New England Patriots appear to be starting Alfonzo Dennard, Patrick Chung

The New England Patriots will get their regular season under way today against the rival Miami Dolphins for what should be an entertaining battle between the top two teams in the AFC East. While the Patriots goal is to win the Super Bowl this year after adding Darrelle Revis, Brandon Browner, and rookie DT Dominique Easley this offseason, the Dolphins are looking to get into the playoffs after missing out in 2013 despite an aggressive offseason from former GM Jeff Ireland.

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ESPN Boston’s Mike Reiss reports that cornerback Alfonzo Dennard and strong safety Patrick Chung are working out with the first-team unit during warm-ups, and it appears that both players will be starting today against the Dolphins. Dennard’s apparent inclusion into the starting lineup as an outside corner isn’t a surprise at all, as only Logan Ryan would have been a source of competition with Browner serving his four-game suspension.

Ryan and slot corner Kyle Arrington should get plenty of snaps, and it’s a good thing the Patriots have the deepest CBs in the NFL; the Dolphins have one of the deepest WR corpses in the NFL. Mike Wallace will likely get taken out of the game by Revis if they do face off in one-on-one battle, but breakout candidate Ryan Tannehill has Brian Hartline, Jarvis Landry, Brandon Gibson, and Rishard Matthews as his other wideouts.

The biggest mis-match maker on the Dolphins offense is tight end Charles Clay, who is an absolutely phenomenal player and will command attention from the LBs and safeties. Jamie Collins and Chung will have their hands full with him, but I could also see Bill Belichick putting a CB on Clay at times. It will be interesting to see how the Patriots attack him, but it’s clear that Chung is the liability of this extraordinarily deep secondary.