Miami Dolphins Keys To The Game: Stop Peyton Hillis

The Cleveland Browns are coming into town this Sunday to play against the Miami Dolphins, and if Miami wants to win then they need to focus on shutting Browns RB Peyton Hillis down.

The Browns do not have much of a passing game at all. Their top pass catchers, Peyton Hillis and TE Benjamin Watson, aren't even wide receivers. Cleveland has done so poorly this year because they don't have any consistent threats at receiver, which is the main reason they have had to rely on Peyton Hillis so much.

Therefore, if the Miami Dolphins want to beat Cleveland, they will have to focus on stopping Hillis. The Dolphins defense has had to play a lot of supremely talented running backs this year like Adrian Peterson, Chris Johnson, and Ray Rice, so it isn't like they don't have experience against top running talent.

The problem is that Hillis has a different running style from other top backs. Hillis has an incredible amount of power to go with his speed. Want proof? Just look at the size of his arms:

 

Those arms are scary, and they just prove how powerful he is. Just imagine trying to tackle him, but that is what the Miami Dolphins defense will need to do if they want to win the game.

Hillis has really broken out this year. Last year he only had 54 rushing yards, but this year he has more touchdowns than every running back in the NFL except for one, and has the ninth most rushing yards.

I am actually pretty concerned about how well the Dolphins will be able to stop Hillis on Sunday. Miami has had certain games this year where they just couldn't wrap up the ball carrier, and I really hope this isn't going to be one of those games. Hillis has the ability to knock over almost any tackler, so it will be scary to see how many Dolphins tacklers he will be able to get past. I'm not saying that the Dolphins defense is terrible at tackling, but they do seem to have moments where they can't wrap up the man with the ball to save their lives.

Thanks for reading, and please comment and let me know what you think Hillis will be able to do against the Dolphins defense. I'll talk to you guys after the Dolphins come out with a win.

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Ravens Running Backs Run And Catch All Over Dolphins In Loss

I don't know if there is much to say about this week's 26-10 loss to Baltimore. I can only think of a few main things.

We haven't really learned anything new about the offense. More poor play calling killed Miami in the second half. Miami's running game was working really well, and instead of continuing to run the ball they started to pass it more. Dan Henning needs to learn to call the right plays at the right time. His inability to do so really hurt the Dolphins, who didn't score at all in the second half.

I'm not trying to start any controversy at the offensive coordinator position, but something needs to be fixed in the offense, and I am convinced that something isn't Chad Henne.

The big story of this game, though, was the production of Ray Rice and Willis McGahee. Both players were able to run circles around Miami's defense as they gained 246 combined yards in the game. Most of their success came off of missed tackles by the Dolphins defensive players, so Mike Nolan better clean that up before next week's game against Chris Johnson.

As for Brandon Marshall, he had 5 receptions. That puts him at 52 for the season, and he needs an average of 6 per game for the rest of the season to get 100. He also had a poor performance in yardage with only 30. Dan Henning needs to learn how to use him correctly, and soon.

And just a bizarre side note, I am pretty sure the Dolphins lost this week because of me. This is the second week I have eaten pizza during the game, and the last time I ate pizza during a Dolphins game was against the Patriots. That means that when I have eaten pizza this season while watching the Dolphins they have lost by an average of 21.5 points. Maybe the Dan Henning can use me as an excuse before taking the blame himself.

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