The 6-3 Miami Dolphins will take on the 3-6 Denver Broncos in Week 11 of the 2020 season at Empower Field at Mile High.
The Dolphins are one of the hottest teams in the NFL right now. They have won five straight games and are 3-0 with rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa under center. Miami has defeated the Los Angeles Rams, Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Chargers since head coach Brian Flores benched Ryan Fitzpatrick for Tagovailoa.
The Broncos, meanwhile, are on a two-game losing streak and heavy underdogs against the Dolphins. Even though quarterback Drew Lock is going to play after somehow recovering from a muscle strain around his ribs, Denver isn't that good of a football team on either side of the ball.
With the Dolphins-Broncos game almost here, let's take a look at four bold predictions for the contest from a Miami point of view.
1. Tua Tagovailoa throws two touchdowns, rushes for one
Tagovailoa has thrown for 519 yards and five touchdowns on the season while completing 63.6 percent of his passes. The lefty hasn't been picked off yet, which is why the Dolphins are winning with the youngster.
Against the Broncos, who are giving up 28.2 points per game on the season, we have Tagovailoa throwing for two touchdowns and rushing for one as well. Without future Hall of Famer Von Miller, who hasn't played at all this season due to injury, the Broncos don't have an elite defense anymore and they have been getting torched all season long.
Unlike Fitzpatrick, Tagovailoa makes good decisions with the football. Look for the former Alabama star to continue his sound play with the Dolphins and make Flores' decision to insert him into the starting lineup look like a genius move.
2. Mike Gesicki, DeVante Parker each catch a touchdown
Mike Gesicki has 24 receptions on the season for 371 yards and two scores. DeVante Parker, meanwhile, has caught 38 balls for 462 yards and three touchdowns.
Since the Broncos don't have a good secondary, we have Gesicki and Parker each scoring a touchdown in Week 11. The Dolphins are averaging 27.9 points per game on the season, which is good for ninth in the NFL. Tagovailoa is getting more and more comfortable with his playmakers as each week passes, so we expect the 22-year-old to connect with Gesicki and Parker in Week 11.
The Broncos have given up over 30 points in four straight games. Look for the Dolphins to easily score at least 30 points and take it to Denver's defense from start to finish.
3. Dolphins pick off Drew Lock two times
Lock has been pretty bad for the Broncos this season. He has seven touchdown passes and 10 interceptions. The 24-year-old is only completing 55.0 percent of his passes.
With that being said, we have Lock throwing two interceptions against the Dolphins since he's still hurt and hasn't shown an ability to keep the ball away from his opponents. As a team, Miami has eight interceptions on the season, led by Xavien Howard's five. The Dolphins' defense is only giving up 20.2 points per game, which is good for fifth in the NFL.
Don't be surprised if the Dolphins' defense scores a touchdown in this game as well. Lock has been a turnover machine since making his NFL debut and Miami's stars on defense are likely salivating at the thought of going up against the struggling gunslinger.
4. Dolphins blow out Broncos to improve to 7-3
Miami is playing really well on both sides of the ball right now, while the opposite can be said for the Broncos. With that being said, we have the Dolphins blowing out Denver in Week 11 to improve to an impressive 7-3 on the season.
The game might be close in the first and second quarter since it will likely take the Dolphins a while to get used to the altitude in Denver. However, once Miami's players get their feet wet, their killer instinct will take over and the Dolphins will blow the game wide open.
Miami has a good shot of making the playoffs this season for the first time since the 2016 season. Flores has done an impressive job of turning the culture around so quickly in just his second year at the helm. With Tagovailoa and Flores leading the way for hopefully the next decade or so and Tom Brady no longer on the New England Patriots, the Dolphins and Buffalo Bills could battle it out for AFC East supremacy year after year moving forward.
However, Miami can't get ahead of itself just yet. The team needs to take it one game at a time and beat the bad teams they are favored against like the Broncos in Week 11.
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