The Miami Dolphins are heading up to Foxborough to play the New England Patriots tomorrow at 1pm eastern standard time. Both teams come into the game 1-3, and have struggled mightily since both winning their week one matchup. Below I will breakdown matchups to watch, as well as how I think the game will go.
The Dolphins will be starting Tyler “Snoop” Huntley for the second game in a row, last week was a rough outing for Snoop. He came out the gate hot hitting Waddle and Hill on the chest, before Tyreek Hill fumbled the ball giving the Titans possession. After that it went downhill, he finished the game with 96 passing yards and a rushing touchdown. He did not turn the ball over, but missed a few explosive play opportunities down the field.
The Patriots have a decent front 7, and luckily for them the Dolphins offensive line has looked as poor of a unit as any in the NFL. Their pass protection is abysmal to say the least. Joshua Uche and Anfernee Jennings can set the tone on 3rd downs, especially against struggling right tackle Austin Jackson. Their secondary is strong as well, they will be without Jabrill Peppers this week but still have a strong core of players with Christian Gonzalez, Kyle Dugger, and Jonathan Jones.
The Dolphins will rely on multiple backs, mostly star DeVon Achane. Achanes’ rushing numbers are not what they were last year, but his situation is significantly worse currently. The interior of the Dolphins offensive line is creating no push, and no Tua Tagovailoa in the lineup limits the offense heavily.
The Patriots have two former Dolphins starting for them who specialize in stopping the run, nose tackle Davon Godchaux and linebacker Raekwon McMillan. They have found a home in new head coach Jerod Mayo’s defense.
On the offensive side of the ball for the Patriots, Jacoby Brissett has been playing to what his expected standard was. He has been decent enough to keep the Patriots in most games, upon him signing in free agency it was known he was going to be a bridge quarterback for whoever the Patriots were going to draft at the 3rd overall pick. Brissett has 536 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception on the year. His backup Drake Maye (Patriots 2024 first round pick), entered in the game against the Jets in garbage time and was able to complete a pass. Maye is the future for the Patriots, but he likely won’t see time in this game unless there is an injury to Brissett.
The best player on New England’s offense is running back Rhammondre Stevenson. Stevenson is featured heavily in new Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelts offense, he has the 11th most carries in the NFL this year. He has 267 yards and 2 touchdowns on the year, with a chance to inflate those numbers a little bit with a tired Dolphins defense that is on the field more than it should be. The Dolphins run defense is alright, but when they are on the field 75% of the game because the Dolphins offense can’t sustain drives, they are inevitably going to give up big run games. That was on display last week against Tennessee.
Both special teams units for both teams are strong, Jason Sanders had an excellent game against Tennessee making a 56 yard field goal. Joey Slye has made a 63 yard field goal this year.
I predict that the Patriots will win this game with ease, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. That is how I feel about the Dolphins currently and betting on them. Somehow the Dolphins are favored 0.5 points, Vegas seems to believe that Mike McDaniel will put together a good script of plays to get the Dolphins in the endzone. I disagree, I will be taking the Patriots moneyline tomorrow.
My official prediction is a Patriots win 21-3.