They may not be the same old New England Patriots, but this is still the same old rivalry. And the same old Foxboro. And the same old Brady and Bellichick.
In other words, the Patriots might be a lesser team than in years past, but they’re still a team that’s hard to beat. Last week, the Pats dressed only 3 WRs. I expect them to play Josh Gordon this time. So that will be 4 WRs plus the ever-present Gronk to deal with. The good news for Dolphans is that Brady doesn’t seem to have rapport with his WRs. His O-line is not as strong as before. His running game is not as potent. Still a dangerous team with #12 under center, but they don’t seem to have the flow and confidence this year. The Dolphins need to ensure that continues at least for one more week.
I don’t know if that happens. I think Brady and Gronk are well overdue for monster games. But that is not the end of the world.
We just have to outscore them, no matter how many points Brady puts up.
And the good news is that the Patriot defense isn’t good. So far, they’ve given up 20, 31, and 26 points to some mediocre teams in Houston, Jacksonville, and Detroit. The Dolphins haven’t hit 30 points this year, and that is mostly due to self-inflicted turnovers and penalties. Oh, and if you think the refs screwed us at home vs. lowly Oakland (they did), don’t expect any favors in Boston with Bellichick and Robert Kraft on the sidelines. The crowd is their 12th man and the refs will be 13th.
So our offense needs to bear down and simply bury them with points. Don’t even look at what Brady is scoring. Just pick on that suspect Pat D. I think Drake/Gore are overdue and should have a good game. It’s doesn’t have to be all reverses and trick plays. I’m fearful of our red zone offense, mostly because we haven’t seen it much! We’re scoring often from 70 yards away, so we don’t have experience running plays when we are 4 yards away. That could come into play, and hopefully Gase has a Philly special of his own when we are in close.
I give the Patriots the positional advantage at QB, TE, and K. That’s about it. This is a winnable game. Guys still on the team from last year will remember we beat them in Miami. It can be done on the road as well.
I hope your right Admin. Hell you almost called the game perfect last week so here’s hoping! I wont be in the chat until halftime at the earliest because I have a public speaking engagement I can not get out of but hopefully I’ll be in the Game Day Chat room at some point!
I think in the past players like edelman, Amandola, white , etc…have been underestimated but most are gone or injured. The roster looks weak and oline not stout. I hope I’m right although it’s never easy winning on the road in your division even the Jets were decent. If Gordon doesn’t play I think they’ll be in big trouble. If he does is he healthy? X can cover him but I’d love X on 7-11. The rest can focus on gronk and white…
On offence they should be able to run but BB will most likely go all out on the run. I think that the pass game will be there all day…
Forgot to mention that the refs could decide this game so best to blow them out. Patsies are calling us out on that but it’s a fact that almost every game in NE has some sort of BS. What’s the over under on head sets going out???
Funny that the Patriots are calling us out on it because it’s about as obvious a a full moon in the sky!
They are in denial and can’t comprehend why opposing fans are concerned when their teams play in NE. There always seems to be something strange happening there that you simply can’t prepare for. Playing the patsies is one thing but other distractions sure aren’t fair. Lets hope that we get a fairly called game and one of the ref’s doesn’t magically call defensive batting of the football when the player is obviously trying to recover a fumble, PI when it’s not there, tuck rule, soft balls, etc….we only want fairness.
Apparently Jones and Parker are out I was hoping for Jones but maybe they don’t need him today.
This will be the biggest game our fins have played in quite a while.
Really hope that they went to town studying how the Lions formulated their game plan vs. the pats.
Matt Patricia (former pats DC) – gave the entire league a perfect template on how to beat these guys thoroughly, and any team that doesn’t use that to their advantage is making a very Big mistake.
Agreed and even though the Fins aren’t at full strength they match up well. On offence use their speed!!!
Without Jones this is gonna be a long game. New England in New England is tough enough and now our best defender is out. As long as Miami competes I’ll still have faith in this season. But I have a really bad feeling about this game