The Cleveland Browns might look like the underdog against the Miami Dolphins in Week 10, but these surprises could give them the advantage
The Cleveland Browns return to action on Sunday when they play the Miami Dolphins in sunny southern Florida. Both teams are going in different directions as far as records are concerned as the Browns come into the game at 3-5 while the dolphins are 6-3 and riding a three-game winning streaking.
Cleveland opened as a four-point underdog and will have their work cut out for them if they want to walk home with the win. Despite the bleak preview at this point, Cleveland does have several things going for them in this matchup that give them more advantages than some might see.
These two teams last played in 2019 when quarterback Baker Mayfield was on fire and threw several touchdowns in the first half, including a couple to Jarvis Landry. Cleveland stormed to a 28-3 halftime lead and went on to win the game 41-25 after the Dolphins tried to come back in the second half of the game.
This season, the Dolphins seem to have everything going for them. They score points in bunches, and they are the darlings of the NFL with Tua Tagovailoa under center but if you look a little deeper at the situation, what the Browns will need to do to win isn’t that far-fetched. Let’s go ahead and take a look at a few of the surprises about the Dolphins that are an advantage for the road team.
3 surprises about Dolphins that give Browns the advantage
No. 3: Dolphins secondary is vulnerable
When you start looking at Miami and its issues most of them deal with their defense, especially the secondary. They’ve given up the fourth most completions to opposing quarterbacks and the completion percentage is a hefty 68.5. They’ve also given up the fourth most touchdowns with 15 and fourth most passing yards with 2,213.
The Dolphins have given up more than 30 points in games on three different occasions already this year. The Browns are averaging 25 points a game, and this could be one of those games where we could easily see them exceed that 30-point plateau.
Look for coach Kevin Stefanski to take advantage of the poor Miami defense early in this one and see if he can catch the Dolphins sleeping in the secondary.
No. 2: Miami is about streaking
Miami is riding a three-game win streak and for most teams that would seem like a distinct advantage over their opponent. But when you look at their schedule, you’ll notice they started out by winning three games in a row. However, they proceeded to lose the next three games and now they’ve recovered and won three again.
If you like math and believe in patterns that would indicate that the Browns probably have as good of a chance of beating the Dolphins as anyone — as they haven’t been able to win that fourth game in a row. It only makes sense that the Dolphins would begin a three-game losing streak with the Browns beating them on Sunday.
That might be some wishful thinking, but the NFL is a strange place at times made up of a lot of oddities. The idea that the Dolphins might be on the verge of another three-game losing streak might not seem logical at this juncture, but if it can happen once, it can happen again.
Miami opened this past season with wins over the New England Patriots, the Baltimore Ravens, and the Buffalo Bills. The Ravens’ victory was a big comeback for the Dolphins, as they were down by double figures for much of the first half.
But then the Dolphins hit a snag over the next three games when they lost to the Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets, and Minnesota Vikings (although Tagovailoa was hurt during this stretch). At the time, some of those losses seemed odd because those opponents were struggling a bit like the Bengals. But now the Jets and the Vikings are both winning this season and those wins for the Dolphins look more impressive.
This latest three-game win streak for the Dolphins has been more of a struggle as they have snuck by in wins over the lowly Pittsburgh Steelers, Detroit Lions, and most recently the Chicago Bears.
If this pattern of streaking continues down in Miami, then the Browns have a mathematical advantage. Will that actually happen?
No. 1: Jacoby Brissett played for the Miami Dolphins in 2021
Jacoby Brissett has been a journeyman in his NFL career. Last season he hung out down in Florida and helped the Dolphins as an on and off again starter as Tua Tagovailoastruggled to stay healthy. He started in five games in place of the former No. 5 pick and after losing his first three, he reeled off two wins in a row.
Brissett obviously will have some knowledge of Cleveland’s opponent and what to look for, both on their defense and also their offense to help the Cleveland defense prepare. This is one of those games, with Brissett having three games left before Deshaun Watson returns, to really shine. Brissett and the Browns have struggled to this point in the season, but they have an opportunity to try to get back in the playoff race, and what better place to do that than against the Dolphins, the team that he played for last season?
This year, Brissett has had one of the best efforts of his career and while he did some good things while he was playing with the Dolphins, what he’s doing this year with the Browns has been impressive despite the win and loss record of the team. At this stage in his career, there’s not much to lose. He can just go out there and throw the football and contribute to the victory for the Browns.
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