Preview: Minnesota heads to Miami looking to extend 3-game win streak North News
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel views adversity as an opportunity.
His top two quarterbacks, Tua Tagovailoa and Teddy Bridgewater, are in the concussion protocol. The Dolphins have lost two straight after starting 3-0. And Miami will start a rookie quarterback Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings (4-1).
McDaniel, in his first head coaching job, said there’s no time to feel sorry for himself.
“Being in the National Football League, whether you’re a coach or a player, is hard,” he said. “All things that are worth achieving are hard. I think I would feel guilt and feel as though I was shortchanging the Dolphins and the team if I was spending any time thinking about how hard it is.”
Overcoming adversity, for better or worse, is what the Dolphins will need to do on Sunday against the NFC-North leading Vikings, who under new coach Kevin O’Connell are off to their best start since they went 5-0 in 2016.
With Skylar Thompson at quarterback, the Dolphins will hope to build on last week’s best rushing output of the year and correct their issues in defending the pass.
That won’t be easy against Pro Bowl receiver Justin Jefferson.
Through five weeks, Jefferson leads the NFL in receiving yards with 547 and is second in receptions with 40. He has eight catches of at least 20 yards.
Quarterback Kirk Cousins has been steady, and O’Connell said the Vikings’ offense has been consistent because opponents can’t be sure if they need to worry about Jefferson or a running game led by Dalvin Cook.
“I think we’ve been able to establish some foundations in our run game that’s allowed us to have some things off of those things to apply pressure to the defense,” O’Connell said. “You’re seeing Kirk kind of control a lot at the line of scrimmage, get to our whole offense at the line of scrimmage and that’s really what we want to be.”
Cook will play in his native Miami for the first time in his NFL career, with relatives and friends planning to be at Hard Rock Stadium. Cook played there a few times for Miami Central High School when big games dictated a move to a bigger venue. He played against Miami in college at Florida State and never lost to the Hurricanes.
“It’s always good getting back into some warm weather. Minnesota is upon us right now, as you can tell by the way I’m dressed,” Cook said Wednesday, wearing a hooded sweatshirt underneath his purple practice jersey and a black stocking cap on his head. “It’s going to be a good Sunday. Go down there, play some good football, get a win and get out of there.”
Minnesota’s Greg Joseph was the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week after going 5 for 5 on field goals against New Orleans in London on Oct. 2, though he missed an extra point. Sandwiched around that performance has been a pair of missed field goals against Detroit on Sept. 25 and against Chicago last Sunday.
Those failed attempts came from 56 yards (wide right), 56 (wide right), 53 (wide right) and 51 (blocked). O’Connell said he could “do a better job of maybe playing the field position game at times” to keep Joseph from having to try lower-percentage kicks.
“My confidence in Greg will not waiver. I expect him, when he goes out there, to make those kicks. And I’m going to continue to give him opportunities,” O’Connell said. “Because you just never know when those three points can be a difference-maker, like it was in London for us, or at other times during the season. We’d love to give him some more chip-shot type of field goals.”
McDaniel admitted after last week’s loss that Thompson’s debut was rough. He completed 19 of 33 passes for 166 yards without a touchdown, with an interception and a lost fumble.
McDaniel said some of Thompson’s struggles were about footwork or timing, a natural result of his first regular-season action.
Thompson also didn’t have the benefit of a veteran quarterback on the sideline to help coach him through the game since both Bridgewater and Tagovailoa were out. Bridgewater was injured on the Dolphins’ first offensive snap.
If Bridgewater clears the concussion protocol, he is expected to be active on Sunday and serve as Thompson’s backup.
“It might be one word, it might be a pat on the back,” McDaniel said. “That teammate support is a very immensely huge thing for a player like that.”
Thompson and his teammates are certain Sunday’s game will be better.
“For me to have a week to build that, build confidence with the guys,” Thompson said, “and build that trust and timing is going to be really, really important.”
WEEK 6 CAPSULE, MINNESOTA (4-1) AT MIAMI (3-2)
BETTING LINE: Vikings by 3½ according to FanDuel SportsBook
AGAINST THE SPREAD: Vikings 1-4; Dolphins 3-2
SERIES RECORD: Dolphins lead 7-5
LAST MEETING: Vikings beat Dolphins 41-17 in 2018 in Minneapolis.
LAST WEEK: Vikings beat Bears 29-22; Dolphins lost to Jets 40-17
VIKINGS OFFENSE: OVERALL (10), RUSH (21), PASS (8), SCORING (12t)
VIKINGS DEFENSE: OVERALL (24), RUSH (20), PASS (22t), SCORING (14)
DOLPHINS OFFENSE: OVERALL (16), RUSH (30), PASS (5), SCORING (12t)
DOLPHINS DEFENSE: OVERALL (25), RUSH (13), PASS (28), SCORING (29)
TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Vikings plus-1; Dolphins minus-2
VIKINGS PLAYER TO WATCH: WR Justin Jefferson has 40 catches, the third most after five games in franchise history behind Adam Thielen (47 in 2018) and Cris Carter (41 in 1994). Jefferson has tied Pro Football Hall of Famers Randy Moss and Lance Alworth for the most games (six) with at least 150 receiving yards in a player’s first three NFL seasons.
DOLPHINS PLAYER TO WATCH: RB Raheem Mostert has had double-digit carries in two consecutive games. He rushed for a season-high 113 yards and a touchdown on 18 attempts against the Jets last week and has 75-plus scrimmage yards in three of the past four games. He leads the Dolphins running backs with 260 yards this season.
KEY MATCHUP: WR Justin Jefferson against the Dolphins defense. Jefferson had a career-high 12 catches for 154 yards against the Bears last week and leads the Vikings with 524 yards. The Dolphins are ranked 28th against the pass and have had trouble defending big plays. Miami allowed Jets running back Breece Hall to amass 100 receiving yards with two catches last week. That was after allowing 124 yards and seven receptions by Bengals receiver Tee Higgins the week before.
KEY INJURIES: The Vikings are remarkably healthy for Week 5, but they’ve had a fluke run of rookies get hurt on special teams. Five of their draft picks have missed time, including safety Lewis Cine, who suffered a season-ending broken leg while blocking on a punt return. This week, CB Akayleb Evans was limited in practice Wednesday after entering the concussion protocol in the game against the Bears. WR Jalen Nailor, who missed the Chicago game with a hamstring injury, returned to practice as a full participant. … Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa (concussion) will not play. QB Teddy Bridgewater (concussion protocol) could be medically cleared by Sunday. If so, he will back up Skylar Thompson. WR Tyreek Hill had his foot stepped on against the Jets, but he practiced fully Wednesday. CB Xavien Howard is nursing two groin injuries, and it is unknown whether he will play Sunday. LT Terron Armstead (toe) left the game against the Jets with a lingering toe injury.
SERIES NOTES: The Dolphins have won three of the past four. This will be the Vikings first game in South Florida against the Dolphins since 2014. Dolphins QB Teddy Bridgewater was the rookie starter for the Vikings in the game. He passed for 259 yards, two TDs and one interception in a 37-35 loss.
STATS AND STUFF: The Dolphins have won their past eight games at Hard Rock Stadium. … This is the first of two straight home games for the Dolphins. … Miami has only lost to the Vikings at home once in franchise history, in 1976. … WR Tyreek Hill has only faced the Vikings once in his career. In that game, he had six receptions for 140 yards and a touchdown. … QB Skylar Thompson is expected to make his first career start Sunday. … The Dolphins haven’t had an interception since Week 1 against the Patriots. … WR Jaylen Waddle has at least 65 receiving yards in both home games this season. Waddle has a touchdown catch in two of his past three home games. He has at least 80 receiving yards in each of his past four games against NFC opponents. … The Vikings are off to their best start since going 5-0 in 2016. … The Vikings converted 12 third downs against Chicago, the most in the NFL last week and their most in a game since 2009. … Vikings QB Kirk Cousins has at least one TD pass in 35 straight games, the longest active streak in the NFL.
FANTASY TIP: WR Justin Jefferson is probably the safest pick in this game. He’s always a safe fantasy bet, for that matter, as he leads all NFL receivers in yards with 547.
