Five Reasons Why The Dolphins Will Beat The Ravens

5. Jason Ferguson: In the week seven loss, nose tackle Jason Ferguson was injured in the first quarter and never returned. He anchors Miami's run defense and is the biggest reason for the turnaround in that department. He occupies blockers and disrupts the timing of rush attempts. Backup nose tackle Paul Soliai was suspended from this game as well, which meant the Dolphins played nearly the entire game in a 3-4 defense with no true nose tackle and a very thin defensive line rotation. That was a recipe for disaster. Miami was lost and allowed a big day on the ground to Willis McGahee, which also led to a good performance by Joe Flacco. That won't happen again. The Ravens will have a much rougher time running the ball, specifically in the red zone. The Ravens run the ball about 80% of the time they are in the red zone. Miami's defense has excelled in the that are late in the season forcing field goal attempts rather than allowing touchdowns. Look for that to continue.

4. The Wildcat: I know what you are thinking. Hey, the Ravens completely shut down the wildcat. In the week seven game, the wildcat formation was a big talking point before the game and the Ravens were able to blow it up and dominate it. At that time in the season though, the wildcat was a crutch for our offense. It's success was essential to set up the rest of our offense. The Dolphins were dependent on it. When it was stopped, our offense didn't stand a chance. That is not the case anymore. The formation and plays are thoroughly ingrained into the system and now it is a part of the offense rather than the focal point. Late in the season we have seen less of the wildcat and it now is just another bullet we have to fire if needed. If the Ravens shut it down, no matter, we will move the ball anyway.

3. 27-13, 20-3: 27-13 is the score from the week seven encounter in which the Ravens were looking for revenge for being Miami's sole defeated opponent in 2007. Congratulations. Now the revenge cycle is on Miami's side. They wish to atone for that week seven loss which was just very uncharacteristic of this team. 20-3 is the score from the last playoff game between these two teams and also the last time Miami was in the playoffs period. Even though no Dolphins are left from that team, the story is being brought up in the media and by the fans and the players feel responsibility to right that wrong as well. Miami owes Baltimore and this is the time. Everyone is picking the Ravens, and that's not surprising. I want it that way and so do the players. They like people telling they won't win and that their magical run is coming to an end.

2. Cam Cameron: When have you ever seen an offensive coordinator get a water cooler dumped on him for winning any game, let alone a regular season game, in the first half of the season? Well that's what happened to Cam Cameron for his initial return to Miami. I hope he's proud of that accomplishment because beating the Dolphins is not in this week's playbook. I already mentioned how the run defense will be better with Jason Ferguson. The pass defense has also vastly improved since that game. The week seven game was an easy one to call because of how poor Miami's defense was. I could have called plays for the Ravens that day and been victorious. Not again. Cameron will have a much tougher time when the run game is not proficient and he will have to put the fate of a playoff game in the hands of a rookie quarterback. Let's also think about his reputation in playoff games. He took the Chargers to two home playoff games in his tenure there and he lost both of them, most notably the 2006 loss to New England after a 14-2 season. He will have a great time with his offense that will fail, forward, fast.

1. Joe Flacco vs Chad Pennington: I like Joe Flacco. I liked him before the draft and I was glad he didn't end up with a team I totally hate. I like what he has done, it has been very impressive. Rookie quarterbacks rarely have success in the NFL but he has done it. But even rarer than rookie quarterbacks having success is rookie quarterbacks having playoff successes. Marino couldn't, Manning couldn't, Roethlisberger couldn't (although he did luckily win one game thanks to epic failures from the Jets kicker) and Flacco won't. Chad Pennington won his first playoff game 41-0 over Peyton Manning's Colts. In 2004 he beat Cam Cameron's Chargers. He's been there, he's won, he's lost, he's seen it all. He is ready. Joe Flacco hasn't seen anything like this, and before you say that he's too dumb to realize the situation and how that's a good thing that pressure doesn't seep into him, well, it's been said before, and it's been wrong before, and it will continue to be wrong. I'll take experienced quarterbacks over rookies in the playoffs every single time.