Miami Dolphins host Chicago Bears in Thursday night matchup
The Chicago Bears will be looking to take advantage of the fact that they will be facing a third-string quarterback when they head into Miami to take on the Dolphins on Thursday 18 November.
Previous meetings and recent games
The Miami Dolphins have won both meetings between these two teams since the 2002 realignment. The last meeting was way back on November 5, 2006, in Chicago when the Dolphins won by a score of 31-13.
This season the Bears find themselves at the top of the NFC North Division, but have got there by defeating largely underachieving teams. Five of their six wins were against teams that are below .500.
In fact, those five teams have an appalling combined record at the moment of 9-36. The Bears most recent victory was against the 3-6 Minnesota Vikings by a score of 27-13.
The Miami Dolphins, unlike the Bears, have somehow managed to scrape out a winning record despite having one of the toughest early schedules in the NFL. The Dolphins have four losses which have all come
against teams that are 6-3 or better. They've also already defeated two AFC North Division opponents this season – the Vikings and the Green Bay Packers. They most recently beat the Tennessee Titans by a score of 29-17, but the victory proved costly as they
lost their top two quarterbacks with injuries.
How they matchup
There's no question who the starting quarterback for the Bears is, as Jay Cutler will once again get the call. He has, however, suffered from some inconsistency this season and has also
been sacked more times than any other quarterback in the NFL.
For the Dolphins, Tyler Thigpen will get the start at quarterback. The Dolphins recently signed Patrick Ramsey to provide some depth at the quarterback position, but after the loss of both Chad Henne and
Chad Pennington to injuries, the Dolphins will be praying that Thigpen can at least stay healthy.
The Dolphins will be forced to rely heavily on their running game and the tandem of Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown. They'll also be hoping that their top receiving target, Brandon Marshall, can catch
anything no matter who's throwing the ball.
Matt Forte is the Bears top offensive weapon, but he has not been nearly as effective running the ball as they would like. He's run for over 100 yards in a game only once this season.
Devin Hester is having a bit of a special teams resurgence for the Bears and has returned two punts for touchdowns this season.
The teams' defences are pretty well matched with a slight edge going to the Bears. But the Bears haven't exactly seen much stiff competition, while the Dolphins were victimized on one particular occasion
when the offensive juggernauts, the Patriots, scored 41 points.
What to expect
The Bears are like a matchstick house which has managed to avoid a strong wind. Had Henne been available for this game, then you would have expected the Dolphins to blow the Bears away. With Thigpen starting
instead it has reset the matchup significantly, and it should be a close game by virtue of that fact alone.
The Dolphins are still the better team and will win
27-16.
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