The Miami Dolphins have undoubtedly been one of the most disappointing teams in football this season. After many people predicted that they would make the playoffs, the Dolphins sit at 1-7 on the year. Luckily for Miami, they're also going to face another struggling 1-7 team in the Houston Texans. This is an opportunity for the Dolphins to maybe get something going here as they've had some tough losses in the past few weeks that were winnable games.

Tua Tagovailoa should be good to go in the week 8 contest and he's looking to figure it out. The Dolphins did not trade for quarterback DeShaun Watson before the deadline, meaning that Tua is the quarterback of the future.

*Watch NFL games LIVE with fuboTV (click for free trial)*

Dolphins Week 9 predictions

4. The Dolphins struggle scoring the football but the defense wins them the game

Miami has had a tough time scoring the football all season so don't expect that to change this weekend even if they are going up against a struggling Texans team. All the blame is getting put on Tua but the blame should all be on the Dolphins offensive line. The offensive line is one of the worst in football and no matter who you're going up against in the NFL, if your offensive line is bad, you're going to have a tough time scoring. The defense will have to make some key stops just like they did in the first half against the Buffalo Bills and hope that the offense can put a couple of points on the board.

3. Last season's defense is coming back

Xavien Howard said last weekend after the loss to the Bills that the Dolphins are going back to the same schemes that they ran last season. Miami had one of the better defenses in football last year and only giving up 24 points against Josh Allen and the Bills is a good sign that the defense is going to work in the future. It is puzzling why they ever changed but hopefully, this was a wake-up call for them and they will continue doing what they've been doing.

2. Tua will have his best game as a Dolphin

Don't expect the Dolphins to score much but we will see a more confident Tua this Sunday. There have been rumors circulating since the summer that the Dolphins were going to trade for quarterback DeShaun Watson and now since they didn't, Tua has to be feeling some sort of confidence and he's going to start playing better.

While the Dolphins' offense might struggle to score, he will still throw for over 250 yards and will look the best that he has in a Dolphins uniform.

1. Miami wins with a late score

They will be on the other side of heartbreaking losses this weekend. They have two losses this year to the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Atlanta Falcons where they lost with last-second field goals. This weekend the Dolphins will be the one returning the favor and they will win with a late score.

Miami has a chance to change their season around this year. Although the chances of making the playoffs are almost out of the window, they can still go on and finish .500 on the year if they take care of business.