Our isportsweb.com staff make their predictions below.
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“He really nails down the game plan and tries to simplify it for the players, so we know the targets we need to hit”, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said. Ryan Tannehill has thrown six of his 13 touchdowns in the last two and was not intercepted in Sunday’s 44-26 win over Houston after being picked off seven times in the previous three. “We’re going to wake these giants up'”. “But [Cameron] Wake and [Olivier] Vernon and [Ndamukong] Suh and [Earl] Mitchell and [Derrick] Shelby, they’ve got a whole group of pass rushers that, the last couple games, have been performing really well”.
“That’s incredible”, Brady said on Tuesday.
Miami middle linebacker Kelvin Sheppard should prepare to be on the field more than usual as the Patriots try to attack his coverage shortcomings with tight ends and tailbacks. Despite Dion Lewis still facing an abdomen injury (listed as questionable), the Patriots now have a well-rested LaGarratte Blount to release. But just because a guy has played in three games and not shown up on the stat sheet at all is no reason to think he has no right to Twitter troll the best quarterback of all time.
“Bill Belichick is one of the greatest coach1/8es3/8 that’s ever coached”, Campbell said about Belichick, who is 181-65 in the regular season with New England. As of two weeks ago this would have been a very short prediction picking an easy New England victory by a solid twenty point margin. Now with a new head coach in Dan Campbell, the Dolphins are not only winning, but winning big. Miami has done a complete 180 and looks like a team that could legitimately challenge the Patriots in this contest. “This has been a team that’s dominated our division for a long time”. He ranks second in passing yards and fourth in yards per game. In his return Brandon Lafell returned to his inconsistent ability to catch a ball and made last year’s success look like a fluke. Which is a blessing for him but a shame for Patriots fans. He was able to pick up the slack and has provided another weapon opposite Edelman. But the Miami Dolphins’ interim coach, and his team face off with the Jedi master of football coaches on Thursday night. The Patriots will be tough to beat this season. Landry is one of Miami’s top offensive weapons. But according to Tannehill’s counterpart on Thursday night, the Miami defense has played just as big a part in the Dolphins’ transformation. In the first four games of the season, lead Dolphins running back Lamar Miller only carried the ball 37 times for a total of 131 yards. The game against the Patriots would be a litmus test for the Dolphins. Both of these players have come out with big games the past two weeks after interim head coach Dan Campbell took the reigns.
McCain and the Dolphins must be feeling pretty good about themselves right now.
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The Dolphins did just that the past two trips to Foxborough. The Dolphins need to not turn the ball over, one interception is too many against a Patriots offense that thrives on turnovers. “They’ll get in empty and go hurry-up”, Campbell said, explaining how the Patriots hold opponents in those mismatches by not allowing defenses to substitute. While cheating has been the norm for New England over the years, the fact is that they are good enough to win fairly.
