be without nose tackle Jason Ferguson for 8 weeks to serve an NFL suspension but instead opted to retire from the league after a 14 year career. Odrick is a first round draft pick out of Penn St.
The Dolphins were extremely active in the draft and in free agency during the off season to address their linebacker position.
Gone are linebackers Joey Porter, Jason Taylor and Akin Ayodele. The club signed linebacker Karlos Dansby in free agency from Arizona and traded for Tim Dobbins from the Chargers. Four of the 8 Dolphins draft picks came from the linebacker position. Most notable Koa Misi who comes from Utah in the second round.
The depth chart looks like Channing Crowder and Karlos Dansby on the inside with Charlie Anderson and Cameron Wake on the outside. The competition will be fierce among the reserve linebackers during the preseason with jobs up for grabs.
The Dolphins secondary struggled last season so gone from the team in 2010 are cornerback Nate Jones and safety Gibril Wilson.
The team will look to line up with Vontae Davis and Sean Smith at corners with Yeremiah Bell and Tyrone Culver at the safeties. The club is moving towards a youth movement here and will hope for better results in 2010.
And now to my Selection:
The early season schedule is very brutal for this club. Jets coach Rex Ryan is out to revenge a sweep he received from the team in 2010 and you bet he will have his squad focused for these two revenge games on the schedule.
Miami may still not quite be there defensively to contend for a playoff position with the secondary still being the teams Achilles heel. The Jets and Patriots are better this season. Ronnie Brown’s durability to last a full season is still at question. Ricky Williams is 33 years old with nearly 2200 carries in his career. His numbers shot down considerably down the stretch with just a 3.5 yards per carry average in week 16 and only 2.6 in week 17. As a matter a fact from week 12 on he was no better than a 4.3 yards per carry in any game.
Miami will not get to 9 wins this season. The quarterback enters his second year and is coming off a season with just 2 more interceptions than touchdowns.
Selection: Play Under 8 ½ wins in 2010 Regular Season.
