The New England Patriots, even with all of the ups and downs, are somehow still in the playoff hunt, and control their own destiny.
If the Patriots win this week, they will still need to beat Buffalo in Week 18, but if they wind up losing this week, their season is over. There’s still a chance for the team to make the playoffs if they lose to the Bills, as our very own Jordy McElroy laid out here.
But nothing matters if they don’t get the job done against the Dolphins on Sunday.
Miami may be without starting quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, for the game, but the Patriots aren’t without their own injury worries, as Jack Jones, Jonnu Smith, DeVante Parker and Marcus Jones have all been ruled out for the game.
With an ever-important New Year’s Day matchup looming, the Patriots will need a few things to go their way.
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1. Generate Pressure
If the Patriots want to fluster the Dolphins, and make it easier for their weapons Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle to be held in check, they’ll need to see Matthew Judon, Josh Uche, Deatrich Wise Jr. and Christian Barmore generate pressure.
The Dolphins’ offensive line is good, but Teddy Bridgewater is in the pocket this week, which will offer a unique matchup. Tagovailoa gets the ball out fast, which can make it harder on opposing defenses, especially with the speed on the perimeter.
Bridgewater getting the start should be slightly easier for the front seven to generate pressure, and as the Patriots are without Marcus Jones, they lack some speed in the secondary that could keep up with the Dolphins’ weapons.
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2. Contain Miami's weapons with... the run defense?
As mentioned above, the Patriots need to contain Miami’s weapons, and make it harder for Bridgewater to offensively take over the game.
The Dolphins will find ways to get their playmakers the ball, but the Patriots are lacking speed with Marcus Jones out and Jonathan Jones banged up.
We should see a lot of help over the top, and if Miami adjusts, they’ll likely try and run the ball more. A team that has relied on zone running concepts from Mike McDaniels’ days in San Francisco could give the Patriots some issues in the front seven.
It will be up to the interior defenders to slow down the run and force the Dolphins to decide whether to trust Teddy Bridgewater to throw into tight windows in double coverage, or rely on their run game. Slowing down the run should naturally help the secondary and pass rush make it a potentially frustrating day for the Dolphins’ offense.
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3. Continue Week 16 second-half success
The Patriots almost came back last week from a 22-point deficit, but ultimately fell short to the Bengals.
They wouldn’t have been in a 22-point deficit if they played how they played in the second half for an entire game, which they clearly showed they have the talent to do so.
If the Patriots can find some consistency with their Week 16 second half performance, they can come away with a win. In that second half, we saw the Patriots look as explosive as they have all season offensively, while shutting out elite receivers on defense.
The Patriots defense has been putting the team on their back all season. If the offense could swing it around to their side for the next couple weeks, we may have a different feeling of how this season played out.
