Miami Dolphins Week 8 Full Preview and Final Score Prediction

The Miami Dolphins will take on the Arizona Cardinals in Week 8 in the long-awaited return to the lineup of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Here’s all the pertinent info for this Week 8 Dolphins-Cardinals matchup.

Date: Sunday, October 27, 2024

Time: 1 p.m. EDT

Website: Hard Rock Stadium; Miami Gardens, Florida.

TV Info: FOX

Announcers: Jason Benetti, play by play; Mark Schlereth, color analyst; Jen Hale, on the sidelines

Weather forecast: Temperatures around Miami Gardens between 1pm and 4pm ET on Sunday will be 81-82 degrees, according to the Weather Channel, with partly to mostly cloudy skies. Winds are expected to reach 14 mph with no rain in the forecast.

The dolphins — CB Kader Kohou (neck) and DT Zach Sieler (eye) are out; CB Storm Duck (ankle) is questionable; WR Tyreek Hill (foot) and QB Tua Tagovailoa (concussion) are questionable.

cardinal — DL Roy Lopez (ankle), CB Sean Murphy-Bunting (neck) and DL Darius Robinson (staff/calf) are out; OL Kelvin Beachum (groin) is questionable.

Regular Season Series History: Dolphins lead 10-3

Last five meetings

November 8, 2020 at Arizona – Dolphins 34, Cardinals 31

December 11, 2016 at Miami – Dolphins 26, Cardinals 23

September 30, 2012 at Arizona – Cardinals 24, Dolphins 21 (OT)

September 14, 2008 at Arizona – Cardinals 31, Dolphins 10

Nov. 7, 2004, at Miami – Cardinals 24, Dolphins 23

Largest margin of victory for the Dolphins: 41 (1977 at St. Louis; Dolphins 55, Cardinals 14)

Largest margin of defeat for the Dolphins: 21 (2008 at Arizona; Cardinals 31, Dolphins 10)

Highest scoring match: 69 points (1977 at St. Louis; Dolphins 55, Cardinals 14)

The lowest score matchup: 23 points (1990 at Miami; Dolphins 23, Cardinals 3)

Former Cardinals players with the Dolphins: DT Calais Campbell (2008-16), senior special teams assistant Ronnie Bradford (1996)

Former Cardinals Coaches with the Dolphins: DB Coach/Passing Specialist Ryan Slowik

Former Dolphins players with Cardinals: C Evan Brown, TE Elijah Higgins (2023 draft pick), DT Naquan Jones (2024 practice squad), running backs coach Autry Denson

Former Dolphins Coaches with Cardinals: Head and strength coach Evan Marcus held the same role with Miami from 2008-10, DL coach Derrick LeBlanc was the Dolphins DL assistant coach in 2022

In their second year under head coach Jonathan Gannon, the Cardinals remain a young, rebuilding team, perhaps short on talent, but certainly not lacking in grit. The latter was on display in their last game, a last-second 17-15 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday night. But that came after the Cardinals were blown out to Green Bay by 21 points. Which came after a thrilling comeback win in San Francisco against the 49ers, which came after a 28-point loss against the Washington Commanders. So what we’re talking about here is a team that is massively lacking on a consistent basis. That’s nothing new, though, considering Arizona hasn’t won back-to-back games since 2021. Kyler Murray is an exciting quarterback and James Conner is a physical runner, but the Cardinals have yet to get great production from their rookie quarterback . overall pick Marvin Harrison Jr. The defense has been ravaged by injuries up front, including rookie first-round pick Darius Robinson, who has yet to make his NFL debut because of a calf problem.

Do we really have to say it? No, Tua Tagovailoa isn’t going to win this game by himself, but his return to the lineup will obviously make a big difference for an offense that has been nearly the worst in the NFL over the past four games. The Cardinals rank 27th in the NFL in total defense and are coming off a game in which they gave up 329 passing yards. The Dolphins haven’t topped 20 points in any game so far this season, so this would be the game to do it. On the other hand, the defense should be able to limit what Arizona can do as the Cardinals have scored 17 points or less in four of their last five games.

The only caveat about the last statement is the potential impact of Zach Sieler had to miss the game because of the freak eye injury he suffered in Thursday’s practice. There’s just no telling what a loss this is for the Dolphins defense, especially considering the only defensive concern for this game will always be Conner’s running inside. Arizona will undoubtedly try to run the ball and control the clock. Another potential problem is Tua trying to do too much in his first game back, especially when we remember that his last outing produced three interceptions.

There was definitely a different vibe around the Dolphins this week with the return of QB1 and the road to a playoff push absolutely, positively needs to start with a win against an Arizona team that is gritty but not imposing. Falling to 2-5 would be devastating not just for the record, but because it’s bad enough to lose and look bad with backup quarterbacks, it’s another performance for the underperformance to continue with the franchise quarterback in the lineup. The Sieler injury is really problematic in this spot, but we still can’t bring ourselves to believe that the Dolphins are actually bad enough that they can’t overcome it given the other circumstances.

Final score: Dolphins 24, Cardinals 16