Week 9 Staff Predictions – Lions at Dolphins
Week 9 starts off with the Detroit Lions org having a heavy heart due to the injury that Jack Campbell sustained last week. While his teammates will be traveling to Miami to take on a bad Miami Dolphins team, Jack will be rooting them on from back in Detroit and willing them to victory. While the emotions of handling Campbell's injury will be on the minds of the team, I expect them to roll into Miami and absolute clobber the Dolphins to honor Jack.
Looking at the matchup, the Dolphins are ok at running the ball and stopping the run, but they basically suck at every single other aspect of the game. The Lions are rocking a Top 5/Top 10 Offense, and their defense is playing like a Top 10 unit the last few weeks, so this should be a case where the matchup n paper comes to fruition on the field. The officiating should be a non-factor, as Land Clarks crew is bottom three in flags thrown, and both the Dolphins and Lions are two of the top teams in terms of not getting flagged. The only X factor ius the weather, as it may be rainy at Gametime and although the grass field at Hard Rock Stadium is top notch, anytime the elements are involved that could impact footing and rush game. This game should end in a Lions win in a shellacking.
And then there were three, as Mickey gambled with the Vikings last week and lost, and joins Mike (5-2) tied for one game behind. Chris continues to lead at 6-1 via tiebreaker (1 pt diff), while Dan (16 pt diff) and Brent (31 Pt diff) are right there, but need some better guesses to make up some ground. Mike (4 pt Diff) and Mickey (7 Pt Diff) will need some help to get back in this battle.
This week there is more blue Kool-aid being guzzled, as all five Grey Manes believe the Lions will win, but a few have them struggling a bit. while the rest think the offense will be humming against a poor Dolphin defense. Either way, it will be emotional game without Jack Campbell who will be back in Detroit cheering on his teammates.
Mickey
Let's turn back the clock just a moment. Pretend it is April 28, 2022. The Lions had the second overall pick in the draft that evening. Many, many, MANY people were clamoring for them to take Malik Willis. The Jaguars used their entire 10 minutes before selecting Trayvon Walker first. Brad Holmes' runner promptly sprinted to the table with the card saying "Defensive End, Aiden Hutchinson, University of Michigan." It was so fast they were reprimanded by the NFL, but they wanted to get that pick in before Jacksonville called for a mulligan. Even then, the league waited until 8:21 for the announcement of the selection. I guess the drama makes for better TV. Sometime around 10:45 on Friday, with the 22nd pick in the 3rd round, Malik Willis was selected. He didn't do much in Tennessee, and the Titans traded him to Green Bay for a 7th rounder. In true Scott Mitchell fashion Willis took over last year for Jordan Love and parlayed a 4-game stretch with a 145-passer rating into a 3 year $67.5m deal ($45m guaranteed!) with the Fins. This year he is more like the guy what wasn't drafted until the 86th pick of the draft: a passer rating of 79.7, has thrown almost as many picks as TD's and is completing just 59% of his passes. Hutch may hurt Willis in this one. On the other side of the ball, the Miami D struggles against the pass and isn't good against the run. This will get ugly early. I think the 4th Q is mostly Josh Dobbs handing off to Sione Vaki. And again we are reminded how fortunate we are that the Jags took Walker over Hutch and Brad DIDN'T take Malik Willis.
Lions 38, Dolphins 17
Dan
This game looks like a laugher on paper, as the Lions offense is Top 5 or Top 10 in almost all major statistical categories and the Miami offense outside of running the ball...is really bad. Defensively, the Dolphins are bottom half, bottom third in the league in Yards and they simply cannot pressure the QB or create turnovers. Outside influences such as the Officiating (should be negligible) and weather (chane of rain) will likely have no impact either. However, the injury situation on the defense (Wonnum, Branch, Reed, Rolder and Campbell) could make for an interesting day against a bad team.
The X factor will be how they play the game, especially the revamped LB corp after the devastating injury to Jack Campbell. It's unfortunate that the Lions have had this in the past, but I do expect a game where everyone is hyper focused and trying to win it for Jack this week. The LB room has decent depth, but it is hard to replace Campbell, but they will all be looking to perform their best and I think the Dolphins will be the bump in the road along the way.
I don't see any way that the Miami defense will even remotely slow down the Lions offense and believe they may flirt with 40+ points.
Lions 35, Dolphins 14
Brent
The Lions have been impacted by multiple injuries on the defense. Losing Jack Campbell is likely a devastating blow to a team that was finally beginning to show promise. How his loss will ultimately impact the defense, will be evident in the next few games. Offensively, the Lions should be able to move the football on the Dolphins defense. Look for more of the same from the Lions with a heavy dose of Gibbs, St Brown, Jamo, and La Porta. Look for Vaki to continue to share increasing workload with Gibbs to reduce the amount of punishment he has been taking.
Lions 34, Dolphins 24
Mike
The Lions roll into sunny Miami with a 5-2 record and coming off of a big win against the Vikings. The impact of the loss of Jack Campbell will be felt both on and off the field. However the Lions Defense has seemingly found their grove and are currently sitting at 28th that is up from 32nd just a few weeks ago. On paper this should be a win for the Lions as Miami is rebuilding but it appears that the Dolphins are starting to show some life the last few games. The Lions are too good on offense on this day.
Lions 31, Miami 17
Chris
Miami is 1-6, Detroit is 5-2, and the Lions are favored by about seven. Trap games are rare in this league, and Detroit has too much talent to take anyone lightly. The emotional win over Minnesota left some bumps, though, so don’t be surprised if the Lions look a step slow early.
Miami’s tight end defense is the soft spot, and Detroit has the weapons to exploit it. Brian Branch’s status is still unclear. If he’s out, the secondary gets thinner, but the depth should hold. Expect a sluggish first half, then the talent takes over.
Lions 28, Dolphins 20.
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