Green Bay @ Miami preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 17, 2010 ) Miami 23, Green Bay 20

The focus will be on Aaron Rodgers and Joe Philbin, but the key matchup could be the Miami Dolphins' rushing attack against the Green Bay Packers' run defense when the teams square off Sunday in South Florida. Rodgers' ascent into one of the game's premier quarterbacks came while Philbin was an offensive assistant with the Packers - including five seasons as offensive coordinator - prior to taking the Dolphins' head coaching job in 2012. "The game’s going to get decided by the players," Philbin said this week. "What’s amazing to me, when we started preparing for this game, I looked at the roster and I think there’s at least half the guys that are brand new or I have no experience with any of those guys. That’s the way the NFL is. People move on."

One player who moved on this past offseason is Knowshon Moreno, who left Denver to join the Dolphins and rushed for a league-high 134 yards in Week 1 before injuring his elbow the following Sunday. Moreno is on pace to return to the lineup against the Packers to fuel a Miami rushing attack that is averaging 142.3 yards per game to rank fifth in the NFL. Green Bay, meanwhile, is the league's worst team at stopping the run, yielding an average of 163 yards entering Sunday's contest.

TV: 1 p.m. ET, FOX. LINE: Packers -3. O/U: 48.5

ABOUT THE PACKERS (3-2): As usual, Rodgers has been terrific this season with 11 touchdowns and no interceptions over his last four games, coming off back-to-back contests in which he has completed at least 70 percent of his passes. Randall Cobb leads the NFC with six receiving TDs while Jordy Nelson has four scores in his last four games. Eddie Lacy ran for a season-high 105 yards and two touchdowns in last week's 42-10 demolition of Minnesota, but the Packers could use more production out of a rushing attack that has managed only one run of 20-plus yards on a collective 111 carries this season.

ABOUT THE DOLPHINS (2-2): In addition to the return of Moreno, the Dolphins are also expecting center Mike Pouncey (hip) and safety Reshad Jones (suspension) to play for the first time this season. "The bye came at a pretty good time," said Miami receiver Mike Wallace, who caught a touchdown in his team's last game - a 38-14 rout of Oakland in London two weeks ago. "It's going to be good for our team. We haven't seen these guys together like this in a long time. I'm excited and I know our whole team is excited." Ryan Tannehill threw for 278 yards and two touchdowns against the Raiders as the Dolphins improved to 9-1 all-time when the third-year quarterback has a passer rating of at least 90.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Regarding the 90-plus degree temperatures in Miami this week (as opposed to mid-40s in Green Bay), Packers C Corey Linsley said, "I don't think it'll be an obstacle unless we let it become an obstacle. We'll be all right."

2. The Packers have won three of the last five matchups after losing the first eight meetings between the teams.

3. Since 2006, Green Bay is 14-2 when coming off a bye or a Thursday game. (Its Week 5 matchup with the Vikings was a Thursday night contest.)

PREDICTION: Dolphins 23, Packers 20