Another week for Dolphins without QB Tannehill
Everything seems to be falling in place for the Miami Dolphins in their home matchup this Sunday against the Detroit Lions.
The Dolphins (4-2) are tied with the New England Patriots atop the AFC East. The Lions, meanwhile, are 2-3 and last in the NFC North.
In addition, the Dolphins are 3-0 at home, and the Lions are 0-2 on the road.
However, the Dolphins will go another week without starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill. Tannehill sat out last week’s overtime win over the Chicago Bears due to a shoulder injury. Tannehill practiced early in the week, but the injury flared up on Friday, two days before kickoff.
Fortunately for Miami, backup Brock Osweiler completed 28-of-44 passes for 380 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.
“He did a good job of not panicking when we were down,” Dolphins head coach Adam Gase said of Osweiler, a player he coached a few years ago with the Denver Broncos.
“He had a couple of interceptions, but he did a good job of moving on to the next series.”
In the meantime, the Dolphins also have injury issues on defense, where starting cornerback Bobby McCain (knee) will likely miss the Lions game. That could be a problem because Detroit has an outstanding trio of receivers in Golden Tate, Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones Jr.
Miami is also banged up on the defensive line, where Pro Bowl end Cam Wake is likely out with a knee injury. Three other Dolphins defensive ends are injured: William Hayes (knee) is on injured reserve, while Charles Harris (calf) and Jonathan Woodard (concussion) are questionable.
Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford will look to take advantage. After a nightmare performance in Detroit’s season opener, Stafford has been outstanding, tossing nine touchdown passes and getting intercepted just once.
During that four-game stretch, the Lions have knocked off Tom Brady and the New England Patriots as well as Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. Detroit’s two losses during that span came by a total of five points.
SERIES HISTORY: 12th regular-season meeting. Dolphins lead series, 7-4. These teams play so infrequently that the coaching staffs and most of their rosters are new since the last time they met. The Lions have won the two most recent games in the series, in 2014 and 2010. Miami’s most recent win over Detroit happened in 2006.
