Three Things to Watch: Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Miami Dolphins

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Miami Dolphins meet Saturday night and NFL writer Andrew Garda is here to break down what you need to keep an eye on during the game.

It's a battle for the hearts and minds of Florida as the Miami Dolphins welcome the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Here are three things to watch for when the two teams meet at 7:30pm EST.

1) What the heck is going on with the Dolphins' running back situation? Lamar Miller is a far more talented back but somehow underwhelming Daniel Thomas is back in the mix. Perhaps Miller is struggling in pass protection, something which a back behind this offensive line can't do. It has to get settled though and Saturday night should bring some closure to the issue.

2) Can Josh Freeman actually step up or is this offense in trouble? Rookie Mike Glennon doesn't look like he can take over, so it's up to Freeman - something which has not been comforting this preseason. He has the weapons around him and has a decent offensive line. Can he take advantage of those things? The Dolphins' secondary is shaky - if he can't have success here, there will be some real concern.

3) We mentioned pass protection and the offensive line - two things which, let's be honest, haven't quite gone together so far. Jonathan Martin continues to look overwhelmed at left tackle and it is causing some real problems on the offense. He needs to step it up but faces a tough front seven tonight.

Andrew Garda is a member of the Pro Football Writers Association. He is also a member of the fantasy football staff at Footballguys.com and an NFL writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him at @andrew_garda on Twitter.

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