Insider Reveals Dolphins' Big Sleepers Entering Broncos Matchup

The Denver Broncos take to the road for the first time in the Sean Payton era this week, looking, as it were, for the first win of the new head coach's tenure. It won't be easy with the formidable 2-0 Miami Dolphins on the Week 3 docket.

Led by a young head coach in Mike McDaniel, the Dolphins suddenly became a force to be reckoned with. Now in Year 2, McDaniel upped the ante by adding Vic Fangio to coordinate the Dolphins' defense.

But what should Broncos Country make of the Dolphins? Even though parity reigns supreme in the NFL, is this a winnable game for Denver?

I sat down with Dolphins insider Alain Poupart — publisher of All Dolphins on FanNation/SI.com — to get some insight into the Broncos' Week 3 matchup.

MHH: Are the Dolphins "for real?"

The question here is, what does “for real” exactly entail? This is a team, after all, that made the playoffs last season despite QB Tua Tagovailoa missing four games because of his concussion issues. So there’s no doubt this is a playoff-caliber team, if not more.

I think some of the early-season talk on the Dolphins might be a tad overblown because they did win their first two games by one possession each and needed a late defensive stop against both the Los Angeles Chargers and New England Patriots. But they also have done this without Jalen Ramsey and Terron Armstead, who will be back at some point this season.

Bottom line, the Dolphins absolutely are for real when it comes to being a contender, though maybe we should wait a bit longer before anointing them as a Super Bowl favorite in the AFC.

MHH: How much does this game matter to Vic Fangio and Bradley Chubb?

Both of them naturally were asked that very question this week, and their answers made it clear it absolutely is a big game for each. Fangio kind of downplayed the idea of a “revenge game” at first, though he did talk about all the connections and eventually said that maybe it would mean more if the game was in Denver.

As for Chubb, he talked about the camaraderie aspect and the relationships he built with Broncos players. In the final analysis, though, maybe it’s more about seeing old friends than getting revenge on an organization that decided to move on from you.

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MHH: As a young, first-time head coach in Year 2, what's the perception of McDaniel from the players?

McDaniel truly is unique as a head coach, but it doesn’t take players long to realize he’s very smart and also that he’s got their back at every turn. Sure, he’s quirky, and his personality is unlike that of pretty much anybody else who’s ever coached in the NFL, but players respect him because he connected with them and he knows what he's doing, particularly when it comes to offensive game-planning and play-calling.

MHH: Is Tua finally going to stay healthy, and if so, what are the limits of his potential in a full season?

There’s absolutely no way to predict whether Tua can stay healthy, but I can say he did everything in the offseason (jiu-jitsu classes, getting a bit bigger) to put the odds in his favor. The biggest key might be eliminating his bad habit of trying to make something out of nothing at all times and hanging on to the ball long enough to allow defenders to get to him.

There already have been instances where we’ve seen Tua give up on a play, which is a positive development. As for the limits of his potential, that’s to be answered in the final month of the season because finishing strong is the one thing he has yet to do so far in his NFL career.

MHH: Which Dolphin should Broncos fans not be sleeping on?

The Dolphins have a lot of high-profile players on their roster, both on offense and defense, including guys like Tyreek Hill, Christian Wilkins, and Xavien Howard. For more under-the-radar players who could have an impact on this game, I’d go ahead and give you tight end Durham Smythe on offense, who’s become a reliable target for Tua.

On defense, linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel is off to a very good start and is a good complementary player for more well-known guys like Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb.

Connect with Alain Poupart on Twitter/X @PoupartNFL.

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