Miami Dolphins talking points: Are any Dolphins worthy of the Pro Bowl?

The Pro Bowl will be in South Florida on Jan. 31. But will any Dolphins be in the game? The question kicks off today’s talking points. 1. A Pro Bowl shutout is looming for the 3-5 Dolphins. RB Ronnie Brown and LB Jason Taylor have cooled down from their hot starts; LB Joey Porter has never gotten going; and LT Jake Long has struggled as much as he’s dominated. Brown, Porter and Long were in the 2009 game, while Taylor has been selected to six of them. Brown might be having the best year of among the group, but he also shares the ball with Ricky Williams, who is having as good a season as Brown. Together, they have 1,292 yards from scrimmage and 14 TDs. DE Randy Starks is the Dolphins’ most-consistent player through eight games, including five straight games with at least a 1/2 sack (4 1/2 overall, 5th-best among AFC DEs). Starks had a huge sack in the Jets win two weeks ago and sacked Tom Brady in the red zone to force a Patriots to kick a field goal last week. G Justin Smiley has had quite a season, but is banged up with a shoulder injury and could miss some time. If the ballots were tallied today (and you can vote by clicking here ), Starks might be the most-deserving Dolphin. But the Pro Bowl also boils down to reputation and popularity, two areas where Starks lags big time. 2. Ronnie and Ricky can get back on track vs. the Bucs. After two sub-par games running the

ball, the Dolphins’ 1-2 punch could be poised for a big day against Tampa Bay’s NFC-worst run D (163.4 yards allowed per game). In the past two games, Brown and Williams have 135 combined rushing yards on 41 carries (3.3-yard average). In the previous six games, the duo averaged 147.8 yards (Brown 82 yards, Williams 66 yards a game). The Dolphins’ best chance to turn around the season is to get the run game firing on all cylinders again. Sunday should be a chance to do it. 3. Starks anchors the Dolphins’ best unit at the season’s midway point. Ronnie and Ricky are one of the NFL’s top running back tandems, while FB Lousaka Polite is a short-yardage machine. But Miami’s RB group has slowed down recently as the offensive line has been getting pushed around a good bit. On the other side of the ball, the Dolphins’ D-line had been rock solid prior to a shaky outing at New England. But veteran nose tackle Jason Ferguson is back in the lineup after missing the Pats game with an elbow injury. With Ferguson in the middle, the Dolphins’ front can be formidable and back-up Paul Soliai can play less snaps than he did last week when he struggled at New England. Miami’s ends are the strength of the team, with Starks at one end, Kendall Langford (20 tackles, 1 sack) at the other one and Phillip Merling (18 tackles, 1 1/2 sacks) backing them up.

Original post: 
Miami Dolphins talking points: Are any Dolphins worthy of the Pro Bowl?

Leave a comment

Name (required)

E-mail (required)

URI

Your Message