Mr. Chambers Comes Home

This week will already be week five in the National Football League.  Amazing how fast the seasons go by.  It seems like only last week when I was cursing Dave Wannstedt for trading away the Dolphins draft choices for the likes of Lamar Gordon and A.J. Feeley.  Seems only four days ago I was cursing Nick Saban for drafting Jason Allen and then bolting back to the college ranks after insisting he wouldn't.  And it seems like it was only yesterday when I was cursing Cam Cameron for... well, pretty much everything he did.  But alas, this year I find myself with a little hope.  The Dolphins are coming off a bye week which was preceded by a lopsided victory over the New England Patriots.  Albeit Brady-less, this victory was invigorating and brought a sense of relief and a touch of excitement to Miami Dolphins fans everywhere.  The question now, is where do they go from here?

Luckily, they don't go anywhere; they stay at home.  Unfortunately, they're going to be joined at home by a San Diego Chargers team on a winning streak that was one Jake Delhomme pass and a referee blunder away from being undefeated this year.  On top of that, a familiar face in WR Chris Chambers returns to Miami, aiming to exploit a Dolphins secondary that gave up two pass plays of over 70 yards to the Cardinals in the second week of the season.  Make no mistake, the Chargers are good, and Miami's fancy new wildcat formation isn't going to catch them by surprise like it did an aging Patriots defense.  It's going to take excellent game management and execution in order to come out of Week 4 with a win, and Tony Sparano knows it.  The funny thing is, the player that the Dolphins traded for a second round pick last year could be one of the main difference makers in the game.

Chambers is making his case as one of the top deep threats in the game.  While he's only caught eight balls so far this season, he's averaging 24.5 yards per catch and has taken four of those catches into the end zone.  Chambers has been plagued by inconsistency his whole career, as most Dolphins fans know, but with one of the top young QB's in the league in Philip Rivers throwing him the ball, he might give the Dolphins reason to regret trading him a year ago. 

So the question becomes, what do the Dolphins need to do in order to win their second game in a row against one of the NFL’s most talented teams? 

The first thing they need to do is show up with the same chip on their shoulders and the same intensity and swagger that they had against New England.  While they had a great victory, it was only one win and there’s a whole lot of season left to play.  If the team shows up hungry, it’ll go a long way toward helping their chances of winning this week.
Next, they must contain Chambers and the big passing plays that plagued them against Arizona and even the Jets in Week 1.  Rolling a safety deep and playing man coverage on Chambers might be a good start to containing San Diego’s big play ability.
Third, they need to dare LaDainian Tomlinson to show them that he’s fully healthy.  Tomlinson is an amazing back, but he hasn’t looked quite right yet this season, leading me to believe that he’s hurting a little.  Miami needs to keep an eye on him, but the key to the defense will be taking away the vertical passing game.  Providing pressure and keeping plays in front of the defense will be a key to this game.

On offense, the Dolphins need to continue to run the ball effectively behind an improving offensive line.  While the Chargers defense is younger and more athletic overall than the Patriots, they don’t boast a front three with the same type of dominance as the trio in New England.  Miami needs the offensive line to be road graters and maulers up front, clearing room for Ricky and Ronnie to move the chains.
In the passing game, Miami needs to work the middle of the field, and find their emerging Tight Ends David Martin and Anthony Fasano.  The Chargers have three very talented corners and the Dolphins would be wise to try and exploit mismatches by utilizing their backs and Tight Ends. 

Finally, Miami must execute.  Pennington needs to play smart football, like we’ve all seen him play.  He needs to take care of the football and simply take what the defense gives him.  If all this falls into place, then there’s no reason that Miami shouldn’t have a legitimate chance at beating such a formidable foe, and giving Chris Chambers a homecoming that he’d rather forget.