Miami travels to Foxborough this Sunday to play their first of 2 games this season against New England.
Miami has not won there since the "wildcat" game in 2008.
Can Miami win? Possibly, but highly unlikely.
This game will be simple if Miami wants to win. Establish the run and stop the run. Miami had no run game against Seattle, which was mostly why they couldn't move the ball, it made them one dimensional and with Seattle's elite secondary, it was near impossible to get anything going offensively. The offensive line must set the tone and allow our backs to break off a few big gains. This will allow our receivers to go to work on New England's mediocre secondary. I truly believe that if New England is trying to play defense against the run and pass all game long and constantly guessing what our offense will do next, our receivers can thrive. Some good play calling can also help this. We must keep the Patriots off balance defensively.
Did I mention that New England will be without Rob Ninkovich? He is currently suspended and he is the defensive QB so to speak.
Stopping the run. If they put this game in Jimmy Garropolo's hands and make him throw to win the game, I like Miami's chances. This will allow Miami's D-Line to pin their ears back and do what they already showed they can, put pressure on the QB. Asking Garropolo to put a team on his shoulders and pull out a win will only raise Miami's chances of a victory.
Also, Gronk will be limited. Sebastian Vollmer, who has been a rock solid Left tackle for the Patriots, is on IR for the season and of course, we all know Brady isn't playing.
That's 4 very, very important pieces to New England's starting line up that are out or will be playing injured. Gronk, injured. Brady, out. Vollmer, out. Ninkovich, out.
Of course, we have coaching. Is Gase on Belichick's level? No. Is he a smart coach? Yes. The interesting thing will be if he can counter Belichick's in game adjustments. Or how about this, can he be the aggressor and be the one to make Belichick counter his adjustments?
If this game was in Miami, it would make it a lot easier to predict a win for the Dolphins. But the Dolphins most likely will not get a more vulnerable Patriot team than the one they will face Sunday. Simple Dolphins, run the ball effectively and stop the run.
Miami with the upset. 24-20
7 comments
I want to agree...however, it will be loud and Belichick will find a way to outsmart rookie coach on one or more instances. If Phins cannot beat Pats without Brady, Gronk, Volmer, Ninkovich and possibly Solder, then when will the Phins beat them ? I think they need to pull out all stops, 4th downs, fake punts, whatever to not go 0-2. That will probably kill season right there, with Bengals around the corner, possibly 3 out of 1st 4 losses. Who makes playoffs after that start? Playoffs ?...Playoffs ??? Someone say Playoffs ?
Lol
Edwin is right about 0-2 start and Bengals around the corner on a short week.
This is a big game for us so early in the season. A loss puts us 2.5 games back. A win and we are in 1st place.
Going into NE is no easy task. They defend their turf very well.
We are struggling running the ball. So can Tannehill carry us?
I don't see how we could win a high scoring game. Our defense and special teams are going to have to win this game for us.
Field position and turnovers are our keys to victory.
Can we put enough pressure on Garropolo? Yes, on paper, but the Pats will scheme towards Wake with Williams out. They will like their chances of their WRs beating our corners so a back/TE will chip Wake.
We will need to blitz, blitz, blitz.
If Barr can pin them back and we get aggressive on defense we can win 16-13 in OT.
I agree Edwin - if we can't beat the Patsies at their place w/o Brady and other starters (hopefully Hightower now too) then when can we? Enough is enough! We do need to get the ground and pound going to open things up downfield. Ajayi better be ready to prove his worth. Going into the season I had visioned him as the work horse and Foster as a nice compliment and I'm still hoping it turns out that way. Foster is not the between the tackles type of player that the Jay Train is. And if we are going to establish the run it can't be through the 8-9 holes. It needs to be physical punch you in the mouth running.
Think Knowshon Moreno
Carl my nerves can't take an overtime after last week!
Lol