Texans-Dolphins: Week Five Matchup

Here's a rundown of Miami's week five matchup against the Houston Texans:

Where: Reliant Stadium
When: Sunday, 1:00 PM ET

Injuries:

• Houston: Out - WR Andre Johnson, WR Jerome Mathis; Doubtful - WR Jacoby Jones; Questionable - RB Ahman Green; Probable - LB Danny Clark, DE Ndukwe Kalu
• Miami: Out - S Donovin Darius, DT Vonnie Holliday, S Travares Tillman; Questionable - LB Channing Crowder, LB Zach Thomas; Probable - QB Trent Green, DE Jason Taylor, NT Keith Traylor
  

Positional Breakdown:

Texans	Unit	Dolphins
+	Quarterbacks
	Running backs	+
	Receivers	+
+	Offensive line
+	Defensive line
+	Linebackers
+	Secondary
+	Special teams
+	Coaching
+	Overall Advantage

Key (Singular) to the Game:

1. I usually pick a handful of important things to watch for during the game, but with the way this team has been playing, it has simply been reduced to one thing. Does Miami have the ability to effectively stop the run? If they don't, nothing else matters. It won't matter if Ronnie Brown has another great game. It won't matter if Chris Chambers has another good game. Everything starts and stops with the ability to foil the run. Last year, I heavily criticized the Colts defense for how porous and horrible it was against the run during the regular season. It disgusted me and it was bad football. They somehow got it corrected right in time for the playoffs (the addition of Bob Sanders helped immensely) and their improved defense was a major factor in their Super Bowl run. Well, the Dolphins defense this year is worse against the run than the Colts last year, and quite frankly that makes me sick. This has been, without a doubt, the worst run defense I have ever seen. Until it gets corrected, it will continue to be the deciding factor in all of Miami's games.

Key Players:

• Houston: Matt Schaub - With three wide receivers likely out for Sunday's game and the starting running back possibly sitting out, a heavier burden will rest on Schaub's shoulders this week to carry the offense. Then again, he'll probably just be fine handing it off to Ron Dayne 25 times and letting him tear apart Miami's defense.
• Miami: The defensive front seven - allowing 199.2 yards rushing per game? That's a joke, right?

Prediction:
The loss of several key position players for Houston will hurt, but not enough to let Miami steal a win. The game should be close, but Houston will prevail.

Houston wins 23-20.