Start Me Up - Browns vs. Dolphins

So the 4-7 Browns travel to Miami today to take on the 6-5 Dolphins. The Browns have had their struggles on the road as they're 1-4, and the Dolphins have had the same type of struggles at home, as they're 1-4 at Sun Life Stadium. The Browns can virtually take Miami out of the playoff picture with a victory this afternoon, as the Dolphins have to contend with the Jets and Patriots, both of whom are 8-3 (OOPS!) 9-2 and are tied atop the AFC East.

In accordance with the opinions of 75% of the poll on the right side of the page (a whopping 3 of 4 people!), the Browns will start Jake Delhomme. It's going to be close to a game-time decision whether or not rookie Colt McCoy will be the third string quarterback, but I wouldn't hold my breath for that. I think Peyton Hillis could have either a great day or a bad day against the Dolphins defense as they only gave up 16 rushing yards last week to the Raiders, but they're giving up an average of about 104 per game this season. I hope that offensive coordinator Brian Daboll has got a good ground game planned, because a huge key to this game will be if the Browns can stay away from turnovers - something that Delhomme has not done a great job of so far this season.

However, as I've written before, Delhomme does bring a better dimension to the offense in terms of throwing to the wide receivers. That being said, it could be a good day or pretty bad for the passing game as well, since the Dolphins have given up about 200 yards passing per game - a pretty respectable number. It would also be a great time for Brian Robiskie to have a break out game, after catching 7 passes for 50 yards last week.

On the other side of the ball, the defense has to do a much better job than it has the past few weeks if they're going to get the win. Chad Henne is back in his role as starting quarterback, and had a nice game against Oakland last week. This week is going to be big for him to see if he can continue to progress and be the quarterback the Dolphins hope they have. Henne's favorite target, Brandon Marshall, is also back after a hamstring injury has kept him out for a little while. Miami's running game has been strong all season with the two headed monster of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, who combined have 1035 yards on 254 carries, an average of 4.1 yards a carry. Many of the Dolphins skill positions are strong, physical players who can be tough to bring down. Hopefully the Browns have worked on their tackling this week because otherwise it could be another tough day for Rob Ryan's D.

All in all, I think this game is a fairly tough game to call, but I'm going to be optimistic and say that the Browns are going to "Take their talents to South Beach" (I had to) and avenge the loss by our basketball team this week with a late Phil Dawson field goal to win it.

The Prediction: CLE 17 - MIA 14

See you at the half,
~MAS