The Oakland Raiders and the Miami Dolphins will be hitting the field shortly for their Week 13 contest at Sun Life Stadium in Miami. The Raiders currently lead the AFC West with a 7-4 record, while the Dolphins are in the AFC East cellar at 3-8.
The Dolphins will be looking to extend their home win streak to three, while the Raiders are trying to extend their overall win streak to four.
Check out the position by position breakdown for this game, and my final score prediction, below.
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Pos |
Adv |
Reason |
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QB |
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Neither starting quarterback was a starter to begin the year. Since Carson Palmer has taken over as the starter in Oakland, he has played well, but he has only been ranked ahead of Matt Moore once in ESPN's Total QBR. Moore, meanwhile, has lead the league twice during that span. Name wise, this is Palmer's, but in performance over the past few weeks, this actually leans toward the Dolphins. |
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RB |
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This isn't even close. The Raiders have the 4th ranked rushing offense this year. The Dolphins are 17th. |
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WR/TE |
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ProFootballFocus.com ranks the Oakland wide receivers 13th (Denarius Moore), 49th (Darrius Heyward-Bey and Jacoby Ford), and 56th (Chaz Schilens). Meanwhile, Miami is 46th (Brandon Marshall), 59th (Brian Hartline), and 97th (Davone Bess). On the other hand, Miami's tight end Anthony Fasano comes in as the 5th ranked tight end, while Oakland's top TE is 25th (Kevin Boss). Nearly a push. |
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OL |
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Both teams struggle in pass blocking, but the Dolphins grade much better than the Raiders in run blocking. |
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DL |
Push |
The two defensive lines are almost identical. According to Football Outsiders, the Dolphins defensive line ranks 14thagainst the run and 14th against the pass. The Raiders come in 13th against the run and 11th against the pass. |
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LB |
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Oakland outside linebacker Kamerion Wimbley ranks as the second best 4-3 outside linebacker in the league, according to Pro Football Focus. Miami's Cameron Wake is the number one 3-4 outside linebacker. Rolando McClain brings the Raiders inside linebackers in with a 29th ranking, while Miami's ILBs are 16th (Karlos Dansby) and 39th (Kevin Burnett). This goes to Miami because the Dolphins are 7th against the run, while the Raiders are 27th. |
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DB |
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The Raiders are ranked 19th against the pass, as compared to the Dolphins at 22nd. However, Miami is ranked that high because of pass rush, not defensive back coverage ability. The last couple of weeks, Miami's corners (Vontae Davis and Sean Smith) have started playing better - but two games doesn't' give me confidence in them yet. |
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ST |
Push |
This may be the best pure positional matchup on the day, with punters Shane Lechler (Oakland) and Brandon Fields (Miami) both capable of blasting a ball and changing field position. |
Prediction: Dolphins, 27-14. Call me a homer, or whatever you will, but with this game in Miami, and the Raiders having to make the west to east trip for a 1pm game, I think the Dolphins have an advantage.
Record Predicting Dolphins Games: 5-6 (Streak - 1 Incorrect)
Record Predicting All NFL Games: 112-64