New England Patriots (4-3) @ Miami Dolphins (1-5)
Sunday, November 1, 4:25 PM ET
The Patriots and Dolphins are capping off the late afternoon slate with a little AFC East showdown, and Dolphins fans are going to get to see their team following up a victory for the first time this season.
Miami got out of the winless column with a nice victory against the Jets in Week 7, and they’ll be trying to play the role of spoiler for the Patriots. Can they do it, though?
With the way Ollie Gordon has been running the past four games for the Dolphins, it can’t be ruled out. The Patriots have also been reckless with the football at times this season, so the Dolphins are going to have to force some takeaways to prevent this one from getting out of hand quickly.
Unfortunately, they haven’t been great at taking the ball away this season. They have just 5 takeaways in their first six games. It’s not a good combination when you struggle in the takeaway department as well as with 3rd-down defense (31st), so Patriots fans are going to be anticipating this as another “get back on track” game for Drake Maye.
Going on the road and losing to the Chicago Bears on a short week isn’t something we’re going to hold against the Patriots too much.
As much as we all talk about Drake Maye it’s actually the running game that is key to New England’s success as a team. It’s not a coincidence that their three losses this season have been their three worst performances rushing-wise as an offense.
The Dolphins’ best chance in this one is to do exactly that – run the ball. They need to run it well and take the ball away 2 or 3 times to pull off the upset. The Patriots are 7-point favorites, and the Dolphins are going to be hungry for that upset. I think it could be closer than expected.
Prediction: Patriots win 28-22
Add us as a preferred source on Google