ProFootballDoc: Thursday Night Football Advantages

Even with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa unlikely to start and two top wide receivers out, the Dolphins are the healthier team Thursday. The Field View and SIC score are about analysis of hidden injuries providing advantages, not just looking at the star players.

SIC Score is our proprietary numerical injury grading system that incorporates the health of every NFL team and individual players to give sports bettors, DFS players and fantasy owners an edge each week during the season. While it purposely doesn’t take into account coaching, schemes or matchups, SIC Scores give an accurate assessment of team/player overall health heading into a game.

MIAMI +7.5 vs BALTIMORE

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Overall, the Ravens are dealing with more injury issues on both sides of the ball. A quick flip/toggle of the interactive Field View above gives a clear overview.

Everyone knows about the Ravens running back issues (and they will still miss Latavius Murray) but being down to the fifth ball carrier is not the main issue when you have Lamar Jackson. The bigger worry offensively is not having either offensive tackle. Defensively, Baltimore just lost another starter (DeShon Elliott, pec tear) for the season.

Meanwhile, the Dolphins advantage is a relatively healthy defense which leads to the double-digit superior team SIC score. A look at the above specific offense/defense run/pass breakdowns shows that Myles Gaskin should be able to accumulate some yards. If so, the host Dolphins could keep it close and even have a shot at an upset if the defense comes thru.

Clearly, with Lamar Jackson, the Ravens are the "name brand" and better team as reflected by the two score line, but given the health analysis, the hidden advantage is to the Dolphins who can keep it close it what may be a lower scoring affair.

Go to www.profootballdoc.com to see individual player analysis and why Sammy Watkins has a lower individual SIC score of 67 and may under perform tonight.