RADIO
After a loss to the New York Jets in London, the Miami Dolphins needed a change in the worst way. A team that once looked all but headed for a bid for the number one pick in next year’s draft, has received a makeover at the hands of interim head coach, Dan Campbell.
The former tight end, who played under the immortal Bill Parcells and Super Bowl champion, Sean Payton, has had the Dolphins rolling ever since replacing Joe Philbin as the head honcho in Miami. Dan Campbell has been enthusiastic, high-fiving and chest-bumping his players, and has been fun to watch coaching from the sideline. The Dolphins and quarterback Ryan Tannehill have bought into his system, and have fed off of his energy.
Against an underachieving Houston Texans, Tannehill threw for 282 yards and four touchdowns, resulting in a perfect passer rating of 158.3. Now the rating may not count for anything fantasy-wise but a near perfect Tannehill, or even just a consistent Tannehill, will continue to make fantasy owners happy, keeping him in the starting lineup and away from the bench. This also adds value to all of his weapons.
Wide receiver Jarvis Landry caught five passes on five targets, for 83 yards and two scores. He lit up the boxscore early and was limited in the second half after Miami had run up the score with 41 points in the first half. We can’t expect Miami to blow teams out like this every week, which means Landry will be targeted even more in weeks to come. He is an every week WR2.
Rishard Matthews shared similar success as his counterpart, catching three passes on three targets, for 75 yards and a 53-yard catch-and-run touchdown. His fantasy points were affected by the lopsided score at half, but he has solidified himself as a legitimate WR3, especially if Lamar Miller continues to run the ball effectively as well.
It looks like Campbell has increased Miller’s role on this suddenly resurgent offense. Miami’s starting running back has put in two of his best showings of the season the past two weeks, exposing a weak Texans defense yesterday with 175 yards on 14 carries and one touchdown. He also caught three passes for 61 yards, resulting in another touchdown. Miller was rested after the half and did not see the field for the last 30 minutes of the game, but still managed to lead all running backs in fantasy points this week. He is a definite RB1 moving forward.
The Dolphins face the undefeated Patriots Thursday night, but expect the offense to continue to roll against a New England team that has given up over 20 points in four of their first six games.
