Week 1 Open Thread: Dolphins at Redskins

Miami Dolphins (0-0) at Washington Redskins (0-0)

Today's Inactives

Dolphins: RB Lorenzo Booker, QB John Beck, S Courtney Bryan, DT Steve Fifita, CB Andre Goodman, DE Rob Ninkovich, LB Abraham Wright and DT Rodrique Wright

Redskins: CB David Macklin, TE Cody Boyd, DT Lorenzo Alexander, WR Shaun Bodiford, DT Ryan Boschetti, RB Marcus Mason, and OL Todd Wade

3 Absolute Keys to the Game

1. Contain Santana Moss. The last time Will Allen saw Santana Moss, Moss torched Allen, who was a Giant at the time, for 3 long touchdowns in a Redskins win. This time, it will again be Allen assigned to the duty of covering Washington's top receiver. The safeties are going to have to do a better job than New York's did at bracket covering Moss. Shutting Moss down will go a long way to improving Miami's chances of winning.

2. Win the field position battle. In a game where both offenses have question marks, it'll be very important for the Dolphins to play smart and win the battle of field position. Miami needs to be smart with the football and not commit any turnovers which would put Washington in great field position. By keeping Washington's offense in average-at-best field position, Miami can take advantage of their great defense and force the Skins' offense to really work for any points. Not to mention, Ted Ginn was drafted in part to improve the Dolphins' starting field position by excelling in the return game. It's time to start seeing a return on that costly investment.

3. Attack on offense. This is the dawn of a new day for Dolphins football. The Dolphins have never had an innovative offensive mind like Cam Cameron before. The Dolphins must not play too conservatively and rely on the defense like they've done in the past. Instead, they need to set the tone of the season and attack, attack, attack. Now, I'm not saying for Miami to be careless, but I do think they need to be a creative offense and, for once, stop being afraid to take some chances.

Prediction: Dolphins win 17-13

GO DOLPHINS!!!!

**UPDATE**: 7-3 Dolphins lead at the half. I almost fell out of my chair when I saw Cam decide to go for it with 4 seconds left at the 2 rather than kick the sure field goal. And that's why I'm going to love him. What a call. And Trent Green has looked very good so far. The running game is...uh...shaky to say the least. Let's see what the second half has in store for us.

**UPDATE**: This was supposed to be the dawn of a new day. Instead, it's the same old story, as the Dolphins find ways to break our hearts, losing in OT, 16-13. In a nutshell, they could not run the ball and they couldn't stop the run. Not a good formula for success. Full recap coming tonight or early tomorrow.