Well, that had a whole bunch of highlights from the first time the Pats faced off against Miami. Thing is, a lot of people forget that that was the first time the two teams squared off and that they played a game after that.
Now that the Wildcat had been used and there was some film, Belichick could now draw up a defense for the Miami offense. The result of that game, a 48-28 drubbing of the Dolphins.
Now those games had Chad Pennington at the helm for the Dolphins, the team has taken a step backwards with Chad Henne at the helm. He’s not bad in the time he’s played, just not as efficient as Pennington. He bounced back following a poor performance against New Orleans with a win last week against the Jets. Thing is, the ground game and special teams carried the Dolphins, not Henne.
Last week Ted Gynn Jr had two kickoff return for touchdowns. You can bet that Belichick spent a little extra time with the special team guys this week making sure that they contain Gynn and make sure he’s not running anything back on the Pats.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Dolphins have a decent front seven. However their secondary likes to give up a ton of yards. They’re ranked 3rd against the run but 29th against the pass. Tom Brady should be licking his chops for this game the same way he licked them against the Titans and Bucs.
I see this game playing out with a lot of razzle dazzle being attempted by the Dolphins and a very stingy Patriots defense that will shut it down. When almost every time you line up in the Wildcat you run, I’ll take my chances on one on one coverage with the wideout and bring the house on the running backs. I look for a breakout game for whichever end lines up opposite Ty Warren be it Burgess or Tully Banta-Cain. Mayo and Guyton should also have very good games. Once the Dolphins go down early, they’ll need to start airing it out and then the secondary will get their shots at turnovers. I see, easily, two picks in the game if not more.
Pats are a 10.5 point favorite with a 46.5 over/under. I’m taking the home team and the over. Pats roll 45-13. Back Monday with a recap.
