Pittsburgh Steelers at Miami Dolphins

Written by Tony DeLuca

This Sunday (10/24), the Steelers (4-1) head to Miami, FL to take on the Dolphins (3-2), with kickoff set for 1:00 ET. Last week the Steelers rolled in Big Ben’s return from suspension and the Dolphins squeaked out an overtime win against the Packers.

If you’re interested in the NFL odds for this game, the Steelers are currently favored by 3 over the Dolphins.

Steelers: Last week was Big Ben’s first game back after his 4 game suspension and it showed early. The offense struggled at the start, but as Roethlisberger knocked off the rust, their offense started to look more and more like the Steelers of old. Considering Ben hasn’t played a meaningful snap since last year, he ended up with pretty decent numbers (112.7 passer rating), going 16 of 27 for 257 yards, with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception.

It was obvious that they were trying to ease Ben back into the offense by pounding the ball early. It looked as though the Browns game planned for the run, as they held Mendenhall to only 84 yards on 27 carries. As expected, Hines Ward remains Ben’s favorite target with 5 catches for 54 yards and 1 touchdown. With Santonio Holmes gone to the Jets, Mike Wallace has been consistent all season, and I look for his numbers to get even better now that Ben is back. Wallace ended up with 3 catches for 90 yards and 1 touchdown.

The Steelers defense did not disappoint. James Harrison sidelined both Josh Cribbs and Mohamed Massaquoi with head injuries on vicious hits. With rookie Colt McCoy making his first start, the Browns didn’t score a touchdown until the Steelers were already up 18 with 4 minutes to go in the 4th quarter. McCoy ended with 281 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions. As expected the Steelers run defense was dominate only giving up 41 yards on 12 Peyton Hillis carries.

The Steelers are now 1st in the AFC East after the Ravens lost in overtime to the Patriots.

Dolphins: Last Sunday the Dolphins and Packers went back and forth all afternoon until Dan Carpenter propelled the ‘Phins to victory with a 44-yard overtime field goal. To Brandon Marshall’s surprise, Packers defensive back Charles Woodson was covering the slot receivers for most of the day, so Marshall made the Packers pay while hauling in 10 catches for 127 yards.

The Dolphins run game was not spectacular, but it was decent – Brown and Williams combined for 137 yards on 32 carries. The key for the Dolphins was probably the bye week, as they were able to hire new special teams coach Darren Rizzi and overcome their special teams defects that were a major contributing factor in their loss to the Patriots two weeks ago.

Prediction: The Steelers offense is only going to get better as Roethisberger gets more and more playing time. It will be difficult for the Dolphins to focus on Mendenhall as many of the Steelers first few opponents did. With a more balanced attack on offense and arguably the league’s best defense, I look for the Steelers to win easily, 28-17.

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