AFC East Showdown - Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots

Sunday, November 8 –1:00 PM ET at the Gillette Stadium

NFL Point Spread: Patriots -10.5, O/U: 46.5

Remember when the Patriots struggled out of the gate this season? No? Neither does anyone else. New England has been on fire as of late, winning their last two games by a combined score of 94-7 before taking last week off with a bye.

Granted, those two teams were the Titans and Bucs, but the methodical decimation of both of those teams prove the Patriots are back in championship form. Tom Brady seems to finally be healthy again after knee surgery, Wes Welker has three straight 100-yard games and the defense ranks third in the league in yards allowed per game, a stingy 285.7 yards.

Miami is coming off an interesting week. The Dolphins beat the NY Jets 30-25 despite being outgained on offensive yards 378-104. The Fish were able to win because Ted Ginn Jr. went absolutely nuts on special teams, returning two kick returns for touchdowns in the same quarter. There is no way the Dolphins will be able to do that again, so they’ll have to find other ways to beat the scorching New England team.

What The Dolphins Have To Do To Win

Last season the Dolphins ended the Patriots 21-game regular season win streak by perfecting the ‘Wildcat’ offense. If they want any chance again this year’s version of New England they’ll have to do the exact same thing. Luckily for them, Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown have been very effective in their roles in the offense. The Dolphins are the only team with two runners with at least five rushing touchdowns each and that can be attributed to the success of the Wildcat so far in the year. The Patriots have been very good this year, but they are not unbeatable.

If the Wildcat fails to produce like it can, the onus will fall on the rest of the offense. That’s not necessarily a good thing. Chad Henne has done well in his short tenure as Dolphins starting QB, but the receiving core has been less than stellar. Ginn Jr. may be a special team wizard, but his receiving abilities leave much to be desired. He consistently drops passes, mistakes that cannot be made against a New England team that has built a reputation on exploiting weaknesses.

What The Patriots Have To Do To Win

As always with New England, the name of the game is offense. Tom Brady has thrown for 1,483 yards and 13 TD’s in his last five games and his knee seems completely healed. The last time Randy Moss played Miami, he scorched them to the tune of 125 yards and three touchdowns. There is nothing to believe that Moss can’t put up those numbers again, especially with Miami’s weak secondary. The Dolphins have allowed an average 236 yards per game through the air, something that Brady and co. will no doubt exploit.

If the Pats defense can contain the Wildcat, then the win should come easily. In the last two games against Miami, New England allowed 38 and 28 points and won one of those matchups. The Pats have allowed 109.7 rushing yards per game and Miami has gained 153.4 rushing per game. One of those stats is going to look different come Monday.