MNF Colts @ Dolphins: Both Teams Have Something to Prove

Indianapolis Colts @ Miami Dolphins
8:30 PM EST
Sept. 21, 2009

Monday Night Football features a matchup of two teams with something to prove. The Dolphins have a little more to prove after losing in week one to the Falcons. The Dolphins were a surprise division winner last year, but in the NFL you have to prove it every season. Last week was a failure. The Colts weren't exactly stellar in their two-point win over the Jags in the opener. The Colts offense just didn't look like the Colts offense we've come to know. By contrast, the Cardinals offense just drilled the Jags on Sunday. Crucial turnovers also hurt the Colts' cause.

Dolphins

The Dolphins need a win to prove last year was no fluke. Going 0-2 in the NFL isn't a death-knell, but it puts you on the "possibly terminal" watch list. It's a hole you don't want to be in. So Miami will be as fired up as a team can be, especially with everybody watching on national TV. The Dolphins were sloppy with the ball last week, turning it over four times. Miami's offense works best when they use their ground game effectively and allow Chad Pennington to manage the game. Pennington has always been a "short-pass" QB, he needs credible play-action to draw the safeties up before he can go over the top. The Miami offense was hampered by the crucial turnovers and are not a good enough offensive team to make up for those mistakes. If they just take care of the ball, their offense will be dramatically improved.

The good news from the first week is that Miami's defense only gave up 19 points in a game where the offense turned the ball over four times. And the Falcons are a good offensive football team. They bottled up the Falcons running game which is impressive. This week they face the daunting task of dealing with Peyton Manning and they should follow the formula that most teams do - whatever you do, you have to make Manning uncomfortable in the pocket. With time, he'll simply slice you up.

Colts

It's a new regime in Indianapolis as former assistant head coach Jim Caldwell took over the reins for Tony Dungy, and in week one it was the Colts defense that was the standout. That's not normally what we associate with the Colts, but they only gave up 12 points, and held on in a game that was close throughout. Indy bulked up on the front line, adding bigger defensive tackles, giving them a much more physical approach at the line of scrimmage. This will be an interesting matchup as the Colts revamped d-line will battle a Miami offense that wants to run Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams.

On the downside, the Colts offense only managed two TDs and that's definitely not like the Colts. Losing Anthony Gonzalez hurt, but Reggie Wayne picked up the slack and had a very good game. Still, the Colts need another presence in the passing game besides Wayne and Dallas Clark. Joseph Addai lost a costly fumble that took away a scoring chance for the offense. Addai and Donald Brown make up the running back tandem and they need to put up bigger numbers this week. You can expect Manning to be Manning, he was very accurate last week (but did get picked in the endzone), but he needs the running game to improve and someone else to step up at WR.

The guys over at SB Nation's Miami blog, The Phinsider, have a sense of optimism heading into tonight's clash. On the other side of the ledger, Stampede Blue ponders who will replace Anthony Gonzalez.