The Miami Dolphins travel to Foxborough to face the New England Patriots in a game that could decide whether or not the home team plays on Wild Card weekend or has yet another first-round bye.
For the Patriots, the last week of the season is normally used for resting injured players and ironing out any kinks that may hold the team back heading into another playoff run. However, this year is different as the Patriots can’t afford to sit back and treat this game as a pre-season game.
They need to win.
If the Patriots lose this weekend, that opens the door for the Kansas City Chiefs to leapfrog them and take over the No. 2 seed, sending Tom Brady and company down to the No. 3 seed and forcing them to play in Wild Card weekend for the first time in 10 years where they got trounced by the Baltimore Ravens, 33-14.
For the Miami Dolphins, this game is all about pride. Whenever a team from the AFC East can defeat the Patriots, it is a bright spot for that team’s season. Regardless of record or statistics, beating the team that has had a stranglehold on your division is always a nice notch to have on your belt.
While the Dolphins normally pose a decent threat when they play New England, that’s pretty unlikely going into this weekend. There won’t be any Miami Miracle up at Gillette Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
This Dolphins’ offense ranks 15th in passing yards this season, 26th in points and 27th in overall yards per game. That’s not going to get it done against this stout Patriots defense. And while most teams have been taking advantage of the ground game against New England, Miami’s running game is dead last in the league.
Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick will be starting this Sunday and he’s been prone to give up some turnovers here and there so look for this Patriots secondary to capitalize on that and have multiple takeaways. On the other side of the ball, Bill Belichick likely preached ball security all week leading up to this game. The Patriots have been fumbling a tad more than they would like the last few weeks, so look for them to really focus on taking care of the football and not giving their opposition any extra chances.
And if you’re looking for Miami’s defense to keep them in the game, that’s a pipe dream that even the most die-hard Dolphins fans can’t say with a straight face. This Miami defense has given up more yards and points per game than any other team in the league. They also rank in the bottom third of the league in passing and rushing yards allowed per game as well.
Much like what should’ve been against the Bengals, this game has all the signs of a “get right” game for Brady’s offense. Building off the solid performance they put forth against an elite Buffalo defense last week, the Patriots should utterly dominate this horrendous Dolphins defense.
This one should not be close whatsoever. We may even get a Jarrett Stidham sighting if things get too out of hand. The goal this Sunday for the Patriots is to get the confidence up of their younger receivers and keep everyone healthy coming out of this game. The goal for the Dolphins is to just keep it respectable.
Prediction: Patriots 24, Dolphins 9
