The New England Patriots will look to make it two consecutive upset wins over AFC East rivals when they visit the Miami Dolphins this Sunday.
Bill Belichick's group ended its three-game losing skid in Week 7 with a 29-25 comeback victory over the Buffalo Bills. Third-year quarterback Mac Jones led the second game-winning drive of his career and will look to carry that momentum into South Beach.
Leaving Miami with a victory is a daunting task, but not an impossible one. The Dolphins are coming off a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles and are plagued by injuries, particularly along the left side of the offensive line. Philly's defensive front exploited that weakness and New England should look to do the same to slow down Tua Tagovailoa and Co.
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Sports Illustrated's Omar Kelly expanded on how the Patriots can pull off a Miami Miracle on a new episode of Tom E. Curran's Patriots Talk Podcast.
🔊 Patriots Talk: How the Patriots can pull a Miami miracle vs. Dolphins | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube
"The question is, can the Patriots get that type of pressure? And how much will Bill Belichick attack that left side? Because you know he's a gameplan-specific coach," Kelly said. "I was amazed that his three-safety choice to defend the Dolphins wide receivers, nobody has replicated it. Nobody has built on it. I thought it was a phenomenal strategy."
"It'll be interesting to see what challenges they can present to Miami's offense, especially when it comes to the run game. Because I think the Dolphins, they really were disappointing from what they did in the run game against the Eagles, and they'll probably be looking to have a resurgent rushing attack, especially at home."
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In Sunday's win over Buffalo, the Patriots offense finally scored more than 20 points for the first time this season. They almost certainly will need to duplicate that effort to keep up with Miami, but are they capable of accomplishing that feat?
"Yeah, I think they can," Kelly answered. "Just from the standpoint of, the Dolphins haven't really found their synergy on defense. I honestly think the Eagles game might have been the best performance that they've had all season, and they allowed 31 points. But they were playing well, they were aggressive on the front line, they really harassed Jalen Hurts. ...
"To me, it comes down to, how can you exploit Miami in the passing game? Because obviously, you're going to have to keep pace with them from a scoring standpoint."
The key to the Patriots' win over the Bills was cutting down on turnovers, which cost them in each of their five losses this season. If they take care of the football again on Sunday, they should put themselves in a position to pull off another upset.
Kickoff for Patriots vs. Dolphins is set for 1 p.m. Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium.
Also in the episode:
- Kelly on Dolphins’ mentality coming off a loss to the Eagles
- How can Mac Jones build off his last performance?