Saturday, 3 a.m.
In the NFL, it doesn't take long for the wolves to roam free.
Take Miami, where a 1-3 start (one of the losses was in overtime), has unleashed the hunters. Going into Sunday's game against the Bucs in Raymond James Stadium, the Dolphins are a desperate, hungry team with a backup quarterback
"Someone has to tell me what the Dolphins plan/identity is on offense," ESPN analyst Don Orlovsky was quoted by the Miami Herald d as saying. "Who is
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calling the plays. There is absolutely no rhyme or reason to the things they do. It looks like they are guessing plays and just calling anything to see if it may work."
The Dolphins have been accused of playing it too safely on offense, of sipping and nibbling instead of attacking. CBS's Jay Feely last week ripped the Dolphins coaches for being "not creative and not aggressive."
Said NFL Network analyst Marc Ross. "It's glaring the offensive line is not ready. They may not be talented enough."
The Phinsider summed it up nicely: "The Bucs are better than us by a lot," said the site. "We aren't showing much of anything at the moment. Tau's back the week after Tampa Bay and (Jacoby) Brissett knows it. I expect a frankly unwatchable game this week."
Granted, the Bucs have problems of their own. The pass rush hasn't been much, and the pass coverage hasn't been anything at all, and there are too many turnovers and too many failures in the red zone. But compared to the Dolphins, the Bucs are quibbling about their problems.
Hey, the Bucs' play their corners so far back that the Dolphins' short-passing game could be troublesome for a while. But overall, there is little question of which team has mretalent.
This week, the Bucs should win comfortably for once.
Prediction: Tampa Bay 31, Miami 14.
In other NFL games:
New Orleans 20, Washington 17.
Arizona 27, San Francisco 20.
Kansas City 28, Buffalo 27.
And in college football:
Florida 30, Vanderbilt 13.
North Carolina 34, FSU 7.
Oklahoma 22, Texas 17.