The New England Patriots lost to the Miami Dolphins back in Week 1 in Miami. Week 15 has the Dolphins traveling to Gillette Stadium where the Patriots claim a perfect record on the season. Can the Dolphins upset the New England Patriots at home, a feat no other team has yet to accomplish this season?
Miami did start off with a bang when it pulled off a big win at home against the Patriots 33-20. What better way than to start the season off making by the Patriots look inferior in Week 1?
Well, a lot has changed for both AFC East rivals since then and the Dolphins currently are lapsing into that mediocre type of team who now enters Week 15 with a 7-6 record. Clearly in a slump, the Dolphins are slipping downhill and have only won two of their last five games.
As for the Patriots, they’re as strong as ever and currently sit 10-3 in the AFC East. Other than losing to the Dolphins in Week 1, the Patriots got beat on the road in Week 4 in Kansas City and again in Week 13 against Green Bay.
Both Dolphins and Patriots coaches have commented about the upcoming game this Sunday as reported by Fox Sports with completely different focuses.
Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin stated..
We are playing an outstanding opponent. We need to play our best football game of the year. You get paid as a coach to get their team to play up to their potential. That’s what we have to do.
Patriots’ coach Bill Belichick took the glass-half-empty approach and focused on the shortcomings of the Patriots when they lost in Miami.
Well, all I know is we couldn’t run the ball against them very well. The second half down there we didn’t gain anything. We’re going to have to do a lot better job than we did. I don’t really know about the other teams. We’re not the other teams that played them. We have to find a way to move the ball and score some points. We couldn’t move the ball in the second half down there and we couldn’t score any points. We have our work cut out for us. We have a lot of work to do.
It’s going to be an uphill battle for the Dolphins. As if putting the brakes on Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski isn’t hard enough, the Dolphins have three linebackers who didn’t practice Wednesday and two cornerbacks who haven’t practiced all week.
Despite being the total underdog in this scenario, quarterback, Ryan Tannehill remained positive (via Fox Sports).
It’s a fight. Every time we’ve played them, I think we’ve gone into the game respecting them and the team that they are. Like I said earlier, I think we are excited for this opportunity.
“(This is) the sixth time that I’ve played them and now I’m 2-3 against them. Big game for us, and it’s on the road. It’s always a tough place to play up in New England, especially in December. I’m excited about this opportunity.
With much on he line for both teams, my money is on the Patriots to win, which would net them the AFC East title and pretty much doom Miami’s playoff hopes.
Photo: Fox Sports