The Miami Dolphins will host the Minnesota Vikings this Sunday at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens Florida on Sunday. The Dolphins, whose playoff hopes were virtually erased last week by division foe New England Patriots, will be playing for pride as their source of motivation. Also, perhaps for their head coach Joe Philbin, whose job's fate might have already been sealed, after yet another season without playoffs. The Vikings on the other hand, who might have been resigned to the fact they would not be in the post season, may have the motivational edge over the Dolphins.
Leading the Vikings into Sun Life Stadium is their rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, a native of South Florida who played his high school ball in the area. Friends and family members will be rooting for Bridgewater from the stands and much like another Miami native, Geno Smith, found a heightened sense of motivation last year, as his New York Jets wiped out any hopes of the post season Miami might have had last year, Bridgewater's appearance has upset of Miami written all over it.
Bridgewater, who has been developing steadily throughout the season, will only mainly have back ups protecting him, and may need to call on veteran Ben Tate and running back Matt Asiata to help him remain on his feet. Miami's defense on the other hand, during the 2nd half of the season, has not lived to its own performance level earlier on, but they should be able to have a field day going after the athletic Bridgewater. The Dolphins will probably work on further evaluating and or the development of 1st year running back Damian Williams, but will go out with the main intention of winning this game, since the prospect of the front office holding together after the season ends, are somewhat in doubt at this time.
The Dolphins should prove to be too much for even the motivated Bridgewater and should easily win this game. No assumptions can be made at this time, as this contest will come down more to motivation than it will to individual and collective skill, and X's and Os. Expect Miami to roll over the Vikings by a score of 34 to 10.