South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
DOLPHINS GAMEDAY Teams’ records may not tell story
WhentheDolphinsrun Second-year running backMyles Gaskin turned in his best performance of the season before Miami’s bye, rushing for 91 yards against the Jets inWeek6, andleading the Dolphins with 340 yards rushing this season. While he has only scored one touchdown, Gaskin’s hard running style has helped move the Dolphins’ offense along and will be an important factor in Tua Tagovailoa’s first start at quarterback. Gaskin and veteranMatt Brieda hope to help Miami against the Rams’ defense, which is sixth overall in yards allowed and seventh-best team in the NFL against the run. Edge: Rams
WhentheRamsrun
The Rams also boast a second-year running back leading theway, with thirdround pickDarrellHenderson Jr. leading the rushing attack (411 yards, three touchdowns) aheadoffive-yearveteranMalcolmBrown(274 yards, three touchdowns) and rookie second-round pick Cam Akers (113 yards in five games). Together, they help the Rams boast a top-seven rushing attack
andtop-10offensebehind quarterbackJaredGoff. The Dolphins’rundefense, whichranks19th allowing124.2 yardspergame, hasimprovedsince givingupmorethan
200yards inthe opener. They’vekept all butoneopponentundertheir average inWeeks 2-6, andthose yards came during Miami’s blowout win in San Francisco. Edge: Dolphins
WhentheDolphinspass
Tagovailoa, whowillmake his first career start, completed nearly 70 percent of his passes at Alabama, throwing 87 touchdowns. He even had 12 games where he threwfor at least four touchdowns, aquirky statistic to think about compared to just 11 interceptions in three seasons. Tagovailoa hopes to improve the Dolphins offense, which ranks 22ndin theNFL, averaging 354.3 yards pergameunder16-yearveteranRyanFitzpatrick. The rookie QB will face a stiff test against the Rams’ defense, which is second in points allowed, fifth in the NFL against the pass and sixth in yards allowed. Edge: Rams
WhentheRamspass
Goff has completed 67.7 percent of his passes with 12 touchdowns and four interceptions through seven games as he has helped the Rams get off to a 5-2 start this season. The Rams have not been entirely reliant on Goff’s play to get to this point; his 71.1 quarterback rating ranks 18th in the NFL this season. For comparison sake, Fitzpatrick ranks fifth with an 80.9 rating. The Rams’ offense is also 18th in passing, while their offense ranks 10th in the NFL, gaining 385.7 yards per gamethis season. TheDolphins’ defensemayrank16th, surrendering 360.2 yards per game, but is third with 18.8 points allowed per game. Edge: Dolphins
Special teams
Sunday’s game will feature the AFC and NFC special teams players for October as Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders and Rams punter Johnny Hekker hope to do their parts to affect the contest. Hekker had 13 of his
21 punts last month fall inside the 20-yard line and leads the NFL in that category. Hekker is among the league’s best at flipping field position, as if the Rams defense needed any more help to slowoffenses. Sanders hasbeenperfect, makingall 15of his field goals and
13 extra-point kicks. He is one of two kickers in the NFLnot to miss akick so far this season, andhe willbe reliedupon to continue putting pointsonthe boardif/ when Dolphins drives stall in Tagovailoa’s first start. Edge: Dolphins
Intangibles
Dolphins coach Brian Flores and Rams coach SeanMcVay will face each other for the first time since Flores was calling plays for the Patriots defense that heldMcVay’s offense to three points in Super Bowl LIII. Both coaches, two of the youngest in the NFL, publicly share an immense respect for one another and are at two different junctures with their franchises before Sunday’sgame. TheRamspossibly looking past the Dolphins, and a short week after their Monday night win may lead to a Dolphins victory. Edge: Dolphins
Prediction: Dolphins27, Rams17