Dolphins at Eagles
Sunday | 8:20 ET
This is one of the best matchups of 2023 thus far. The 5-1 Miami Dolphins will head to a hostile environment in Philadelphia to face off against the 5-1 Eagles. The Dolphins offense is off to an insane start this season, including a 70-point trouncing of the Broncos. They have scored the most points in the NFL by a wide margin (223, next closest is at 184). QB Tua Tagovailoa is playing like an MVP candidate, WR Tyreek Hill has the most receiving yards in the league and is on pace for over 2,000, and the team is averaging 6.5 yards per carry (which is also significantly higher than second place in the category, 5.3). Meanwhile, the Eagles are not playing to the best of their abilities, but are still finding ways to win. They will need to pick it up against a highly dangerous Dolphins team on Sunday night.
The Dolphins are must-watch television on offense this year. Head coach Mike McDaniel knows exactly what his personnel excels at, and has created an offense that perfectly complements its abilities. The amount of pre-snap motion that they use is insane. Tyreek Hill, who is already able to out-run 99% of NFL players, is frequently used in pre-snap motions in a way that he is able to get a full running start leading into the play. This is almost unfair for defensive backs, and genius by McDaniel. The Dolphins may be forced to lean on the passing game a bit more than they have had to, due to Philadelphia’s run defense. The Eagles have given up the third least rushing yards in 2023. Maybe making Miami one-dimensional on offense will prove to be the way to slow them down. However, this will be a very difficult task.
Fortunately for the Eagles, the Dolphins are susceptible on defense. Despite ranking 5th in overall defensive PFF grading, they have given up the 7th most points in the NFL this season. Safeties Deshon Elliot and Jevon Holland grade out very well, ranking 7th and 2nd out of 84 qualified safeties according to PFF, but QB Jalen Hurts can attack Miami’s cornerbacks. The Dolphins are average against the run, so RB De’Andre Swift should be involved as well. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio runs a conservative defense, so don’t expect Philly to be launching deep balls left and right. Instead, they might adopt a quicker approach to this matchup, or at least focus on medium length passes.
Ultimately, I think that the Dolphins steal this one on the road. The offense is too potent, and the Eagles haven’t quite hit their stride yet. It will be close, but Miami prevail will prevail.