Monday Night Football Bet Preview: Miami Dolphins vs. New Orleans Saints

The Miami Dolphins and New Orleans Saints are both at 7-7 on the season heading into this key Week 16 matchup. Miami is a three-point favorite heading into this matchup, as the Saints are poised to try yet another option at quarterback. With the Dolphins surging into playoff contention as of late, the Saints’ newest quarterback will need to play well right off the bat for the Saints to pick up a home win.

Miami Dolphins

Miami has won six straight games, going from 1-7 on the season to 7-7 coming into Monday night against the Saints. The return of Tua Tagovailoa has been a major factor in the Dolphins’ recent success, with the second-year quarterback averaging nearly a yard and a half more per attempt more than Jacoby Brissett on the year. But the Dolphins’ defense will be under the spotlight this week as they look to stop a quarterback making his first NFL start.

During the Dolphins’ six-game win streak, the Miami defense hasn’t allowed 25 points in a game, allowing under 20 points in five of those six outings. They will have to like their chances to extend those trends against Ian Book and the Saints. But the Dolphins will have to be careful against Alvin Kamara if they are going to avoid their first loss in over a month and a half.

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New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints have won two straight games with Taysom Hill as their starting quarterback to go from 5-7 to 7-7 on the year. Now, the Saints are making a change at quarterback, starting Ian Book in the place of Hill for this crucial Monday night matchup with the Dolphins. But if the defense of the Saints continues to play the way it has been, it may not matter who their starting quarterback is.

New Orleans has allowed a combined nine points over their last two games, giving up nine to the Jets before shutting out the Buccaneers a week ago. The Saints will have to hope that they give up a single-digit point total again in this game so that they can give Book some margin for error when it comes to running the New Orleans offense. But the defense won’t be the ones to put the ball into the end zone, and the Saints will need to get Alvin Kamara heavily involved to score enough to win here.

Keys To The Game

For the Miami Dolphins, the biggest key to this game is going to be playing within themselves defensively. It is easy to get overly excited when facing a rookie quarterback that is in the midst of their first career start in the NFL. But the Dolphins will need to calm down in order to avoid picking up too many defensive penalties that can give Book and the Saints a lifeline.

New Orleans’ biggest key to this matchup is going to be its running game. Moving the ball on the ground will make things easier for Book and their passing game. Whether or not the Saints can do that with the Dolphins expecting a heavy dose of the run remains to be seen.