Dolphins Being Disrespected by Week 9 Odds Against Cardinals

Heading into their Week 7 bye, the Miami Dolphins made a somewhat shocking announcement as they elected to bench the red-hot Ryan Fitzpatrick in favor of first-round draft pick Tua Tagovailoa. In Tua's debut, the Dolphins continued to roll, but it was Miami's defense and special teams that carried them at home over the Los Angeles Rams.

Now the Dolphins are 4-3 with a legitimate shot at earning a playoff berth, but their Week 9 odds against the Arizona Cardinals don't really reflect their recent level of play.

Dolphins Week 9 Odds

The spread is currently set at 4.5 points in Arizona's favor. At first glance, this looks totally fair. The Cardinals are coming off a big win over the Seattle Seahawks and a bye. Tagovailoa threw for a very conservative 93 passing yards against the Rams, with Myles Gaskin rushed for 2.6 yards per carry.

We all know how effective the Cardinals' offense can be, even if their defense has been shaky at times. Two major factors are being overlooked here though, Miami's defense and head coach Brian Flores.

The Dolphins have won four out of their last five games, and each victory was a blowout. Mixed in were huge wins over the Rams and San Francisco 49ers. Flores has his guys playing at an extremely high level, as underdogs with something to prove, and the defense is leading the way.

Miami's revamped defense is currently surrendering the fewest points per game in the league (18.6). Cornerback Xavien Howard (4 interceptions), linebacker Jerome Baker (59 total tackles) and edge rusher Emmanuel Ogbah (6 sacks) have been dominating this season. Few teams are better positioned to stop Arizona's high-octane offense than this Miami defense.

This will be a massive test for Flores' unit on the road, but there's no way the Cardinals should be favored by this much.

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Michael Obermuller is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Michael Obermuller also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username king_mizzard. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.