Salguero's Sunday pick is ... Dolphins

I think you know by now I am not a homer. I call it as I see it, sometimes good, often times lately very bad. Well, I just sent in to The Herald my pick for Sunday.

I'm picking the Dolphins to win.

If my prediction comes true the Dolphins would reach .500 for the first time since Oct. 2010.

Why do I think the Dolphins will beat the Raiders?

I see potential in this defense to do good things. They need to tighten up the secondary. They need to turn the pass-rush up a notch. But I think that can happen, at least to a small degree, with the personnel currently on the team.

So I don't see Carson Palmer and his inconsistent receivers carving up the Miami defense. Darrius Heyward-Bey is a nice player but I don't see Andre Johnson on the Raiders.

The Raiders' best player is Darren McFadden. But he's running behind an inconsistent offensive line and I like Miami's chances of slowing the Oakland charge. Plus the Raiders don't have a better-than-average tight end so the thing that always bites this defense probably won't this week.

Don't get me wrong. I see a low-scoring, tight, tense game.

I don't see the Dolphins offense moving the football up and down the field on the Oakland defense. But that defense is just undisciplined enough as to do some damage to itself and open the door for rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill and company.

Remember, Sunday won't offer just a homefield advantage for the Dolphins, it offers a major time advantage and schedule advantage for Miami.

The Raiders, who will travel 28,692 air miles this season, more than any team, will be getting on a plane and traveling five hours, losing three hours and settling in unfamiliar surroundings the day before the game.

On game day, the Raiders will be kicking off at what their body clock tells them is 10 a.m.

And then there is the weather advantage the Dolphins should enjoy, in that it is very humid in South Florida while Oakland is not nearly as taxing on a body.

For all these reasons I'm picking the Dolphins.

Discuss ...

Comments

[bill connors]

i agree 100 percent with kris on that. packers and pats rarely run the ball when it matters.

[JackSparrow]

calling dallas a good team and falcons a mediocre one is hilarious, wake up.

Posted by: bill connors | September 14, 2012 at 12:16 PM

================================================

Didn't Dallas beat the defending superbowl champions just last week? YF MORON!

[Fins are Dog Poop]

Jack Sparrow is a homer compared to my opinion of the trash Dolphins.

[bill connors]

u failed to realize the comparison again jack. atlanta is a very good team . dallas is solid but not on falcons level. both are above avg for sure, def not mediocre like your no brain self said

[Fin 77]

Dallas is a very good team this year. You prety much have to be good to beat either of the Mannings.

[oscar canosa]

I don't know, Ireland is being called a bum. But it might be that he specializes on the UDFA and Canadian FL players. Look, Cam Wake, Marcus Thigpen, Davone Bess, now Javorskie Lane, Derrick Shelby, Pat Devlin, others. Hmm... And very cheap.

[JackSparrow]

Atalanta is mediocre, period.

They win games they should win and lose games they shouldn't.

Miami loses games they should lose and lose games they should win.

[JackSparrow]

DO YOU SEE THE PATTERN?!?!?!??!?!?

Bucs and Carolina beat us in preseason...two crappy teams.

Falcons beat us in preseason...mediocre team.

Dallas blew us out in pre-season...good team.
Houston blew us out in week one...good team.

See the pattern, morons?

[bill connors]

atlanta wins that div easily, mediocre. wow either your just plain dumb or just dont like the falcons

[Burger 305]

The Dolphins can keep this weeks game close if they run the ball, run the clock, and dont let Tannehill pass except on rare occassions. This will be a game of field position and very low scoring unless turnovers become abundant.

[oscar canosa]

Maybe.

[Zonk]

Matt Ryan is 45-19 in the NFL. WOWZA!!

[Kris]

How many wins do we have since Ryan has come in to the league?

[Over your head]

We should at least see some type of progression. I'm betting there will be no progression.

There can be zero INT's, period.
There can be zero batted balls, period.
There can be zero accuracy issues.

Posted by: JackSparrow | S

I'm going to assume you are young and probably a little new to the game. Because you're saying if Tannehill doesn't have a perfect game he hasn't progressed. That's pretty ignorant of you.

[JackSparrow]

DO YOU SEE THE PATTERN?!?!?!??!?!?

Bucs and Carolina beat us in preseason...two crappy teams.

Falcons beat us in preseason...mediocre team.

Dallas blew us out in pre-season...good team.
Houston blew us out in week one...good team.

See the pattern, morons?

[oscar canosa]

TB Bucks will be most improved this year thanks to that new Coach they got.

[JackSparrow]

Bill...just a question. DO YOU SEE THE PATTERN?

[Kris]

11 in 2008

7 in 2009

7 in 20010

6 in 200ll
_____________________

31

Not as bad as I thought....

[DragonFly34]

Yes the Raiders are middle of the pack team, so where would I place the Dolphins in this pack? Maybe lower third to rock bottom. Tannehill will have more passes batted down. This "bat the ball down" thing has followed Tanne from college. Remember guys Tanne has 13-14 college games under his belt, he really doesnt know how to play the position of QB.

Oakland 17 Miami 6

[JackSparrow]

LOL!!!!

Pattern, do you see it?

[Kris]

Both teams have the SAME # of play off wins....

ZERO....

[Hammonddave]

You are insane... "Weather Advantage"? Maybe when Shula was coaching this team...
Have you not seen that stupid air conditioned dome that this soft team practices in? Just look at last year's first game to see who the weather advantage went to... The Dolphins where the ones who were gassed. New England ran the hurry up and our guys were the ones puking on the field.

[BoulderPhinFan]

I agree with Mando. Tanny needs to keep those INT numbers low and we'll have a chance.

[Phins78]

Dansby has been a middle linebacker his entire career. In a 3-4 defense there are two middle linebackers. In a 4-3 defense the middle linebackers job in the run game is to mirror the running back and sniff him out. In the 3-4 that duty switches between backers depending on a strong side or weak side run.

Jack, I'm going to assume you are one of the people who are very young and haven't developed skills in the art of an adult conversation. There was no need to call me a moron because you didn't understand what was written. You could have simply asked me my meaning and respectfully disagreed.

Jack Sparrow will now be on my list of people not to talk to. Geez, why would you be like that, unbelievable.

[Bradshaw]

Miami Dolphins will be most horrible team this year thanks to that new Coach they got.....and that moron GM.

[bill connors]

honest question fellas before i respond anymore to jack. is he mentally challenged?? 100 percent legit question. if so im wasting my time

[JS_in_LA]

Craig M,
Raiders' philosophy (ie Davis' mantra) was speed and talent - period. He didn't care where they played, or how solid of a player they were in college - just get him the fastest most talented guys, and they'll eventually make a team.
So, yeah, the Raiders have always been scary to look at off the bus, and running in practice. But they can't get it together for games. Some days awesome, some days, very beatable. Consistently inconsistent. No difference this year.

Ironically, I think Davis' mantra is similar to Ireland's. But that's another argument for a another day.

[Dose of Reality]

"This team still stinks".....Reggie Bush LOL

[Over Your Head]

Posted by: JackSparrow | September 14, 2012 at 12:37 PM

lmao hey Jack the 9th grade just called, they want their teenage angst back! roflmao What a tool!

[JackSparrow]

LOL!!! Atlanta is a good team unless they face other good teams.

2011 (10-6) Lets look at the six losses.

Chicago
Green Bay
New Orleans
Houston
New Orleans

Oh yeah, they lost to the BUCS.

Mediocre team.

[Yesterday'sGone]

Per Armanso: "Bey's no Andre Johnson"

This is true, however, for the past few year this secondary has had a bad penchant for "playing down" to the level of the opponent recieving corps. Especially when the offense seems to self implode.

The defense usually plays fairly well. Just seems almost everytime the offense self implodes, so does the defense, right om cue.

For this reason its extremely difficult to make the Dolphins favorites even if they were playing against the Hot Pink Pinkerton Pom-pom Pushers.

[Dashi]

Good To see U on Board Mando

Hard to keep from Laughing. Pick the Easy One
-------------------------------------------------------
MD 20 From Last Post

Bush will not be Back. It's a Buisness not a Love Affair. Bush will be 30 yrs old. And We all Know what that means. The End(With The Door's Playing)

PEOPLE GET THIS THRU UR THICK SKULLS THE FRANCHISE ISN'T GOING ANYWHERE. Jake Long will be Re-Signed!! His Cap Number Actually goes down with an Extension.

Starks is 50/50. If We Re-Sign Starks Don't Believe We Re-sign Soliai the Yr after.

We Will Sign S.Smith at the Right Price.

Also, WHAT HAS DASHI BEEN SAYING FOR A WHILE NOW. TOP 5 PICK FRANCHISE DE, Not a Wr!!

Odrick is a Better DT than a DE. Move him inside and Get a Prototype 4-3 DE in the Top 5. U Know A J.Peppers/M.Williams Type.

The Only thing Dashi will spend Money on a is a FA Wr. Greg Jenning will cost less than Bowe.

DE, FS, and MLB can be solved with the first 3 picks, Next Year.

Dashi didn't say solve Everything in 1 year. But An Infusion of Youth is Needed on Our D.

Posted by: Dashi | September 14, 2012 at 11:54 AM

[MiamiD20]

I'm glad matt Ryan isn't our franchise QB. They have:

An all-pro RB (Turner)
An all-pro TE/Future HoF (Gonzalez)
A solid OL
A solid overall defense
2 all-pro WRs (Jones, White)

Yet....Ryan has done nothing with that stud team around him. He's an ok QB but I'd say Flacco is a better QB. For a #2 overall pick Ryan should be performing better especially when his team is a Super Bowl caliber team (but no one has predicted them to go to the SB; I wonder why)

[Dose of Reality]

bill, Jack is right on the money. Totally objective. This franchise is the laughingstock of the league. Wake up and smell the garbage!

[Over Your Head]

"Miami Dolphins will be most horrible team this year thanks to that new Coach they got.....and that moron GM."

Hey bud, you missed the party, this post was meant for two months ago no? Great contribution, your intelligence and reasoning are unsurpassed.

[bill connors]

very true yg, game will prob be raiders up 16-13 at there own 10 with 6 mins left and miami wont be able to buckle down and raiders win 23-13

[Mindless Homer MiamiD20]

Everyone not on the Dolphins stinks! Get it?

[Yesterday'sGone]

Jack Sparrow,

The 1st sign of a good team(Falcons) is top consistently beat bad teams. Atlanta losing to the teams you mentioned(6 losses) isnt neccessarily an awful thing. It only means its time for the team to rise to the next level.

The Falcons just might be ready to take that next leap this year. While we struggle to prove we arent the worst of worst by not consistently losing to other bad teams.

[Tracy474]

Jack do you honestly think that people in here haven't caught on to your little games. You post a moronic thought then change your name and agree with the moronic thought. It's not hard to figure out guy, you're the only one in here who writes the same way disrespectful to other people. I wonder why you're this way, probably get picked on a lot and this is your revenge. That's really sad, so sorry for you.

[ericatl]

Hope Dan Carpenters warmed up because we will have to win with field goals. I still dont think we score a TD. If we do it will be be 1 at the most

[Yesterday'sGone]

Anyone here who's assuming Matt Ryan's garbage are out thier minds. The Falcons will be in conversation as nfc representatives for the upcoming sb. You can make an argument for them as one of the nfc's top 4 teams.

While here in Miami, we can make argument for the Dolphins as one of the entire nfl's top 4 awfulest teams.

[JackSparrow]

Maybe Atlanta is a good team. They were 10th in yards per game last year.

RAIDERS WERE 9TH.

MIAMI WAS 22ND.

Not looking good for opening day, homers.

[Andrew Luck-Couch-Tim]

I heard someone on radio yesterday say that Jake Long was a good pick. Can you believe that? I think it's well established by now that the Long pick was a disaster. Not even a point worth discussing, really.

[Yesterday'sGone]

The Texans are a great defensive team, but what did rear it ugly head again last Sunday, was our preseason inepitude for getting the football in the endzone.

Just seems this team wont be scoring very many points this season unless something very drastically changes. Which is highly unlikely because the Groese offenses of the 70's nor the Marino offenses of the mid 80, mid 90's aint walking thru that door anytime soon.

[Andrew Luck-Couch-Tim]

gee MIamiD20 wouldn't you say all of that re Long an O lineman at #2?

except we go 6-10 every year and Falcons 11-5 in playoffs.

Falcons good this year but many really good teams in their way. Ravens, Pats, Broncos....really good team.s

[Andrew Luck-Couch-Tim]

YG is correct about Atlanta.

[Craig M]

JS,

You're dead right with the 'type' of player the Raiders like to add but the crazy thing is they just chopped a couple of last years 'fast' DBs taken in last year's draft. Strange organization. I'd like to think we're going in the opposite direction from these guys. The Palmer trade is still a real head scratcher.

[Andrew Luck-Couch-Tim]

Jack Sparrow, you need to stop skipping school. You are destined for a life of making minimum wage (until you to to prison).

You need to make sure to graduate and go to college.

[BECAUSE IM CUBAN!]

3rd graders are smarter than me
I work for less than minimum wage
I haven't seen my little willy in years
My gut forbids me from being attractive
I haven't made love in over 10 years
I do nothing with my life
Im going no where in life
Only my kind likes me
Whites and blacks don't trust me

Why.....?

[Yesterday'sGone]

The tale-tale sign we're not a good team is we only have a 50-50 chance of beating other terrible teams. Until that changes we're amonst the awful lot of terrible teams.

The good and bad of it is there's a 50-50 chance our game against the terrible Raiders could go either way.

[Craig M]

Andrew Luck-Couch-Tim,

Whatever names you are adding to these days, 'the Long pick was a disaster?'. It was. Sure, let's add Matt Ryan instead. Do you HONESTLY think if we'd added Matt Ryan to this 1-15 team, with no talent, no LT and Henning and Sparano, that he'd have had the kind of success in the NFL he's had? Seriously? Stop and think for a second before blurting out your answer. Not a chance!!

And for the record, Jake Long's won the same number of playoff games as Matt Ryan. Still waiting for the first one......ticking....ticking....

[Craig M]

Sure, adding a perennial Pro-Bowl LT, who has a chance to make the Hall of Fame, was a 'disaster' of a pick. Yeah I get that logic....

[Yesterday'sGone]

If I were a Vegas book maker and favored the Dolphins Sunday. It wouldnt be by more than 1/2 a point. Just to make sure, if they did win, they covered the point spread.

[Yesterday'sGone]

You'll go broke betting on the Dolphins to win unless they were made 30pt underdogs. That I would want a pice of the action on. LOL

[MiamiD20]

Tim couch, Falcons go 11-5 because their TEAM is a super bowl caliber team. Shouldn't they be a lock to make the super bowl if their team is full of studs? Packers are a better team cause Rodgers is a great QB. Giants win super bowls cause their QB is a stud. Neither team has a stellar supporting cast, they're simply good enough while their QB takes them over the edge. Ryan hasn't taken them above the edge. His supporting cast is full of pro bowlers while Ryan holds them back.

[Kris]

POST OF THE BLOG @ 12:54....

[Kris]

MiamiD...

The Gianys won the SB because of their D-Line....

When the D-LINE got healthy...that when the GIANTS went on their SB run....

Manning played ALL season....

I'm not taking away from Manning....he has 2 SB's under his belt...however.....let's give credit were it is trulu due....

BTW....

No QB pressure on Romo...no win for the Giants....food for thought....

[Kris]

Craig M....

Who cares if Jake Long goes to the HOF???

Not me.....

since 2008...teams have continued to...

MAKE THE PLAYOFFS....

WIN PLAYOFF GAMES...

AND WIN SBS....

All with out "ALL WORLD" Jake Long protecting their QB.....

[Craig M]

A disaster pick is Mandarich, or Russell or Couch or Leaf. Long has been everything we could ask him to be on this team but some guys still want to say it's a 'disaster pick'. Clueless fanbase!

[Kris]

Craig M...

Jake Long isn't a disaster....he just not a difference maker....