Dolphins-Patriots 2024 Week 12 Five Biggest Storylines

Breaking down the Miami Dolphins against the New England Patriots at Hard Rock Stadium.

Miami Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey (5) breaks up a pass to New England Patriots tight end Hunter Henry (85) during the second half at Gillette Stadium. / Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins will look to move their record to 5-6 when they face the New England Patriots at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.

The Dolphins are coming consecutive victories against the Los Angeles Rams and Las Vegas Raiders. The Patriots are 3-8 and coming off a Week 11 home loss against the Rams.

The Dolphins are looking for a second consecutive season sweep of the Patriots after winning in Week 5 at Gillette Stadium, 15-10 being the final score.

Here are the five biggest storylines for this year's Week 12 matchup.

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1) TUA ON A ROLL

The biggest difference in this matchup from Week 5 is at quarterback, where Tua Tagovailoa and Drake Maye have replaced Tyler "Snoop" Huntley and Jacoby Brissett. The Dolphins offense has been humming with Tagovailoa back in the lineup, and a big reason is that the quarterback is playing the best football of his career. There's no reason to think that run can't continue against the Patriots.

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2) CAN DEFENSE PREVENT A MAYE DAY?

The third overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, Maye was put into the starting lineup the week after the Dolphins played at Gillette Stadium. He has shown enough to have everybody in Patriots land excited about the future. While they got only two sacks, the Dolphins harassed Brissett throughout the Week 5 game, but now Maye has the mobility to turn those pressures into positive gains. At the very least, this should be a tougher matchup for the Dolphins defense.

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3) INGOLD RETURNS AND THE RUN GAME

The Dolphins pulled out a victory in that Week 5 game despite getting a late scare and also because their running game kept producing. It hasn't been great the past two weeks, but fullback Alec Ingold will be back in the lineup after sitting out with a calf injury, and that could make a difference and bring back another performance like we saw in Week 5.

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4) TACKLING THE TIGHT END PROBLEM

In the Patriots offense, the player to watch (besides Maye, obviously) is tight end Hunter Henry, particularly in light of the problems the Dolphins had with Brock Bowers last Sunday. Defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver has promised to do whatever it takes to keep Henry in check, and that certainly could include putting Jalen Ramsey on him if needed.

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5) NO SPECIAL TEAMS BREAKDOWNS

One reason the Dolphins almost lost the Week 5 matchup despite keeping the Patriots' offense in check was a brutal special teams performance that included a blocked punt, missed field goal, and botched snap on another field goal attempt. That they survived those mistakes and still won was remarkable, and the Dolphins shouldn't tempt fate again.