The Miami Dolphins’ schedule was about as brutal as you could find to open the season. Three of the team’s first four contests were against more established teams: New England, Buffalo and Seattle. There was a Thursday Night win against Jacksonville sandwiched in Week 3, which the team took advantage of to secure their first win of the season. But since that tough opening stretch, the schedule has been much more forgiving to the Miami Dolphins.
And what we’ve seen since has been spectacular: the Dolphins haven’t lost since that Week 4 contest against Seattle. And Miami may be catching yet another break on the schedule with their contest against the Denver Broncos; as Denver starting quarterback Drew Lock suffered bruised ribs in the team’s latest loss to the Las Vegas Raiders and is going to be questionable for Sunday’s Week 11 contest against the Dolphins.
Further testing revealed that Broncos’ QB Drew Lock has a “pretty severe strain and bruising” but no fractured ribs, per source. He will be day to day, but it is uncertain if he will be recovered to start Sunday vs. Miami.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 17, 2020
Miami’s stretch of wins has already offered cameos to backup quarterbacks C.J. Beathard and Joe Flacco, so getting a backup signal caller isn’t a trap that anyone should expect Miami to fall victim to. The Broncos’ backup quarterback, Brett Rypien, has played this season as well — and threw four interceptions against the New York Jets in a Thursday Night Football win earlier this season.
Miami’s opportunistic defense would likely love the chance to dial in on playing a young quarterback without much in the way of arm strength, it would play into Miami’s hands as an aggressive defense that can force errors and create turnovers when forcing the quarterback to play fast. But then again, Miami could feasibly do that to Lock, too — as he threw four interceptions in Denver’s Week 10 loss to the Raiders.
As the week progresses, Miami will get a better idea of which opposing quarterback they’re going to face. But based on the resume of both players this season, Miami should feel good about extending their streak of consecutive games with a turnover — a streak that is currently the longest in the NFL.