PREVIEW: Pre-Season Game 2 - Miami vs Carolina

VS.

The most noticeable difference between this weekend's match-up versus the Carolina Panthers, and last Monday night's win over Jacksonville, is the defensive scheme of the opponent.

Offensively, the two teams are quite similar, relying on a two-runningback attack that opens up the field for some dangerous sprinklings of passes. Granted, Jacksonville doesn't have Steve Smith, but the gameplans are similar. To be honest, I'd be a bit surprised if Smith even plays, after returning to practice this week after an early-camp shoulder injury. Still, the combination of Muhsin Muhammad and Dwayne Jarrett should provide some good contests for the 1st string corners, but the drop-off is dramatic after that. The combination of Josh McCown throwing to Kevin McMahan and Marcus Monk (who?) should result in a lot of opportunity for our reserve DBs to 'show up on film.

Carolina likes to use their running backs as receivers and I think we will get a chance to see how a guy like Cam Wake can cover in open space. This is something that may benefit guys like Erik Walden and Charlie Anderson. Look for them to have big games, adding to the already difficult decision making process at the OLB position.

The biggest factor in the game is of course in the trenches and there is no better test this pre-season for our defensive linemen than Carolina. They simply have one of the best offensive lines in football, period. This is where the Miami boys will have to 'man up' or else it's going to be a long night. Our only relief could be the fact that it's a pre-season game so they HAVE to throw the ball.

On the other side of the ball is the biggest difference from Jacksonville. Whereas Jacksonville's defense is built for stopping the run up front, Carolina's is built for getting to the quarterback. They will line up Julius Peppers at the weakside and blitz rookie Everette Brown from the other side. If this sounds like a good plan, it's pretty much the same plan that Miami seems to have adopted, with Porter and Taylor both rushing the QB. If we can get blocks on these guys, our WRs could have a big game, as Carolina's defensive backfield is nothing special. They have a good starter in Chris Gamble, but their two rookies, Captain Munnerlyn and Sherrod Martin have been struggling.

Dolphins who need to step-up in this game:

• Vontae Davis (my goal for him is no penalties and no more than one big play - baby steps)

• Chris Clemons (while he had a moment or two in Game 1, he has a huge gap of play between himself and Bell/Wilson/Culver. He needs to show he fits in with that group)

• Anthony Armstrong (after re-watching the first half of the Jax game, I noticed that Armstrong made a special teams tackle, and was quite shocked! But then he had that rubber hands drop later on. If you don't catch the ball, you will be cut. This is his last chance - he needs a big game)

• Brandon Frye/Mark Lewis/Nate Garner (one of these guys is going to get cut pretty soon, they need to 'get it on tape' that they deserve to stick around)

• Joe Cohen (he's the next to go IMO, so he needs a huge game to get into the next round)

• And finally, Dan Carpenter (the thing with kicking competitions is that they don't usually last very long - coaches like to get these things wrapped up ASAP - so Carpenter needs to be 100% on FGs/xtra points AND get 80% of his kickoffs into the end zone)
  

Tin's Prediction:
MIA 26
CAR 22