David John takes the Miami Dolphins to extend their winning run at the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL on Thursday night.
Miami at Baltimore (Friday, 0125 BST, Sky Sports Action & Main Event)
The stats suggest we are going to be in for a bit of a snooze-fest to get week eight under way as the teams ranked 31st and 32nd on offense this season lock horns in Maryland.
A lack of firepower has not stopped the Dolphins winning three on the spin though and puts them just a game behind leaders New England in a surprisingly competitive AFC East at this point.
Change is ahead though for Miami as back-up quarterback Matt Moore takes over with incumbent Jay Cutler ruled out certainly for the time being having suffered a chest injury and cracked ribs last weekend against the New York Jets.
Cutler’s return to the NFL having called time on his playing career before the summer has divided opinion among Dolphins fans with some calling for Moore to take over the reins as early as their first outing.
The latter is in his 10th season but is among the most reliable in the league when it comes to a second string and the way he rallied his team from 14 points down against the Jets after Cutler left the game suggests he might even have a chance of becoming starter in the longer term.
"Matt is a fiery guy," said wide receiver Kenny Stills this week, who caught two touchdown passes from Moore as they rallied for an improbable 31-28 victory against Todd Bowles’ outfit.
"He just really enjoys the job and loves being here. I know he is going to give us an opportunity to make a play."
He finished with those two touchdowns, an interception and figures of 13-21-188 after being hurled into the maelstrom so the trick now is to be able to reproduce that sort of execution on a short week against a rival who can prepare for you being in from flagfall.
I hope that he will be able to lean on some strong support from running back Jay Ajayi against the league’s worst rushing defense and establishing the ground game should encourage Moore to take a deep shot.
That is something Cutler has been rather reluctant to do even with Stills, Jarvis Landry and possibly a fit-again DeVante Parker all excellent downfield options.
I quite like their chances on the road of pulling off another victory as the Ravens have also struggled considerably to generate anything meaningful on a regular basis with head coach John Harbaugh, offensive co-ordinator Marty Mornhinweg and quarterback Joe Flacco all under fire.
Flacco has looked a shadow of the player he was in the league three or four seasons ago and perhaps wear and tear is starting to take a serious toll with him not throwing for more than 235 yards in any of the Ravens’ seven games.
He has registered less than 200 on four occasions with the nadir a pathetic 28 at Wembley when he did not know which way to turn against Jacksonville and his whole ethos currently is summed up by the claim that “settling for a field goal is sometimes winning football”.
A sassy pass defense jointly leads the league with 10 interceptions so has the ability to change the course of an encounter and will more than likely have to come up with a timely turnover or two once more to have a shot here.
I am going to put my faith in the popular Moore then to deliver the goods when called on and he and his team can do enough to head back to south Florida with the victory.
Prediction: Miami 21-13 Baltimore
Recommended bets:
2pts Miami to beat Baltimore at 6/4
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Posted at 1815 BST on 24/10/17.
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