The last time the Miami Dolphins won a football game in Baltimore? It’s been a minute.

Bill Clinton is no longer President of the United States, and it turns out Charles III actually will get to be King of England. The Miami Heat and Miami Marlins have won multiple championships. Oh, and Dan Marino is no longer the starting quarterback of the Miami Dolphins.

Yep, a lot has changed since October 1997. Most significant for the Dolphins though, even more significant than no longer having a Hall of Fame quarterback (yet), is just how ridiculously rare it has become for the team to start a season 2-0. Miami pulled the feat off eight times in the 1990s. Should they win tomorrow, it’ll be just the fourth time since 2002 they managed to do so.

So a win this Sunday would be huge. Another win against another extremely well regarded head coach? Another win against a chief rival? Even better. Then again, between that New England opener and next week’s showdown with Buffalo, it’s arguably the least important of the season’s first three games. There’s also an ocean of difference between a 1-1 start and starting 0-2 in terms of playoff odds. So while this game could have been extremely important, it’s arguably just another game in strict 2022 terms.

On the plus side, the Ravens last game was against the Jets. Their secondary has been decimated by injuries. The Dolphins more than handled Lamar Jackson in last year’s 22-10 victory in Miami Gardens, and would appear to me a much better team this time around. One area to watch in particular is at running back, as the Ravens have struggled for awhile now against pass catching backs. The trend continued for them last weekend with the Jets’ Michael Carter. Chase Edmonds is a much bigger threat, and finding a way to maximize him is right in Mike McDaniel’s wheelhouse. There are plenty of reasons to believe victory is possible in this one, certainly far more than fans will be able to come up with the next two weeks against the Bills and the Bengals.

Then again, the Dolphins are the underdog in this one, and that does feel right. Jackson is a superstar. Justin Tucker just might be the greatest kicker in NFL history. The game is on the road, it is their home opener, and you just know the Ravens have had this one circled on the schedule all summer. Miami humiliated Baltimore, and Jim Harbaugh especially, last season

with that blitz happy assault in primetime. The element of surprise is long gone, and the Dolphins only have half the number of Pro Bowl cornerbacks they needed to make blitzing that much work last time. Not to mention the fact that Miami is already down one offensive tackle, and another is iffy.

Bottom-line, this one could well go down to the wire. In which case you look for those key advantages that tend to make the difference late. Like who has a better quarterback. Or a better a kicker. Or has the home field advantage.

Unfortunately for the Dolphins, Baltimore is the answer to all three of those questions.

Which just means that Miami won’t be getting the blowout victory they need to silence the Tua doubters. Miami wins, 24-20.