The New England Patriots will be a rested and motivated team when they take the field in South Florida to take on the Miami Dolphins. The Patriots lost a hard-fought game against the Chicago Bears last Thursday night, but the defeat was a competitive effort that demonstrated they could play on the road against a team with legitimate Super Bowl aspirations.
The assignment this week doesn't compare. The Dolphins lack the kind of talent on either side of the ball to put up a 60-minute fight against QB Drake Maye and a motivated Patriots team. Miami earned its first victory of the season in their Week 7 game against the New York Jets, but they benefitted greatly from an inefficient and sloppy game from the Jets.
Patriots feeling good about their consistent level of play
It is unlikely that the Patriots will come at them in a similar manner. New England has played four consecutive solid games, and three of them were victories. When they took down the Buffalo Bills on the road in Week 4, it demonstrated that Mike Vrabel's team was back on track and was ready to make a run at the AFC East title once again.
They are 1.5 games behind the first-place Bills, so they have quite a lot of work to do to get there. However, they have more than enough focus and talent to get past the Dolphins on the road.
As the Patriots prepare for this game, they are fairly confident that their offense is on the right track. Mike Vrabel would like to see his defense pick up its level of play and start to force more turnovers. If New England can assert itself on the defensive side and take the ball away from its opponents, they are going to put games away much earlier in the second half and avoid the tension that comes with a game that goes down to the wire. That's what should happen in this game.
Maye will throw for 275 yards and 2 TDs against Dolphins
The Patriots will not look at this game as one they will win by merely showing up. Throughout the years, playing the Dolphins on the road has often been a chore that has regularly been unpleasant for the visitors.
Even in the prime years of Tom Brady's leadership, the Patriots have regularly been pushed hard by the Dolphins. The Patriots are 17-40 all-time in games played in Miami.
Maye will not take the Dolphins lightly.
He should be close to his best because he appears to have overcome the poor start he had in early season games in Seattle and Jacksonville.
Maye has risen quite a bit in the ranks of NFL quarterbacks after his early struggles. He has completed 141 of 214 passes for 1,784 yards with 13 TDs and 8 interceptions. Maye's ability to get away from the pass rush is a big part of his game. He has run for 211 yards and 2 TDs, but the most important part of his athleticism is his ability to get away from the pass rush and get the ball to his receivers.
It seems very unlikely that the Dolphins secondary is going to stop tight end Hunter Henry along with wideouts Romeo Doubs and DeMario Douglas.
The big question revolves around A.J. Brown. He has been limited by injuries this season and has played just three game and has caught just 9 passes for 101 yards. He may or may not be ready to contribute to the Patriots' effort in this game because his knee appears to have flared up. However, the Patriots are expecting him to become their go-to receiver at one point this season.
Malik Willis will throw for 150 yards, but toss two interceptions
Vrabel wants to see his defense step up quite a bit in the weeks to come. When the Patriots made their charge last season, Maye and the offense got a big assist from the defense as it stepped up by forcing takeaways.
The Pats are going to attempt to do this by putting pressure on QB Malik Willis. The former Packer has tried to keep the Dolphins afloat, but the Dolphins have just one win this season. Willis has completed 87 of 151 passes for 1,057 yards with a 4-4 TD-interception ratio. He has also rushed for 223 yards and 3 TDs.
Article Continues BelowWillis has been sacked 16 times this season, and linebacker Elijah Ponder of the Patriots will be after him. Ponder leads New England with 5.5 sacks and should get at least 1.5 in this game.
Willis will be trying to get the ball to Malik Washington. He leads the Dolphins with 26 receptions for 289 yards but he has yet to find the end zone.
Bold game prediction: Patriots 33, Dolphins 13
The Patriots have too much talent and they are focused on playing consistent, error-free football from this point forward. While many Patriots teams have had problems on the road against the Dolphins, this team will not.
Look for Maye and RB Rhamondre Stevenson to get the Patriots off to a good start, and the defense will keep the Dolphins from mounting a charge.
The Patriots will have control of this game prior to the end of the third quarter and New England will gain its fourth win in five games.