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2006 Dolphins Betting Preview

NFL News- July 21st, 2006 7:50am
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Vip.com - 2006 DOLPHINs Preview - July 21, 2006

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Sports Edge's profile of all 32 NFL teams continues today with the AFC East's Miami Dolphins.

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VIP Odds

Miami is 20:1 to win the Super Bowl, 10:1 to win the AFC Championship, and 7:4 to win the AFC East. Their Over / Under win total is 9.

Schedule

Miami’s 2006 opponents had a record of 120-136 in 2005. That is the second easiest in the AFC. However, schedule makers did not do the Dolphins a favor when they forced them to open up in Pittsburgh on Thursday Night. The home field advantage in that first game is as big as any game all year. Miami better hope Ben Roethlisberger still has a giant sized headache.

After Pittsburgh, the only real tough game Miami has before their Week 7 bye is at New England in Week 5. Miami can very easily be 5-2 at their break before gearing up for a tougher schedule the rest of the way.

Sports Edge Analysis

You don’t need to be Phil Simms to realize that much of Miami’s fortunes rest on the knee of Daunte Culpepper. Culpepper comes over from Minnesota via a trade and he must adjust to a new team as well as fully recover from his serious knee surgery. Reports are that he will be ready to start the season, but those could be optimistic at this point.

Culpepper and/or backup Joey Harrington have some good receiver and tight end weapons to throw to. The offensive line is only average at this point as they continue to improve.

The running game is anchored by second year player Ronnie Brown now that Ricky Williams has decided to become a professional pot smoker. There is not much depth behind Brown and he must be extremely durable.

Defensively, the front seven is chalk full of veterans like Jason Taylor, Zach Thomas and Kevin Carter who understand Coach Nick Saban’s complicated defense. These guys might be starting the downside of their careers, but they have a few more good years left until Miami is able to work in some of their younger players.

The secondary is the area that really needed some upgrading in the off-season, and that is exactly what they did. Will Allen was signed from the New York Giants and he will start at one cornerback position. Second year player, Travis Daniels is at the other corner slot.

First round pick, Jason Allen can also play cornerback, but he is more likely to start at safety. The other safety spot is up for grabs. Overall, Miami was in the middle of the pack of the AFC last year in both yards and points allowed. How this new look secondary comes together will determine if significant improvement can be made.

Prediction

In Saban’s first year with Miami in 2005, the team went 3-7 before winning their last six games of the year. A closer look at those wins show that five of them were pretty easy including the last game at New England when the Patriots benched most of their starters.

That is not to take away from Saban’s coaching prowess. He is building a tough, disciplined team in his image, and they are clearly on the way up. Miami will be a much better team this year, though the record will only show a modest improvement at 10-6. That will be good enough to be in the thick of the Wild Card race.

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Posted by miker at July 21, 2006 09:30 AM

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