Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
SteVo

Dolphins @ Steelers

Recommended Posts

Running back Jay Ajayi was the main reason the Miami Dolphins defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers during the regular season.

The rematch in Sunday's AFC wild-card game will likely be decided by quarterback play. Perhaps it will be the play of an experienced veteran, or maybe by a journeyman making his first career postseason start.

While the third-seeded Steelers are solid with sturdy veteran Ben Roethlisberger behind center, Miami ruled out regular starter Ryan Tannehill on Thursday and it will be Matt Moore behind center when the sixth-seeded Dolphins visit Pittsburgh on Sunday (1:05 p.m. ET, CBS).

Tannehill sprained his left knee in a game against the Arizona Cardinals on Dec. 11 and is healing faster than forecasted. Coach Adam Gase didn't rule out Tannehill early in the week in case of a drastic improvement but he and the staff didn't see enough progress so Moore was officially named the starter.

"He's our starter," offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen said of Moore. "The other deal is on the side. It would have been more of a discussion if we felt like Ryan was ready to go.

"Moore knows he's our relief pitcher. We're trying to make the decision extremely early in the week because you get in a situation where it's hard to get two guys prepared."

Gase observed Tannehill closely and had no doubts choosing Moore was the right way to go.

"I think we're close," Gase said of Tannehill. " ... We're still kind of in that gray area where we've got to keep talking to him and he needs to keep letting us know where he's at and how he feels and keep talking to the doctors. We're still in a lot of conversation and every day he starts moving around. We try to do different drills with him and just to try to figure out what he can articulate to us."

The Dolphins (10-6) produced a 30-15 regular-season victory over Pittsburgh when Ajayi rushed for 204 yards as part of a stretch of three consecutive 200-yard outings by the second-year back.

And regardless of who quarterbacks for Miami, the Steelers (11-5) are focused on preventing a repeat occurrence at running back.

"We are not going to pretend like Jay Ajayi's 200-yard day was a lightning strike," Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin said. "No, it was very real. I don't think it's appropriate to take that approach. He ran for 200 yards twice against the Buffalo Bills this year.

"There is tangible evidence that we need to respect this preparation process. We need to have an understanding that what occurred the last time we played these guys was by no means a lightning strike."

Roethlisberger was intercepted twice by Miami during the regular season but his high amount of postseason experience could be a crucial element in this contest if Moore is the Dolphins' quarterback.

Roethlisberger is making his 18th career playoff start while Moore is making his first. Roethlisberger has an 11-6 postseason record with two Super Bowl victories.

Another factor is that the Steelers finished the regular season with seven consecutive victories as one of the NFL's hottest teams.

"This game is about when you can get hot, when you can play your best football," Roethlisberger said. "It's important to play your best football late in the season when it matters the most. Staying healthy is such a key component to that.

"We have had so many injuries in years past, it's hard to play your best football when you have guys down. To go into the postseason as healthy as I can remember, me feeling that way and the guys around me, that's very important and huge for us."

Running back Le'Veon Bell will be in the backfield on Sunday and that is a welcome sight to Roethlisberger.

The fourth-year pro rushed for 1,268 yards and had 616 receiving yards in just 12 games this season. But injury issues led him to miss all three of Pittsburgh's playoff games during his standout career.

"I know how hyped I'm going to be. I think I deserve it," Bell said. "This is going to be my first playoff game in my fourth year in the league. I'm going to be pumped and I need that. I need to keep my energy up, help my teammates feed off my energy, let them know how important this game is to me. I obviously want to go out there and show some people what I can do."

Slowing down the Pittsburgh offense that includes star receiver Antonio Brown (106 receptions for 1,284 yards and 12 touchdowns) will be a challenge for a Dolphins' defense that ranked just 29th in total defense at 382.6 yards per game. Miami gave up more than 30 points in three of its final five regular-season games.

"They're going to make a lot of plays both in the pass and the run game, so we've got to tackle." Dolphins defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh said. "We've got to make plays and counteract that, and that's our job as defensive players to really corrupt what they're trying to do on the offensive side of the ball."

The Miami players say who plays quarterback for them isn't an issue. That mindset is part of helping make sure there isn't extra pressure heaped on the 32-year-old Moore, who did not start a regular-season game since 2011 before starting the final three games of the regular season.

Moore says the early week uncertainty involving Tannehill had no effect on him.

"No. I'm preparing like I have the past couple of weeks," Moore said. "That's all I can do. There is enough to worry about with Pittsburgh, so that's where my focus is."

 

 

 

So, with Tannehill out, this is an easy win for Pittsburgh...right?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I can't believe this is Le'Veon's first playoff game. The Steelers should win this game, the Dolphins defense is ripped to shreds, and backup QB's don't typically make huge splashes in the postseason. If they can keep Jay Ajayi under control, they shouldn't have too large of an issue winning this game.

 

:dolphins: 23

:Steelers: 30

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The Steelers defense is good enough and the Dolphins don't have enough on their defense to stop Bell and Brown. Steelers should win this one relatively easily and Zack is right, if they don't you have to can Tomlin.

 

31-17

  • Upvote 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Gonna be closer than it should be because Tomlin.

 

:Steelers: 27

 

:dolphins: 23

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Steelers should drown themselves in the river if they somehow lose this game or even let it be close.

 

:Steelers: 31

:dolphins: 7

  • Upvote 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

How the fuck did Miami even get into the playoffs? What a joke.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

How the fuck did Miami even get into the playoffs? What a joke.

Because they had the benefit of a cupcake schedule...

 

Look at who they beat this season...

 

NY Jets x2

Buffalo x2

Cleveland

Los Angeles

San Fran

San Diego

Arizona

Pittsburgh (the yearly annual trap game for the Steelers)

 

if it wasn't for the AFC and the NFC West being a pathetic joke this year, they're about a 7-win team in reality...

  • Upvote 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Bud Dupree should be ejected.

 

And seriously, pick up that flag on Ajayi. That was nothing and not even worthy of the penalty. You're really doing to take punishment away from Pittsburgh for that? What a fucking joke.

Edited by BwareDWare94

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think the flag was thrown because the game was already starting to get chippy and the refs needed to get things under control.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'd like to see the NFL adopt the college rules (maybe to a lesser extent) regarding targeting, because I think Dupree ought to be ejected too.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

They didn't have the pleasure of playing against the AFC West gauntlet.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Phil is spot on about the Dolphins. They beat bad teams, lose to good teams.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm still surprised the Steelers looked as good as they did today. It's great to finally see.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Bud Dupree shouldn't have been ejected lol. You're supposed to try and hit the opposing QB. He led with his helmet and was flagged for it. I'm sure he'll be heavily fined too. Matt Moore broke the pocket and was running with the ball. That's going to result in big hits a lot of times.

  • Upvote 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

There was nothing wrong with the Dupree hit.

 

Matt Moore is on the verge of becoming a runner at that point of time as he is outside the pocket and near the LOS and advancing.

 

 

It's a goddamn shame how pussified the NFL is becoming. If you want to throw a flag because he's a QB..throw a flag...but to eject him and now probably fine him? That's fucking ridiculous.

  • Upvote 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Glad the last two replies defended Dupree because I was about to download the game and break out in gifs and diagrams like the Shazier tackle from last year.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It's too bad Pitt wasn't playing the Panthers. Dupree wouldn't have been flagged for that hit either.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

To be clear, I'm not saying Dupree's hit was worthy of an ejection. It wasn't. I'm saying the league should consider new rules that make hits like that an ejection-worthy offense, similar to college.

 

The problem with that, as many have noted in the college game, is a) the inconsistency leads to too many players getting ejected for unintentional hits, and b) the ensuing review systems slows the game further.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

  • Chatbox

    TGP has moved to Discord (sorta) - https://discord.gg/JkWAfU3Phm

    Load More
    You don't have permission to chat.
×