Miami at Kansas City

While he tended to win in New York, Herm Edwards is now just 2-3 in the preseason as head coach of the Chiefs. While it's too early to judge his counterpart, Cam Cameron, last week he held true to the pattern we often see with new NFL head coaches - they want to win, even in the preseason. They want to send a positive message to fans and the media. The Dolphins upset Jacksonville last week and we like their chances here this week too, especially in this prime time Thursday night game. It's his first shot in the limelight and Cameron still has a lot to prove. We think he'll be playing to win here as he did last week. Sure, that win last week was nice. But, a loss here on national TV (ESPN) drops them to a mediocre 1-1 and if it's a bad loss, he risks losing the confidence of NFL fans and the national media, most of whom didn't see their game last week. On the flip side, an upset win bolts them to 2-0 and likely leads to positive media coverage and a good buzz around Miami. This is just what Cameron wants, especially after fans and the press got down on Cameron for his draft decisions (passing on Brady Quinn and taking Ted Ginn Jr. way early). The bottom line is, Cameron has something strong to play for here while experienced head coach Herm Edwards really doesn't. Underdogs with a winning record are good preseason bets vs. losing teams. And, let's not forget about Trent Green. After six years in Kansas City, he parted with his former team under less than amicable terms and landed in Miami. He doesn't feel they were going to give him a fair shot to start this season. Cameron has said Green will start and play the entire first quarter! Do you think Green will be playing at 110%? Think he would like nothing more than to put up 7 or 14 points against his former team? We do! He'll play his best. And, the QB job is not yet his. Cleo Lemon will play the entire second quarter and he'll bring his "A" game as well since the competition is heated for the starting job. So, while preseason games are meaningless in many respects, this preseason is not meaningless to Trent Green and Cleo Lemon. Expect at least one full half of inspired QB play from the Dolphins on Thursday night. We like Miami, a team with a motivated coach and two motivated quarterbacks, to win outright or at least work hard and keep it close.