Patriots vs. Dolphins: Behind Enemy Lines; 5 Questions

The beat writers of FanNation’s Patriots Country and All Dolphins recently provided insight on their respective teams for their Week 17 matchup on New Year’s Day at Gillette Stadium.

FOXBORO — As Michael Corleone once told a beleaguered Frank Pentangeli in 1974’s The Godfather Part II, “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.” 

The New England Patriots (7-8) prepare to host the Miami Dolphins (8-7) for a must-win Week 17 matchup at Gillette Stadium.

Despite entering this contest still nursing the wounds from two consecutive gut-wrenching losses, New England has a chance to clinch the final AFC wild-card berth by earning victories in both of their final games. Conversely, the Dolphins will be looking for their fifth consecutive victory against the Patriots after winning in Week 1, 20-7 at Hard Rock Stadium. 

In anticipation of this showdown between the division rivals, Alain Poupart, publisher of FanNation’s All Dolphins, sat down with Patriots Country to provide some interesting insight from behind enemy lines. 

1: Is there still an expectation among the fanbase that the Dolphins can make a deep playoff run, despite their recent slide in the standings?

Poupart: The Dolphins fan base has been beaten down over the years by the team coming up short more often than not, so they're not taking the four-game losing streak well. At this point, you're seeing as many fans predicting impending doom and missing the playoffs entirely after the team's 8-3 start as you are those thinking they can make a deep playoff run. To put it mildly, the four-game losing streak that began with losses against playoff teams San Francisco, L.A. Chargers and Buffalo was very sobering for those fans who were dreaming of the Super Bowl when the team was 8-3 and making a run at the top seed in the AFC.

2: Patriots coach Bill Belichick said on Wednesday that he did not expect major schematic changes with Teddy Bridgewater at quarterback as opposed to Tua Tagovailoa. What similarities and/or differences should the Patriots expect against New England’s banged-up secondary?

Poupart: Head coach Mike McDaniel said before Teddy Bridgewater's first (and very much abbreviated) start for the Dolphins way back in Week 5 against the Jets that the offense would not change very much despite the QB change, though some things may be reverse going from a lefty to a righty. In Bridgewater's most extensive action of the season, in Week 6 against Minnesota after he replaced rookie Skylar Thompson, we saw a lot of the same routes and same throws that we saw from Tua all season. Bottom line: Don't expect a different Miami offense because Bridgewater will be at quarterback instead of Tua.

3: Coach Mike McDaniel earned great praise for his high-powered offensive schemes, using wideouts Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, through much of the first half of the season. However, some may argue that the NFL has begun to catch up with his style. Is there a sense that McDaniel is getting “figured out?”

Poupart: Hmm, I'm not sure if "getting figured out" is the right way to phrase it, though it's clear that defenses have come up with some sort of solution against the Miami passing game, and it involves getting physical with the receivers near the line of scrimmage and taking away as much as possible the deep middle of the field. That said, the Dolphins managed to hit some big plays in recent weeks, even during their losing streak, but now it's up to McDaniel to come up with more ways to counter what defenses have begun doing.

4: Miami’s rushing duo of Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson provide a solid one-two punch with the speed to make big plays on the ground. Yet, the team ranks 27th in the NFL in average rushing yards per game and 19th in yards per carry. What has held them back in committing more time to the run?

Poupart: If McDaniel has been guilty of anything this season, it's been his penchant for abandoning the running game too quickly even when it has success. There's also been issues with third-and-short situations with an over-emphasis on the passing game. As an example, the Dolphins have attempted eight passes on third-and-1 this season and converted only once in those situations. Having said all that, it's very obvious and very clear that the biggest playmakers on the Miami offense are Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, so it's hard to criticize somebody for wanting to make full use of them.

5: Mac Jones has struggled this season, and has had his greatest difficulties when under pressure. How important will it be to Miami’s success that pass rushers Jaelen Phillips and Bradley Chubb get home against Jones on Sunday?

Poupart: If we go back to the opener at Hard Rock Stadium, we can remember that the first Dolphins touchdown of the season came when safety Brandon Jones hit Mac Jones in the pocket to cause a fumble that Melvin Ingram returned for a score. Unfortunately, the Dolphins pass rush hasn't been particularly effective for a large majority of the season and that's been one of the issues that has kept the defense from being as good as it was in 2021 or 2020. Jaelan Phillips has been really good of late, but Chubb has yet to make a major impact after arriving in that big trade with Denver and getting a huge extension from Miami, and there's no guarantee he'll be playing Sunday after missing practice Wednesday and Thursday because of ankle and hand injuries. But, without question, the Dolphins would make life much easier for the defense if they could get some pressure on Jones.

Patriots Country also provided insight on Sunday’s game for All Dolphins. The second part of this joint interview may be found HERE. 

The Patriots and Dolphins are set for a 1 p.m. ET kickoff on Sunday, Jan 1 at Gillette Stadium. 

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Follow Mike D’Abate on Twitter @mdabateNFL and Listen/Subscribe to his daily podcast: Locked On Patriots

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