Three Reasons Why Packers Will Beat Dolphins

The Green Bay Packers and Miami Dolphins will battle at Lambeau Field on Thanksgiving night. Here are three reasons why the Packers will win to improve to 9-3.

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers. / Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers have won six of their last seven games and are coming off a thorough victory over the San Francisco 49ers in which the red-zone offense came to life, Jordan Love was mostly sharp and the defense forced three turnovers.

Here are three reasons why the Packers will be thankful by beating the Dolphins to cap the NFL’s Thanksgiving buffet.

1. No Romeo Doubs, No Problem

Romeo Doubs looked as good as he has all season on Sunday. On the drive in which the Packers scored a touchdown to extend their lead to 17-0, Doubs caught passes of 29 yards on third-and-11, 10 yards on third-and-5 and 15 yards on third-and-10.

Not only were his routes typically crisp, but he looked explosive in accelerating for yards after the catch – something that’s never been his forte.

Doubs, however, suffered a concussion in the third quarter and is out for this game. He will be missed, especially in key moments.

The Dolphins, however, will line up without starting cornerback Kendall Fuller. Green Bay has more depth at receiver than Miami does at cornerback.

Miami figures to lineup with Jalen Ramsey and Kader Kohou as the corners with Storm Duck entering in nickel situations.

The 30-year-old Ramsey might not be an elite corner anymore but he’s darned good with two interceptions and seven passes defensed. PFF has charged him with a 71.4 percent catch rate but just 9.6 yards per reception and one touchdown.

Kohou and Duck entered the league as undrafted free agents. Kohou, who typically mans the slot but will move into an every-down role, has zero interceptions and four breakups. He’s given up a catch percentage of 68.3. Duck, a rookie who will be making his third start, only gave up one catch against New England but that was against Drake Maye and one of the worst receiver corps in the NFL.

So long as Love is given time against statistically one of the worst pass rushes in the NFL, there should be opportunities. It will be up to Christian Watson and Dontayvion Wicks to take catch the ball with added chances.

The Dolphins know the challenge that awaits.

“I think when he gets in trouble,” Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said of Love, “it’s just because he is so confident in that ability and the playmakers around him where he’ll try to extend some plays and make something extremely special happen.

“Now, while turnovers and things of that nature occur, there’s also a bunch of times where those work out in his favor, so I doubt it’s something they’re not trying to take out of his game. We’re going to try to do everything we can to disguise him pre-snap and affect him with our rush and our blitzes and our coverage disguise, so hopefully we can have some of those fall our way.”

2. Packers’ Physicality

On a short week, everybody is hurting. That’s where the physicality of Green Bay’s offense could come into play.

Will the Dolphins have the durability and stamina to withstand Green Bay’s rushing attack for 60 minutes?

Miami’s run defense is strong. The Dolphins are ninth in rushing yards allowed per game (106.9) and 16th in rushing yards allowed per attempt (4.34). They haven’t allowed 100 rushing yards in five consecutive games. Arizona’s strong ground game managed just 3.2 yards per attempt.

But for Green Bay, it really doesn’t matter. The Packers can run the ball against every team in the league (more on that before kickoff). Their 4.0 yards per carry against the 49ers was actually their worst game of the season.

“It’s just who we are and who we want to be,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said.

Would the Packers be in better shape for this game had Josh Jacobs carried the ball 16 times against San Francisco instead of 26? Sure, but Jacobs is an old-school workhorse. In four Thursday games, he’s scored one touchdown and tallied more than 100 total yards in each and averaged 83.3 rushing yards per game.

During his All-Pro season with the Raiders in 2022, Jacobs had 20-plus carries in four consecutive games, including 33 in Week 11 and 26 in Week 12. Week 13 was a Thursday night game against the Rams; Jacobs ran 27 times for 99 yards.

“We got to swarm tackle this guy, make sure we’re chasing down and not assuming he’s down, because the second you do that, he’ll break a tackle and he’ll run for 20,” Weaver said. “So, we’ll be constantly preaching these guys these next two days is let’s just get as many Dolphin logos to the ball on every single snap as we possibly can.”

If Jacobs needs less work, Emanuel Wilson is no slouch (4.7 average and 19 missed tackles on 66 attempts).

3. Packers Are Winners

Never mind the Dolphins’ record in cold-weather games. More meaningful is their record against teams with winning records.

Miami is 5-6 this season. Its wins have come against teams with a combined 15 wins and a winning percentage of .263. No team with five-plus wins has a worse strength of victory. Its best win came against the Los Angeles Rams, who are 5-6.

Against teams with winning records this season, Miami:

- Lost to Buffalo 31-10.

- Lost at Seattle 24-3.

- Lost to Arizona 28-27 on a last-second field goal.

- Lost at Buffalo 30-27 on a last-second field goal.

Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel is 1-14 in his last 15 games against teams with winning records.

“I’ve already told the team, there's two things that will be said until we do something about it, (and that is win against) good teams and (in) cold weather,” McDaniel told reporters in Miami this week. “It doesn't bother me in any way, shape or form.

“I relish that opportunity because there's one way to correct that. I know there's a locker room full of people that believe and are eager to set that narrative straight, but there's only one way to do it, and there's only one way you'd want it to be done is you want to go earn that sentiment or maybe some take-back from some people that have strong opinions.”

Latest Green Bay Packers News 

The NFL will be counting on the #Packers to save Thanksgiving, with two potential dud games preceding Packers-Dolphins.

Here's a look at the games, including Sterling Sharpe and Bobby Dillon references. ⬇️https://t.co/9Wx0cWjDNW

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) November 28, 2024

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