Miami Dolphins @ Oakland Raiders Sun. Nov. 28^th 2010 4:05pm EST

The Miami Dolphins and the Oakland Raiders will go head-to-head in Week 12 in what could be a very close match between two very good defenses. Both of these teams have shown some signs of promise during this NFL regular season, but if they expect to contend for a playoff spot at season’s end they will need to get back on track in this week.

Even though the Oakland Raiders are coming off their worst loss of the season to the Pittsburgh Steelers 35-3, they will have a great opportunity here to turn things around and continue contending for the AFC West division title.

Much like the Oakland Raiders, the Miami Dolphins are coming off their worst loss of the season as they were shut out by the Chicago Bears 16-0 in Week 11. Not only was the shutout disappointing to say the least, but it Dolphins have some serious problems at the quarterback position right now as they have lost both Chad Pennington (shoulder, out for the season) and Chad Henne (knee) to injuries.

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With both Pennington out for the season and Henne’s status for this game uncertain, the Miami Dolphins will most likely turn to Tyler Thigpen once again who had a miserable game last week against the Chicago Bears in which he threw for 187 yards and an interception.

If Tyler Thigpen does get the start for this game and in all likelihood he probably will, the Oakland Raiders will without a doubt be the favorites in this matchup as they have played very well on the defensive side of the football this season as they are one of the best teams in the league against the pass (3^rd in the NFL) by only giving up 193.2 passing yards per game.

With the Oakland Raiders defense swarming the third string quarterback all day long, the Miami Dolphins offense will strictly be going to the ground game in which they have only averaged about 97.9 rushing yards per game (21^st in the NFL) with running backs Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams have a bit of a rough season.

The spread for this game is yet to be released as the playing status of Chad Henne has still not been determined, but even if the Miami Dolphins best gunslinger gets the start this weekend at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, I believe the Oakland Raiders should just cruised to victory in this one as they are the better team in my opinion on both sides of the football.

The one thing to look for in this matchup though will be the quarterback position for the Oakland Raiders as it has been rumored that Jason Campbell could be sitting in favor of Bruce Gradkowski.

Personally, I don’t think it will matter which quarterback gets the start as the Oakland Raiders are one of the best running teams in the league with Darren McFadden leading the way.