Peek at the Week: Gannon faces Miami's man coverage

Rich Gannon is on pace to break Dan Marino's record for passing yards in a season. He already has 10 300-yard passing games, a league record. He has four players with 45 or more catches, led by Jerry Rice with 83.

Oakland's pass offense has been darn near impossible to stop, especially when teams sit back in soft zones -- you know who you are, Denver -- and set out the cutlery for Gannon to carve them to pieces.

The Dolphins, though, might be the perfect team to play Gannon and his aging receivers. The reason: They have two corners who excel in man-to-man coverage and outstanding edge rusher in Jason Taylor.

So don't expect to see a lot of zone from Miami on Sunday when the two teams get together at Pro Player Stadium in the SportsLine.com Game of the Week. Rice, Tim Brown and Jerry Porter are going to have to earn their catches this week.

In 2001, corners Patrick Surtain and Sam Madison shut down Rice and Brown in an 18-15 Miami victory. Surtain and Madison, playing mostly man coverage, limited the two to four catches for 27 yards. Gannon threw for 125 yards that day, which is about a quarter and a half of work for him this season.

When Miami did shut the passing game down, the thinking was that the manual on defending the Raiders was in place. Only it wasn't, because few teams have the type of cover corners the Dolphins do.

And that's why few teams have played man coverage against the Raiders, giving Gannon almost free reign to pick defenses apart. Playing in coach Bill Callahan's wide-open attack -- and we all thought Jon Gruden was the offensive wizard -- Gannon has an uncanny knack of finding the right receiver in the right spot of a zone at the right time.

Surtain is again having a huge year for Miami and should go to the Pro Bowl. Madison has struggled some by his standards, but he still has the ability to be a shutdown cover corner.

Rice and Brown don't run like they once did, which is why man coverage is key against them. The trouble is that both are crafty players who know how to shake free from press coverage. That's the risk you take: Dare them to beat you and risk the big play or take the slow death.

Jason Taylor, the AFC's sack leader, will be keeping an eye on Rich Gannon on Sunday.(Getty Images)

Most teams have chosen the latter, and it hasn't worked. Oakland has the league's top-ranked passing attack, and Gannon is the favorite in the MVP race.

The Raiders also have incorporated the speedy Porter more into the offense this season. He is their deep threat, which means Miami's nickel corner, Jamar Fletcher, is also going to have to be a big part of the game plan Sunday.

Another way the Dolphins could slow the Raiders offense is to keep it off the field. That's where Ricky Williams comes into the mix. He leads the NFL in rushing, coming off two consecutive 200-yard games.

If Miami can get him going, opening up the play-action passes for Jay Fiedler, the Dolphins will be able to control the clock and score points. Against the Raiders, that's a must.

But the thing to watch is the Oakland offense against Miami's second-ranked defense. The Raiders use a lot of formations, lots of motion. That can sometimes confuse a defense, but this Dolphins group is made up of veterans. They won't get caught unprepared.

Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt joked this week that he'd try and play with 13 guys on the field. If they planned on playing zone against Gannon, that might not be enough.

But with Surtain and Madison, they should be able to do just fine with 11.

Game of the Weak

What could be worse than seeing your team lose on a 50-yard Hail Mary pass on the final play?

How about losing to the 1-12 Bengals?

If Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin thought it was bad when his team lost to the Browns on Sunday on the Tim Couch-to-Quincy Morgan pass play, then he had better hope his team doesn't lose to the Bengals on Sunday.

The heat is on Coughlin in Jacksonville, and a loss to the Bengals could be the thing that leads to owner Wayne Weaver pulling the plug.

Bengals coach Dick LeBeau has his butt on the same heated seat, so he can't afford to lose many more games, either. Then again, the 52 points the Panthers scored last week against his team might have sealed his fate.

So the SportsLine.com Game of the Weak may actually come down to this: Losing coach is gone.

Jacksonville is 5-8, having lost their past three. The fans have come down hard on Coughlin in his eighth season. The thinking in Jacksonville is that a loss to the Bengals would be so embarrassing that the Jaguars would be forced to make a change.

The Bengals have been simply embarrassing all year long. And it got really bad last week when they got blown out by the Panthers, which was said to infuriate president Mike Brown.

A year ago, this would have been a division game. That meant it would have been played twice a year.

Thank God for realignment.

Once is too much.

Ten things to watch

1. Brett Favre has never lost to the 49ers in the regular season. He is 5-0, although he did lose twice to them in the playoffs. If Favre is going to make it 6-0, the Green Bay defense is going to have to play better than it has the past few weeks. If they don't, Terrell Owens might have a big day.
2. There are some who say there's now a quarterback controversy in Pittsburgh. Kordell Stewart showed enough when Tommy Maddox was out that he should play, especially since Maddox struggled in the loss to the Texans last week. But Maddox might have his tonic Sunday when he faces the Panthers. In two starts against the NFC, Maddox has averaged 370.5 passing yards, thrown seven touchdowns and two interceptions. If he plays that way again, that will be the end of the controversy. If he struggles, look out.
3. The Redskins need to find out of if rookie Patrick Ramsey is their quarterback of the future. He will make his third start Sunday against the Eagles, a tough task on the road. If he shows well, it will put to rest the talk of Washington needing a passer. Ramsey has the tools, but he has to show better than the last time he started before his benching. Without any receivers who can run, he's going to have problems making plays down the field against a good Philly defense.
4. The Saints have had trouble containing Daunte Culpepper in the past. He has thrown for five TDs and one interception in the past two games against them. He will be seeking a third consecutive 300-yard game (counting playoffs) against them Sunday. Look for the Vikings to attack the Saints secondary down the field. The New Orleans safeties struggle in coverage.
5. Colts receiver Marvin Harrison needs just six catches to get to 124 and break the single-season record. Former Lions receiver Herman Moore set the mark in 1994. The last time Harrison faced the Browns, his opponent Sunday, he had 14 catches. Look for him to get the record Sunday.
6. Philadelphia return man Brian Mitchell needs 5 yards to move past Walter Payton into second place all time in all-purpose yards. Mitchell has 21,799, and if he does move past Payton against the Redskins, he will be behind only Jerry Rice (22,059) on the list.
7. The Rams and Cardinals play Sunday night -- lucky ESPN, right? -- in a game that means nothing. But it could mean a lot for Rams quarterback Marc Bulger. The Rams will use the next three weeks to take a hard look at Bulger to see if possibly he may be their quarterback of the future. They also could dangle him in trade talks after the season, with good showings the next three weeks increasing his value. Bulger has already beaten the Cardinals, so look for a comfort zone against a defense that can't stop anybody.
8. San Diego general manager John Butler spent eight years working for the Buffalo Bills. He will return to Orchard Park on Sunday with his Chargers, but this one will be special for Butler. He is battling cancer. Butler continues to fight the disease, and if the NFL is lucky, this hard-working man will be around a long, long time to make more trips back to upstate New York. Butler is a good football mind. He is great person.
9. If the Chiefs score 30 or more points against the Broncos on Sunday, they will break a team record. They have scored at least 30 in eight games, tying the team record set in 1966. Denver has been struggling defensively, so do the Chiefs get it? Not at Invesco Field they don't.
10. The Browns have beaten three of the four teams in the AFC South, the last coming when their Hail Mary pass on the final play allowed them to beat the Jaguars 21-20. Sunday, they can make it a sweep of the division if they can beat the Colts. If they want to continue to have playoff hopes, the Browns had better win this one.

Matchup we can't wait to see: The Oakland passing game against the Miami cornerbacks. Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain are as good as it gets.

Mismatch of the week: Giants defensive end Mike Strahan against Dallas right tackle Solomon Page. If Page, who will become an unrestricted free agent after the season, wants to make some money, he can start by slowing Strahan.

Over-hyped matchup: Chiefs at Broncos. It's a big game, but not nearly as big now that the Broncos have lost three in a row.

Fantasy tip of the week: If you're still playing, you must be in the playoffs. So here's one for you: Play Donald Driver of the Packers. The 49ers have trouble stopping the pass, so look for Driver to have a big day.