Thursday Night – Miami Dolphins at Baltimore Ravens

Thursday Night Football is back and brings us a matchup between two of the more overrated quarterbacks in the league: Ryan Tannehill and Joe Flacco. Each has had their moments, Flacco did have one epic playoff run to a Super Bowl, but neither has been a consistently good signal caller during their careers. Agree or disagree, it is what it is. Ironically enough, quarterback play is what will likely decide this Thursday night AFC clash, so let’s see who can get the job done.

Keys to the Game
Dolphins
Miami needs to make life easy on Ryan Tannehill by establishing the running game early. That’s a tall task against a Ravens defense that’s looking to return to elite status, but it’s an absolute must if the Dolphins want to get a road win here. The effectiveness of Jay Ajayi on the ground will determine the amount of success Tannehill will have slinging the ball down field. If they can get Baltimore to respect and bring 8 men into the box, Tannehill can push the ball down field and put points on the board. If not, it’s going to be a long night for the Dolphins and their QB.

Ravens
The Baltimore defense will factor heavily into the kind of game QB Joe Flacco has in this one. If they get shredded and Flacco has to drop back 50 times, things probably won’t end well for the Ravens. Flacco just isn’t Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers. If the Baltimore D can stifle the Dolphins and let Flacco move at a relaxed pace, things will look much better. A good performance out of WR Breshad Perriman wouldn’t hurt, either.