Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-2) square off against their home-state rival Miami Dolphins (1-2) at Sun Life Stadium. The game can be live streamed here. Buccaneers fans can tune into the action by turning their dials to WFUS 103.5 FM , while Dolphins fans can do the same by accessing WQAM 560-AM
The Dolphins head home to close out their preseason against Tampa Bay tonight then New Orleans next week with a few lingering questions, most notably at running back. Neither Daniel Thomas nor Lamar Miller has broken away as the stand-out pick to start at running back for the team's regular season opener Sept. 8 against the Browns in Cleveland and time is wearing thin. Despite the questions at that position, Miami's offense looked good in a losing effort to Houston last week under second-year quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
Tannehill played in all 16 games for Miami last year, going 282-for-484 for 3,294 yards with 12 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in his first season.
The Buccaneers, on the other hand, haven't been able to put forth a winning effort this preseason. After getting crushed by last year's Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens 44-16 in Week 1, Tampa Bay put up a better effort--albeit a losing one--against New England last week, losing by just four points.
Running back Doug Martin left last week's game with a knee injury, but returned to practice this week, which is good news for the Bucs.
Last year in his first season, Martin rushed for 1,454 yards on 319 carries and notched 11 touchdowns.
It'll be interesting to see if Dolphin's guard Richie Incognito makes headlines again after Texans defensive end Antonio Smith was involved in a scrum with him last week during a preseason game that resulted in Smith removing Incognito's helmet and swinging it at him. Incognito wasn't hurt, and Smith was subsequently suspended for Houston's final two preseason games and its regular-season opener.
Incognito also made the news earlier this week off the field when reports came out that he punched--and knocked out--a security guard at a Miami nightclub prior to Dolphins camp.
It's not all bad news in Miami as Tannehill and Mike Wallace showed some chemistry last week, collaborating for a first quarter touchdown. Miami is hoping that Wallace can have the success in Miami that he had with Pittsburgh over the last four years. Wallace had 64 receptions for 836 yards for eight touchdowns last season. Miami lost a key piece last week when new addition Dustin Keller went down with a brutal leg injury that will sideline him for the entire season.
Meanwhile, the Buccaneer's defensive line looked terrible last week, and quarterback Josh Freeman was lifted shortly after getting sacked three times in two drives. Still, there was room for optimism as the team notched 158 rushing yards.
Last season, Freeman was 306-for-558 in his fourth year with Tampa Bay for 4,065 yards with 27 touchdowns and 17 interceptions.
Will the home coming for the Dolphins help them turn it around or will the Buccaneers finally get the monkey off their back and notch the team's first preseason victory?
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