Love the Dolphins and I'd take them straight up, but when your book has them at +2.5 there is no reason not to be smart and buy the half point in my opinion. First of all this Dolphins team is much better than they have played. Starting the season playing the AFC's two best offenses in the Texans and the Patriots was never going to produce good results especially after a shortened off season. Today the Dolphins begin their season. They are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 road games and 11-5 ATS in their last 16 as a dog while the Browns are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 as a favorite.
This will be a big game for Dolphins rookie Daniel Thomas. Right now the Browns can be run on they have the 24th run defense and they faced Benson and Addai from the Bengals and Colts. Those guys are good, but they are old news and I loved what I saw from Thomas a week ago 18 carries for 107 yards. I really believe he can be the next big thing in the league. Sprinkle in Reggie Bush and I think the Dolphins should have no trouble moving the ball. Dolphins struggled at home vs. the Browns a year ago in a 13-10 defeat, but Henne threw 3 interceptions and that number will clearly go down with a balanced attack and Brandon Marshall who did not play in that game. Also the Dolphins held Hillis in check in that game 18-57 yards 3.1 ypc. Hillis really has not looked good this year and I think we will continue to see more of Hardesty, but not today. Hillis will struggle on the year he has 3.4 ypc vs. the Colts/Bengals. Dolphins run defense is better and their overall defense which is suspect when you look at the numbers is inflated because they faced the Texans and Patriots. Expect the Dolphins to really come out and make a point in this game. Their offense has looked good and their defense won't have a problem with the Browns offense led by McCoy who dinks and dunks down the field behind a passing offense ranked 25th. His 56.9% completion percentage surprises me. I love the Dolphins to win this one.
Bengals are one tough team at home and they face a team in the Niners coming off a heart break loss and now they travel East to play a young exciting offense in the Bengals. Andy Dalton has yet to throw an interception on 57 attempts and he's got two young receivers in AJ Green and Jerome Simpson that look like the real deal and will clearly be the difference maker on Sunday. 49ers offense is awful barely averaging over 200 yards per game. Only reason why they are scoring points is the special teams. I think that will be under control on the road. Bengals win this game.
