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Rams at Dolphins Preview: Miami hasn’t allowed a 100-yard rusher in the last 19 games

Oct 13, 2012, 12:47 PM EDT

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Football Night in America’s Elliott Kalb breakdown this Sunday’s Rams vs. Dolphins matchup.

RAMS (3-2) AT DOLPHINS (2-3) 

The Rams have won two straight and have already exceeded their win total from 2011.

In those two wins, the Rams allowed a combined 16 points against the Cardinals and Dolphins.  The Rams are now over .500 for the first time since they were 4-3 after seven games in 2006.

2006 is also the last season in which the Rams won three straight games.  They won the final three games that year to finish 8-8.

After six sacks in the season’s first four games, the Rams defense exploded for nine sacks in the win over the Cardinals last Thursday.  Second-year defensive end Robert Quinn leads the team with six sacks on the year.

Quinn and William Hayes have been efficient in a platoon.  Hayes is strong against the run, with Quinn replacing him on passing downs.  But both will have a tough time with one of the league’s best tackles, Jake Long.  On the other side of the line, the advantage goes to Chris Long against rookie Jonathan Martin.

Sam Bradford went 7-for-21 and 141 yards in Week 5, and is averaging only 204 yards per game this season.  This week he faces the 29th-ranked pass defense, but he’s missing his top receiver Danny Amendola, who is out at least a month with a shoulder injury.

Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “Through the first five weeks of the season, the Rams counted on Amendola like few teams in the NFL count on a receiver. His 32 receptions represent 37.6 percent of the team’s total catches. Throughout the NFL, only Chicago depends more on one receiver — but just barely.  Brandon Marshall’s 35 catches represent 38.9 percent of the Bears’ total.”

Who will Bradford rely on now?  Brandon Gibson will continue to start, and 2012 draft picks Brian Quick and Chris Givens will take on increased roles.

Will the loss of Amendola lead the Rams to run more?  Stephen Jackson had a season-best 76 yards last week.  But it’s a tough task this week, as the Dolphins have allowed only 61.4 rushing yards per game, fewest in the league.

Jackson had been dealing with a groin issue since Week 2, but he was not on the injury report this week.  Already one of the league’s most fit players, his reduced workload thus far (77 carries) should have him fresh for the rest of the year.

Miami hasn’t allowed a 100-yard rusher in the last 19 games, its longest such streak since a 20-game run in 2002-03.

Cortland Finnegan—who signed a five-year deal this offseason—has either an interception or a sack in four of his first five games with the Rams.

Greg Zuerlein has impressed with his leg, and his four field goals of 53+ yards are already the most ever in a season by a rookie.

Brian Hartline leads the league with 514 yards receiving, and needs 102 yards this week to surpass his single-season career high (615) set in 2010.

Jabar Gaffney will likely make his Dolphins debut this week.  He signed on October 2nd and was expected to make his debut last week, but was held out because coaches thought that he and Ryan Tannehill had not had enough time to work together.

The Dolphins have shut down opponents on third down, allowing them to convert only 26.3 percent of the time, second-best in the league.

Sunday’s game against the Rams met the NFL’s requirements to be broadcast locally in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market.

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