Dolphins vs. Cardinals odds, spread, pick: Myles Gaskin out Week 9, Kenyan Drake unlikely
When Miami visits Arizona on Sunday, both clubs are likely to be without their No. 1 running back.
It's a surprisingly important game Sunday when the Miami Dolphins (4-3) visit the Arizona Cardinals (5-2) as both are chasing playoff spots in their respective conferences after finishing with losing records in 2019. The Dolphins are going to be without their top running back in Myles Gaskin, and it's likely the Cardinals will be without their top runner in Kenyan Drake. Arizona is a 5-point favorite on the William Hill NFL odds.
Gaskin was placed on injured reserve Tuesday with a sprained MCL, meaning he will miss at least three games. The 2019 seventh-round pick out of the University of Washington was not the featured back early in the season with just 16 carries combined in the first two games as Miami largely used Matt Breida and Jordan Howard. The Fins were 0-2 in those games.
However, Gaskin has averaged 14 carries since and Miami is 4-1. In a 24-0 win over the Jets on Oct. 18, Gaskin had 91 yards rushing and 35 yards receiving. Those aren't exactly Hall of Fame numbers, but it marked the first time a Miami running back topped 100 yards from scrimmage since Kalen Ballage in December 2018. On the season, Gaskin has rushed for 387 yards and two scores on 100 carries (no other player has more than 37 carries) and caught 30 passes for 198 yards.
The Fins clearly knew Gaskin was headed for IR earlier Tuesday because they acquired running back DeAndre Washington from Kansas City before the Trade Deadline. However, Washington will simply serve as depth with Breida and Howard expected to share the load vs. Arizona (although Breida didn't practice Wednesday; could have been just a rest day). Patrick Laird and rookie Salvon Ahmed are also on the roster.
The Cardinals come off their bye week and Drake – who was traded from Miami to Arizona last season – suffered an ankle injury in their Week 7 upset of Seattle. That the team didn't put him on injured reserve obviously means it wasn't too serious. Coach Kliff Kingsbury doesn't seem overly confident that Drake will make it back for this one, but it's not out of the question yet.
Drake leads the Cardinals with 512 rushing yards and has four rushing touchdowns but hasn't been nearly as good as he was last year after coming over to Arizona from Miami. Chase Edmonds has been the Cards' top back this year in averaging 6.1 yards per carry, albeit on just 29 touches. Edmonds is a much better receiver than Drake with 26 grabs for 222 yards and two scores.
One other story line for this one is the matchup between Fins rookie QB Tua Tagovailoa and Cards second-year QB Kyler Murray. Tua was the Heisman favorite for most of the 2018 season at Alabama but was injured late in the year and faded a bit and ended up finishing second to Murray out of Oklahoma.
Arizona enters having covered three straight games and is looking for its first 4-0 ATS run since 2014. Miami, meanwhile, is 5-1 ATS since failing to cover Week 1 vs New England.
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