The Monday Night Football matchup for week 10 has two teams in disarray as the Miami Dolphins visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium and the game will get started up at 8:30 pm on ESPN and streaming online from the WatchESPN online channel from Florida.
The Dolphins have been dealing with plenty of attention and controversy regarding the Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin situation, so much so that many people forget that the team has an actual game to play on Monday night. The Buccaneers have had their own issues with a staph infection, head coach Greg Schiano and the fact that the team is winless and now the two franchises will face off in Week 10 on MNF in a nationally televised game. The Dolphins come in after playing on Thursday night football, meaning they have had plenty of rest heading into the matchup, but with one whole side of their line missing after the bullying scandal with Martin and Incognito, the rushing attack could have a tough time on Monday, as it has been lacking all season already.
The team comes into the matchup after a dramatic win over the Bengals in overtime and now they are likely looking forward to getting back to football, as the team has been the center of a firestorm with the Incognito scandal. The team comes in after losing four in a row before beating the Bengals, which came after the team, started 3-0. Head coach Joe Philbin has been under fire and so hard general manager Jeff Ireland and for good reason and if the team continues to play badly, it could result in some heads rolling. The team started off looking good with three straight wins, but now they are 4-4 and while they are in the wild card race, the issues around the team could end up tearing them apart.
The Dolphins are ranked 20th in passing yards per game and 24th in rushing with under 100 per contest and the focus will be on Daniel Thomas and Lamar Miller, as the team will need to get a running game going to open things up for ignorant wide receivers Brian Hartline and Mike Wallace, who both have made fools of themselves talking about the Incognito-Martin situation. The road game might be a good thing for the Dolphins, as they will be able to get away from the media attention for a bit and for at least one day the focus will be all on football. The team is playing a winless Buccaneers squad, so making sure that things stay efficient on both sides of the ball will be important.
The team has a manageable back stretch of the season with the Chargers coming after the buccaneers, but they also have a very tough game against the improved Carolina Panthers and while the game is at home, the way that defense is playing, it should be a very tough matchup for a team that looks like a playoff contender. The rest of the schedule has a stretch of three road games in four weeks and one of the last home games is against the New England Patriots and that obviously will be a tough test as well.
The Buccaneers come in after a close loss in overtime against the Seahawks and the team plays on the road after playing Atlanta next week and those two matchups will be against the Lions and the Panthers. The Monday night football game on ESPN for Week 10 has the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hosting the Miami Dolphins at Raymond James Stadium starting up at 8:30 pm.