Miami Dolphins Keys To The Game: The Offensive Line

Dolphins Center Joe Berger Is Back

News has recently come out that Tony Sparano is leaning towards starting Chad Henne for the Miami Dolphins game against the Raiders on Sunday. This is the first indication this week from anyone in the Dolphins organization on who the starting quarterback is, so hearing that Sparano is "leaning towards" Henne probably means Henne will be the starter.

And, while the Miami Dolphins quarterback situation has received the a lot of attention in the past few days, whoever the starter is that is eventually named won't be able to do anything if he doesn't have a good offensive line protecting him, which could very well be the case.

The offensive line will be the Miami Dolphins key to victory or defeat against the Raiders. They were a big reason Miami lost to the Bears last week, and they must perform better if the Dolphins want a chance at winning anything at all for the rest of the season.

Injuries have plagued the Dolphins offensive line recently. In the game against Chicago, both of the Dolphins centers were injured, so they had to move left guard Richie Incognito in at center, which left a hole to be filled at left guard. It was a pretty big mess, and I wasn't too surprised that the offense stumbled with their beaten up o-line.

The good news for the line is that left tackle Jake Long's left shoulder has been doing really well and center Joe Berger (knee) has returned to practice and looks to be ready to start again.

I think the Dolphins line will be able to hold up a whole lot better than the Bears game, and they should give whatever quarterback is in the game a chance to work his magic.

It probably doesn't really matter, though. I almost want the Dolphins to start tanking games to get a better draft pick, but I don't think they should yet when they still have a possibility of making the playoffs. It isn't a strong possibility, but there is still a chance.

But, if they are going to tank I am hoping they will do it starting next week because my Dad is a Raiders fan, and I don't want to hear crap from him until the next time the Dolphins play Oakland.

Thanks for reading, and please leave a comment with your keys to the game. I hope to hear from you soon.

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Miami Dolphins Center Joe Berger Is Just As Good As Jake Grove Without Injuries Or A High Paycheck

Joe Berger

The Miami Dolphins recently released Jake Grove who they signed in 2009 for a $29.5 million 5-year contract. Grove was guaranteed $14.5 million, so that is basically what he was paid for a year in the NFL. That is star quarterback money.

While signing Grove was an obvious mistake, he will not be missed at all. That is because Joe Berger is ready to step in to his place.

Berger and Grove were competing for the starting center spot, and the position battle between the two was probably the most competitive battle on the Miami Dolphins squad.

That means that the two were similar in talent because they would not really be competing with each other if they were not equally talented. The Dolphins released Grove mainly because of his injury concerns.

That is a good reason in itself because we do not want to have to worry about losing our center for however long. We can be confident that Berger will stay in for the whole season.

Another benefit is the money. Berger's contract is $700,000. That is significantly lower than what Grove would have made for the next few years. I do not know what Berger's contract will be like next season if he is successful for this season, but it is likely not going to be as much as Grove would have made.

Berger is also two years younger, so while that does not make a huge difference it is still better.

Thanks to everyone for reading, and please be sure to comment with the new system. Tell me what you think about Grove going and Berger starting.

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