Halfway through the 2015 season, the Miami Dolphins have a 3-5 record. Last season after Week 9, the Dolphins were 5-3 and even though they finished the year, 8-8, they had a realistic shot of making the playoffs at the time.
After their 33-17 loss on the road to the Buffalo Bills, Miami returned to their practice facility on Monday to prepare for this Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles. There weren’t a number of players available to speak to the media on Monday, but Jarvis Landry and Koa Misi addressed Sunday’s game.
“They gashed us in the run game,” Koa Misi said.
Buffalo rushed for a combined 266 yards and three touchdowns against Miami on Sunday. The Dolphins now rank 31st in the NFL in rushing yards allowed per game as they give up an average of 142.1 yards.
“You know 266 yards of rushing, that’s alarming,” said Dolphins interim head coach Dan Campbell. “I thought we’d do a better job. I think we expect to do a better job. To me, just thinking about yesterday, just cutting out the explosive plays. It’s one thing to have rushing yardage and you’re giving up those things but once they get the big ones man, those are the ones that hurt.”
Now they will play an Eagles offense that ranks 10th in the league in rushing as they average 121.6 yards per game. Ryan Mathews leads the team in rushing as he has rushed for 409 yards and four touchdowns this season.
Not only will the rushing defense have to play better against the Eagles, but so will quarterback Ryan Tannehill. While the four-year quarterback was 27-of-36 for 309 yards against the Bills, he also left some plays out on the field.
Overall, Campbell thought Tannehill played well, despite the loss and the 9-0 early deficit.
“I thought he moved the offense,” said Campbell. “I thought he threw some nice balls. I thought he was efficient. He was in command. I thought our offensive line as a whole played well. We got put in bad situations to start some of our drives and those are hard, especially on the road. And certainly you don’t ever want to start a drive with a safety. It’s kind of not how you want to get momentum turned your way.”
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