Dolphins face Bills in Toronto this week

Miami has won 5 outta 6 while Buffalo has lost 5 outta 6

The Dolphins travel to Toronto Sunday to face the downtrodden Bills, losers of five of their past six games. Meanwhile, Miami has won five of their past six contests and will look to continue their string of success against a Buffalo team that will most likely be without quarterback Trent Edwards, who injured his groin in last Sunday’s showdown with the San Francisco 49ers. Miami has taken advantage of an easy schedule, with victories over moribund clubs such as the Rams, Raiders, and Seahawks. However, the Dolphins have played inconsistently and were trounced by division rival New England a couple weeks ago. Additionally, two major contributors on offense, Justin Smiley and Greg Camarillo have been lost for the balance of the season over the past couple weeks. In order for the Dolphins to make the playoffs and win their division, they will most likely need to win their remaining four games.

If Edwards does not play Sunday, the Dolphins should be able to focus almost singularly on stopping Marshawn Lynch and the Bills rushing attack. While J.P. Losman possesses a strong arm, he has been mostly ineffective throughout his career, although the Dolphins remain susceptible the deep ball and must account for Lee Evans at all times. Also, the Bills feature a strong return game led by explosive players such as Roscoe Parrish and Leodis McKelvin, who will look to exploit Miami’s poor coverage units on special teams. Look for the coaching staff to stack the box against the run in an attempt to force the Bills to either throw the ball more or be stuck in third and long situations. If Edwards does play, Miami must shore up its secondary. Even against the Rams, the Dolphins at times experienced trouble stopping long pass plays on third down.

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On offense, Miami will look to establish its ground game. However, it remains to be seen how well the line will play in the absence of left guard Justin Smiley, who will miss the remainder of the season with a broken leg. Without both of its starting guards (Donald Thomas was injured for the season in Week 1), Miami will need strong play from replacements Andy Alleman and Icechuku Ndukwe in order to open up interior running lanes for Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, who will be returning to Toronto for the first time since playing with the Argonauts during his last drug related suspension from the NFL. With Camarillo sidelined, Pennington will look more in the direction of rookie wide receiver Davone Bess, who enjoyed a solid outing in his first ever NFL start last week against the Rams. Also, Ted Ginn Jr. has improved his play during the second half of the season and will look to take advantage of cornerback Terrance McGhee once again.

Prediction:

Dolphins 24 Bills 16

By Glenn Katzman
ProFootball-fans.com Miami Dolphins Correspondent