Phins have their most critical games of the season coming up
The Miami Dolphins needed the Browns to beat the Ravens on Monday Night to boost their chance of making the playoffs. Unfortunately, it’s never a good thing when you need to rely on the Browns for a victory. Now, the Ravens are tied with the Dolphins for the final playoff spot. But, if the season were to end today, the Dolphins would have the tiebreaker due to the best win percentage in conference games. On the flip side, the Dolphins have a much tougher remaining schedule compared to the Ravens. Phins must take care of business this weekend against the Patriots to stay ahead of the Ravens!
Banged-up Phins must win 2 of 3
Sure, the Patriots aren’t the same without Tom Brady. However, they still have Belichick pushing the buttons and that makes them dangerous. Just ask the Chargers. You can bet with the best pay per head services that Bill would love nothing more than to ruin the Dolphins playoff hopes. To make matters more difficult, the Dolphins are limping into this game with possible numerous offensive weapons not able to play. Myles Gaskin is on the Covid reserve. Salvon Ahmed, DeVante Parker, and Jakeem Grant were all limited in practice, and Mike Gesicki was a no show today.
All are currently questionable to play.
The Dolphins will be short-handed to some extent on offense this week. This will make things tough because the Patriots have the 10th ranked defense. You can bet that Belichick will send a lot of pressure and mix up coverage on Tua. Miami would be wise to use the up-tempo offense again and not wait until they are behind like last week. Also, it will take some creativity this week with so many major offensive contributors likely to be out. Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey has shown plenty of that this season, so we should felt confident this will continue.
Another good player brought in on the cheap to the rescue
The one bright spot on offense is the sudden emergence of rookie Lynn Bowden Jr., who is quickly becoming a go-to target for Tua. In the last two games, Bowden Jr. has a combined 11 catches for 123 yards and multiple key first downs. Look for Tua to continue to lean on Bowden Jr., if the rest of his weapons are not going to be able to play.
Bowden Jr. could end up the hero this week.
On defense, the Dolphins must contain Newton on the ground because they’ve failed to stop mobile QBs for years. Cam carved the Phins up for 75 yards on the ground and two rushing touchdowns in their first meeting. Miami must make sure this doesn’t happen again. This is one of the biggest keys to success. Patriots don’t have many weapons and Cam hasn’t thrown the ball well in his last few games. The Phins defense must make Cam uncomfortable early and often, but still not let him run all over them.
The Dolphins as the hometown favorite at -3, which is wild! I truly can’t remember the last time the Dolphins were a favorite against the Patriots? The concern though is all the early action is coming in on the Dolphins, which isn’t generally a great thing cause the ‘books’ make money on the opposite of what the public bets. Still, Vegas doesn’t always get it right.
This will be a great test for Miami to prove they have turned the corner. Beating an old foe when it counts to earn a shot at the playoffs would really be a feather in this team’s cap. Last year, the Phins proved they could play the spoiler…
… This year Miami can prove that they can beat the Pats when they need to.
What are the rest of the Miami Dolphins news fans’ thoughts about the Dolphins’ chances of beating New England this weekend to keep their playoff hopes alive?