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DOLPHINS VS. SAINTS
GAME FACTS
Date: Sunday, Oct. 25
Time: 4:15 p.m. ET
Site: Land Shark Stadium, Miami, Fla.
TV: FOX
THE SERIES
SERIES RECORD: Miami leads 6-3
AT MIAMI: Dolphins lead 3-0
AT NEW ORLEANS: Saints Lead 3-2
AT BATON ROUGE, La.: Dolphins lead 1-0
LAST MEETING: 2005 at Baton Rouge; Dolphins 21, Saints 6
SERIES HIGHLIGHT: The Saints haven't played in South Florida since Nov. 29, 1998, and that day was one they definitely would like to forget. The Dolphins fell behind 10-3 after an interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter, but they stormed back for a 30-10 victory. Dan Marino and O.J. McDuffie led the way by connecting for three touchdown passes - including the 400th of Marino's career.
SERIES LOWLIGHT: The Oct. 2 game at New Orleans in 1983 wasn't pretty for the Dolphins, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it convinced Coach Don Shula that he needed to give Dan Marino his first NFL start the following week against Buffalo. Marino came off the bench against the Saints to replace ineffective starter David Woodley and his touchdown pass to Mark Duper in the fourth quarter was the only scoring for the Dolphins in a 17-7 loss. Woodley was 4-for-12 for 34 yards with one interception before being replaced for good.
SCOUTING REPORT
NEW ORLEANS RECORD: 5-0
LAST GAME: Beat N.Y. Giants 48-27
OVERVIEW:The Saints just might have established themselves as the best team in the NFL after spanking the Giants, 48-27, in a battle of unbeatens. The Saints have won each of their first five games by double digits, becoming only the fourth team in NFL history to accomplish that feat. The previous three all won their sixth game and all went to the Super Bowl.
THE NEW ORLEANS OFFENSE: The Saints have ranked in the top four in offense each of the last three seasons, but they've taken things to another level this year. It all starts, of course, with quarterback Drew Brees. He's off to an incredible start, best evidenced by his passer rating of 118.4 (the NFL record is 121.1, set by Peyton Manning in 2004). Brees, who has thrown 13 touchdown passes with only two interceptions this season, has a tremendous corps of receivers at his disposal. In fact, the wide receiver unit of Marques Colston, Lance Moore, Robert Meachem, Devery Henderson and Courtney Roby just might be the deepest in the NFL. And then you can throw in tight end Jeremy Shockey and running back Reggie Bush, who's a threat out of the backfield. What's made the Saints even better offensively this season has been the running game, which is averaging almost 160 yards per game and ranks fourth in the league. The Saints have three quality running backs in Bush, Pierre Thomas and Mike Bell, which is why they've been able to withstand minor injuries to both Bell and Thomas. The offensive line doesn't get a lot of acclaim, but the results - particularly keeping the Giants from sacking Brees - indicate it's doing a tremendous job.
THE NEW ORLEANS DEFENSE: The Saints defense is destined to take a back seat to the offense as long as Brees is playing at such a high level, but it's no longer holding the team back. The two new faces who have made such a huge difference are coordinator Gregg Williams, the former Buffalo Bills head coach, and free safety Darren Sharper. Williams has instilled an aggressive approach in the defense, and it's helped the Saints rank first in the league in third-down conversion percentage allowed. The Saints also are tied for the league lead with 11 interceptions, and that's where Sharper comes in. He leads the NFL with five interceptions, and he has taken two of those back for touchdowns. The Saints rank fifth in the league in run defense, but part of that can be attributed to their offense putting opponents in catch-up mode on a frequent basis. Besides Sharper, the marquee names on the New Orleans defense are ends Charles Grant and Will Smith, who each had two sacks in the Week 4 victory over the New York Jets.
THE NEW ORLEANS SPECIAL TEAMS: As good as the Saints have been on offense and defense this season, their special teams have been less than stellar. New Orleans ranks in the bottom half in the league in practically every significant special teams category, and is among the worst in terms of punt return average, as well as punt and kickoff coverage. Still, 45-year-old John Carney remains a reliable placekicker and it would be foolish to take Bush lightly because of his mediocre 3.9-yard punt return average considering he took three back for touchdowns last season.
LOOKING AHEAD
NOV. 1 - MIAMI AT N.Y. JETS
For the seventh time in franchise history, the Dolphins will be facing the same opponent a second time in a three-game span. And this one promises to be fun. To put it mildly, the Jets were less than gracious after the Dolphins' 31-27 victory at Land Shark Stadium on Oct. 12, whether it was Coach Rex Ryan blaming his defense instead of giving the Dolphins offense credit or whether it was linebacker Calvin Pace calling the Wildcat "nonsense." Quarterback Mark Sanchez is coming off a horrible performance, star nose tackle Kris Jenkins is out for the season because of a knee injury and the Jets have lost three in a row heading into Sunday's game at Oakland, but you can bet they'll be up for the rematch against the Dolphins.
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