The Hall of Fame coach had great influence on the two men who face each other for the first time Thursday night when Belichick’s unbeaten New England Patriots (6-0) host Campbell and the Miami Dolphins (3-3). Grimes is probable, but McCain is questionable, having missed last week’s game against the Houston Texans. Brady is on an 8-0 run in Thursday starts and is 12-1 against Miami at home in this AFC East rivalry. The defending Super Bowl champions have nearly been flawless so far this season, Tom Brady doing what Tom Brady does best, which is pick apart a defense with, at times, ridiculous ease. How has his game changed since Campbell took over? Before week 7 Hilton had not gone over 100 receiving yards and had only caught one touchdown pass in six games, due in part to fighting an injury.
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New England’s offense has been downright lethal this season. Their 6-0 record is tied with Green Bay, Carolina and Cincinnati and Denver for the best in the league, and by the looks of thing it may be a while before they chalk one up in the loss column. The Patriots need LaFell to get back to form so he can stretch the field on the outside while Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman dominate the inside within 10 yards. He’s no match for Bill Belichick, his coaching staff and his high-scoring offense. Under their interim coach, the Dolphins have run the ball well and rushed the passer with ferocity.
So is Peyton’s struggle a foreshadowing of what’s to come for slightly younger players like Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Aaron Rodgers?
“I didn’t even realize it”, he said. New England has really looked solid against Miami the last three times playing them in Foxboro, beating the Dolphins by an average of better than three touchdowns in those contests. Campbell is starting to get the most out of his best players, and not just by looking ornery on the sideline. The Patriots won the last meeting, 41-13.
The Miami Dolphins are playing so well that Reshad Jones’ somersault celebration has become a weekly feature, and he hopes to break it out against Tom Brady in prime time.
That being said, Miami’s two dominant wins have come against lesser opponents.
Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots (-8, 50.5)A change in head coaches has been akin to a magic wand for the revitalized Miami Dolphins, who have rolled up 82 points in romping to a pair of lopsided victories since Dan Campbell replaced the fired Joe Philbin.
“Age doesn’t have anything to do with it”, New York Jets linebacker David Harris said, summing it up for us. Dolphins rushed for 428 yards in past two games. They’ve controlled the line of scrimmage offensively and remembered to feed feature back Lamar Miller, in turn raising the level of play of quarterback Ryan Tannehill. How would you design a defense to limit the attack of New England (or, take the air out of their offense, if you will)?
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Manning has been wildly inconsistent this season, a combination of decreased arm strength and poor offensive line play. That is incredible, especially when realizing the Dolphins only have 11 sacks on the season. This is a crucial matchup. Who should we expect to play on Sunday and how do you think they will match up with Cameron Wake, Ndaumkong Suh, Earl Mitchell, and Olivier Vernon? Getting pressure with four defensive linemen means the Dolphins will have the luxury of committing additional defenders to bracket Rob Gronkowski.
