On Sunday afternoon in Foxboro two teams with loads of potential battle in what could be defining moments in each of their seasons. Coming off three straight losses the (3-3) Miami Dolphins travel to Gillette Stadium where the (5-2) Patriots await them also fresh off a loss. In the past the Pats and Tom Brady seldom had poor back to back performances but if this season has taught us anything it’s that this isn’t a typical season for New England. On the other hand the Dr. Jekyll but now Mr. Hyde ‘Phins looked like geniuses after 3 games beating the likes of the Falcons and Colts. We now know how both those respective teams turned out now but we have no idea as to who the Dolphins are. With both teams desperately needing a win on Sunday this divisional battle will go the way of whichever team is more surgical in their execution.
The new look Miami Dolphins came into the season hyped up to take on the Pats for AFC east supremacy. They started their season believing that hype but also confirming that the hype was real. Then they understandably lost one to the Saints but followed that up by managing to lose to the Ravens despite picking Joe Flacco off 5 times, which led to last week’s loss to the Buffalo Bills and the completion of their transformation in to Edward Hyde. Understandably angry the Dolphins must rely on their shiny kind of scuffed up but still new additions to step up and rally their season. Ryan Tannehill looks like a first rounder one week and a bust the other. While Mike Wallace hasn’t provided the lift to the offense as expected, he hasn’t been afraid to demonstrate his annoyance with the offense either. Speaking of angry, that is exactly what the Pats are right now after last week’s loss to the Jets of all teams so the path to victory for Miami is only going to get more frustrating.
Although just because the Dolphin’s should expect a sharp New England team that doesn’t mean it will be what they get from the Pats. All season the Pats and in particular Tom Brady have not looked like themselves. While they haven’t really had all of “them” around thus far into week 8 but with Rob Gronkowski back and Danny Amendola expected to return it isfinally time for some fluidity to the offense. Still Tom Brady has to find a way to integrate his rookie receivers into the mix better than he did last week with his big weapons back. If they can add to that the balance of the running game with ¾ of their backs healthy the Pats should finally be able to move the ball with a mix of the old dink and dunk passing game out of the backfield with explosive plays from Danny and Gronk.
Hoping to contain the Patriots on the road the Dolphins will look to their pass rushers like the old Dolphin Cameron Wake and the new guy Dannelle Ellerbe to wreak havoc on Brady’s pocket as the Jets did last week. That has been the formula to slow the Pats down since 2007 and if Pats offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia didn’t solidify things up front it will be a long afternoon for Brady and the Pats. “Scar” as the team calls him is known for being the best in the business but the work from center Ryan Wendell with both tackles Nate Solder and Sebastian Vollmer have to give Tom enough time to find his targets. In what should be a back and forth battle, it will likely be won in the trenches.
The New England Patriots have been winning ugly all season while the Miami Dolphins have been just plain ugly recently. But with another week in the NFL comes another opportunity for each team to be more like who they want to be. The efficient Pats of old and the electric Dolphins of the first 3 weeks of this season may stop hiding at some point during or after this week’s game but the most doctor like executioner of their game plan will win this AFC east matchup. With home field, experience and coming off a loss Tom Brady will be precise as he leads the Pats to a 31-17 victory over the Miami Dolphins.
Frank Cypriano
@JulioFranko17