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Preview of Week 8 Matchup The Miami Dolphins versus the Los Angeles Rams Four Point Stance

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Preview of Week 8 Matchup The Miami Dolphins versus the Los Angeles Rams Four Point Stance
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Oct

Preview of Week 8 Matchup The Miami Dolphins versus the Los Angeles Rams Four Point Stance

Preview of Week 8 Matchup The Miami Dolphins versus the Los Angeles Rams Four Point Stance
Preview of Week 8 Matchup The Miami Dolphins versus the Los Angeles Rams Four Point Stance

The Los Angeles Rams (5-2) travel back to the East coast for another early match against the Miami Dolphins (3-3) on 11/1 at 1:00 PM ET.

1st Stance: Offense
Throw out almost everything we know about the offense for the Miami Dolphins, it’s Tua time. Miami made the announcement that Tua Tagovailoa will be that starting QB this week, which was always the plan, but the timing is curious. The AFC East is still within reach as the Jets are, well, the Jets and the Patriots don’t seem to be the Patriots – looks like it is down to the Dolphins and the Bills and Miami is making a change at a time when Ryan Fitzpatrick seems to be in command of the offense.

Tua was known for his ability for throwing with accuracy and anticipation when he was with Alabama, two critical skills for an NFL quarterback. He was also tagged with the injury bug, so time will tell how this plays out and facing the Rams defense on Sunday will be a tough ask. The coaching staff is, of course, saying all the right things and you can expect them to scheme to his strengths – some RPO, spreading the field and keeping Tua on the move.
The Rams offense looked back on track after the win over the Bears last week and the media track is to blame the Bears defense instead of commending the Rams offense. Call it scheme or execution, they showed up and played well within the game plan, which was to win field position all day and take advantage of it.

The plan against Miami is more dictated by the weather this week than the opponent; with inclement weather forecasted, expect the Rams to give a heavy dose of the running game and to throw underneath and to the TE core. If the run game is the primary plan, expect more of this:

Big advantage to the Rams this week as the offense can attack from many angles – the Dolphins had the bye week to prepare, but there is simply too much to prepare against this defense as a first start for the quarterback.

Congratulations to Cooper Kupp for becoming the third fastest wide receiver in Rams history to 3,000 yards, only behind Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt, HOF company.

2nd Stance: Defense
Miami’s defense was outstanding just before the bye; in their last two games, they have 8 sacks, 4 take-aways and only allowed 17 points (17 against the 49ers and a shutout against the Jets). The defense is ready for the Rams offense but so was the Bears defense.

The Rams defense has been good all season, but they really showed up earlier this week (yes, this week!) against the Bears. Look at the top four names on the PFF grades from Monday night:

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