Setting the Stage for the Dolphins-Saints Week 16 Matchup
The Miami Dolphins will look to extend their winning streak to seven games when they face the New Orleans Saints at the Caesars Superdome on Monday evning.
Here's all the pertinent info for this Week 16 Dolphins-Saints matchup:
MIAMI DOLPHINS (7-7) vs. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (7-7)
DATE: Monday, Dec. 27
TIME: 8:15 p.m. ET
SITE: Caesars Superdome; New Orleans, Louisiana
TV: ESPN
Announcers: Steve Levy (play-by-play), Louis Riddick (color analyst), Brian Griese (color analyst); Lisa Salters (sideline)
STREAMING: fuboTV
SI Sportsbook betting line: Dolphins by 2.5 (over/under 37.5)
Dolphins — No players with a game status designation.
Saints — T Terron Armstead (knee), DE Marcus Davenport (shoulder/knee) and WR Tre'Quan Smith (shoulder) are questionable.
Regular season series history: The series is tied 6-6
Last five meetings:
Oct. 1, 2017 at London, England; Saints 20, Dolphins 0
Sept. 30, 2013 at New Orleans; Saints 38, Dolphins 17
Oct. 25, 2009 at Miami; Saints 46, Dolphins 34
Oct. 30, 2005 at Baton Rouge, La.; Dolphins 21, Saints 6
Nov. 29, 1998 at Miami; Dolphins 30, Saints 10
Dolphins' largest margin of victory: 21 (1974 at New Orleans; Dolphins 21, Saints 0)
Saints' largest margin of victory: 21 (2013 at New Orleans, Saints 38, Dolphins 17)
Highest-scoring matchup: 80 points (2009 at Miami; Dolphins 46, Saints 34)
Lowest-scoring matchup: 20 points (2017 at London, England; Saints 20, Dolphins 0)
Former Saints players with the Dolphins:
DT John Jenkins (2013-16), LB Vince Biegel (2018), WR Tommylee Lewis (216-20)
Former Saints coaches with the Dolphins:
None
Former Dolphins players with the Saints:
WR Kenny Stills, CB Ken Crawley, RB Malcolm Perry
Former Dolphins coaches with the Saints:
Special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi, assistant special teams coach Phil Galiano
Other connections
Saints VP/Assistant General Manager Jeff Ireland was Dolphins GM from 2008-13 ... Saints RB Mark Ingram II is the son of former Dolphins wide receiver Mark Ingram ... Dolphins TE Durham Smythe and T Liam Eichenberg played with Saints QB Ian Book at Notre Dame.
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The first year after Drew Brees has been a strange one for the Saints, who will be using their fourth quarterback Monday night with rookie Ian Book. Like the Dolphins, the Saints have been pretty streaky all season, going from 5-2 to 5-7 and now back to 7-7 after their mightily impressive victory against Tampa Bay on Sunday night. The Saints are led by a defense with stars at every level, including lineman Cameron Jordan, linebackers Demario Davis and Kwon Alexander, and cornerback Marshon Lattimore. Davis is one of the more than dozen Saints players currently on the COVID-19 list, which also includes QBs Taysom Hill and Trevor Siemian and tackle Ryan Ramczyk. The Saints also have played all season without wide receiver Michael Thomas, though they still have dual-threat running back Alvin Kamara.
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THE BIGGEST REASON THE DOLPHINS WILL WIN ...
This exactly is pretty simple, and it's because the Saints will be starting rookie Ian Book at quarterback and he'll be making his first NFL regular season appearance. This might not be a pleasant experience for him considering how well the Dolphins defense has been playing and how relentless it has been. The Saints offensive line also is among the best when it's whole, but Ramczyk is out and Armstead is a question mark. So, while Kamara is a dynamic player, it's hard to envision the Saints offense putting up a lot of points in this game.
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THE BIGGEST REASON THE DOLPHINS WILL LOSE ...
Even without Jenkins and Davis, the Saints defense is good and it has the ability to make life difficult for the Dolphins offense. With Book at quarterback, it figures New Orleans' best chance to win the game is to force the Dolphins into mistakes by playing the kind of defense we saw Sunday night. Even without Jenkins and Davis, the Saints will be the best defense the Dolphins have faced since Halloween (with the possible exception of Carolina), so this will be no cakewalk. Another way the Dolphins could lose is if Book somehow had some sort of magical NFL debut, though that's a lot harder to believe than the New Orleans defense being the difference.
FINAL DOLPHINS-SAINTS PREDICTION
The Dolphins sure seem to have caught a break in this game with all of the Saints' COVID-19 issues, and that's been reflected in the betting line, which went from the Saints being favored to the Dolphins being favored by almost a field goal. But the truth is that if New Orleans was going to win this game, it probably wasn't going to be because of Taysom Hill in the first place and that obviously hasn't changed with Book now at quarterback. If the Dolphins winning streak is going to end in this game, it likely will be because of the Saints defense shutting down the Miami offense and forcing mistakes. But it may be that the Dolphins' margin for error increased with the rookie at QB because he sure should be a lot less equipped to handle what the Dolphins defense is about to throw at him. And that just might be enough to swing the outcome in this one. Dolphins 13, Saints 10.
