5 Questions with Phinfever.com

I got together with Dave, our FRN affliate Dolphins fansite, Phinfever.com and he’ll be answering a few questions on the upcoming game against our Cowboys. Be sure to visit their site, our message boards have been debating back and forth as to what the outcome will be.

CowboysBlog.Net: Tell me why you think the Dolphins will defeat the Cowboys on Sunday?

Phinfever.Com: Who is going to win this game? Well, I’m going to have to give you a “homer” answer and say that it is going to be the Dolphins. It should be a close game. How can this be since the Cowboys offense seemed unstoppable last week. It is because over the past 2 years, every time I think the Cowboys are going finally take control of the NFC they seem to collapsed into average … finding ways to lose games. They don’t seem to put together good games back-to-back even though they had Bill Parcells as their head coach. Now they have Wade Phillips and he brings nothing that we have not seen as he used to be the Bills head coach.

I would say the biggest reason is playing the Dolphins in Miami and in the Florida heat. They are conditioned for it. Trent Green played very well last week and has a quick release. He also throws the ball on a rope 20 yards down the field. The main thing the Dolphins have is a very good front 7. I find it difficult to believe that the Cowboys will score anywhere near the 50 points that Terrell Owens thinks they’ll score. The defense will keep the game close.

CB: What’s the defensive scheme, 3-4, 4-3, and who are the players to watch and why?

PF: The Dolphins are a 3-4 defense, but they play in the 4-3 as well. It is orchestrated by Dom Capers. The defense is anchored in the middle by big man Keith Traylor. Next to him is Vonnie Holliday who revived his career last year and is another one of those players who fits the 3-4 perfectly. Matt Roth is a former high 2nd round pick and plays with a motor that just doesn’t quit. Jason Taylor is last year’s NFL defensive player of the year. He plays DE in the 4-3 and OLB in the 3-4. He and Roth should give Romo a touch time. The Dolphins may have the best linebacker in football with Zach Thomas, Joey Porter, and Channing Crowder. You all know who Zach and Porter are, but Crowder is our future at the MLB position. He was a first round talent that fell to the Dolphins in the 3rd round and is entering his 3rd year. He fell in the draft due to character issues, but he has not been a problem at all for the Dolphins. The secondary is Miami’s weakness. If Romo has the time he should be able to hit TO down the field.

CB: Offensively Speaking, who are the playmakers, the players that will give the Cowboys trouble?

PF: Offensively, the Dolphins have their most accurate quarterback since Dan Marino. Several times last week Trent Green hit his receivers in stride and that was a welcome sight. Watch out for Chris Chambers and Marty Booker as the receivers. They have the ability to catch difficult passes … but sometimes miss the easy pass. Go figure. Ted Ginn? He didn’t do anything to make me feel that he’ll do much in this game. Our running game is led by Ronnie Brown. He doesn’t get the respect due him, but he has averaged 4.3 ypc behind an average offensive line in his first two years. This year’s offensive line is led by rookie Samson Satele. He has a lot to learn. The rest of the offensive line is manned by a different person this year. What that means is that it may take a month before they learn to play together. That is an advantage for the Cowboys.

CB: What will the Dolphins do defensively to stop the Cowboys offense, and word on what they plan on doing against TO, Barber, or Witten?

PF: The Dolphins will blitz, blitz, and blitz. The key is to rattle Romo who does not have a lot of starting experience. The Dolphins have had success playing against younger quarterbacks.

CB: Taking a step back, what are Dolphins weaknesses, and how may the Cowboys take advantage of these weaknesses?

PF: Miami has two weaknesses and I fully expect the Cowboys to take advantage of it. Our offensive line is newly put together and the quality is not that great. They should be able to get to Trent Green a few times. Our LT Vernon Carey is better playing on the right side, so, he is learning to play on the left side. The Dolphins offensive line did a poor job of opening holes for Ronnie Brown and Jesse Chatman last week and throughout the preseason. Defensively, if Romo can get the time, he should be able to push the ball downfield as Miami’s secondary is suspect. Our starting cornerback and safety are injured.

CB: Give me your Final Score prediction.

PF: OK, I’m going to say that it’s going to be Miami 27, Dallas 20.

Special Thanks for Dave for doing this Q&A for our Blog, I enjoyed the different perspectives from the eyes of the opponent. Throughout the year, we’ll be bringing you more of the same from our other Football Rivals Network affiliate sites. Be sure to stop at the FRN and check out our other fansites.